Headlines

• Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features
• Shenzhen to hand out 10 million digital yuan in currency giveaway
• 数字人民币真的来了！深圳联手央行派发1000万“数字红包”

Reading Notes

Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features

Three key principles for a CBDC:

1. Coexistence with cash and other types of money in a flexible and innovative payment system.
2. Any introduction should support wider policy objectives and do no harm to monetary and financial stability.
3. Features should promote innovation and efficiency.

https://www.bis.org/press/p201009.htm

Shenzhen to hand out 10 million digital yuan in currency giveaway

China’s CBDC pilots seem to be progressing apace.

On Oct. 5, PBoC’s deputy governor Fan Yifei announced that DCEP wallets processed 1.1 billion renminbi ($162 million) in transactions between April and August 2020.

According to the official, China’s central bank opened 113,300 personal digital wallets and 8,859 corporate digital wallets within the digital yuan initiative.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/shenzhen-to-hand-out-10-million-digital-yuan-in-currency-giveaway

数字人民币真的来了！深圳联手央行派发1000万“数字红包”

关于央行数字货币（DCEP – Digital Currency Electronic Payment，下称“数字人民币”）的消息频出，目前数字人民币已在深圳、苏州、雄安、成都，以及未来的冬奥场景进行内部封闭试点测试。

此次深圳市政府联合央行开展数字人民币红包试点，面向5万名中签人员发放总额高达1000万的红包，是进一步扩大数字人民币测试的应用场景。

这也预示着，数字人民币离面向社会公众推出又靠近了重要一步。

此次活动是向在深个人发放1000万元数字人民币红包，每个红包金额200元，数量共计5万个。

该红包可于10月12日18时至10月18日24时在深圳市罗湖区辖内已完成数字人民币系统改造的3389家商户无门槛消费。

https://finance.sina.com.cn/blockchain/coin/2020-10-09/doc-iivhvpwz0960147.shtml

The post CNY Airdrop & CBDC Principles appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

1) Could California become its own crypto-country?

2) Bermuda hopes to jumpstart their economy with new ‘stimulus token’

3) Shanghai’s Jing’an District issues blockchain-based discount coupons

4) Swiss crypto bank Sygnum scores approval for digital asset trading

Reading Notes

Could California become its own crypto-country?

The idea of a future crypto-based economy, which could finance a level of free healthcare, free education, and a form of basic income (UBI) at a scale that has never before been seen.

People investing in land and property through crypto transactions could help boost the proposed implementation of Universal Basic Income.

California’s Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee recently passed a bill seeking to define digital assets and measure their impact on state and consumer protections.

A Brexit-inspired plan wants to make California its own nation, separate from the USA. The people behind the plan are now looking to establish cryptocurrencies as the financial backbone of the proposed nation.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/could-california-become-its-own-crypto-country

Bermuda hopes to jumpstart their economy with new ‘stimulus token’

“What we are proposing is bypassing all the middle-men, bypassing the banks, and airdrop what is basically an IOU from the government to the people. You will go to a website and register your ID, and the Government will airdrop to you a certain amount of money. It will be immediate and you will have it on your phone wallet.”

As part of the program, the government plans to enable the purchase of food and other products from retailers to strengthen its now-necessary array of contactless payment solutions.

The Bermuda government will also distribute payments to those who qualify for coronavirus-related financial aid using the tokens.

All the transactions will be handled through a digital wallet managed from a mobile app. Assets in this app will be spendable at vendors through QR codes and point-of-sale devices.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bermuda-hopes-to-jumpstart-their-economy-with-new-stimulus-token

Shanghai’s Jing’an District issues blockchain-based discount coupons

The Jing’an District of Shanghai has started offering blockchain-based discount coupons.

The tourism bureau has integrated blockchain to their WeChat mini-program to adjust the number of coupons in circulation and the validity period of each of these by analyzing how people are using them. The mini-program will send out new coupons daily.

The value of each blockchain-based coupon will vary between 5 yuan ($0.73) to 60 yuan ($8.80).

