The forthcoming digital yuan will reportedly be compatible with major payment networks within the country. Mu Changchun, the head of the People's Bank of China's digital currency research institute, said that the central bank-backed digital yuan will be compatible with major mobile payment wallets like WeChat Pay and Alipay. According to a report from South China Morning Post, Mu said during a conference that the digital yuan will not compete with WeChat Pay and Alipay: “They don’t belong to the same dimension. WeChat and Alipay are wallets, while the digital yuan is the money in the wallet.” These recent statements …
Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Bank of Russia, argued that there is a line between anonymity and privacy regarding the circulation of an upcoming digital ruble. Speaking at a press conference on Oct. 23, Nabiullina said that Russia’s digital ruble will not have the same level of anonymity as cash. However, the bank expects to strengthen user privacy, Nabiullina promised, stating: “Still, we shouldn’t confuse the anonymity with confidentiality of digital ruble transactions. Indeed, there will not be the same level of anonymity that is supported by cash transactions. But confidentiality is expected to be enhanced.” Nabiullina elaborated that …
A Russian official argued that the country should have launched research on a central bank digital currency four years ago in order to claim leadership in the field. However, according to Dmitry Peskov, a special representative of the President of the Russian Federation on digital and technological development, the first-mover advantage also brings a number of risks in terms of financial stability. According to news service RBC on Oct. 23, Peskov said that a fast-second strategy in developing a CBDC could be more efficient than becoming the world’s first issuer, stating: “The financial risk is so great that it seems …
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 …
Burkhard Balz, a German politician and executive board member of the country's central bank, said in a speech on Oct. 20 that it was crucial to build tools to restrict how the digital euro is used upon launch. Balz emphasized that people should only be able to use the central bank-backed digital euro as a mode of payment and not as a store of value. If the central bank digital currency has the same characteristics as traditional money, depositors could withdraw their funds in times of a crisis by converting it into digital euros, making the funds a liability for …
Financial authorities in New Zealand are in no hurry to issue a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, according to a central bank executive. Christian Hawkesby, assistant governor at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, claimed that the country has “no imminent plans” to issue a CBDC. In a speech on Monday, Hawkesby said that the bank remains open-minded about further progress in money and payment technologies and has actively engaged in CBDC research. He said: “To issue currency that meets the needs of the public, we must take a new and holistic approach. We acknowledge there is much work …
Line, a Tokyo-based subsidiary of the South Korean internet search engine company Naver, is building a platform for developing central bank digital currencies, South Korean news agency the Chosun Ilbo reported on Oct. 19. Sources familiar with the matter reportedly told Chosun Ilbo that Line aims to support the development of a so-called “customized CBDC.” The messaging company is discussing the application of its blockchain-based CBDC platform with several central banks in major Asian countries, according to the report. Line executives said that they cannot disclose the exact countries that are considering the platform’s application. A Line spokesperson told Cointelegraph …
According to David Birch, fintech guru and author of “The Currency Cold War”, if the U.S. doesn’t ramp up its efforts in the digital currency race, the global dominance of the dollar might soon be under threat. Such a scenario could find central banks around the world (as well as private companies) launching their own digital currencies — Some of which could potentially challenge the dollar in cross border payments and global trade. Birch feels it is unlikely that any of these competitors will replace the dollar as the world’s dominant currency, however. According to his vision, we are more …
The United States will not be issuing a digital dollar until the Federal Reserve resolves all questions around a potential central bank digital currency, or CBDC, according to the Fed's chairman, Jerome Powell. Powell claimed that he is not worried about other countries having a first-mover advantage when it comes to issuing CBDCs. Speaking at a Monday panel on cross-border payments hosted by the International Monetary Fund, Powell said: "We have not made a decision to issue a CBDC, and we think there’s a great deal of work yet to be done. [...] In fact, I actually do think that …
The vast majority of China’s $1.5 million digital yuan lottery winners have received and spent their “red envelopes” of digital yuan. As of Sunday, a total of 47,573 out of 50,000 lottery winners in China have received their prizes, Shenzhen authorities officially announced. According to the announcement, the winners conducted a total of 62,788 transactions accounting for 8.8 million yuan ($1.3 million). This amount represents about 88% of the total 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) that was to be distributed in the giveaway pilot in Shenzhen. Some winners have not only spent their “red envelopes” but also topped up their …
A number of financial institutions in Russia have expressed interest in testing the country’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC. According to an Oct. 16 report by local news agency Izvestia, at least five Russian banks are interested in taking part in Russia’s non-public digital ruble pilots in the first half of 2021. The list of banks includes state-backed Promsvyazbank, the Credit Bank of Moscow, commercial bank Zenit, mortgage bank Dom.RF, and Crimea’s Russian National Commercial Bank. As reported, the latter wants to be actively involved in the first pilots in order to provide Crimea with the “most innovative banking …
The Central Bank of The Bahamas, or CBOB, is planning to make its central bank digital currency project interoperable on an international level. Bobby Chen, the CBOB’s assistant manager of electronic solutions, claimed that The Bahamas’ digital currency — dubbed the “Sand Dollar” — should eventually be interoperable with other global currencies, local news agency the Nassau Guardian reported on Oct. 15. Chen said, “At the moment, it is currently only used in a domestic setting, but eventually we are working on a solution that will make it interoperable with other global currencies.” Cleopatra Davis, head of banking at the …