BIS: African central banks pushing for CBDCs, but their motivation differs from other regions

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is calling for applications from payment providers who want to participate in the next phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) API project, dubbed “Project Rosalind,” a joint initiative with the Bank of England (BoE). Through its London-based Innovation Hub, the...

As the first month of 2023 comes to a close, here’s a roundup of all the important stories from the United States in the last week of the month. As you’ll see, there’s news on digital currency taxes, legal payments in New York State, and advice from the White House itself.

Officials from China’s Hainan province are upping the ante for non-fungible tokens (NFT) supervision in the region. The provincial authorities say they are keen on preventing misuse of the asset class by criminal elements looking to defraud unsuspecting victims. The regional markets regulator, Hainan Provincial Market Supervision Administration, and...

Nigeria’s central bank has launched a regulatory sandbox for the country’s budding financial technology (fintech) sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the launch recently, describing the sandbox as its push to support “the development of new financial products and services that can improve how payment systems operate, mainly through digital channels.”

While numerous countries have announced their plans to join the central bank digital currency (CBDC) race by exploring its retail version, the Philippines took a different path and opted for the wholesale model. Speaking to CoinGeek Backstage on the sidelines of the Philippine Blockchain Week, Simit Naik said nChain could...

South Korea’s Ministry of Justice has revealed plans to launch a ‘virtual currency tracking system’ to enable law enforcement agencies to crack down on the activities of bad actors. The Ministry of Justice’s proposed tracking system is designed primarily against money laundering activities and to assist in...

United States officials have formally called on Congress to “step up its efforts” to regulate the digital asset industry in a report released this week. The officials, Brian Deese, Arati Prabhakar, Cecilia Rouse, and Jake Sullivan issued the call following a year-long investigation into the risks posed by digital assets and the potential for the U.S. executive branch to mitigate them.

Next week, the gambling industry—and all the B2B solutions that surround it—will descend upon the London ExCeL for Clarion’s ICE 2023, one of the most anticipated events of the year in this space. I’ve personally been attending ICE since 2006 and have a very special place in...

The U.K. formally unveiled its plans to bring the regulation of digital assets and digital asset businesses in line with traditional financial firms, as the government kicked off its long-awaited consultation on the topic on Tuesday. The plans are a continuation of a regulatory overhaul that has been in the...

The CFO Summit 2023 is a two-day event to be held on April 3 & 4, 2023 at Shangri-La The Fort, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines – The Future of CFO in Emerging Markets: Post-Pandemic. In the post-pandemic world, CFOs have realized that digitalization has been done...

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) is set to open a new block reward mining facility in Abu Dhabi worth over $400 million. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Marathon announced it had partnered with FS Innovation to form Abu Dhabi Global Markets. Under the new entity, the two companies will set up mining sites in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and mine BTC.

Zug, Switzerland, 02 February 2023: The Bitcoin Association is delighted to announce the appointment of Cyrille Albrecht as Managing Director, Ewa Merino as Director of Finance and Operations, and Marcin Zarakowski as a new member of the Executive Committee. Cyrille joins The Bitcoin Association with over two decades of senior...

That’s the opening question from Bitcoin inventor Dr. Craig S. Wright in the third session of Bitcoin Masterclass Day 2 in London. This session looks at existing privacy infrastructure based around centralized digital notary certificates and how they could achieve much better security under a structure like Bitcoin’s.