Employees, students and other residents of the district will be able to obtain the coupons using the WeChat mini-program. They can then redeem them at the movies, theater performances and for online courses.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/shanghais-jingan-district-issues-blockchain-based-discount-coupons

Swiss crypto bank Sygnum scores approval for digital asset trading

Sygnum, a major cryptocurrency bank in Switzerland, is preparing to finally introduce digital asset trading after receiving regulatory approval.

The new approval enables Sygnum to “cover the complete life-cycle of a security,” starting from services such as primary issuance, settlement and custody to secondary trading.

USP: Users now have access to instant settlement via the Sygnum-issued stablecoin Digital Swiss franc (DCHF).

Licensing: The bank has been aggressively expanding its services; after obtaining a Swiss banking license in August 2019, Sygnum was also licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore the following month.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/swiss-crypto-bank-sygnum-scores-approval-for-digital-asset-trading

The post ROTD : Nation-state Cryptonization appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

1) MicroStrategy Adopts Bitcoin as Primary Treasury Reserve Asset

2) Facebook is reportedly expanding its banking ambitions with a new division that will run all of the tech giant’s payment projects, including Facebook Pay

3) The Great Chinese Money Experiment Is Over

Reading Notes

MicroStrategy Adopts Bitcoin as Primary Treasury Reserve Asset

MicroStrategy® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR),
the largest independent
publicly-traded
business intelligence company,

today announced that
it has purchased 21,454 bitcoins
at an aggregate
purchase price of $250 million,
inclusive of fees and expenses.

The purchase of
Bitcoin cryptocurrency
was made pursuant to
the two-pronged capital allocation strategy
previously announced by
the company
when it released
its second quarter 2020
financial results
on July 28, 2020.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200811005331/en/MicroStrategy-Adopts-Bitcoin-Primary-Treasury-Reserve-Asset

Facebook is reportedly expanding its banking ambitions with a new division that will run all of the tech giant’s payment projects, including Facebook Pay

According to a Bloomberg report, the new program will be called Facebook Financial, or F2, and will be run by David Marcus, the cocreator of the firm’s Libra cryptocurrency project.

The new group is one of the company’s latest efforts as part of its broader foray into commerce and finance.

Facebook Financial – or F2 – will oversee all of the tech giant’s payments projects, including Facebook Pay, the service launched in 2019 that allows users to send and receive money on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-financial-new-payments-group-2020-8

The Great Chinese Money Experiment Is Over

I’m fascinated that
China’s long experiment with
atoms about atoms
is almost over and
will soon be replaced by
bits about bits.

This will come about
not because of
Bitcoin or Libra,
Unionpay or PayPal,
but because the PBOC has been

strategic in its thinking and
tactical in its governance.

Their decisions on the topic
for many years
have been measured and consistent.

Digital currency is coming,
and China will take the lead
in digital currency
just as it did
in paper currency.

~ David G.W. Birch, Forbes, Fintech

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbirch/2020/08/09/the-great-money-experiment-is-over/#270823397a90

The post ROTD: Microstrategy Bitcoin Investment, Facebook Finance, Chinese Paper Money appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

Headlines

1) Dutch Regulator Approves Tokenized Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform

2) Cypherium to Assist China in Advancing Blockchain City Infrastructure

3) Dutch Regulator Approves Tokenized Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform

4) US Bank Regulator: Dollars on Blockchain ‘Better Than Central Bank Monopoly on the Payments System’

Reading Notes

Dutch Regulator Approves Tokenized Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform, powered by Blockchain

Max Crowdfund, a blockchain-powered real estate crowdfunding platform connecting property developers and investors, has received approval from the Financial Markets Authority in the Netherlands.

• Investors pay a one-time fee equal to 0.1% of their investment, in addition to monthly administration fees of 0.1%. The fees will be used to purchase and burn MPG’s security tokens.
• The platform seeks to democratize real estate investment, with investors able to gain exposure from as little as 100 euro ($117.50).
• Developers and investors are able to raise money from the public using the platform, and can pitch to an international audience.
• The platform is the first of its kind to be greenlit by the Dutch financial regulator, and will be available as an app on both iOS and Android.
• MPG has also commenced a security token offering that seeks to raise $4.4 million over five rounds of $880,000 that will issue 20% of the firm’s equity. The tokens will be issued by MPG directly.

