Bank of Canada draws digital currencies lessons from history
The Canadian Central Bank recently released a [staff working paper](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/swp2017-5.pdf) that examines the period in Canada when both private bank notes and government-issued notes (Dominion notes) were simultaneously in circulation. “Because both of these notes shared many of the characteristics of today's digital currencies,” the report states, “the experience with these notes can be used to draw lessons about how digital currencies might perform.”
European Commission ‘actively monitoring’ Blockchain developments
The Vice-President of the European Commission, Andrus Ansip, recently provided details on initiatives, projects and partnerships to foster decentralised innovation ecosystems in Europe. “The Commission is actively monitoring Blockchain and DLT developments,” he said.
IOSCO Research Report on Financial Technologies (Fintech)
This report is the result of extensive collaboration among different IOSCO Committees, with overall coordination by the Vice Chair of the CER.. The Report studies the evolution of Fintech and its intersection with securities market regulation in alternative financing platforms, retail trading and investment platforms, institutional trading platforms, distributed ledger technologies, fintech developments in emerging markets and regulatory considerations.
Digging Deeper on Bitcoin ETF Filings and Potential Effect
Given elevated interest in the bitcoin ETFs that are going through the regulatory approval process, we are parsing the various puts and takes of the three filings, trying to offer some insight into what factors the SEC may be considering, and elaborating on market estimations for approval and the subsequent effect on price upon approval.
The Philippines Central Bank approves new bitcoin exchange regulation
The Philippine Central Bank recently approved new rules and regulations governing the operation of virtual currency exchanges. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) defines virtual currency (VC) as, “any type of digital unit that is used as a medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value created by agreement within the community of VC users.”
Central Bank Governor says Digital Currencies could displace traditional banking systems
The Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) and Chair of the Financial Stability Board and Monetary Policy Committee, Mark Carney, recently gave a speech about FinTech, financial inclusion, and BoE research into Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).
Bank regulations change every 12 minutes
I recently spent a day in a meeting discussing Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) … yawn. Well, it is a bit of a dull area, but highly important. In fact, what gets me is that regulations are the big ticket barrier to change in banking. It’s what protects the banks from disruption and change, as I’ve written before. It’s as John Cryan put it the other day: “Everything regulated tends to continue as it is.”
WGVC focuses on the misuse of digital currencies by criminals and terrorist financiers
Interpol, Europol, and the Basel Institute of Governance recently held a conference in Doha, Qatar. The Global conference on countering money laundering and digital currencies attracted over 400 financial investigators from financial intelligence units around the world.
Bitcoin may have friends in high places following Trump inauguration
The price of bitcoin responded very positively to the prospect of a Trump presidency in November, ticking up 3.4 percent after it became clear that he would be the next president. Analysts believe that this could be due to bitcoin acting as a hedge in times of trouble.
Chinese Central Bank turns attention to bitcoin exchanges; Price plummets
The price of bitcoin has fallen by a third since peaking above US$1100 early in the year. The precipitous drop was accelerated on Wednesday as the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced a surprise inspection of the three major Chinese bitcoin exchanges, BTC China, OKCoin, and Huobi. The price plunged from $917 to $760 over nine frantic hours, and has dropped further since.
Bitcoin ETF in 2017? A Look at Potential Impact and Probability
After years of work and investor anticipation the rule change necessary to pave the way for the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF will see a final decision from the SEC by March 11. Overall, we think that the listing of a bitcoin ETF would have a profoundly positive effect on the price of bitcoin not only because of the resulting asset inflow but also because of concurrent shifts in perception and regulatory risk. Overall, however, we think the probability of approval is very low. Taken together, we think the positive effect that a bitcoin ETF would have on the price of bitcoin is vastly underappreciated and that the probability of approval is drastically overestimated within the industry.
Blockchain technology and the law are allies, not enemies
It’s hard to deny the promise of blockchain. It seems like everyday I wake up and read about a novel use case or decentralized application seeking to blaze a new path forward or innovate off a legacy system.
Blockchain in financial services: Regulatory landscape and future challenges for its commercial application
Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), including blockchains, are increasingly getting a massive interest from established industries. The interest is especially strong among financial services firms, which are starting to see DLTs as a potential driver of huge savings in infrastructure and back-office processes. Besides, DLTs might become a facilitator for the development of new digital businesses leading to new sources of revenue. However, DLTs are still far from being ready for mass adoption, due to some unsolved challenges on the technological, operational, business and regulatory sides.
India’s banknote withdrawal sparks bitcoin interest
Two of India's largest denomination banknotes were scrapped on Wednesday. The five hundred rupee and 1,000 rupee notes can no longer be accepted by businesses across the country. Indians will be allowed to deposit or exchange their old currency notes at banks and post offices until the end of the year.
South Korea plans national digital currency using a Blockchain
At Monday’s 12th annual FinTech Demo Day in Seoul, the chairman of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), Yim Jong-yong, announced that his department will, “Lay the systemic groundwork for the spread of digital currency.”
Airbitz, BitPay, and Wefunder leverage bitcoin and new US crowdfunding regulation
Equity crowdfunding platform, Wefunder, recently started accepting bitcoin. On the same day, popular bitcoin mobile wallet provider Airbitz announced the launch of its campaign on Wefunder to raise US$1 million.
