Fintech Daily Digest

To get around its epic scaling limitations the numero uno cryptocurrency system (bitcoin, duh) is finally deploying the Lightning Network (LN) to major players such as the exchange Bitfinex. And what that basically means is that bitcoin is moving firmly away from real time gross settlements and push payments and into the world of deferred net settlement and pull payments. An ironic state of affairs given its raison d'être was to rid the world of intermediaries and reduce settlement risks and exposures.

The Cryptocurrency Indicators of Suspicion Working Group Report details 86 indicators of suspicious activity, or patterns of transactions on the blockchain, to provide details of how criminals have laundered $3.7 billion in 2019 so far. Project Participate is comprised of a crack team of compliance officers from firms active in the crypto space, including major banks and crypto exchanges companies, plus blockchain investigation firms Chainalysis and Bitfury Crystal.

This paper maps the global shadow payment system and identify what mechanisms, if any, SPPs use to protect their customers. Examining the business models and customer contracts of over 100 SPPs, the paper suggests that, at least from a consumer protection perspective, SPPs are currently not an effective substitute for bank-based payment systems.

A simulation exercise at Harvard University's Kennedy School explored the dangers if large sums could be secretly sent secretly to hostile nations.

From payments to lending to insurance to checking accounts, Amazon is attacking financial services from every angle without applying to be a conventional bank.

Facebook's Libra represents American interests to the point that it can be considered a digital currency issued by the US Federal Reserve, according to Long Baitao, executive deputy director of Tsinghua University's blockchain research institute.

The scenario above is fiction, but it isn't fantasy. If China digitizes its currency, as it plans to do, and the North Koreans use it to finance their missile program, it's a flow of money that circumvents U.S. sanctions. That would force the U.S. to grapple with its own now-antiquated currency.

Crusoe Energy Systems is harnessing surplus gas at source to turn it into electricity, powering the data centers that in turn generate revenue by mining Bitcoin. The company will install 70 units next year, each with a capacity of about 1 megawatt, which would keep about 10 million cubic feet a day of gas from being flared.

Paying for things online usually means giving up plenty of privacy. But this needn't always be the case. Last night I donated to a local charity via their website and didn't have to give up any of my personal information. The trick for achieving a degree of online payments anonymity? Not bitcoin, Zcash, or Monero. I used a product created by old fashioned bankers: a non-reloadable prepaid debit card.

Perhaps bitcoin itself will achieve stability over time, as its liquidity improves with growing investment in the crypto-asset category. Those who believe it will do so may feel disappointment or impatience reading this article. For in 2019, market and network data have told a different story: volatility has increased and liquidity remains stagnant. "

China is launching a range of blockchain and financial programs in a bid to boost its relationship with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange became available to all users in Germany and also for residents in the European Economic Area.

The NYDIG Bitcoin Strategy Fund will invest in cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts traded on CFTC-registered exchanges. The fund does not intend to invest in crypto-assets directly.

Coinbase's Visa debit card offering has added support for ethereum-based DAI stablecoin.

The monetary authorities of Hong Kong and Thailand are poised to roll out a two-tier digital token, part of the process for creating a prototype for cross-border fund transfers between the two economies.

Dozens of crypto funds, almost 70, have closed this year, a mainstream media outlet reported. And while the startling number reveals the influx of institutional investors into the crypto space might not be happening at a fast pace, it's also worth noting that crypto fund launches are projected to reach 140 by the end of the year.

The private sector will always have an important role to play in payments. The question is how to divide the work between private and public: Agustín Carstens

For all the talk of central banks issuing digital currencies, many of them are secretly hoping the private sector will come up with solutions that make this unnecessary.

MoneyGram is expanding its debit card deposit service internationally via the Visa Direct real-time push payments platform. MoneyGram becomes the first company in the industry to enable cross-border transfers from the United States using Visa Direct. This service is now available to Spain and the Philippines, and soon to additional countries.

Paxful, like LocalBitcoins, is an online peer to peer (P2P) over the counter (OTC) exchange where peers interface with the advertisements of other peers offering to trade for Bitcoin using online wallets like Paypal, gift cards, domestic bank transfers, and others.