Menu

Search

  |   Digital Currency

Menu

  |   Digital Currency

Search

Digital Currency and Blockchain Weekly Round-up – March 16th, 2018

IMF's Christine Lagarde calls for international cooperation to fight bitcoin perils

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called for international cooperation in order to tackle the perils of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. “Since crypto-assets know no borders, the framework to regulate them must be global as well. Countries will have to decide collectively that this path is worth pursuing,” she said.

EU Fintech Action Plan: European Commission says working on comprehensive blockchain strategy

The European Commission (EC) has unveiled its Action Plan on how to harness the opportunities presented by technology-enabled innovation in financial services (FinTech). It said that it is working on a comprehensive strategy on distributed ledger technology and blockchain addressing all sectors of the economy.

EBA chair speaks on extent of cryptocurrency regulation

The chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA) has said that he is yet to be convinced that cryptocurrencies should be brought under full scope of regulation. Speaking at an event last week, Andrea Enria said: “Recently, several central banks have argued that crypto-currencies lack the institutional back up of a central bank and cannot fulfil the traditional functions of money … The very large fluctuations in the valuations recently experienced by most cryptocurrencies seem to confirm this view. Still, I am yet to be convinced that this is a sufficiently strong argument to attract crypto-currencies under the full scope of regulation.”

Bitcoin and its cousins might be an early sign of change: Benoît Cœuré and Jacqueline Loh

Blockchain-based digital tokens or cryptocurrencies are “poor imitations of money,” Benoît Cœuré, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and chair of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), and Jacqueline Loh, chair of the BIS Markets Committee, wrote in an opinion piece on the Financial Times on March 13.

Dutch Finance Minister calls for international approach to cryptocurrency regulation

In a letter to the Parliament, Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra has called for such measures that would close the gaps between the European and international approach with regard to cryptocurrency regulation.

Litmus test will be public trust and acceptance: MAS’ Ravi Menon on cryptocurrencies as money

Speaking at Money20/20, Menon shared the current state of the central bank’s thinking and its evolving regulatory approach on cryptocurrencies. He said that as the technology is evolving, there could be such crypto tokens that would function as money. “With technology, we can never say never. A second generation of crypto tokens is emerging, to address some of the current challenges related to network congestion, transaction time, energy costs, money laundering risks, and importantly, price stability. The litmus test will be public trust and acceptance,” Menon said.

South Korea likely to reverse ban on ICOs – Report

The financial regulators in South Korea are working on a plan to allow initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the country for domestic investors, according to The Korea Times. The authorities are now planning to reverse the ban in order to advance blockchain-based technologies, sources familiar with the matter told the local publication.

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank partners with Bitt for blockchain pilot

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Barbados-based fintech company Bitt to conduct a blockchain pilot in the ECCB member countries. The ECCB and Bitt will together develop, deploy and test technology with the focus on Know Your Customer Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (KYC/AML/CFT) data management, compliance and transaction monitoring system.

Google to ban cryptocurrency and ICO ads from June

After social media titan Facebook’s move to prohibit ICO and cryptocurrency advertisements earlier this year, recent reports suggest that Google is also going to impose a ban on the same. Google said that ads relating to “Cryptocurrencies and related content (including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice)” would no longer be allowed to serve.

Meetings/Conferences:

G20 meeting to discuss cryptocurrencies and related risks

Investments/Acquisitions/ Fund-raising:

Team behind decentralized marketplace OpenBazaar attracts $5m in series A round

Venezuelan president claims Petro cryptocurrency pre-sale raises $5 billion

Lightning Labs secures $2.5M in seed funding, launches lnd 0.4-beta

Partnerships/Consortiums:

Crypto platform Monaco Joins Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

Kenco Logistics latest to join Blockchain in Transport Alliance

SBI Group dissolves partnership with Huobi cryptocurrency exchange

Swiss Coffee Alliance partners with blockchain startup Ambrosus

Blockchain and Digital Currency Initiatives

Playboy Enterprises to roll out cryptocurrency wallet this year

Coinfloor launches cryptocurrency futures exchange ‘CoinfloorEX’

Accenture trials blockchain technology for shipping industry

World Identity Network, ConsenSys partner to build blockchain solution to fight child trafficking

Binance unveils proprietary blockchain platform ‘Binance Chain’

DHL and Accenture develop blockchain prototype to track medicines

Telecom companies PCCW Global and Colt trial blockchain for faster payment settlements

trueEX to launch regulated cryptocurrency derivatives marketplace

Thomson Reuters includes bitcoin sentiment data feed in TRMI v3.0

Indian state of Maharashtra to trial blockchain technology in land deals

Investment Association of China to launch Global Blockchain Investment and Development Center

FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest

  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.