Lebanon Schedules Its CBDC, DeFi Crime On The Rise + More News

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Linas Kmieliauskas

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Linas Kmieliauskas

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Last updated:

June 26, 2023 06:55 EDT

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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

CBDCs news

• Lebanon plans to introduce a digital currency in 2021 to restore confidence in the banking sector and transition into a cashless system, Bloomberg reported, citing Riad Salameh, the Governor of Lebanon’s central bank.

Crime news

• Losses from cryptocurrency thefts, hacks, and fraud declined to USD 1.8bn for the first 10 months of the year compared with last year, but crime in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector rose, Reuters reported, citing a report by CipherTrace. So far, in 2020 DeFi hacks make up 21% of 2020 hack and theft volume. In second half of 2020 DeFi took up 50% of all thefts and hacks (USD 47.7m or 14% of hacked volume), the crypto security-focused firm said.

Crypto adoption news

• The Japan-based chat app operator Line has unveiled its Bitmax Wallet service via its LVC crypto subsidiary, the company announced in a press release. The firm already operates the Bitmax crypto exchange, which like the new wallet, can be accessed via the Line chap app interface. The company said that the new wallet will allow users to “manage digital assets such as tokens” – and send cryptoassets or exchange tokens with their contacts via the app.

Blockchain news

• A new digital trends report from Rostelecom, the Russian state-owned telecoms operator, has concluded that blockchain technology is “permeating all industries.” The report’s authors made note of companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, IBM and Baidu, all of which have launched Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) offerings. The Rostelecom researchers noted that while investment in blockchain has declined in the past year, this was a sign that blockchain “hype” was in decline, and was being replaced by a “growth in scientific publications and patents,” indicating that the technology was “becoming massive.”
• China CITIC Bank, one of China’s top 10 commercial banks and one of the Middle Kingdom’s biggest lenders, has debuted a blockchain-powered cross-border import letter of credit service for CNY importers and exporters. The bank has made use of the Corda-powered Contour blockchain platform, the brainchild of China CITIC, along with Bangkok Bank, BNP Paribas, CTBC, HSBC, ING, Standard Chartered, SEB and Citi. Per Beijing News, the service will be targeted at companies who wish to speed up the letter of credit issuance process, such as perishables and food importers. The move follows the bank’s successful Contour-based letter of credit issuance last month, enabling a Guangxi-based importer to carry out a USD 18m deal.

Exchanges news

• Gemini said is in the process of developing a Wrapped Filecoin (wFIL) service so that Filecoin (FIL) can be used on the Ethereum (ETH) network. At this stage, the exchange is “looking to work with Ethereum developers interested in adding wFIL to their products, and platforms.”

Investments news

• UNION, an DeFi-focused platform, said it raised over USD 3.9m from Alameda Research, Spark Digital Capital, among other investors. The startup said it is anticipating to launch in the coming months, and includes a DeFi platform that incorporates an advanced risk management and protection framework.