Fintech Daily Digest

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a report on consumers' use of "cash back" services. While people use various means of getting cash, one common method is to get "cash back" at a store when making a purchase with a debit or prepaid card. This option may be particularly important in banking deserts and in areas where banks and ATM operators charge significant fees. Retailers are essentially filling a void in access to cash, which has historically been supplied by banks and credit unions in an affordable way, and some retailers charge a fee for these transactions.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a paper that uses a theoretical model to show how transparency incentivises stablecoin issuers to keep a larger share of the reserves in liquid assets, thus reducing the risk of runs and potential bankruptcy ex-ante. In addition, transparency on reserves disincentivises stablecoin holders from irrationally demanding the reimbursement of their funds. The model also suggests that regulatory interventions after a run has become imminent, in the form of a suspension, can still reduce the negative impact of potential bankruptcy on consumers, and that letting assets mature after imposing the suspension can deliver the first-best social welfare outcome.

Coinmetrics published an update on stablecoin markets. It finds that stablecoin flows have turned positive, pushing total supply above $160 billion towards record-highs. The stablecoin landscape continues to expand in diversity, use cases, and risk profiles, from fiat-collateralized and crypto-backed to interest-bearing and protocol-native stablecoins. With stablecoin collateral increasingly composed of U.S dollar equivalents and real-world assets, changes in the interest rate environment could impact profitability and attractiveness of various stablecoins.

On September 1, 2024, Russia will reportedly soon start trials of cryptocurrency exchanges and the use of digital tokens for cross-border transactions to help firms circumvent international sanctions. It will use Russia's National Payment Card System (NPCS) to swap between rubles and cryptocurrencies. The NPCS already features infrastructure for functions like interbank settlement and clearing, and it is overseen by the central bank. According to Ledger Insights, stablecoins pegged to Chinese yuan and a BRICS currency basket will feature in the trials.

The RBI is set to launch the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) that will provide lenders digital access to customer's financial and non-financial data -- including land records -- stored in various silos to help them extend frictionless credit, especially to farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This cuts down the time taken for credit appraisal, especially for smaller and rural borrowers. The ULI architecture has common and standardized APIs, designed for a 'plug and play' approach to ensure digital access to information from diverse sources. This reduces the complexity of multiple technical integrations. https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=1456

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das says that the retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot has over 5 million users and 16 banks participating. Programmability functionalities are also being tested, and new use cases aimed at testing features such as anonymity and offline availability are proposed to be rolled out gradually. He also said that there should not be in any rush to roll out a system-wide CBDC until a comprehensive understanding of its impact on users, on monetary policy, on the financial system and on the economy. Such understanding would emerge from generation of user data in pilots.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has published Consultation Paper No. 7 of 2024 containing proposals to enhance its regulatory framework to allow the issuance of Fiat-Referenced Tokens (FRTs). It adopts adopt a risk-based and proportionate approach based on appropriate regulatory requirements that incorporate the necessary safeguards to ensure that FRT issuers operate in a safe and sound manner and informed by current practices in leading jurisdictions. The latter include the New York Department of Finance, the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

"Women perceive crypto as one of the most unattractive hobbies a man can have, even more so than watching anime, cosplaying or reading comic books, according to a recent survey. Crypto was seen as the ninth-most unattractive hobby for males, the Aug. 24 survey by the Date Psychology blog found, which was a convenience sample of 814 people, 48% of which were female. The authors noted that based on past surveys, their sample population disproportionately includes women of "high social status," with a high level of education and who are predominately white... The results show that females thought reading was the most attractive hobby for a man (98.2%), followed by knowing or learning a foreign language (95.6%) and playing an instrument (95.4%)."

Wyoming will launch a stablecoin in the first quarter of 2025, backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities, to give individuals and businesses a faster and cheaper way to transact while creating a new revenue stream for the U.S. state. The state plans to issue the token to an exchange so the exchange can issue it to the retail user. There will be a "buffer" in the reserves to account for any potential deviations and full transparency to establish and maintain public trust. Wyoming plans to use several different public blockchains, although it hasn't specified which ones.