Further reading: https://cointelegraph.com/news/dutch-regulator-approves-tokenized-real-estate-crowdfunding-platform

The post ROTD : City Development, Fintech and Payment appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

TV Review: Open Source Money on Discovery Science

Overall humanity is at a crossroads and the future of money as we know it will be transformed by Blockchain and the new internet of Value.

The only question is, where we will be in the Space Race of our generation when the dust settles?

Open Source Money, a groundbreaking documentary series about the rise of Disney-incubated blockchain company, Dragonchain, and the global evolution of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

UNICEF Crypto Fund to Invest $100K in Humanitarian Blockchain Projects

UNICEF is looking to support early-stage startups with a blockchain prototype that can be transformed and eventually deployed in countries that need the technology the most. For example, during the last funding round, UNICEF invested in blockchain startup StaTwig, a company based in India that uses a blockchain to track the supply-chain of rice being delivered from the Indian government to low income areas.

How Bitcoin Is Becoming Both Resistance Money and a National Security Concern

The implications of a changing geopolitical landscape, where Bitcoin is set to play a role in the upcoming war for tech dominance — while at the same time acting as the key to digitally “exit” from governmental control.

Chinese Courts Use Blockchain for Property E-Sealing

By applying blockchain-powered e-sealing, courts are able to securely monitor a property in real-time with help of video surveillance.

The use of blockchain technology is intended to keep all data recorded and unmodified by involved parties. Law enforcement staff can use the platform to conduct property information queries to check the history of operations on the sealed property.

The post Open Source Money, Humanitarian, Shelter, and National Security appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

Just imagine really cheap renewable energy driving down cost of everything, and efficient distribution of wealth through emerging technologies.

We are most likely the generation blessed enough to witness a new monetary system in our life span, though not that of a money-less society as portrayed in Star Trek: First Contact (1996). 

Note: Thank you bro Rashdan Ramlee for the input.

A Money-less Society

As written in Blockchain Insider chapter 1: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Money:

A new kind of trust will be implemented, as we are moving towards a moneyless society.

Our upcoming generations shall see a ​moneyless​ future.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century.

Lily Sloane: No money? You mean, you don’t get paid?

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity. Actually, we’re all like yourself and Dr. Cochrane.

~ Star Trek: First Contact (1996)17

While the future remains unknown, it is quite promising.

News Background: China starts major trial of state-run digital currency

The e-RMB has reportedly been adopted into the monetary systems of several cities.

A sovereign digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level.

It may also facilitate integration into globally traded currency markets with a reduced risk of politically inspired disruption.”

China Daily report

Reported by Lillian Yang, The Guardian

Image from Other Perspectives

The post A Post-Scarcity Society appeared first on Blockchain Insider.

China Issuing Bonds on Blockchain Is a Sign of What’s to Come, and this prove that Blockchaining Sukuk is something that is possible and could be done.

As reported by Cointelegraph:

“The Central Bank of China has recently issued 20 billion Chinese yuan ($2.8 billion) of special bonds, which it has sold in order to fund small and micro-enterprise businesses, according to the China Development Network.

China’s self-developed blockchain issuance system was put on display for the first time and it will handle the administration and tracking of these two-year bonds with a coupon rate of 3.25%.”

As the writer of the analysis – Nikolai Kuznetsov – pointed out, “China’s ban on blockchain systems now seems that it had little to do with ideology and was more about control. This is a safe guess considering that in terms of both blockchain and cryptocurrency, 2019 saw China launch both the blockchain bond issuance system and its seminal Central Bank-issued cryptocurrency (CBDC).”

Blockchaining Sukuk

This is the edited version of the presentation file during the briefing to World Bank Group Malaysia Global Knowledge and Research Hub. The content is about the potential and possibilities of Blockchaining Sukuk.

Image by sherisetj from Pixabay

Related news:

Forex Reforms Will ‘Deal With Cryptocurrency,’ Says Chinese Government

Central Bank of China Official Says Digital Yuan Will Be Different From Bitcoin

Chinese Internet Giant Tencent Plans to Create Digital Currency Research Group

The post Eyes On China appeared first on Blockchain Insider.