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A Law Faculty of the University of Oxford paper examined the legal risks of depositing crypto-assets with custodians in the event of insolvency, and suggests ways that regulation and legal practice can help to mitigate this risk. However a lack of international standards related to the legal status of crypto-assets, along with the global nature of blockchain-based transactions, can make it hard to determine which laws apply. https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2020/06/failed-hopes-disintermediation-crypto-custodian-insolvency-legal

"Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have always been polarizing, even within the world of economics and finance. This divisiveness, which often pits the crypto faithful against skeptical experts from traditional finance, is unfortunate. Both sides can learn a great deal from each other. One of us is a Director General at the European Central Bank with a focus on payment systems and market infrastructure. This past February Ulrich and a colleague published a viral blog post on the ECB website questioning whether Bitcoin had any fundamental value and listing other reasons to be skeptical of its promise as currency. The blog post was a follow-up to an initial critique on the same blog written by Ulrich and his colleague back in 2022."

The IMF published a blog on African countries' approaches to regulating crypto-assets, finding that only one-quarter of countries in sub-Saharan Africa formally regulate crypto. However, two-thirds have implemented some restrictions and six countries-Cameroon, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo-have banned crypto. Zimbabwe has ordered all banks to stop processing transactions and Liberia directed a local crypto startup to cease operations (implicit bans). The blog also warned that public finances could be put at risk if crypto-assets are adopted as legal tender, as the Central African Republic recently did.

According to this European Central Bank (ECB) blog post... "There are three misconceptions about the digital euro. First, that the ECB intends to abolish cash and then, having done so, impose even lower interest rates on the digital euro for reasons related to how monetary policy is implemented. Second, that a digital euro would displace banking intermediation. And third, that the digital euro would not be based on a viable business model. First of all, it is not yet decided whether a digital euro will be introduced at all. We are still exploring the possibility and considering it conceptually. Later this year, the ECB's Governing Council will decide whether or not the ECB should launch a project to get ready to issue a digital euro. Even if it decides to do so, it would simply mean that it want to be prepared. A decision to actually issue a digital euro would come at a later stage."

This NY Fed blog post outlinse some evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on consumer payment behavior. For example, Google searches during the pandemic demonstrated a shift in public interest from cash-related terms to digital payment options. Given evidence that even transient shocks can have long-term effects on technological adoption, the need to address the issues associated with a reduction in privacy that follow from the shift toward digital payments is even more apparent, a subject of a forthcoming NY Fed blog post.

A European Central Bank (ECB) blog post by Ulrich Bindseil and Doris Schneeberger discusses findings from a recent ECB consumer survey and what they mean for the future of cash and digital means of payment. "Despite the preference for cashless payments, 60% of euro area consumers state that they value having the option to pay in cash. This shows that people appreciate having a choice when it comes to how they pay. Their decision may then depend on the particular situation or purchase." The post made it clear that "as cash remains widely used and valued, [the ECB is] committed to maintaining euro cash and will continue to make sure it is available.

Stablecoins thus present as many conundrums as they do potential benefits-and policymakers would be wise to envision far-sighted regulatory regimes that will meet the challenge. The policies adopted today will mold the world of tomorrow. We explore one such avenue in our next blog.

Bitcoin derivatives exchange BitMEX continues to field criticism after attempting to explain a mass liquidation event during which BTC/USD crashed 60%. In this blog post BitMEX addressed questions from traders about the event and how its "insurance fund" works.

According to this IMF blog, if and when countries move ahead with central bank digital currencies, they should consider how to leverage the private sector. Today's dual-monetary system can be extended to the digital age. Central bank currency-along with regulation, supervision, and oversight-will continue to be essential to anchor stability and efficiency of the payment system. And privately-issued money can supplement this foundation with innovation and diversity-perhaps even more so than today. Where central banks decide to end up on the continuum between private-sector and public-sector involvement in the provision of money will vary by country, and ultimately depend on preferences, technology, and the efficiency of regulation.

