STABLECOIN DIGEST [29.07.2019]
Regulation and monetary policy
ECB letter regarding stablecoin initiatives
https://www.regulationtomorrow.com/eu/ecb-letter-regarding-stablecoin-initiatives/
The ECB notes that, from a regulatory perspective, stablecoins, like any other emerging financial product, should be subject to the “same business, same risks, same rules” principle based on a comprehensive assessment of their functionalities.
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Palestinian Authority looks to cryptocurrency to scrap shekel
The new Palestinian government wants to launch its economy into cyberspace to reach a long-time goal: dispensing with the Israeli shekel.
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Germany’s Central Bank: Gov’ts Should Be Neutral on FB’s Libra
In a monthly bulletin called “Crypto tokens in payment transactions and in securities settlement” released on July 22, the Bundesbank evaluated potential advantages and shortcomings of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as well as stablecoins such as Facebook’s widely-discussed crypto project Libra. In the document, Germany's central bank stated that global innovative projects such as Libra should not be made impossible as they aim to increase prosperity and transaction costs.
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UnionBank is First PH Bank to Use Blockchain-based Tokenized Fiat for Account-to-account Cross-border Remittance
Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) recently became the first Philippine bank to successfully pilot blockchain-based remittance from Singapore to the Philippines. This was done in partnership with OCBC Bank.
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Facebook to Work ‘However Long It Takes’ to Win Regulators on Libra
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company will work as long as it takes to appease regulators’ concerns over its Libra stablecoin.
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US Senate to hold hearing on cryptocurrency and blockchain regulatory frameworks on July 30
As per the details, the witnesses include Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Circle, on behalf of The Blockchain Association; Rebecca M. Nelson, Specialist in International Trade and Finance, Congressional Research Service; and Mehrsa Baradaran, Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law.
Analytics and opinions
Most Germans Skeptical About Facebook’s Libra, Only 12% Welcome It
About 71% of German citizens are skeptical about Facebook’s Libra stablecoin, while only 12% welcome it, according to a survey published by German financial association Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende.
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Ripple’s CEO Worried About Regulatory Backlash Over Facebook’s Libra Plan
https://fortune.com/2019/07/25/ripple-ceo-regulation-facebook-libra-trump-tweet/
Brad Garlinghouse, chief executive officer of crypto currency company Ripple, says he's worried Facebook's plans to enter the arena with its Libra digital coin will provoke harsher regulation of the entire sector.
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Huawei CEO: Why Wait for Facebook? China Can Issue Its Own ‘Libra’
The CEO of Chinese tech giant Huawei thinks that China can compete with Facebook for market share by issuing its own digital currency.
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2Q19 Crypto Retrospective
https://research.circle.com/crypto-reports/2q19-crypto-retrospective
The Circle Researh.
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The Line Has Been Drawn: Facebook Libra Has a Challenger
The potential for Facebook to become a super monopoly could be damaging to many - global domination of many markets by a single entity.
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3 Stablecoins Enterprise Executives Need To Know And Why
Tether, Facebook Libra Coin, Dai.
Existing Projects
Bitfinex and Tether Double Down on Claim of No Customers in New York
Lawyers for Bitfinex and Tether, in the course of an ongoing case against the New York Attorney General (NYAG), submitted multiple fillings on July 22 alleging that the companies never served customers within New York.
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CoinLoan Announces GUSD’s Delisting
https://medium.com/coinloan/coinloan-announces-gusds-delisting-f28faf812e0
First, the GUSD has yielded its position on the crypto-market, according to CoinMarketCap data. In December 2018, the market capitalization of GUSD was $103.91 million, ranking as the 49th most capitalized cryptocurrency. However, today, it has lowered to $12.23 million, dropping to 200th place in the rankings.
Second, from the moment the coin was added on CoinLoan’s stablecoin list, there has been insignificant demand for GUSD from CoinLoaners.
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The STASIS smart contract just underwent another audit
https://medium.com/stasis-blog/the-stasis-smart-contract-just-underwent-another-audit-3659776a6c5e
The STASIS smart contract received a security score of 90/100, with no issues flagged that increase the risk of lost client funds.
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Circle Paves The Way For International Crypto Offerings, Becoming First Major Exchange To Receive Bermuda Business License
Global financial services company, Circle, announced the expansion of their international digital asset offerings with the launch of a new subsidiary in Bermuda.
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Firm That Monitors USDC Stablecoin Audited Over $10 Billion in Client Assets
The international auditing firm that attests to Circle’s issuance of USDC stablecoins announced it has audited more than $10 billion worth of client assets in the first quarter of 2019.
