Bank of England Official Warns Against Crypto, Stablecoins + More News
Crypto Briefs is your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Digital fiat news
- Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe said in a speech that crypto adoption could be a threat to traditional lending; that the stablecoins have brought to light some of the failures and costs of the current domestic systems, particularly in cross border payments, but that supply of credit to the real economy through the banking system could become weaker or disappear due to stablecoins; and that, despite the potential benefits, if central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were to become too successful, it would be dominant and a single point of failure in itself. (Learn more: Senior Bank of England Official Calls for Urgent Digital Fiat Action)
- The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has partnered with blockchain firm Algorand in building the blockchain for its first national digital currency, the Marshallese sovereign (SOV). The SOV will circulate alongside the USD and help the Marshall Islands efficiently operate in the global economy, says the announcement, adding that the SOV will be introduced through a token pre-sale. Rights to future SOV will be sold in a series of auctions as part of a time-release monetary issuance (TRMI), which is expected to begin this year.
Regulation news
- As well as issuing sanctions against two Chinese nationals it suspects of North Korea-related crypto raids, the American Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has lifted sanctions on the bitcoin (BTC) wallets of a number of Russian companies, reports RBC. The American body has done away with restrictions it placed on the wallets of the oil firm NNK and other Russian petroleum and gas-related companies. The companies had previously been suspected of violating American sanctions placed on North Korea.
Adoption news
- South Korean convenience store chain CU is set to introduce crypto pay after its operator BGF Retail sealed a deal with the e-pay platform Danal. Per media outlet Newsway, CU stores will accept payment using the Paycoin mobile app solution, which uses the Paycoin token and blockchain technology. The companies say that transaction fees will be fixed at 1%, and that they have arranged a number of promotional events, including token giveaways. CU has some 8,000 stores nationwide.
- National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) has partnered with California-based fintech company Ripple, announcing their plans to use RippleNet for cross-border remittance payments for Indian customers. Through this blockchain solution, the bank’s customers will now be able to conduct real-time payments with end-to-end tracking of transactions, says the press release.
Security news
- The IOTA Foundation launched their seed migration tool. The IOTA (MIOTA) mainnet is still on pause after the discovery that the Trinity Desktop wallets have been compromised, and the announcement states that the tokens of the users who’ve used Trinity from December 17, 2019 to February 17, 2020 might be at risk. The Seed Migration Tool is a piece of software for MacOS, Windows and Linux that automatically migrates IOTA Tokens from potentially compromised seeds onto a new, unaffected seed. Trinity users can migrate until 17:00 UTC March 7, after which the Coordinator will be turned back on.
Exchanges news
- The Kakao Group’s Klay token has been listed on the Liquid Global exchange in Singapore. The move is a major step forward for the group, which operates the KakaoTalk chat app. Per Decenter, Liquid says that the decision to list the coin in Singapore, rather than the more lucrative Japanese market, was down to the fact that the “global market is the [token’s] main target,” as well as the fact that Japanese regulators have strict criteria about tokens that are listed on domestic exchanges. The token is still yet to be listed on a major South Korean exchange, and a Klaytn official stated that “nothing has yet been confirmed” regarding a domestic listing, although “Klay distribution to Asian regions” was ongoing.
- Coinbase announced that some employees will have to start working from home this week, as a measure to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
- South American crypto exchange Buda says it will “become the first carbon-neutral exchange on the planet.” In a press release, the Chilean trading platform stated that it planned to allow its customers to “mitigate an equivalent of 1,800 tons of carbon dioxide per year on their cryptocurrency transactions.” The company says that it has obtained CarbonNeutral certification and will allow customers to donate small fractions incentives such as the Legado Foundation, which is working on restoring the Maullín river basin near Llanquihue.
Investment news
- Blockchain infrastructure provider Genesis Group said it acquired Blockchain Consulting (BC), a blockchain services and development company, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition comes after a long-standing relationship where BC provided Genesis Group and its companies with crypto market analysis, blockchain software development, and strategic consulting services.
