Banque de France has picked eight potential candidates to test the integration of a CBDC for interbank settlements, according to the announcement published earlier today. The list of approved participants includes mainstream juggernauts like Accenture, HSBC, and Societe Generale, as well as smaller crypto-focused players like Seba Bank and LiquidShare. The announcement follows the central bank’s call for applications to experiment with the use of a digital euro, which it posted in March. At the time, the institution said it would select a maximum of 10 CBDC-related applications, with “innovative nature” being one of the main selection criteria. Now, the …

A crypto exchange says it is focused on offering the best experience possible in the European market. Cryptocurrency exchange EXMO now offers trading pairs that combine popular cryptocurrencies with the British pound and the euro — a refreshing change from many rival platforms that focus on dollars. Users are given the freedom to make deposits and withdrawals, using familiar methods, including Visa and Mastercard, as well as SEPA and SWIFT transfers. British traders can also benefit from Faster Payments, and as the name suggests, this allows transactions to be completed much quicker than conventional methods. Although the company acknowledges that …

Bitcoin's (BTC) value appreciation over the past 11 years sets it apart from virtually all of the world’s fiat currencies. Central banks around the globe continue to churn out money, deliberately devaluing existing currency through inflation. They have also had a lot longer than Bitcoin’s 11 years for the effects to accumulate. So, how do major fiat currencies compare to Bitcoin? Bitcoin: The bar by which others will be measured The first Bitcoin was mined on Jan. 3, 2009. The first widely accepted commercial transaction was on May 22, 2010. Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in an …

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) aren’t really easy to spend in day-to-day life, mainly because retailers prefer to stay away from crypto’s volatility. In order to build a bridge between traditional finance and emergent assets like Bitcoin, a Swiss crypto startup called Eidoo has introduced a new Visa crypto debit card that uses regulated stablecoins for crypto-to-fiat conversion. The so-called Eidoo Card has been approved for operation by payment giant Visa. Announcing the news on May 25, Eidoo told Cointelegraph that its new card will enable 40 million Visa merchants to accept crypto-derived fiat currencies, including the British pound (GBP) and …

Per a May 20 announcement from Banque de France, France has become the first country to successfully trial a digital euro, operational on a blockchain, following a call for new technology to back such a development at the end of March The bank says it tested a sale of securities for central bank digital currency (CBDC) on May 14, signalling the beginning of more robust testing. Wholesale rather than retail CBDC Though the bank’s announcement did not go into great detail, it did indicate that the current pilot program is focusing on wholesale rather than retail uses for a digital …

While global jurisdictions are progressing with central bank digital currencies, private institutions also work on digitizing national currencies. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), a major Austrian bank, is working on a new form of national currency tokenization using blockchain technology. RBI is extending its collaboration with Polish-British fintech firm, Billon, following a successful test of end-to-end digitized national currency transfers. RBI Coin is designed to speed up cross-border transactions As announced on May 18, RBI and Billon are working on initial stages of an RBI tokenization platform, currently dubbed RBI Coin. The pilot is planned to be conducted until late 2020 …

Lately, it seems that most major national banks are toying with the notion of a national digital currency. France is conducting tests of its own now, and it could pave the way for a digital euro. What will France’s experiments involve, and how will they affect the crypto ecosystem? Here’s what is known so far. According to a document it published on March 30, the Bank of France is on the hunt for a central bank digital currency that can ease interbank settlements. To find one, the institution has called on Europe’s finest, inviting applicants — institutional or otherwise — …

Gold has been regarded as an eternal value since times immemorial. This shiny metal still acts as a store of value — especially in countries like India. Due to its exclusivity, gold is an essential element of the global financial system, and since this metal is not subject to corrosion, it has many areas of technical application. Unfortunately, the metal is heavy, its transportation is fraught with certain difficulties, and storage costs a lot of money. The last century, however, has brought more changes within the existing world monetary system than all the previous millenniums. Following the national fiat currency …

New Monaco-based cryptocurrency debit card supplier Bitsa has just expanded its prepaid card with major privacy-focused altcoin Monero (XMR). By enabling Monero support on its Bitsa Card, the company unclocks “all types” of XMR-based card transactions in physical stores and online, including card-to-card transfers and Monero conversion to euro (EUR), Bitsa announced on Feb. 21. Launched in Q3 2019, Bitsa Card supports a total of 12 cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) alongside EUR bank transfers and payments so far, Bitsa COO Luis Vaello said in an email to Cointelegraph. Bitsa Card is one of the world’s first crypto card providers to …

Tokenomica, a crypto asset exchange based in Malta, has announced over-the-counter, or OTC, cryptocurrency trading for large participants. The Mediterranean-based exchange now offers participants the ability to trade large amounts of BTC for Euros, separate from the exchange’s order books, Tokenomica announced on its blog on Feb. 18. The exchange’s announcement made clear that other cryptocurrencies would also be available for OTC trading but remained ambiguous as to other trading pairs with the Euro. “BTC, ETH Waves and WEST are available for Euro trading,” a Tokenomica representative clarified to Cointelegraph in an email. “Other listed assets (XRP and USDT) are …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance added support for Australian dollars (AUD) and Thai baht. Binance announced support for the national currencies in separate releases on Jan. 7. Thai digital asset exchange Satang Corporation will process Thai baht transfers, while Australian dollar transfers will be facilitated by Banxa, a company specialized in internationally compliant fiat-to-crypto gateways. Satang’s fiat processing service is integrated into Binance’s trading platform by means of a recently launched application programming interface that allows users to deposit and withdraw baht directly to their accounts. Satang CEO and co-founder Poramin Insom said that the collaboration will help the adoption of …

Major global cryptocurrency exchange Binance now allows users to buy crypto directly through Visa credit and debit cards. In a Dec. 26 announcement, Binance said that its users are able to directly purchase four cryptocurrencies after binding their accounts to Visa cards issued within the European Economic Area. Binance users can buy four cryptocurrencies with euros or pounds Once the Visa card is linked, users can buy four cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and Binance’s native token Binance Coin (BNB) with euros or British pounds. According to the announcement, Binance plans to add support for Mastercard and additional …