Fintech Daily Digest

"BigTech firms have unique advantages that banks cannot easily replicate and therefore present a much stronger challenge to established banks in consumer finance and loans to small firms. Both Fintech and BigTech are contributing to a secular trend of banks losing their comparative advantage as they have less access to unique information about parties seeking credit."

The report describes three disruptive ways that fintech can shift the center of gravity of the financial system towards the citizen: first, by increasing the quality and user-friendliness of relevant financial information; second, by reducing financial intermediation that does not add consumer value; and third, by presenting citizens with platforms for collective action, whether through crowd-funding or through consumer, employee, or shareholder actions.

TransferWise has launched TransferWise for Banks in the U.S. This allows banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to integrate TransferWise's API directly into their infrastructure, so customers can make international payments from within their banking app.

Lykke launched a token called Short Lyci (pronounced as Lucy). Investors in Short Lyci profit whenever the underlying index falls. If for instance the index of 25 currencies declines by a tenth, Short Lyci owners will gain 10 percent,

Jennifer Robertson, the widow of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten, is transferring nearly C$12 million in assets to EY Canada, the bankruptcy trustee for the now-defunct crypto exchange.

Anchorage, one of the 28 Libra Association founding members, will allow organizations developing products and services on Telegram's blockchain-based Telegram Open Network platform, to store their gram online currency securely when it launches next month.

Anchorage, one of the 28 Libra Association founding members, will allow organizations developing products and services on Telegram's blockchain-based Telegram Open Network platform, to store their gram online currency securely when it launches next month.

Roche Freedman filed a class-action suit claiming that stablecoin firm Tether and its affiliate crypto exchange Bitfinex have been involved in defrauding investors, manipulating markets and concealing illicit proceeds, the firm's founding partner Kyle Roche tweeted on Oct. 7.

The United States Treasury continues to explore its options for terrorism risk sharing with private markets, with terrorism catastrophe bonds once again under discussion at committee level.

LEO is a curiosity in the crypto space, spawned after an initial exchange offering (IEO) by Bitfinex that ran until June 10. According to the claims of Bitfinex, the exchange raised $1 billion from private placements. Conveniently placed, the IEO in effect offset the $900 million debt to Tether, Inc.

A class action lawsuit was filed today against Bitfinex, Tether and others  was filed in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York. The new federal court class action lawsuit alleges over $1.4 trillion in damages suffered by class members.

"Decentralized finance (known as DeFi, for short) essentially involves a brand-new monetary system being built on public blockchains."

A WIRED analysis finds that 15 of the 27 founding members of the Libra Association are directly or indirectly tied to Facebook. The total includes members that employ former Facebook executives, members whose boards include Facebook board members, and numerous ties through common investors.

Here is a quick survey of the SDR and the many appearances it makes in modern life. The SDR is a fairly minor currency, but it is surprising to see some of the economic nooks and crannies where it is being used.

CoinFLEX is offering physically-settled futures that will deliver Libra tokens if the so-called stablecoin is live by Dec. 30, 2020, or the settlement date. If Libra is not operational by then, investors will receive nothing and will have lost their initial investment.

John McAfee has launched a decentralized exchange (DEX) running on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.

Bitfinex in conjunction with EOSFinex, its decentralized trading platform, have announced that they had successfully completed a "chainswap" to convert $5 million worth of Tether stablecoins onto the EOS blockchain protocol.

Hong Kong' Securities and Futures Commission published a new set of rules for crypto-asset fund managers. They include guidelines on how funds should be structured, risk management, custodianship, record-keeping, asset segregation, and other legal and logistical matters.

"MakerDAO and DeFi more generally are helping to provide an answer to the question that hangs over crypto. After the bubble, then crash, of 2017 and 2018, it's natural to ask, 'What do we use this stuff for?' DeFi is the first legitimate answer to the question. DeFi is starting to have its moment because it's the next chapter for crypto."

This is a nice capsule summary of the existing stablecoin landscape, although bizarrely it doesn't include USDC which is #2 by market cap.