Latest CBDC News | Central Bank Digital Currency News

Renee Francis, Take3: The transformative potential of Web3

The Block caught up with Renee Francis, Founder and Director of Take3, to discuss the transformative potential of Web3.

With a background in marketing and extensive experience with platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google, Francis offers a unique perspective on the issues that Web3 aims to address.

In this interview, she shares insights into the benefits of Web3, the challenges it faces, and her excitement for various projects in the space.

Data...

15 September 2023 | Altcoins

Casper Network first Layer-1 blockchain to enable native smart contract debugging

The Casper Association, the Swiss-based organisation that oversees the Casper blockchain and supports its continued decentralisation, has announced the successful 1.5 protocol upgrade.

This upgrade introduced a host of new and improved features, making Casper the only Layer-1 blockchain to enable the debugging of live, composable smart contracts on mainnet.

“The 1.5 upgrade is a major landmark in our path to creating a blockchain environment that fosters innovation...

4 September 2023 | Blockchain

Technology used in Bank of England’s CBDC project now available to any business

Quant, the blockchain for finance pioneer, has unveiled Overledger Platform: the infrastructure used in Project Rosalind - the Bank of England and Bank for International Settlements’ retail CBDC project – available to all via software-as-a-service.

Overledger Platform makes the same enterprise-grade technology, the same interoperability core, the same secure smart contracts and the same issuance, secure bridging and atomic settlement functionality that have underpinned...

28 June 2023 | Banking

a16z’s first global office will be in London due to ‘predictable’ environment

Renowned venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is opening its first global office in London due to a “predictable” regulatory environment.

The decision to expand comes in the wake of growing regulatory challenges faced by crypto firms in the United States. Chris Dixon, a16z's crypto founder and managing partner, highlighted the importance of a predictable business environment as a key factor behind the...

12 June 2023 | Altcoins

SWIFT progresses CBDC project after strong pilot results

Global banking system SWIFT is moving to the next phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) testing after positive results in the pilot stages.

The interbank network said its project to connect different nations’ CBDCs with one another offers “clear potential and value” in a statement on 9 March.

Lewis Sun, global head of domestic and emerging payments at HSBC, said: “While interest in CBDCs is growing, so is the risk of fragmentation as a widening range...

10 March 2023 | Banking

Moscow Credit Bank issues on-chain guarantee in Chinese yuan

Moscow Credit Bank, a commercial Russian bank, has issued the country’s first blockchain-based guarantee to use Chinese yuan as currency.

The transaction was made using Russia’s national blockchain network, Masterchain, which is built to transfer digital assets between the country’s institutions. The guarantee was for more than 100 million yuan (£12m).

In a statement from Moscow Credit Bank (MCB), it said: The advantage of a digital bank guarantee is that the...

3 March 2023 | Banking

Bank of England details digital pound model, calling plans ‘likely’

The UK is moving forward with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) plans after publishing an in-depth consultation paper on the proposed digital pound, which has been dubbed “Britcoin”.

In its 116 pages, the paper details the Bank of England (BoE) and UK Treasury’s stance on the “likely need” for a digital pound and their proposed model. A technology working paper was also released to explain technical design concepts and decisions.

The paper reiterates the...

8 February 2023 | CBDC

National Australia Bank to launch 1:1 AUD stablecoin

National Australia Bank (NAB) plans to launch an Australian dollar-pegged stablecoin on the Ethereum network in mid-2023.

The move would make National Australia Bank the country's second ‘Big 4’ bank to launch such a coin, after rival bank ANZ minted 30 million tokens of its A$DC stablecoin in March 2022.

Much like ANZ’s coin, NAB plans to use its AUDN stablecoin to streamline cross-border payments and support carbon credit trading, according to a report from...

19 January 2023 | Banking

Turkish central bank completes first CBDC trials for digital lira

Turkey’s central bank has completed the first of its trials for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Turkish Lira.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced on 29 December that it had successfully completed the “first payment transactions” to use the digital lira.

Limited, closed-circuit pilot tests with key stakeholders will continue into the first quarter of 2023, after which the pilot is expected to integrate...

30 December 2022 | CBDC

Visa will ‘actively contribute’ to web3 development

Visa refuses to become a dinosaur and will “actively contribute” to developing the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Aside from maximalists, few experts believe that crypto poses an existential threat to fiat currencies. Legacy payment processors like Visa and Mastercard have increasingly been joining the web2-era disruptors like PayPal and Square in supporting the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Greater public adoption of “crypto” will likely come through CBDCs (Central...