New projects, partnerships, and investments
No Companies Have Officially Joined Libra Association Says Visa CEO
Alfred F. Kelly Jr., the CEO of Visa, said that no companies have officially joined Libra. At this stage, the 20-some companies involved with the foundation have reportedly only declared interest via a nonbinding letter of intent.
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Facebook amasses army to lobby on Libra
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/23/facebook-amasses-army-to-lobby-on-libra-1609394
Facebook has expanded its lobbying operation to help pitch its upcoming Libra digital currency, which policymakers are threatening to derail amid growing distrust of the social media giant.
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Croatian Post Launches Pilot Program for Crypto-to-Fiat Exchange
https://cointelegraph.com/news/croatian-post-launches-pilot-program-for-crypto-to-fiat-exchange
The Croatian Post has partnered with Electrocoin to run a pilot program for a crypto-to-fiat exchange in the city of Zadar.
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Brazil’s fifth-largest city to accept bitcoin payments for public transportation
Fortaleza, the fifth-largest city in Brazil with a population of about 2.7 million, is set to accept bitcoin (BTC) payments for public transportation by the end of this year.
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Regulated stable coin — HonestCoin (USDH) is about to roll out on the Binance chain and Binance DEX
Jointly released by HonestNode and Prime Trust, a U.S. Trust company, USDH can be exchanged with the U.S. dollar at a rate of 1:1. Each USDH is pegged to one corresponding U.S. dollar in an escrow bank account, which will be audited regularly by Cohen & Co, one of the largest accounting firms in the United States.
After USDH enters the Binance DEX, it will fill the gap that is lacking a stable coin trade pair, which as a result, will form a direct price anchor to fiat currencies.
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Stably Lists USDSB for Trading with ONE on Binance DEX
https://medium.com/stably-blog/stably-lists-usdsb-for-trading-with-one-on-binance-dex-ec547efdc72
ONE is a BEP2 token listed on Binance DEX that was created by Harmony, which is a blockchain that addresses scalability with adaptive proof-of-stake sharding and FBFT (Fast Byzantine Fault Tolerance). Harmony’s infrastructure can enable various types of decentralized applications and marketplaces that need high throughput and decentralization.
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Everex Partners with MakerDAO. Eyes Title of First Regulated Wallet for Stablecoins.
Integrating the Dai, which is USD pegged algorithmic token, is the first step towards making the Everex the prime wallet for stablecoins that enables cross-border payments and transfers.
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The New Version of Digital Assets Exchange is Launched
https://tokenomica.com/blog/the-new-version-of-digital/
Stasis Stablecoin is Listed on Digital Assets Exchange. EURS is the first euro-pegged digital asset, combining the benefits of the world’s second most traded currency with the transparency, immutability, and efficiency of the blockchain is now listed on Tokenomica’s Digital Assets Exchange. New trading pairs available on Tokenomica’s Digital Assets Exchange is BTC/ EURS.
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Uniswap + Ampleforth is Kinda Magical
https://medium.com/ampleforth/uniswap-ampleforth-is-kinda-magical-6262ea014404
Uniswap is a protocol for automated token exchange. Every 24 hours there’s a potential arbitrage opportunity between Uniswap and Bitfinex/Ethfinex — the two currently supported centralized exchanges.
The World’s First Japanese Stablecoin, TiedCo Announces the Launch of Tiedcoin
Japanese TiedCo is launching the world's first Yen collateralized stable coin. The coin is called a Tied coin and it will be launched together with BeaXchange.
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Honestnode Founder Discusses the First Stablecoin Built on Bitcoin Cash
https://news.bitcoin.com/honestnode-founder-discusses-the-first-stablecoin-built-on-bitcoin-cash/
The Honestnode team announced the release of a new stablecoin project built on top of the Bitcoin Cash network called Honestcoin (USDH). The new token was made using the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) and recently launched on the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinex. This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with the founder of Honestnode, Jian Shi, to learn more about this new stablecoin.
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Quantstamp Secures Binance's First Stablecoin
https://quantstamp.com/blog/quantstamp-secures-binances-first-stablecoin
Quantstamp, a Y Combinator-backed blockchain security company, recently completed the audit of leading global cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s GBP-backed stablecoin, Binance GBP (BGBP). The BGBP token joins other stablecoins in the market including Coinbase’s USDC, Facebook’s Libra, MakerDAO’s Dai, and Bitfinex’s Tether, and is one of the first major stablecoins to be pegged to the British pound.
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Money transfer firm PaySend receives £8.5m Series B funding
At the same time, Paysend unveiled a stablecoin dubbed Pays XDR. The stablecoin is backed by US Dollar, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen, and Chinese Yuan.