The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) published an issue paper providing its perspective on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The paper outlines CBDC purposes, designs, as well as the potential benefits and associated risks. The bank will be seeking comments on the proposed paper until Dec. 6. The document focuses on a “general-purpose” CBDC that is a digital currency issued to “any individual or business that wants to use it.” “Such a ‘general-purpose’ CBDC would be closer in function to cash and better placed to fulfil the role of central bank money than a ‘wholesale’ CBDC,” RBNZ wrote. The …

Decentralized exchange dYdX's native token DYDX surged by nearly 80% this week as traders assessed its potential against China's recent ban on crypto transactions. The DYDX price hit a new high of $26.50 on the FTX exchange after trading at around $13 a week ago. The China ban was an apparent boost for the dYdX decentralized exchange (DEX) that offers perpetuals, margin and spot trading, as well as lending and borrowing services to its users. Holding DYDX gives owners the right to propose and vote on changes to dYdX's layer 2 protocol. DYDX stakers receive rewards by depositing to the …

The National Bank of Ukraine, the country’s chief monetary authority, has recently taken to professional social network LinkedIn to promote its blockchain developer job opening. The ad was published by the director of NBU’s IT department, Vladimir Nagornyuk. The ad goes on to list “development, implementation and modification of infrastructure services […] and distributed systems” among the prospective employee’s duties, in addition to mentioning smart contracts and Hyperledger competencies among the requirements for the job. The central bank’s interest in blockchain hires adds to other recent news coming out of Ukraine’s CBDC project, the e-hryvnia. Last week, speaking at a …

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has published a report touting the benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), especially in reducing the cost of cross-border payments. According to the report titled “Inthanon-LionRock to mBridge: Building a multi CBDC platform for international payments” published on Tuesday, CBDCs can reduce the transaction throughput of cross-border payments from three to five business days to only a few seconds. The stated claim is part of the conclusions drawn from phase two of Project Inthanon-LionRock involving the central banks of China, the United Arab Emirates and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. “The prototype demonstrates …

Uniswap (UNI) prices staged a solid rebound after crashing last week in the wake of China’s decision to intensify its anti-Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency rhetoric. UNI price gained 14.90% on Monday to reach an intraday high of $26.26. UNI/USD’s climb came a day after it dropped to a monthly low of $17.63. As a result, it churned out more than 48% profits for the dip buyers within the last 24 hours. Adoption FOMO UNI serves as a governance token inside Uniswap’s decentralized exchange (DEX) ecosystem. As a result, its holders get to vote on matters that help steer the future …

The growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has been a recurrent headline throughout 2021 and to date, hundreds of billions of dollars in crypto assets are locked on protocols across numerous blockchain networks and earning a yield for their holders. What started off as a simple Ethereum-based swap interface that allowed ERC-20 tokens to be exchanged in a decentralized manner, called Uniswap, has exploded into a vast ecosystem full of decentralized exchanges, yield farms, lending protocols and staking platforms. As development continues and older protocols become more established, newer projects have emerged to incorporate more pieces from the traditional …

Marion Laboure, an analyst at Deutsche Bank’s research division, said she can envision Bitcoin taking the role of digital gold in the future: lasting for centuries and largely not controlled by the government. In an update to Deutsche Bank’s website on “what’s next” for the largest banking institution in Germany, Laboure said she could “potentially see Bitcoin to become the 21st-century digital gold,” but warned investors against the crypto asset’s volatility. According to the analyst, most Bitcoin (BTC) purchases are made for investments and speculation rather than keeping the coins for a medium of exchange. “Just a few additional large …

The rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) poses a major challenge for the traditional financial system, an executive at the Chinese central bank has warned. Wen Xinxiang, director of the payment and settlement department at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), has expressed concerns over the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and fiat-pegged stablecoins. Pointing to Bitcoin’s market value now surpassing $800 billion and the total stablecoin market capitalization exceeding $120 billion, Wen outlined major risks associated with the crypto market at a payment and settlement forum on Friday, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported. According to the official, one of …

Ether (ETH) has been in a bearish trend since early September, and this week's Evergrande-led market crash drove the price below $2,700 on Sept.20, its lowest level in 47 days. Curiously, just three weeks ago, Ether was testing the $4,000 psychological barrier, but this changed after mounting crypto regulatory concerns and the fear of China's debt markets triggering a global sell-off intensified. This week United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler spoke to the Washington Post about renewed plans to regulate the crypto sector and the growing stablecoin market. Ether's negative price trend reversed on Sept. 22 …

The United States Federal Reserve is still evaluating the prospects of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the country but says it has not yet decided on the matter. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Powell stated that the Federal Reserve was studying the merits of creating a digital dollar and has plans to issue a paper on the matter. “We are working proactively to issue a CBDC and if so, in what form,” Powell stated while fielding questions at the news conference, adding: “We think it is our obligation to do the work both on public …

The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan is partnering with Ripple to pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the mountainous kingdom. In a Wednesday announcement, Ripple Labs said Bhutan’s central bank would be taking advantage of the company’s private ledger to issue and manage a digital ngultrum. According to Ripple, the move was motivated by the Royal Monetary Authority’s (RMA) effort to improve cross-border payments, expand financial inclusion for its residents, and “extend its commitment to sustainability as the only carbon-negative country in the world.” With a population of roughly 800,000, Bhutan’s gross domestic product amounted to $2.5 billion …

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is showing signs of a recovery on Sept. 22 following a 48-hour corrective stint which saw Bitcoin and altcoins sell-off to their swing lows. Equities and crypto investors were clearly worried about the possible bankruptcy of China’s Evergrande real estate firm and many feared that the possible default could spark a global decline in financial markets. These concerns were temporarily put to rest after the real estate firm was able to come to an agreement with bondholders and avoid defaulting on its obligations technically, and this helped to spark a recovery across the cryptocurrency market that lifted …