Senegal to adopt blockchain-based national digital currency

Senegal, a country on Africa’s west coast, plans to introduce a blockchain-based national digital currency, iAfrikan reported. Called eCFA, the digital currency will be legal tender as the country’s current currency, CFA Franc. This will make Senegal second country in the world to put its currency on the blockchain, after Tunisia.

US Congressional Committee urges CFTC to provide clarity on bitcoin regulation

The Agriculture Committee of the US House of Representatives has sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recommending it to provide clarity on digital currency regulation in the wake of Donald Trump being elected as the next President of the United States of America.

European Commission launches new initiative to boost blockchain and fintech startups

The European Commission (EC) announced a new initiative earlier this week, with the objective of helping startups deliver their full innovation and job creation potential. Called “Start-up and Scale-up Initiative”, the effort aims to give Europe's many innovative entrepreneurs every opportunity to become world leading companies.

No specific plan to issue digital currencies as substitute for banknotes – BoJ Deputy Governor

Speaking at the University of Tokyo - Bank of Japan Joint Conference in Tokyo on "FinTech and the Future of Money", Hiroshi Nakaso, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, said that the BoJ has no specific plan at present to issue digital currencies as a substitute for banknotes, adding that the bank will make utmost efforts to deeply understand new technologies including blockchain and DLT.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to oppose government’s petition

Following the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) civil petition filed last week that sought disclosure of all Coinbase U.S. customers’ records between 2013 and 2015, the exchange has said that it is going to oppose the summon from the agency.

India's Bitcoin prices spike 25 pct on demonetization

Indian government’s latest drive to demonetize currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denomination announced earlier this month has led to a surge in demand for digital currency bitcoin. This is evidenced as bitcoin is being quoted at an inflated price by Indian bitcoin exchanges as compared to the global exchange rate. At the time of writing, 1 BTC is trading for $742 (or INR 50,000 approximately) on Bitstamp, but the buy price on Unocoin is INR 64,198 and on Zebpay it is INR 64,986, that is to say, that bitcoin is being quoted at nearly 25-28% premium.

UNAFRI report suggests guidance on bitcoin regulation in Uganda

The United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI) that focuses on criminal justice issues, has released a report that provides instructive guidance on the regulation of digital currencies in Uganda.

Belize and Seychelles regulators warn against fraudulent bitcoin investment company XMAXBIT

The International Financial Services Commission, Belize’s financial regulator, in its warning has stated that ‘XMAXBIT’ is falsely and fraudulently claiming to be an International Business Company registered in Belize. In a similar notice, the Seychelles Financial Services Authority stated that the company under the name XMAXBIT is not registered by the Authority under the International Business Companies Act, 1994 as amended.

Financial messaging services provider Swift launches blockchain POC

Swift, the global provider of secure financial messaging services, announced its first blockchain proof-of-concept (POS), which will be previewed at the interbank co-operatives European Operations Forum in Berlin. According to reports by Finextra, the internal POC demo will tackle the problem of asset servicing in the bond trade, from issuance to payment of coupons and maturity.

Digital Currency/Blockchain research studies:

Australian Accounting Standards Board calls for accounting standards for digital currencies

Conferences/ Events:

Stratis Blockchain Hackathon to kick off on December 15

Important deals, partnerships, and more:

iSignthis expands to new market and customers with Coinify-Blockchain partnership

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, bitFlyer develop Japan's first insurance product for bitcoin exchanges

Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem is back with new venture

Morgan Stanley plans to quit R3 blockchain consortium

Blockchain firm Euklid raises €10M in seed, moves HQ to London

Siemens and LO3 Energy partner to develop blockchain microgrids

Goldman Sachs, Santander quit R3 blockchain consortium