The cryptocurrency market remains range bound with a slight bullish bias as Bitcoin (BTC) once again inches toward $25,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $24,476, down 1.90% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) had lost 3.70% to trade at $1,655. XRP was trading at $0.3634, a decrease of 3.30% in the same period.
Major cryptos, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, are VeChain (VET, $0.0220, -9%), EOS (EOS – $1.05, -8.30%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.2058, -7.50%), Stellar (XLM, $0.0844, -4.60%), Binance Coin (BNB – $306.96, -1.60%), Polkadot (DOT, $5.91, -6.80%), Avalanche (Avax- $15.62, -10.10%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $124.45, -6%), Cardano (ADA, $0.3244, -6.2%), Tezos (XTZ, $1.16, -4.90%), Solana (SOL, $19.40, -8.40%), Dogecoin (DOGE – $0.0704, -6.50%), ChainLink (LINK – $6.58, -6.60%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.00001047, -7.90%) and Internet Computer (ICP, $5.21, -7%).
Government level initiatives
India’s Central Bank Trials Wholesale CBDC for Bond Trades and More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shared details about the trial of its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), which commenced on November 1, 2022. The initial usage scenario was to employ the wholesale digital rupee to settle government bond trades, but the RBI is zealous to try several business models and use cases.
Some of the usage scenarios planned to be trialed by the central bank are money market funds and short-term lending, for instance, call money. As commercial banks already maintain accounts with central banks, several wholesale or interbank CBDCs have concentrated on token-powered digital currency, specifically to settle blockchain-powered trades. And the utility cases described here will employ distributed ledger.
The current trial has 50,000 users. In the forthcoming quarter, the objective is to hit 500,000 users and include more banks in addition to the prevailing eight. The central bank is yet to complete the trial stage. Notably, the RBI intends to try several technologies and business models.
15 Projects Approved for Australia’s Central Bank Digital Currency Research
In September 2022, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) welcomed enterprises to take part in its central bank digital currency research endeavor.
Out of the 140 utility cases received by the central bank by the end of October 2022, 15 projects have been given a go-ahead to move forward, provided they comply with the regulatory framework. Reacting to demand from industries, the central bank will consider applications until the end of March. Also, a final report is intended for mid-year.
Some of the notable firms involved in the project include Intuit, Mastercard, ANZ, and Commonwealth Bank.
The program’s main goal is to study business models and utility scenarios and their linked pros and cons. The usage scenarios encompass both retail and wholesale CBDC.
- Offline Payments
- Nature-based Asset Trading
- SuperStream Payments
- Corporate Bond Settlement
- Tokenized FX Settlement
- GST Automation
- CBDC Custodial Models
- Livestock Auction
- High-Quality Liquid Assets Securities Trading
- Interoperable CBDC for trusted Web3 commerce
- Funds Custody
- Construction Payments
- Tokenized Bills
- CBDC Distribution
Private sector initiatives
Unity Technologies Offers ‘Decentralization’ Class for Web3 Game Development
Unity Technologies, which owns the credit of developing one the most popularly used 3D game engines, has brought in “Decentralization” as a class in its online asset shop. The firm intends to assist programmers aiming to enter web3 and decentralized gaming technology.
Notably, in 2021, every month, 3.90 billion users played games developed on Unity. The company claims that its technology forms the core of 70% of the top 1,000 mobile games and more than 50% across all kinds of platforms.
Considering the market share of Unity in the gaming industry, the recent addition of decentralized gaming technology to its product offering is not a surprise. With respect to games, decentralization indicates a game model that permits players to generate, earn, or acquire in-game assets that they can trade. For instance, it could be weapons, clothing, or land.
As of now, popular metaverse worlds such as The Sandbox and Decentraland utilize the Unity engine. At the time of its debut, the Unity asset store handled 13 third-party web3 solutions. This includes Dapper Lab’s Flow blockchain, the MetaMask wallet, ImutableX, and Tezos SDK.
Miscellaneous
Ten Companies Join Japan’s Metaverse Economic Zone for Virtual World Development
Ten enterprises have joined Japan’s Metaverse Economic Zone (JMEZ), which intends to develop an open environment for firms developing metaverse-based experiences. Notably, JMEZ has been positioned as a digital transformation (DX) play, which is partly real world and partly fantasy world.
The metaverse space has been temporarily named RYUGUKOKU and is expected to have role-play game (RPG) themes for the virtual worlds, including cities and castles.
In spite of a robust gaming theme, the association is controlled by financial entities, including Japan’s four large banking groups, namely SMBC, MUFG, Resona Group, and Mizuho, in addition to card provider JCB and insurer SOMPO.
The gamification and major technology aspects are offered by TBT Lab, with Toppan also incorporating its avatar and metaverse technology. Fujitsu provides the technology while Mitsubishi will aid in globalization. Also, web3-related financial functions will be offered by MUFG.
The framework will ensure interoperability between several metaverse offerings via a passport system for users, allowing them to move across various domains using NFTs, avatar clothing, and identity. User identities, notably, will be linked to the physical world.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
