Fintech Daily Digest

Perhaps the takeaway is that when banks refuse to do business with crypto traders, or when a government bans trading altogether, it doesn't stop traders from trading. It just forces them to find creative solutions. If it were easy for crypto exchanges to use the traditional banking system, there would be no need for Tether at all.

The European Central Bank should consider issuing a public digital currency, an EU draft document said, after plans by Facebook to introduce a private one met with a hostile response from global regulators.

In a survey of 3,000 banking customers around the world, Kantar found that 93% of consumers in China have used neobank services, 50% of Indians, and 32% of Brazilians. However, across Western Europe only a small minority of consumers has opened a neobank account, with the Netherlands and Germany leading with 4% usage, and only 2% of U.S. consumers.ds and Germany lead with 4% usage; France and Spain are lagging with 2% usage In the USA, only 2% of consumers have utilised the services of a neobank"

The Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association published "Tokenised Securities - A Roadmap for Market Participants and Regulators" that analyzes how tokenisation will impact market participants, including incumbent financial institutions and issuers, and looks at issues they need to consider in the various stages of the securities lifecycle.

Mastercard launched Mastercard Accelerate, a global initiative that simplifies the way that Mastercard works with fintechs, giving them access to everything they need to grow quickly.

The Bitcoin Rich List, or the number of addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC, has swelled in the past 12 months, possibly reflecting an influx of high-net-worth investors. The metric has registered growth of 30% since September 2018.

Foreign visitors in China finally will be able to use Alipay to pay for goods and services, marking the first time Alibaba is opening up access to its e-wallet outside its user population. Previously available only to consumers with a Chinese bank account and local mobile number, an international version of Alipay can be downloaded and used in mainland China over a 90-day period.

Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Einstein has closed its doors with more than 16 million Canadian dollars (~US$12.4 million) owing to customers.

On Nov. 3, the U.S central bank posted a new job opening to its website, looking for a new manager who is expected to contribute to the research of digital currencies, stablecoins and distributed ledger technologies.

The Stellar Development Foundation has burned 55 billion of its XLM tokens, over half the cryptocurrency's supply.

Short version: Tether is the internal accounting system for the largest fraud since Madoff. Read on for the long version.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has updated its guidelines on the taxation of transactions involving crypto assets.

The Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), the country's central bank, has signed an agreement with telecommunications giant Huawei.

The payments landscape continues to morph. Driven by innovation and shifts in consumer preferences, new systems, new methods and new players are shaping the future of payments. The BIS Red Book statistics offer a look into that future.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates is to establish a new fintech office to implement its fintech strategy and roadmap.

Microsoft is taking its secret platform for creating tokens similar to bitcoin out for a test drive. The software giant, which was among the first to accept bitcoin for payment, has created a mint for issuing a wide range of crypto assets.

Existing securities rules could apply to "stablecoin" digital currency initiatives such as Facebook's Libra project to help realize its benefits.

China's insurance market has grown rapidly over the past few years. In 2017, total primary premiums in China hit RMB 3.1 trillion, making the nation the second largest insurance market in the world. Online insurance has achieved even faster growth, with online insurance premiums increasing by nearly twentyfold over the last five years from RMB 11.07 billion in 2013 to RMB 183.53 billion in 2017.

The Bahrain Economic Development Board has introduced a fast-track setup program for startups looking to do business there. The new initiative will provide an expedited entry process covering visa requirements, residency and business registration processes. It also offers guidance from the country's incubators and accelerators, as well as access to grants and financial supports.

The German private banks rate programmable digital money as an innovation with great potential that can be a key component in the next stage of the evolution of digitalisation.