The cryptocurrency business is thriving, but a lot of things are happening, including the Russian government announcing the establishment of a national crypto exchange, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) running CBDC experiments with the country’s megabanks, ConsenSys gathering user IP addresses as well as MetaMask wallet addresses and much more!
In this issue:
- Russian government announces the establishment of a national crypto exchange.
- Bank of Japan (BOJ) to run CBDC experiments with the country’s megabanks.
- ConsenSys will gather user IP addresses as well as MetaMask wallet addresses.
- Singapore Bank DBS completes fixed-income trade on JPMorgan’s Blockchain network Onyx.
- Argentina may adopt BTC as a legal currency, to introduce Bitcoin bonds.
- Bank of America will partner with Ripple for ODL services after the XRP lawsuit finishes.
- New York becomes the first US state to restrict Bitcoin mining.
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Russian government announces the establishment of a national crypto exchange
Russian lawmakers are working on a draft amendment bill enabling the country to launch a national crypto exchange. As per a report by a local media outlet, lawmakers and market participants had meetings in mid-November to discuss what changes would be required to the law to enable the creation of a national exchange for cryptocurrencies, according to a source close to the State Duma — the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, and the information was later confirmed by a participant in the meetings. The amendments will first be presented to the Russian government and the central bank.
According to a report by the Russian media outlet Vedomosti, the legislators want a draft document that considers the market players’ position before submitting it to the higher authorities. With this plan, Russia seeks to bring cryptocurrencies under state control.
A member of the Committee on Economic Policy, Sergei Altukhov, said, “It makes no sense to say that cryptocurrencies do not exist, but the problem is that it circulates in a large flow outside state regulation.” Althukov added that there was a need to create conditions that would make cryptocurrencies legal in the country and “regulate the rules of the game.”
The Russian government has been planning and establishing legal specifications for international cryptocurrency transactions for months in anticipation. However, the government of the Russian Federation itself has been pushing the digital Ruble over private cryptocurrencies. With the new draft framework, legal rules will oversee the use of digital assets in Russia. Reports last month said that direct exchanges are taking place on Russian streets to convert crypto into fiat amid a cash shortage.
Bank of Japan (BOJ) to run CBDC experiments with the country’s megabanks
The Bank of Japan plans to start testing the feasibility of a digital yen with major Japanese commercial banks next spring, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday, Nov 24.
The experiment, which will allow ordinary consumers to participate, is aimed at checking whether money deposits and withdrawals via bank accounts at commercial banks can be carried out smoothly with the use of a central bank digital currency, the sources said. The BOJ has taken the position that it has no plans to issue a digital yen, but has begun checking the stability and feasibility of payment systems should it decide to issue such a virtual currency in the future.
Globally, major central banks are also making preparations, with the U.S. Federal Reserve carrying out experiments and the European Central Bank looking into the feasibility of a digital euro. Far ahead of them is China, which has already launched pilot programs for its digital yuan.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in January that the BOJ would be able to decide whether to issue a digital currency or not by around 2026, noting that it was his personal view. If the BOJ decides to issue a digital yen, one viable option will allow consumers to use the currency via a special app on their smartphones.
Still, challenges remain for a central bank digital currency to be issued and used widely by the general public. Authorities need to ensure that a CBDC can be used even in times of an emergency, such as natural disasters, and that it can be protected against counterfeits or cyberattacks.
ConsenSys will gather user IP addresses as well as MetaMask wallet addresses
ConsenSys, the Ethereum studio behind popular crypto infrastructures such as MetaMask and Infura, is now formally collecting the IP and Ethereum wallet addresses of users.
The firm revised its privacy policy on Nov. 23 to notify MetaMask users that it would hoover up the data when using Infura as the default Remote Procedure Call (RPC) provider.
Alongside IP and wallet addresses, ConsenSys says it collects usernames, passwords, and gender information, as well as financial data such as asset holdings, bank account numbers, and bank routing numbers (MetaMask supports Visa and Mastercard purchases for crypto).
