Nigeria’s central bank will explore the adoption of blockchain technology to power a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the potential of stablecoin adoption and regulatory considerations of initial coin offerings (ICOs) over the next two years. These are the key takeaways of a policy document titled Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025, published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The 83-page document touches on a variety of implications for its existing payments landscape, with blockchain-based systems coming to the fore. The document delves into the implications of a blockchain-based CBDC, outlining 11 potential advantages of such an offering. This includes …

The People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, has begun including the country’s central bank digital currency, the e-CNY, in reports measuring the amount of currency in circulation. According to a 2022 financial statistics report released on Jan. 10, the PBoC said there was 13.61 billion digital yuan — roughly $2 billion at the time of publication — in circulation as of Dec. 31. The currency in circulation grew at a rate of 15.3% in December 2022, with the broad money supply reported to be 266.43 trillion yuan. The PBoC reported adding the digital yuan to its figures had not caused …

Russia’s central bank is reportedly set to begin developing a cross-border settlement system using its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) amid ongoing sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The plans to move forward with Russia’s digital ruble are expected to come in the first quarter of 2023 and will see Russia's central bank study two possible cross-border settlement models, according to a Jan. 9 report from local media outlet Kommersant. The first proposed model sees various countries entering into separate bilateral agreements with Russia to integrate their CBDC systems. Each agreement would be made to ensure the conversion …

Mexico's central bank digital currency (CBDC) development is still in an initial phase, and it is unlikely to be ready for launch by 2024. According to local media reports, Mexico's central bank, known as Banxico, is currently working on legal, administrative, and technological requirements for the peso's digital version. The first of three stages for the proposed launch timeline. In December 2021, the local government announced its plan to introduce a national digital currency, noting on a Twitter post that the "new technologies and next-generation payment infrastructure" would improve Mexico's financial inclusion and project the launch for 2024. A year …

Undoubtedly, 2022 was one of the worst years for Bitcoin (BTC) buyers, primarily because the asset’s price dropped by 65%. While there were some explicit reasons for the drop, such as the LUNA-UST crash in May and the FTX implosion in November, the most important reason was the U.S. Federal Reserve policy of tapering and raising interest rates. Bitcoin’s price had dropped 50% from its peak to lows of $33,100 before the LUNA-UST crash, thanks to the Fed rate hikes. The first significant drop in Bitcoin’s price was due to growing market uncertainty around potential rate hike rumors in November …

Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the Bank of France’s governor, has urged for more stringent licensing requirements for crypto companies in France, citing the current turmoil in the crypto markets. During a speech in Paris on Jan. 5, the central bank governor said France shouldn’t wait for upcoming EU crypto laws to enact obligatory licensing for local Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs). The European Parliaments Markets in Crypto Assets bill (MiCA) provides a licensing regime for the EU amongst other regulations and is expected to come into force potentially sometime in 2024. According to a Jan. 5 Bloomberg report, Villeroy addressed …

United States federal bank regulatory agencies started off the new year with a statement on crypto assets that looked back at the troubles of the crypto sector in 2022. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a joint statement Jan. 3 on past problems and their efforts to maintain sound banking practices in spite of those challenges. “It is important that risks related to the crypto-asset sector that cannot be mitigated or controlled do not migrate to the banking system,” the agencies stated. They identified eight specific risks …

When it comes to the “crypto” part of cryptocurrencies, David Chaum’s work predates the crypto ecosystem. His efforts as a renowned cryptographer date back to 1989, long before Bitcoin (BTC) was a thing. Chaum developed the protocols that act as the basis of DigiCash — the world’s first digital currency secured by cryptography. As the CEO of privacy-focused network developer Elixxir, David Chaum is working with the Swiss central bank to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that could also attract the crypto ecosystem due to its privacy features. Named eCash 2.0, the new project aims to develop digital …

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has completed the first trial of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Turkish Lira, and has signaled plans to continue testing throughout 2023. According to a statement released by the CBRT on Dec. 29, the central bank authority said it successfully executed its “first payment transactions” using the digital Lira. It said it will continue to run limited, closed circuit pilot tests with technology stakeholders in the first quarter of 2023, before expanding it to include selected banks and financial technology companies in the rest of the year. Press …

A former official of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, has expressed disappointment that China’s digital yuan is seeing little use. Xie Ping, a former PBOC research director and current finance professor at Tsinghua University, made critical public comments about China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) at a recent university conference, according to a Dec. 28 Caixin report. Xie noted that cumulative digital yuan transactions had only crossed $14 billion (100 billion yuan) in October, two years after launch. “The results are not ideal,” he said, adding that “usage has been low, highly inactive.” Despite the …

China’s wallet app for its digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) introduced a feature for users to send money in an electronic version of traditional “red packets” to try to attract new users. The new feature was released over the weekend, around one month ahead of the Chinese New Year on Jan. 22, as reported by the South China Morning Post on Dec. 26. The “red packets,” called hongbao in China, are traditionally used for gifting money around the Chinese New Year and other celebrations as a gesture of good luck. The rising use of digital payments has seen …

After the height of the FTX collapse, the Philippine government warned investors within the country about using unlicensed crypto exchanges. The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) in the Philippines issued an advisory to the public against using unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges that are operating within the country. Within the warning, the SEC did not directly mention the FTX exchange but said that the warning considers “the recent collapse of a large international cryptocurrency exchange.” Citing the laws within the country, the government agency reiterated that any entity intending to conduct business within the country is required to register with the SEC. …