The ongoing coronavirus pandemic accelerates central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments, according to Deutsche Bank macro strategist Marion Laboure. In a tweet from April 3, Deutsche Bank cites Laboure’s claim that the risk of cash spreading the coronavirus further will motivate authorities to consider digital alternatives. CBDCs: a necessary response to the coronavirus As Cointelegraph reported in mid-February, China started a quarantine of its used banknotes in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Research published in 2008 showed that the influenza virus was able to survive on banknotes up to 17 days. Laboure claims that governments increasingly …

Edwin Bautista, president and chief executive of UnionBank of the Philippines, has forecast that the coronavirus outbreak will drive banks to shift towards digital currencies, leaving physical cash behind. As Euromoney reported on April 3, Bautista noted that the pandemic provoked a heightened demand in online banking services, pushing banks to revise their digitization strategy. “Certainly, this pandemic amplifies the need for all banks to go digital now,” Bautista said. Going further, the exec projected the beginning of the end of hard cash, especially if central banks fail to deliver notes and coins to banks and automated teller machines. Bautista …

Four of Brazil’s financial regulatory institutions are collaborating to build a streamlined blockchain-based data-sharing platform to perform background checks on political representatives and corporations. The platform, dubbed PIER, was developed by Brazil’s central bank Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). The platform saw initial participation from the BCB, the Brazilian private insurance superintendent, and the local securities regulator to inform its database. Brazil’s social security supervisor is set to soon participate in the program too. The Brazilian government is also contemplating incorporating data collected by the country’s judiciary, trade boards, and international financial bodies into the PIER system. Brazilian regulators use …

As a number of global jurisdictions like the Bahamas and Sweden are already testing their central bank digital currencies (CBDC), French central bank is getting more straightforward regarding its own CBDC plans. The Bank of France is now officially launching a program of experiments to test the integration of a CBDC for interbank settlements, inviting potential participants to submit their applications. Bank of France doesn’t insist on blockchain implementation for CBDC According to a March 30 document, France’s central bank is calling for applications to experiment with the use of a digital euro, aiming to explore the potential CBDC opportunities …

Major Spanish bank Santander plans to roll out its Ripple-powered international payments system One Pay FX in Mexico in 2020. In a Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on March 6, the bank revealed that Mexico will be offering the service in early 2020. The One Pay FX system Based on Ripple’s RippleNet technology, One Pay FX is independent from XRP and does not need the digital currency to function, as a Santander spokesperson previously outlined to Cointelegraph. In its Form 20-F filing — an annual report that must be submitted to the SEC by …

Major South Korean bank KB Kookmin Bank is expected to launch a cryptocurrency custody service in the near future. According to a report from local news outlet Digital Today on March 27, the bank filed a trademark application for KBDAC, referring to a proposed Digital Asset Custody subsidiary, at the end of January, 2020. KBDAC trademark application for crypto-related industries In the application to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the bank expresses its desire to trademark KBDAC in over 20 areas, all relating to the cryptocurrency industry. These include trading, consultation and management of digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and …

As major central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects develop apace, it is becoming clear that not all digital coins will look, or even function the same way. A recent analysis by Chinese financial media group InterChain Pulse reveals that two of the most visible such projects — those of the Bank of England (BoE) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) — may be more different than they are alike. InterChain Pulse cited BoE’s discussion paper released earlier this month, where the financial institution seriously weighed the pros and cons of issuing a CBDC denominated in pounds sterling. InterChain compared …

Tech Mahindra, the IT subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group, has become the first Indian business to use R3’s blockchain-based Marco Polo Network for conducting cross-border transactions. It said the platform had resulted in faster reconciliation and ambiguity resolution, as well as the significant reduction of paperwork and time required for the entire transaction cycle. Tech Mahindra partnered with Singapore’s DBS Bank, which facilitated the transactions and acted as the company’s leading trade bank. The parties used the Marco Polo Receivables Discounting product which is designed to help companies optimise their working capital, improve liquidity and mitigate credit risk. Marco …

Amid regulatory uncertainty for cryptocurrencies in Russia, a federal ministry introduced legislation that would legalize crypto and blockchain within a special regulatory environment. The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has reportedly prepared a draft law that would allow the testing of cryptocurrency and blockchain developments within a special regulatory sandbox. Sandbox to unlock blockchain and crypto testing in eight industries According to a March 24 report by local news agency Izvestia, the draft law was introduced to the State Duma — the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia — on March 17. Izvestia reports that …

A cryptocurrency-friendly firm is having problems receiving money transfers. According to sources available to Cointelegraph, clients at Silvergate Bank have been experiencing issues with certain types of wire transfers since Friday. The firm has stated an outage by their payment processor, Fedwire, is responsible for the drop in service. CEO Alan Lane confirmed the bank has been having trouble processing payments from some clients, but stated this did not affect users who already had money with Silvergate. "Our trading partners send us money on Friday so they have funds on the platform ready to transfer to OTC desks over the …

Security token offering (STO) platform, Blockpulse, has obtained registration with the ACPR Bank of France. Blockpulse “registered at ACPR Banque de France with its partner, Lemonway, the leading European digital payment solution for investment platforms,” Blockpulse COO Marien Irzykiewicz told Cointelegraph. The company also alleges that the outfit is the first STO platform to achieve registration with the french entity. Confirmation of their registration is available on the ACPR Bank of France registry. STOs are a more regulated approach than ICOs Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, have largely died off as a fundraising method since their 2017 boom — the …

Australian blockchain firm, Chrono Tech, has been experiencing difficulties securing a banking partner amid the launch of an Australian dollar (AUD)-pegged stablecoin earlier this month. The AUD Token (AUDT), available on Chrono Tech’s platform, can be redeemed 1:1 for Australian dollars held by a licensed Australian bank. However, as Chrono Tech’s CEO, Sergei Sergienko, reveals, securing a banking partner was not easy. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Sergienko discussed his company’s transition from planning a “labor hour token” to launching a stablecoin, and the regulatory and banking climates for crypto companies in Australia. Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks still hesitant to …