The cryptocurrency market remains range bound with a slight bearish bias as Bitcoin (BTC) struggles to stay around $30,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $28,002, down 2.10% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $1,828, reflecting a decline of 1% in the same period. XRP had lost 0.10% to trade at $0.4610.
The major cryptos, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $116.97, 0.10%),
The major cryptos, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, are Binance Coin (BNB – $326.41, -2.30%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.00000993, -1.80%), VeChain (VET, $0.0214, -2.30%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.1936, -0.60%), Stellar (XLM, $0.0923, -1.50%), Polkadot (DOT, $5.65, -2.80%), Solana (SOL, $21.88, -1.40%), ChainLink (LINK – $6.88, -1.60%), Avalanche (Avax- $16.62, -2%), and EOS (EOS – $1.01, -0.30%).
Government Level Initiatives
R3 and Qatar Financial Centre Authority Partner for Blockchain Lab
Blockchain-focused firm R3 and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) have entered into a partnership for the establishment of a lab ecosystem to aid commercial banks and fintech trials with distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Notably, R3 had already entered into a partnership with AFIN in the ASEAN two years back, assisting in the setting up of a sandbox in the region.
The aforesaid Qatar agreement also includes the following:
- Assistance in QFC’s deployment of DLT throughout the country.
- Education and training in distributed ledger technology (DLT), including asset digitization (tokenization).
- Establishment of working groups in accordance with regulator’s decisions across the world.
Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, CEO of QFC, said “Through this partnership, we hope to cultivate creativity while establishing an environment conducive to the expansion of fintech businesses in Qatar.”
Bank of England’s Deputy Governor Details Tokenized Money and CBDC Strategy
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, has revealed details about the central bank’s strategy towards tokenized money in several formats, namely deposit tokens, stablecoins, and central bank digital currency (CBDC), primarily wholesale.
The Financial Services Markets Bill will offer the bank the powers to systemize payment mechanisms and service providers who employ “digital settlement assets.” Therefore, the bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is preparing the rules for stablecoins.
Cunliffe stated, “As we work on the rules for payment stablecoins, it is essential that we also work on the rules for tokenized bank accounts. Along with the bank’s input on the payment stablecoin system, the PRA plans to explain how it will act in this domain.”
Cunliffe differentiated the two likely kinds of tokenized bank deposits: the one that is freely transferable and the other that is employed for remittance by utilizing the tokens of the bank in which they have an account.
The first case raises questions about the anti-money laundering processes to be employed, as there is no clarity on how the insurance procedure might function. In the second approach, the banks settle the payments with each other through a distributed ledger network. This implies that all participants in the transaction will have an account with the concerned bank.
Private Sector Initiatives
Société Générale Forge Launches EURCV Stablecoin on Ethereum Blockchain
Société Générale Forge (SocGen Forge) released the EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin pegged to the euro on the Ethereum public blockchain. The financial institution intends to release the stablecoin on other blockchains in the months ahead. Notably, this is the first time a globally systemically important (G-SIB) released a stablecoin on the public blockchain.
Earlier, Société Générale Forge had provided a blockchain framework for bond issues by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the Ethereum blockchain. Similar to that bond, the stablecoin employed Forge’s CAST infrastructure for tokenization. Notably, it was also the initial top commercial bank to unveil a public blockchain bond four years back.
The primary aim of the issuance is to utilize it as a settlement asset for on-chain dealings. The DLT Pilot Regime has gone live although no key projects have been launched so far. Other commercial activities targeted by SocGen Forge are corporate treasury, on-chain liquidity financing, and collateral for margin calls.
Miscellaneous
Caixabank’s Digital Platform Imagin to Offer NFTs to Attract Customers
Caixabank, one of the top three Spanish banks, has revealed that its digital services platform, Imagin, will release NFTs as a step to lure fresh customers to deposit their funds in the Imagin app.
Imagin, which boasts of young clientele below 30 years, is themed on sustainability. It intends to aid the collection of 1kg of plastic from the ocean for every customer that deposit their paycheck. The ultimate aim is to fund the collection of 100 tons of plastic from the ocean.
New signups will get rewarded by the platform with NFTs based on marine animals created using AI. The non-tradeable tokens can be used only within the platform but carry info related to the plastic removal from the ocean and the place where it is recycled. The images can be uploaded on social media platforms.
Obviously, this is a marketing initiative by the bank and the new signup rewards include €150 for every paycheck above €1,000 that is being deposited.
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