Some industry updates that might be paving the ways to the actualization of Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC).
Crypto Lawyers Are in Hot Demand as the Industry Goes Mainstream, Say Experts
The crypto market might soon see an uptick in legal hiring as it is moving out of regulatory gray zones.
- JPMorgan Chase reportedly has taken on Coinbase and Gemini as customers.
- News recently began to circulate of Coinbase potentially being listed on the stock market.
- Global payments giant PayPal also recently began hiring crypto talent.
- Not to mention that there has been an overall increase in crypto from institutional investors.
SEC and CFTC Fine Crypto Investment App for Offering Synthetic Assets
According to the SEC’s release, Abra effectively offered “security-based swaps” to retail investors without the proper registration, in addition to “failing to transact those swaps on a registered national exchange.”
Abra offered a type of “centralized” synthetic asset, where users were able to get exposure to traditional securities like stocks by putting up Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) as collateral. The system removed or added the coins based on how much the underlying security moved up or down.
What is a synthetic asset?
The term “synthetic asset” refers to a mix of assets that have the same value as another asset. Traditionally, synthetics combine various derivative products — options, futures or swaps — that simulate an underlying asset — stocks, bonds, commodities, indexes, currencies or interest rates.
What are crypto synthetic assets?
Cryptocurrency-based synthetic assets aim to give users exposure to a variety of different assets without needing to hold the underlying asset. This could be anything from fiat currencies, such as the United States dollar or the Japanese yen, to commodities like gold and silver, as well as index funds or other digital assets.
Read more: Crypto Synthetic Assets Explained
Singapore’s Blockchain Payments Platform Ready for Commercial Launch
Singapore authorities announced today that their blockchain payments project, Project Ubin, is complete and ready for commercial launch.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, first undertook Project Ubin in 2017 with plans to first develop a digitized Singapore dollar (SGD). The next steps involved exploring blockchain and distributed ledger technology to build a system for the clearing and settlement of payments and securities using digital SGD.
G20 Lays Regulatory Groundwork for Accepting Digital Payments
According to the Japanese news outlet – Kyodo News, G20 officials enacted the policy change in response to China’s progress on creating a digital yuan, and Facebook’s anticipated release of Libra.
Cointelegraph reported in June that the People’s Bank of China’s National Council for Social Security announced the completion of the backend architecture development for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).