Three "key values" will now steer Visa's digital currency playbook: maintaining robust data protection standards; remaining network and currency agnostic; and partnering with projects that align with the payments firm's existing expertise. Already a crypto bridge for tens of millions of merchants, Visa cast its digital currency partnerships as critical to preserving what it said was six decades of innovation. The publicly-traded firm cited its business collaborations with crypto exchange Coinbase and investment in the crypto custodian Anchorage. Visa said it is also working directly with policymakers and non-governmental organizations to "help shape the dialogue" around digital currencies, including the evolution of central bank digital currency. https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2020/07/21/advancing-our-approach-1595302085970.html

An IMF blog post reports that amid greater adoption, the correlation of crypto-assets with traditional holdings like stocks has increased significantly, which limits their perceived risk diversification benefits and raises the risk of contagion across financial markets, according to new IMF research.

An IMF blog post calls for a global crypto-asset regulatory framework that provides a level playing field along the activity and risk spectrum, and across borders. More specifically, crypto-asset service providers that deliver critical functions should be licensed or authorized, requirements should be matched to the main use cases, and authorities should provide clear requirements on regulated financial institutions concerning their exposure to and engagement with crypto-assets.

Dr. Craig Wright recently released a blog post explaining the first sentence of the Bitcoin white paper in detail. Now, he has released another explaining the second sentence. This essay is about digital signatures and identity and the crucial role they play in the Bitcoin system.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) published Retail Central Bank Digital Currency: From Vision to Design, which outlines a framework that can help support policymakers in evaluating the interdependencies between central bank digital currency (CBDC) policy and technology choices. In a blog post, they summarized the key principles outlined in paper (see below). "The CBDC strategy framework starts with a central bank's policy goals and aligns those to design principles to create awareness of potential policy trade-offs. Then, the solution exploration phase aligns technology considerations to those principles, and competitive dynamics from the design are considered. Results from experimentation then feed back into design principles to make sure the technical solution aligns to policy goals."

The IMF published a blog post that makes the case for leveraging the technology behind crypto-assets to upgrade payment infrastructures and ensure interoperability, safety, and efficiency in digital finance. It points particularly to tokenization, encryption, and programmability, plus central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to clear and settle transactions. Payments could be made from one private money to another, through the CBDC ledger or platform. Money could be escrowed on the CBDC platform, then released when certain conditions are met, such as when a tokenized asset is received. And the CBDC platform could offer a basic programming language to ensure smart contracts are trusted and compatible with one another. More detail on these ideas were published in a recent IMF working paper ("A Multi-Currency Exchange and Contracting Platform"). https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2022/11/04/A-Multi-Currency-Exchange-and-Contracting-Platform-525445

The IMF published a blog post that makes the case for leveraging the technology behind crypto-assets to upgrade payment infrastructures and ensure interoperability, safety, and efficiency in digital finance. It points particularly to tokenization, encryption, and programmability, plus central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to clear and settle transactions. Payments could be made from one private money to another, through the CBDC ledger or platform. Money could be escrowed on the CBDC platform, then released when certain conditions are met, such as when a tokenized asset is received. And the CBDC platform could offer a basic programming language to ensure smart contracts are trusted and compatible with one another.

"In September 2018 we launched the Mobile Money Regulatory Index, an interactive tool that measures the effectiveness of mobile money regulatory frameworks. Today, we are pleased to release a paper that provides a deep analysis on the findings of the Mobile Money Regulatory Index. We examine in detail the six key facets of regulation."

"To provide continued transparency about USD Coin (USDC), we wanted to highlight some data about redemptions and provide some clarity about why making redemptions seamless is an essential element of USDC's success."

Ripple Labs likes to boast about its growing network of clients - financial institutions that supposedly use xCurrent or xRapid. Ripple claims this network of clients, the RippleNet, counted over 100 members by the end of 2017.

The Everex eTHB stablecoin is equivalent to one Thai Baht and powered by Ethereum smart contracts. It is the main component of the Everex Wallet application, which allows users to deposit, send, receive and withdraw cash or transfer funds to a bank account in a number of DFC stablecoins representing different national currencies.