Banco BTG Pactual is issuing its security tokens representing investment in real estate on the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain. Previously, the bank had issued its ReitBZ tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, raising $10 million in Ether (ETH) and Gemini Dollars (GUSD). Which blockchain will prevail in the future? Andre Portilho, head of digital assets at BTG Pactual, told Cointelegraph that $5 million worth of ReitBZ will be switched to Tezos, including the $2.5 million new raise that was conducted in fiat. The reason behind this diversification is that the bank wants to have its options open, as there is no way …

South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea, has conducted new research and analysis on the progress of central bank digital currencies — or CBDCs — around the world. The bank released its “Overseas CBDC Progress Report” on May 18, in which the institution analyzed the CBDC projects of 14 central banks. New tech is a catalysts for CBDC projects The bank found that recent advances in payment settlements, decentralized ledger technology and the sharp declines in cash use are the main factors driving central banks to research and develop CBDCs. Most central banks in the report are currently developing …

While global jurisdictions are progressing with central bank digital currencies, private institutions also work on digitizing national currencies. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), a major Austrian bank, is working on a new form of national currency tokenization using blockchain technology. RBI is extending its collaboration with Polish-British fintech firm, Billon, following a successful test of end-to-end digitized national currency transfers. RBI Coin is designed to speed up cross-border transactions As announced on May 18, RBI and Billon are working on initial stages of an RBI tokenization platform, currently dubbed RBI Coin. The pilot is planned to be conducted until late 2020 …

Consumer-facing digital currency solutions will not be taken seriously by central banks, according to a Visa executive. Visa head of crypto Cuy Sheffield tweeted on May 18 that he does not believe central banks are interested in providing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to consumers, stating: “If a central bank decides to offer a digital wallet directly to consumers then by default CBDC and the central bank would have to become a household brand but this approach seems unlikely to be taken seriously by most major central banks due to operational challenges.” Sheffield’s remarks follow a report released …

The Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, recently spoke about measures taken during the financial crisis, with many on Twitter viewing his remarks as evidence of the need for cryptocurrency. In a Sunday interview that aired on 60 Minutes, Powell spoke to news anchor Scott Pelley, saying the Fed had essentially flooded the economy with money printed in response to the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling in March and investors turning away from U.S. Treasurys. According to Powell, the Fed can print U.S. dollars digitally in addition to creating physical bills: "As a central bank, we have …

All 80,000 users of German neobank Bitwala can now purchase, hold and earn interest on Bitcoin (BTC) in their bank accounts thanks to a new partnership with cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network. According to Defiprime, Bitwala is the first classic fiat bank to offer interest for holding Bitcoin in an account, with three other decentralized finance apps offering similar products. While the DeFi products have higher rates, up to 8.6% per annum, Bitwala is more regulated and offers fiat and cryptocurrency services in 32 European countries under license from leading German bank SolarisBank AG. Users can buy as little as …

Proton, a new delegated proof-of-stake blockchain from crypto payment solution Metal Pay, allows digital asset and fund transfers across multiple channels. "It's a Blockchain that's integrated into your bank," Metal Pay CEO Marshall Hayner told Cointelegraph. "It's a universal network for payments." As long as payment platforms integrate the Proton blockchain, customers can send payments across non-native platforms, according to Hayner. Proton allows compatibility across platforms At present, aside from Metal Pay, payment platforms often run as siloed entities, facing difficulties when users want to interact across services. If, for example, one person wants to send money to a friend …

JPMorgan Chase, the United States’ largest bank, has reportedly taken on U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini as customers. A report from the Wall Street Journal on May 12 cited unnamed sources apparently familiar with the matter, who highlighted that the move is the first time the banking giant has served clients from the crypto industry. Both exchange accounts were reportedly accepted in April, with transactions now starting to be processed, sources told the WSJ. JPMorgan Chase is not processing Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrency transactions on behalf of the exchanges but is providing cash-management services and handling dollar transactions …

A number of countries such as China and Sweden are already experimenting with central bank digital currencies, which are also referred to as CBDCs. The implementation of this new type of money requires a number of aspects including technology advancement and specific regulation. According to a key official at the European Central Bank, the main challenge of CBDC is philosophical rather than technological. Yves Mersch, an executive board member at the ECB, has again discussed CBDC issues at an "ask me anything" session hosted by Consensus: Distributed on Monday. At the session, the ECB executive reiterated that the central bank …

Major cryptocurrency event, Consensus 2020, has officially kicked off in virtual mode. Consensus: Distributed, Coindesk’s first ever fully virtual conference, featured European Central Bank (ECB) key legal official, Yves Mersch, as the first speaker. On May 11, ECB board member Mersch delivered an exclusive keynote devoted to central bank digital currencies (CBDC), a central bank digital currency that can be used by consumers. Speaking at 6:45 a.m. ET, the ECB official outlined that the bank is mainly focused on a retail implementation of CBDC. The ECB voices its focus on retail CBDC implementation Opposing retail CBDCs to wholesale central bank …

Another Chinese province, Hainan, joins the blockchain ecosystem with the announcement of a cross-border financial services platform. News of the platform’s pilot was announced on Friday. According to the local newspaper Hainan Daily, the central government approved the initiative, allowing banks to provide loans to companies that look to export their products abroad. The measure seeks to reduce the bureaucracy of customs procedures, in addition to reducing the number of loan applications through regular channels. The pilot program will select two banks to carry out business through the blockchain-powered platform. Local media reported that the first export account was traded …

The Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a multinational bank headquartered in Spain, has announced a partnership with Madrid-based research center IMDEA Software Institution to explore zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) alongside other “advanced cryptographic techniques.” Both entities will freely utilize each other's technologies and research to drive innovation as quickly as possible. BBVA plans to offer products based on cryptography The partnership will see the institutions research a number of applications for cryptography in the context of the financial sector, including ways to ensure that data shared within a network is not vulnerable to exposure to third parties. A May 4 press …