Fintech Daily Digest

A trial project using blockchain to transfer and settle securities and cash proved more costly and less speedy than the traditional way, Germany's central bank president said.

American digital asset manager Grayscale announced that out of the firm's $2.1 billion of assets under management, $1.97 billion resides in its bitcoin investment trust.

Several finance-related blockchain projects are progressing nicely, and trading technology firms are releasing products for professional traders aimed at the institutional crypto investment market. But blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies are far from crossing the chasm.

The Financial Stability Board published two reports as part of its work on work to assess and address correspondent banking declines.

This paper systematically explores and analyzes the stablecoin landscape, based on a survey of 24 specific stablecoin projects, extracting general concepts and approaches to build a comprehensive taxonomy of crypto-asset stabilization.

An Aite Group report shows that the OTC market accounted for 60% of all crypto trades in 2018, up from 32% in 2016. Dark pool trading comprised 8% of volumes in 2018.

TRON is a decentralized application platform and a blockchain-based operating system. The initial objective of this platform was to help resolve issues in the global entertainment sector. They later expanded the scope of their vision to tackle the whole DApps market.

After nearly two weeks of continuous voting, MakerDAO token holders have officially activated a decrease to DAI stablecoin fees. DAI is an ethereum-based token which presently maintains a soft peg to the U.S. dollar.

Silicon Valley fintech group Plaid has expanded to the UK as it seeks to capitalise on Britain's push to open up banking. Plaid provides the technology for other financial technology companies to link to customers' bank accounts via apps such as Venmo and Coinbase.

The Dubai Land Department, the real estate arm of the Executive Council of Dubai, has partnered with UAE-based Mashreq Bank to release a blockchain-based mortgage platform.

The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions is seeking comments on a consultation paper that describes the issues associated with crypto-asset trading platforms (CTPs) and sets forth key considerations to assist regulatory authorities in addressing these issues.

BitPay supports settlement in 12 currencies and direct bank deposit in 37 countries. Cryptocurrency settlements are supported in over 200 countries. Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Gemini Dollars (GUSD), Paxos (PAX), and Circle USD Coin (USDC)

The FSB is developing a toolkit of effective practices relating to a financial institution's response to, and recovery from, a cyber incident. The toolkit also aims to help supervisors and other relevant authorities in supporting financial institutions before, during and after a cyber incident.

To make sure that its new currency, a digital coin linked to the value of the dollar, is liquid and tradeable, Facebook has talked to Jump and DRW, Chicago's biggest high-frequency trading firms about making a market, according to two people familiar with the talks.

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI), via its Informatics and Services Corporation (ISC) and in conjunction with Areatak - a Tehran-based blockchain solutions provider - is developing a national blockchain project for its banking and financial sector.

A new banking law drafted for the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) would make it mandatory to obtain licenses in advance of creating, advertising or operating platforms for issuing or trading cryptocurrencies.

VODACOM Tanzania in partnership with Amana Bank has launched a new M-Pesa mobile service dubbed "Halal Pesa" to reach out to the Muslim population who are excluded in the current mobile money services.

U.S payment startups are running headlong into a thicket of federal and fragmented state money transmitter regulations, resulting in large fees and often redundant compliance costs.

South Korean bank Shinhan is using blockchain technology to verify the items of proof required for credit lending, such as qualification or certification documents, to speed up loan approvals.

JPMorgan Chase's blockchain team has developed a privacy feature for ethereum-based blockchains, obscuring not only how much money is being sent but who is sending it.