The United Kingdom is a step closer to launching a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) after releasing a consultation paper explaining the proposed digital pound, which the public has nicknamed “Britcoin.” The 116-page consultation paper was jointly released on Feb. 7 by the Bank of England (BoE) and His Majesty’s Treasury. A technology working paper was also released delving into the technical and economic design considerations. Despite the rise of privately-issued stablecoins in recent years, the paper said CBDCs such as the digital pound can co-exist in what they expect to be a “mixed payments economy.” “In much the same …

The U.K. outline of the future financial services regulatory regime for crypto covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens and initial coin offerings. And it’s certainly good news for the industry, as the upcoming regulation doesn’t propose a ban on algorithmic stablecoins or excessive requirements on data sharing for digital asset operators. The Australian consultation paper on “token mapping” is a foundational step in the government’s multistage reform agenda to regulate the market. Based on the “functional” and technology-neutral method, the paper proposes several basic definitions for all things crypto. Its taxonomy …

Finnish company Membrane Finance has released a fully-reserved stablecoin backed by the euro, according to a Feb. 2 blog post from the company. The company is licensed by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (Fin-FSA) and claims that the new ”EUROe” coin is “the first and only EU-regulated crypto stablecoin.” Membrane Finance is excited to announce the launch of EUROe on Ethereum! Read more at https://t.co/nV8dYKkBmK, and read the thread below to see how you can get started with $EUROe from today! — EUROe (@EUROemoney) February 2, 2023 U.S.-based Circle Inc. released its own euro-backed stablecoin in June, but its Euro …

Stablecoins have been under much scrutiny after the implosion of the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, TerraUSD (UST), in May 2022. The UST saga led to a lot of skepticism that caused consumers to question the safety of stablecoins. In the seventh episode of Hashing It Out, Cointelegraph's Elisha Owusu Akyaw (GhCryptoGuy) interviewed Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief technology officer, about how stablecoins work alongside a discussion on frequently asked questions about stable tokens. Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) rocked the boats of stablecoin issuers after the third most popular stablecoin, TerraUSD, depegged in 2022. Tether was one of such issuers …

According to a new social post on Feb. 1, Maker decentralized autonomous organization, or MakerDAO, has approved the creation of a new fund dedicated to expenses related to legal defense. MakerDAO is the issuer of the DAI United States dollar stablecoin. As told by developers, Maker will allocate 5 million DAI to "reimburse legal defense expenses in case of legal or regulatory action against specific participants of MakerDAO." The post further explained: "Initially, the coverage will be provided to Recognized Delegates, Core Unit Facilitators, Core Unit permanent contributors, and active MKR holders. The legal action against the beneficiary must be …

Tether (USDT) — the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization — has never received any loan from the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius, according to the chief technology officer. Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether and Bitfinex crypto exchange, took to Twitter on Jan. 31 to announce that Tether has “never borrowed from Celsius.” The tweet came in response to the Celsius bankruptcy examiner report, which allegedly mistakenly implied that Tether was among Celsius’ borrowers alongside firms like Three Arrows Capital, which borrowed $75 million from the firm. Released on Jan. 31, the examiner report mentioned that “Celsius’s loans to Tether were …

His Majesty’s Treasury published a long-anticipated consultation paper for the United Kingdom's upcoming crypto regulation. The extensive 80-page document covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and initial coin offerings (ICOs). As stated by the HM Treasury, the proposals seek to place the U.K.’s financial services sector at the forefront of crypto and thus avoid the hardline control measures, which have gained momentum globally amid the crypto winter. The Treasury announced that there won’t be a separate regulatory regime for crypto as it would fall under the framework of the U.K.’s …

A partnership between Poundtoken and BitcoinPoint will make the country's first 100% backed GBP stablecoin ($GBPT) accessible to retail consumers via a network of 18,000 ATMs across the United Kingdom. The move marks another step towards the U.K. becoming a "crypto hub" and is in line with the government's push to use stablecoins for wholesale settlements. Bitcoin Point is a Lightning Network-enabled Bitcoin (BTC), and cryptocurrency exchange, licensed and registered in the U.K. Poundtoken is the sole issuer of the GBPT ($GBPT) stablecoin. Poundtoken states that its stablecoin GBPT is fully backed in pound sterling at all times, with monthly …

Since the fall of the Terra (LUNA) algorithmic-stablecoin in mid-2022, many users in the crypto space have developed a weariness towards that particular asset class. The market for algorithmic stablecoins has dropped 10 times what it was at its all-time high prior to the Terra incident. However, this has not stopped developers on the Cardano network pushed forward with the launch of the ecosystem’s overcollateralized stablecoin. Djed (DJED) launched on the Cardano mainnet on Jan 31. and is pegged to USD and backed by Cardano’s native coin ADA (ADA). It uses the SHEN token as its reserve coin. According to …

In the key principles of its upcoming regulatory framework, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKNA) didn’t find a place for algorithmic stablecoins. Instead, the chief financial regulator will demand all stablecoin issuers back up their values with underlying reserve assets at all times. On Jan. 31, the HKNA issued the consultation conclusion to the discussion paper on crypto and stablecoins, summarizing the feedback from 58 submissions. In its summary, the regulator repeats the popular formula of a “risk-based and agile” approach, which is necessary for the maturing crypto industry. The regulatory arrangements, based on the consultation process, are expected in …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls. E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest …

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović has announced on Twitter that his country is pursuing a digital currency in conjunction with Ripple. Abazović met with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and vice president James Wallis at Davos. Wallis is Ripple's vice president for central bank engagements and CBDCs. Abazović apparently had something like a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in mind in his announcement, as he stated in the thread: “In cooperation with @Ripple and the Central Bank, we launched a pilot project to build the first digital currency or stablecoin for Montenegro.” The exact nature of the potential future digital currency …