But in cases where a user utilizes their own Ethereum node or a third-party RPC provider, then neither Infura nor MetaMask will collect IP and wallet addresses, ConsenSys said.
Singapore Bank DBS completes fixed-income trade on JPMorgan’s Blockchain network Onyx
DBS, Singapore’s largest bank by market cap, said it has become the first Asian bank to use JPMorgan’s (JPM) blockchain-based fixed-income trading network
Onyx, joining international heavyweights including Goldman Sachs (GS) and BNP Paribas (EPA).
The Onyx Digital Assets network uses tokens for short-term trading in fixed-income markets, enabling investors to lend assets for hours without them leaving their balance sheets.
Trades on the repurchase also known as the “repo” market are for the most part backed by government bonds, making it a vital source of collateral for banks to fund their balance sheets. The Onyx network aims to allow banks to settle such transactions in a matter of hours, as opposed to the one or two-working-day period it has taken historically.
Over $300 billion of intraday repo deals have been carried out on Onyx since JPMorgan launched it in 2020.
Argentina may adopt BTC as a legal currency, to introduce Bitcoin bonds
Alberto Fernandez, President Of Argentina, Is Open To Adopting Bitcoin As Legal Tender To Fight Inflation. This week Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina, suggested he was open to adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender to fight inflation. The comments were made during a local television interview aired by Filo News.
During the interview, Fernandez was amenable to the idea of Bitcoin becoming legal tender and taking on a larger role in Argentina’s economy.
When asked whether Argentina would follow the path of El Salvador in terms of Bitcoin adoption, the president said, “I don’t want to go too far out on a limb […] but there is no reason to say no.”
It is important to note that while Argentina and El Salvador both suffer from inflation, the U.S. dollar is not legal tender in Argentina, and they have tight currency exchange controls, which create a black market for foreign and digital currencies.
Argentina is currently seventh in the world inflation index with an inflation rate of 51.8 percent, according to Trading Economics. In correlation with this statistic, in 2020 Bloomberg listed Argentina as the second most miserable economy in the world. The country’s need for a hard store of value such as Bitcoin is readily apparent.
Bank of America will partner with Ripple for ODL services after the XRP lawsuit finishes
Bank of America (BofA) is reportedly waiting for the end of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) court case against Ripple to join forces with the San Francisco-based payments company.
At Ripple Swell 2022 in London, Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse reportedly told Linqto Director of Member Sales Nick Burrafato that Bank of America is waiting for the court case to settle before using Ripple’s on-demand liquidity (ODL) products.
According to Burrafato, Garlinghouse added that BofA is going to gain a strong competitive advantage when they start using Ripple’s ODL service. The Ripple CEO added that the company is not opposed to a settlement with Ripple as long as regulatory clarity is established on whether or not the XRP Ledger blockchain’s native token XRP is a security or not.
Back in 2020, Ripple Labs also named Bank of America as a key member of its global payments network.
New York becomes the first US state to restrict Bitcoin mining
New York is taking a first-in-the-nation step to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining, under legislation that Governor Kathy Hochul signed Tuesday. The measure comes amid growing scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry following this month’s collapse of the FTX exchange. But, New York’s measure, which passed the state Legislature in June, is specifically concerned with the environmental aspects of crypto.
“I will ensure that New York continues to be the center of financial innovation, while also taking important steps to prioritize the protection of our environment,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a message explaining her approval.
The new law sets a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for energy-intensive “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency mining a term for the computational process that records and secures transactions in bitcoin and similar forms of digital money. Proof-of-work is the blockchain-based algorithm used by bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies.
The law also requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to asses how crypto mining affects the state’s ability to meet its climate goals. Environmentalists said New York was undermining those goals by letting crypto mining operations run their own natural gas-burning power plants.
Closing
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! Be sure to have a look at the Blog section to read our previous editions as well! Have a look at our Guides section if you’re interested in learning more about crypto! And finally, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
