Fintech Daily Digest

New Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards for regulating crypto firms are expected to be finalized in June. They will likely subject crypto exchanges, wallet providers and others to the "travel rule" followed by correspondent banks.

More than half of the full nodes in the bitcoin network are still running client software vulnerable to an inflation bug that could allow miners to inflate the total bitcoin supply beyond the 21 million BTC.

This paper addresses the myth of decentralized governance of public blockchains, arguing that certain people who create, operate, or reshape them function much like fiduciaries of those who rely on these powerful data structures.

Datalight analyzed website traffic data from 100 top crypto exchanges to determine where traders are located. With 22M traders, the US ranks first, with 6.2M Japan ranks second, South Korea ranks third with 5.7M, followed by the UK, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, Turkey and Canada.

Circle has published the latest third-party (Grant Thornton) audit of its USD-pegged stablecoin, USD Coin. It states that as of end-April there were 293,184,174 USDC issued and $293,351,374 in the firm's reserves.

The Bitcoin price goes up and down with weird jumps in the graph - nicknamed "Barts," after the shape of Bart Simpson's haircut - the telltale signs of market manipulation.

This study back-tests a marginal cost of production Bitcoin valuation model. The model, which JP Morgan uses for its valuation analysis, seems robust and challenges allegations that bitcoins are essentially worthless.

Banks, wary of the drug dealers and scammers attracted to the anonymity of cryptocurrency, shun many of the firms behind the electronic money, leaving them to turn to shadowy middlemen for payment processing and other financial services.

The process of AML/CFT regulatory compliance involves KYC (know your customer) throughout transaction lifecycles. This post runs through the typical KYC process and compares different crypto exchange approaches.

Bitfinex has reportedly raised $1B worth of US dollars, Bitcoin and Tether with its UNUS SED LEO exchange utility token offering. LEO lies "at the heart of the [Bitfinex parent] iFinex ecosystem" and will be useable for a variety of exchange-based activities.

Crypto-Assets: Implications for financial stability, monetary policy, and payments and market infrastructures This ECB paper summarises the outcomes of the analysis of the ECB Crypto-Assets Task Force. It concludes, in the current market, crypto-assets' risks or potential implications are limited and/or manageable on the basis of the existing regulatory and oversight frameworks.

The price of Bitcoin tumbled by 11% to about $7,000 after a $35 million sell order on London-based exchange Bitstamp triggered a rash of liquidations by other investors. Other digital currencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP and Bitcoin Cash fell in sync.

Self-sovereign identity promises to return personal data to the people providing it rather than letting it sit precariously in the hands of businesses that have repeatedly failed to secure it.

World Bank and Commonwealth Bank have enabled secondary market trading recorded on blockchain for bond-i making this the first bond whose issuance and trading are recorded using distributed ledger technologies.

Facebook has set up a new Fintech company, Libra Holdings, in Switzerland focusing on blockchain and payments as well as data analytics and investing, Geneva's commercial register shows.

Blockchain analysis company Coin Metrics has found discrepancies in blockchain payments network Ripple's escrow system reporting.

On April 2 the Securities Commission of the Bahamas has filed a draft of the new bill regulating token offerings not deemed securities. The bill lays out a procedure for registering such offerings and informing authorities and investors on the details of a token sale.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand have entered into an MOU to foster collaboration between the two regulatory authorities in promoting financial innovation.

Several of the world's largest banks are investing around $50M in Fnality to create a blockchain-based digital cash system to settle financial transactions. It may be an offshoot of the UBS and Clearmatics "utility settlement coin" project.

Contrary to what many think, China does not oppose blockchain technology. Rather, it takes issue with bitcoin and other privately issued cryptocurrencies, which it fears may facilitate financial fraud and capital flight. The PBOC has in fact had an initiative for issuing a blockchain-based digital renminbi since 2014. The project has already generated 71 patents and has initiated a trial operation for an interbank digital check and billing platform.