Canada doesn’t want any "surprises" regarding central bank digital currencies. In a recent interview with Reuters, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem doubled down on the country's contingency-plan approach to CBDCs, stressing that he sees no urgent need to issue one right now. For Macklem, inter-state competition and coordination remains the key question when it comes to CBDC issuance. He told reporters: “If another country has one and we don’t, that could certainly create some problems. So we want to make sure we’re ready. Currencies move across borders, and so we certainly wouldn’t want to be surprised by some other …

China’s digital currency approach will favor its domestic retail system and prevent the dollarization of the economy according to one former senior official. Zhou Xiaochuan, the president of the Chinese Finance Association and former governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), told attendees at a Eurasia Forum conference on Oct. 27 that the central bank’s focus in creating a digital currency differed considerably from that of the countries in the Group of Seven — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. According to Xiaochuan, the G7 was mainly concerned with “the challenges raised by Libra, Bitcoin, …

Global digital payment giant PayPal might be moving into issuing its own cryptocurrency after officially entering the crypto industry, according to a major industry exec. Meltem Demirors, CSO at digital asset management firm CoinShares, says that she will not be surprised if PayPal issues its own token after the company broke the news of its soon-to-come support for crypto.. In an Oct. 21 interview with CNBC’s Fast Money, Demirors claimed that PayPal’s supporting crypto could eventually become a basis for launching its own, stating: “I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next six to 12 months, we see PayPal launching …

In cryptoland, the fall tends to be regulators’ open season. As unprecedented as it’s been, 2020 is no exception to this trend. Tensions are high on both sides of the Atlantic: As markets were still processing the news of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission cracking down on derivatives exchange platform BitMEX, the Financial Conduct Authority, the British financial watchdog, moved to ban retail investors from using cryptocurrency derivatives altogether. The densely packed news cycle has somewhat muffled the impact of another regulatory bomb that dropped a week earlier and is bound to have major lasting effects on the …

It’s been a good week for the crypto markets. Bitcoin finally burst through the $11,000 ceiling, and kept going. According to some experts, the coin could be on its way to a full 2017-style bull run. Other analysts have identified five events that could move the markets this week, including the election’s effect on the dollar, Europe’s struggles with Brexit and the coronavirus, and Bitcoin’s high hash rate. The investment experts at Stone Ridge Asset Management have been paying attention. After executives had made personal investments in cryptocurrencies, the company created a billion-dollar spinoff with a $115 million investment in …

Editor’s note Blockchain technology has attracted regulatory attention since its inception. The security of the Bitcoin network despite the value of BTC in play has consistently proved the resilience of blockchain technology in maintaining records across a vast range of parties. However, many countries have determined that Bitcoin doesn’t behave as a currency at all, or at least not a replacement for their own. The nations behind the world’s most-used fiat currencies have in many cases pointed to Bitcoin’s volatility as a critical flaw. They have decided that the rise of stablecoins, especially over the past two years, poses a …

The Libra Association, which oversees the as-yet unreleased Libra cryptocurrency, has chosen a chief financial officer and chief risk officer for the project. Ian Jenkins, who touts experience from HSBC, Santander, and Credit Suisse, will supervise the Libra Network’s finances and risk management, according to an Oct. 15 announcement. "Ian’s deep expertise in global finance, risk and strategy will be crucial in bringing the Libra vision to life," James Emmett, managing director for Libra Networks, said in the announcement. Emmett, a former HSBC brass himself, joined Libra in September 2020. The news comes only days after the multi governmental group …

The G20’s financial watchdog, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), has published regulatory recommendations opposing the trans-national ambitions of “global stablecoins,” such as Facebook’s Libra project. The FSB’s report offers regulatory recommendations to G20 member states and the broader international community intended to prevent stablecoin projects from using opportunities for "regulatory arbitrage" and becoming embedded within the financial structures of national economies. The report warns that so-called global stablecoins (GSC) could become “systemically important” across jurisdictions, undermining the capacity for governments to dictate monetary and investment policy within their borders. “The decentralized nature of GSC arrangements could pose governance challenges; stabilization …

Countries representing the world’s largest economies said in a draft of a statement that they would initially oppose the launch of Facebook’s Libra project. According to an Oct. 12 report from Reuters, central bankers and finance ministers from the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and the U.K (also known as the Group of Seven, or G7), said it would halt global stablecoin projects pending appropriate regulatory oversight. The draft stated: “The G7 continues to maintain that no global stablecoin project should begin operation until it adequately addresses relevant legal, regulatory, and oversight requirements through appropriate design and by …

The Facebook-initiated Libra blockchain project continues to grow as its governing body adds a new major industry partner. Blockchain Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the blockchain industry, has joined the Libra Association, according to an official announcement Friday. Alongside the other 26 association participants, Blockchain Capital will now be working to create a “more equitable payment system” with Libra. Bart Stephens, co-founder and managing partner at Blockchain Capital, said, “Leveraging blockchain technology to improve financial access and promote innovation has been at the core of Blockchain Capital’s portfolio strategy.” The Libra Association was formed in June …

The Libra Association has appointed HSBC veteran James Emmett as managing director of its subsidiary firm, Libra Networks LLC. James Emmet spent 25 years at HSBC and is a former colleague of the Libra Association’s new CEO, former HSBC chief legal officer Stuart Levey. Levey is also the former Under Secretary for Terrorism under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama Emmett has held multiple roles in his long career at HSBC, most recently working as group general manager. In an official statement, Levey underscored Emmett’s extensive experience as a financial services executive “with deep substantive expertise and …

The governor of the Bank of France has warned that Europe cannot afford to lose momentum in tackling the challenges posed by private sector global digital assets. His warning came as five EU governments — Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands — all backed the European Commission’s intent to draft regulation for asset-backed crypto assets, notably stablecoins. In their draft joint statement, the five governments reportedly pledged to prevent global stablecoins from operating in the EU before all legal, regulatory and oversight matters have been addressed. The Commission is expected to put forth its proposals for regulating crypto assets …