Fintech Daily Digest

"Libra does not appear to qualify as e-money, as it does not embody a claim of its holders against the Libra Association."

Philippine boxing champion Manny Pacquiao launched his very own cryptocurrency on Sunday at a free concert in Manila, where he serenaded more than 2,000 fans to drum up interest in the product.

"Central Banks should champion sCBDC. Let private providers compete in providing some sort of central bank-sanctioned version of digital currency to the masses. The central bank can limit itself to maintaining the back end and offering a degree of regulation."

Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, may offer legislation that would have the effect of making currencies such as Libra illegal, according to a draft of the bill reviewed by Bloomberg. The legislation would amend a U.S. statute originally meant to prevent Americans from minting their own physical currencies. The amendment would also make it illegal for someone to create a digital currency, intended to be used as money, whose value is based on assets held in reserve.

"Louis Brandeis said of the early-20th-century trusts that "both the financial concentration and the combinations which they have served were, in the main, against the public interest." Big banks and big tech may rely on fancy algorithms and apps instead of railroads, but his words are just as true today."

"Private digital currencies improve welfare within an emerging market with a selfish government [by disciplining] monetary policy by creating an alternative to local fiat. That monetary policy discipline reduces inflation and results in higher returns from investment which in turn encourages higher local investment."

Stablecoins Vulnerable to Regulatory Uncertainty: European Central Bank "Less innovative stablecoins could provide a solution to users Seeking a stable store of value, especially if legitimised by the adherence to standards that are typical of payment services, the jury is still out on the potential future role of more innovative stablecoins outside their core user base."

Bitfinex shareholder and over-the-counter (OTC) trader Zhao Dong has revealed that Tether is planning to launch a cryptocurrency backed by the Chinese renminbi.

"If Libra comes to be treated as a tokenized security representing ownership of a money market fund, that could set the project back."

Telegram's new blockchain project will be compatible with ethereum, according to a tech startup building tools for the network. The messaging company is expected to release the code to run a node on the Telegram Open Network (TON) on September 1, allowing users to trial its project in advance of the project's expected mainnet launch on Oct. 31.

Interest in Bitcoin futures trading continues to gain momentum. As a result, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is reaching record numbers for its Bitcoin futures contracts trading.

Binance announced that it is looking for partners to create the stablecoin that will be pegged against a basket of government-issued currencies.

Binance co-founder He Yi claimed that the company will engage with regulators from day one regarding its Venus stablecoin project. He also confirmed previous rumors that Venus will be primarily geared towards non-Western countries.

Gram digital wallets will be made available to Telegram's 200-300 million global users, and Grams will make it possible to buy and sell other goods on Telegram.

China's digital currency will most likely be a two-tiered system. The first tier will connect the PBOC with commercial banks for currency issuance and redemption. The second layer will connect those commercial banks with the greater retail market.

"Libra remains a work in progress. Its designers continue to dribble out information about its structure and governance. But their documentation raises as many questions as it answers."

"The overall risk of holding a global currency [like Libra] may not be large for plausible exchange rate volatility and risk aversion [but] the potential gain in lowering transaction costs in retail cross-border payments and local payments are large."

Whether central banks adopt CBDC at all is another matter and will result from carefully weighing pros and cons. But to the extent central banks wish to offer a digital alternative to cash, they should consider sCBDC as a potentially attractive option.

PNC - the United States' eighth-largest bank, with almost $400 billion in assets - has become the country's first to start using the RippleNet blockchain network for cross-border payments.

The Global Times claims that China's central bank has refuted recent reports of its plans to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency this November. The Global Times is China's national English language tabloid, under the People's Daily - the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC).