The central banks of Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, European Union, Sweden and Switzerland created a group with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to jointly research central bank digital currencies (CBDC). According to a press release published by the Bank of England on Jan. 21, the aforementioned institutions will share their experience with other group members as they study potential use cases for CBDCs in their respective jurisdictions. The announcement states: “The group will assess CBDC use cases; economic, functional and technical design choices, including cross-border interoperability; and the sharing of knowledge on emerging technologies. It will closely coordinate …

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is seeking to oversee stablecoin projects like Facebook's controversial stablecoin Libra. In an official proposal to the Senate published on Jan. 20, APRA submitted a possible regulatory framework dedicated to fintech and regulatory technology (regtech) covering topics ranging from digital wallets to data protection. The proposed framework, “is intended not only to be fit for purpose for the current financial system but also be able to accommodate future developments and technological advances, such as proposals for global stablecoin eco-systems that have been the subject of significant attention in recent months.” Overall, APRA admits that …

Mark Hipperson, who was head of technology for the Barclays group for over a decade as well as co-founder and former CTO at U.K. challenger bank, Starling, is planning a Q1 2020 launch for his latest digital banking venture, Ziglu. Billing itself as the next step in the challenger bank concept, the all-digital account will allow multiple currencies, both fiat and digital, to be held in the same account. HODL, exchange, spend The free account will not just be able to hold balances in multiple currencies, but also freely exchange funds between them. Foreign currencies will be available to buy …

Global banking regulator Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) calls for a conservative prudential treatment framework for crypto assets. The Basel Committee — which includes banking regulators from the United States, Europe and Japan — published its report on the prudential treatment of crypto assets. The study was first announced in November, as Cointelegraph reported at the time. In the document, the regulator claims that the growth of cryptocurrencies and related services can negatively affect financial stability and increase the risks faced by banks. The report reads: “Crypto-assets are an immature asset class given the lack of standardisation and constant …

Cryptocurrency lending firm BlockFi announced in an email that it obtained a money transmitter license (MTL) in the state of Washington in the United States. The firm explained that the license will allow BlockFi to be the first crypto company eligible to offer interest-bearing crypto accounts to Washington state residents. Furthermore, Washington residents will also have access to the firm’s trading service. The trading platform was announced by the firm last week. At the time the firm also noted that it was pursuing licenses to offer the service as broadly as possible: “As part of the preparation for the trading …

The Bank of Lithuania said that central banks’ “parental controls” are obsolete when it comes to crypto assets, but that should not prevent them from entering the space in order to understand it. In an analysis dedicated to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) released on Dec. 10, the Bank of Lithuania argued that banks should participate in the digital asset space in order to gain experience with the rapidly developing asset class. Bank board member Marius Jurgilas said in an accompanying statement: “It is fascinating to follow how fast the area of digital assets and currencies is evolving. It is …

The Bank of Lithuania announced that it will release a digital, blockchain-based collector coin in the spring of 2020, according to a press release on Dec. 9. The coin is dedicated to the Act of Independence of Lithuania on Feb. 16, 1918, and its 20 signatories. In homage to the year of the act, the coin will bear a denomination of 19.18 euros, while its size and form will resemble a credit card. Bank of Lithuania board member Marius Jurgilas said they chose the theme because of the significant role the Act played in Lithuania’s history. Blockchain technology will be …

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that there is no public demand for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the country. During his speech at the symposium for the 35th anniversary of the Center for Financial Industry Information Systems on Dec. 4, Kuroda addressed the challenges posed by private global stablecoins and CBDCs. He concluded that at present there is no reason to issue a CBDC in Japan: “In Japan, the amount of cash outstanding is still increasing, and it does not seem that there is a demand for CBDC from the public at present. Nevertheless, the …

Commerzbank, Credit Suisse and UBS carried out the first transactions on Deutsche Boerse and HQLAX’s distributed ledger technology-enabled (DLT) security lending platform. According to a Deutsche Boerse press release on Dec. 3, the company jointly developed the platform with fintech firm HQLAX, which was launched by R3 and uses Corda DLT technology to provide liquidity and collateral management products. The platform was able to swap ownership of a basket of German government bonds and a basket of corporate bonds between UBS and Commerzbank while employing Clearstream Banking as a custodian. It also conducted a cross-custodian swap between UBS and Credit …

British mobile banking firm Revolut is negotiating with investors to raise at least half a billion dollars next year, Reuters reports on Nov. 12. Since the end of 2017, Revolut’s app has allowed its users to complete transactions in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC) and Ether (ETH). According to Reuters, Revolut plans to raise the funds next year to fuel its expansion and hire new personnel, and will expand its partnership with payment firms Visa and Mastercard. The firm’s co-founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky said: “We want to raise at least $500 million in direct equity and potentially, maybe …

A central bank’s role is to manage a nation’s currency, money supply and interest rates. The United States did not have a central bank until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law. Since then, the Federal Reserve has been accountable for the elasticity of the U.S. economy through the expansion and contraction of liquidity in the form of credit and new fiat money supply. Retail and institutional banks abide by the Fed’s stringent economic rules, which in turn trickle down to affect the daily lives of entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, markets and the consumer. Today, the U.S. …

Global banking regulator the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is working to establish how much capital lenders should hold to cover the risks generated by dealing with cryptocurrencies. Business Reporter published the news on Nov. 7 that the Basel Committee — which includes banking regulators from the United States, Europe and Japan — agreed to publish a paper on the prudential treatment of crypto assets. At the end of a two-day meeting in Madrid, the committee said that banks should take into consideration the riskiness of cryptocurrencies when considering crypto asset exposure: “The Committee reiterated its view that the …