Japanese banking officials continue to voice concern over China’s progress in the development of its central bank digital currency. Kenji Okamura, vice-finance minister for Japan’s international affairs, warned the global community of the potential risks of China’s digital yuan, Reuters reported Oct. 9. Okamura said that China’s digital yuan initiative is “moving at a relatively fast pace” as the Chinese government presumably aims to be the first global jurisdiction to adopt a CBDC. “First-mover advantage is something we should be afraid of,” Okamura said at a digital seminar backed by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, adding: This advantage …

The major Chinese city of Shenzhen is launching a pilot program to promote the digital yuan with a public giveaway. In collaboration with the country's central bank, Shenzhen is planning to distribute a total of 10 million digital yuan ($1.5 million) — China’s central bank digital currency, local news agency Sina Finance reports Oct. 9. As reported, the giveaway pilot will be funded by Shenzhen's Luohu District. The giveaway money will be reportedly distributed to 50,000 recipients through a lottery. Shenzhen residents can start applying online to participate in the giveaway on Oct. 9. According to the report, each “gift” …

With Central Bank Digital Currencies a point of focus across the globe, a number of countries' banking authorities have jointly produced a document discussing the currency type at length. The Bank for International Settlements told Cointelgraph in a statement that a group of seven central banks and the BIS had collaborated on the report, "identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDCs to help central banks meet their public policy objectives." The BIS is a global institution helping out national central banks. CBDCs have been a hot topic in 2020, with a number of countries expressing interest in …

The South Korean central bank announced on Oct. 7 that it will begin the distribution phase of its central bank digital currency, or CBDC, pilot scheme next year, according to a report by local media outlet The Korea Times. This will see the Bank of Korea test distribution of the digital won in a virtual environment, although a BoK official stressed that there would be no third party involvement at this point, adding: "The CBDC will be issued and circulated in the virtual world and we are going to test a number of transaction scenarios under a variety of circumstances." …

Speaking at the LA Blockchain Summit conference on October 6, Ripple co-founder, Chris Larsen, slammed the United States for falling behind in the race to design “the next generation of the global financial system.” The address expanded on some of Larsen’s frustrations with U.S. regulations that has led to the company considering moving to a different jurisdiction. Larsen argues the U.S. has fallen “woefully behind” in the ongoing “tech cold war with China,” asserting that China’s central government has outpaced American lawmakers in providing legislative clarity, allocating resources, building infrastructure, and fostering innovation in blockchain and other emerging technologies, including …

Canada's central bank, the Bank of Canada, recently put out a report on the risks and benefits of a central bank digital currency. "An anonymous token-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) would pose particular security risks," the Bank of Canada wrote in its Oct. 5 report. "These risks arise from how balances are aggregated and stored, how CBDC is used for transactions, and how various solutions such as e-wallets, crypto exchanges and banks compete to attract users." Over the past year or so, discussions have picked up and various governments have begun digitizing their currencies in the form of a …

The European Central Bank (ECB) could begin seriously considering and studying the digital euro by mid-2021, the bank said in a report released Oct. 2. The report examined how a digital euro may impact retail payments and how it can protect payments in the future. It also looks at how virtual currencies could fit within the landscape of the entire Eurosystem. However, it does not specify what model the ECB should take when and if it designs its digital currency. Based on the report, the ECB may start a virtual currency program “to ensure meaningful answers are obtained to the …

The Estonian central bank, Eesti Pank, announced the launch of a research program to study how to build a digital currency infrastructure. According to a statement, Eesti Pank partnered with technology companies SW7 Group and Guardtime for the research project. It aims to see if a keyless signature infrastructure (KSI) blockchain solution can run its virtual currency program. Estonia already uses KSI blockchain technology for its e-government services. The bank’s project will also look into new payment solutions “that can be made possible by using electronic IDs and other Estonian e-government solutions.” The project, however, will not specify which technologies …

Blockchain firm ConsenSys announced Sep. 25 that it had been awarded the contract for a cross-border payment project between Thailand and Hong Kong. The company will lead the second implementation phase of Project Ithanon-Lionrock. The project is a joint initiative to create a cross-border central bank digital currency, or CBDC, payment network between banks in the two countries. Initiated in May 2019 by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, or HKMA, and the Bank of Thailand, or BOT, the project announced the results of its initial research phase back in January. This found that there was significant potential to use DLT …

Recently, European central bank executives — Thomas Moser from Swiss National Bank and Martin Diehl from Deutsche Bundesbank — stated that central bank digital currencies don’t need a blockchain. They expressed their opinions by saying that blockchains — especially public, or permissionless — make no sense for central bank digital currencies. The reason is that central banks are central parties; therefore, a blockchain, being a decentralized ledger, is not applicable. It is a pity, but the clerks seem to be unknowingly (or intentionally, who knows?) wrong in their conclusions to why and how blockchain technology can be used, especially with …

Repeatedly, proponents of disruptive technologies have proven that regulation and innovation have an immense potential to actualize a mutually beneficial existence. The often delicate relationship between innovators and regulators — which may be mired by antagonism — is fundamental to the functioning of the global economy, especially at times as challenging as we are facing now. The fuel that keeps the fire of the important relationship between regulators and businesses alight — like any — is communication and collaboration. This could not be more apt when it comes to the innovators behind distributed ledger technology and the regulators in overseeing …

A new study by crypto mining firm Genesis Mining suggests the majority of U.S. citizens are against the introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency. A survey conducted by Genesis mining discovered that out of the 400 participants, less than 25% agreed to the proposition that the government should abandon paper money in favor of a digital dollar, while more than half were opposed. However, the number of CBDC proponents has nearly doubled in 12 months — with only 13% of respondents being in favor of a digital dollar when asked in 2019. While more than 85% of the survey’s …