Moody's and Elliptic have formed a strategic alliance to integrate on-chain blockchain data with traditional off-chain data sources to screen virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The solution leverages Elliptic's real-time on-chain data, which categorizes the exposure of digital asset transactions to illicit activity and combines this with Moody's off-chain data within an integrated risk engine. Together, it provides a comprehensive overview of a VASP, helping institutions understand who they are doing business with and the associated risk.

The Latin American Journal of Central Banking (LAJCB) published a paper that uses a theoretical model to examine how the introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDC) impacts small open economies (SOE). The main results are: (i) CBDC always increases the welfare of financially unconstrained households; however, it increases the welfare of constrained households when the cost of carrying cash is high enough and when the government purchase level is sufficiently low; (ii) CBDC increases the fiscal income by bringing more agents out of the informal economy, improving fiscal sustainability; (iii) CBDC improves the terms of trade as it strengthens the domestic currency.

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) launched an ideation aimed at improving the prototype of its digital som central bank digital currency (CBDC). The goal is to ensure technological improvement of existing payment solutions and innovations, and at the testing stage to take into account the interests of citizens, business, government and the financial sector. Key areas of interest include system integration, security, user experience, and international interoperability.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub London Centre and the Bank of England launched Project Keystone that aims to develop a standardized data analytics platform focused on ISO 20022 data. The increased use of ISO 20022 standards for payment messages in real time gross settlement (RTGS) systems means many central banks will adopt the protocol in the coming years. Ninety-three percent of payment system operators have already either implemented ISO 20022 or are working to implement it in their systems.

The U.S. Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) officially withdrew its proposed rule, introduced in 2020, that would have imposed know-your-customer (KYC) requirements on unhosted wallets. Basically, it became clear that it would be practically impossible for exchanges and other virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to implement the proposed rules. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/16/2024-16461/semiannual-agenda#p-72

Tether plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) fully backed by liquid UAE-based reserves. It will launch in collaboration with UAE-based Phoenix Group and Green Acorn Investments. It will join Tether's slate of stablecoin products that include USDT, EURT, CNHT, MXNT, XAUT and aUSDT.

The Republic of Palau's Ministry of Finance reported the successful completion of Phase 2a of its National Government Payment Service Project. Phase 2a involved integrating a Ripple-based stablecoin system into Palau's financial infrastructure. Phase 2b aims to continue the development of the ecosystem, with a specific focus on integrating more comprehensive financial, legal, and business frameworks. This phase will also address the scalability of the payment system and ensure its robustness against potential security threats. https://www.palaugov.pw/wp-content/uploads/Palau-National-Payment-System-Phase-2a-Final-Report.pdf

G+D's Lars Hupel published a summary of a Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) and UDPN Alliance cross-border payments proof of concept (POC). It involved connecting the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN) multilateral global messaging network and G+D's Filia® retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform. The UDPN network comprises a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based application layer where smart contracts can be deployed and called for core UDPN functions (e.g., transfer, swap). The POC implemented payments from hypothetical EUR (running on Filia®) to Indian Rupee (INR) (running on UDPN). This included transfers between end-user wallets, currency conversion, liquidity management, CBDC issuance, identity, and wallet management.

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) introduced the Bakong Tourists app. By downloading the app and registering with an email, tourists can top up their accounts and use the KHQR code to pay for goods and services, reducing the need for cash and ensuring a seamless experience during their stay. https://www.nbc.gov.kh/english/news_and_events/press_releases_info.php?id=208

The European Central Bank (ECB) is planning a special focus workshop on innovations in business-to-business (B2B) payments and the role digital central bank money could play on October 9, 2024. The potential of private undertakings such as e-money tokens (e.g., stablecoins), commercial bank money tokens (CBMT) and other, similar forms will also be discussed. The workshop would be an opportunity to gather input from stakeholders on the challenges and needs arising from new uses cases related to B2B payments. It would also provide a forum in which to assess these against the objectives of the ongoing initiatives both of the European payments industry and the Eurosystem's retail payments strategy and initiatives.

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) published draft guidelines on digital asset regulation for feedback from the public and industry stakeholders. The central bank proposes an eight-pillar crypto regulation framework, mainly intensifying the registration and reporting requirements of crypto exchanges or virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The proposed regulations will require crypto exchanges to monitor and report suspicious transactions and comply with the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Travel Rule. https://www.bog.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Draft-Guidelines-on-Digital-Assets.pdf