Basket Village USA
To print this article, all you need to do is be registered or log in to Mondaq.com.
This week, the New York branch of the U.S. central bank released a report on the results of Phase I of Project Cedar, “a multi-phase research effort to develop a technical framework for a theoretical wholesale digital currency of the central bank (wCBDC)”. According to a press release, it currently takes two days for most spot foreign exchange (FX) transactions to settle, exposing senders and receivers of payments to “settlement, counterparty and credit risk that , among other things, can hamper an institution’s ability to easily convert its assets into cash. In Phase I of Project Cedar, “the experiment simulated spot foreign exchange (FX) trading and introduced a prototype wholesale central bank digital currency to test whether using blockchain technology could improve the speed , cost and access to cross-border wholesale payments”. In this test environment, the experiment would have revealed three key results:
- Faster payments: In the test environment, transactions on the blockchain-enabled system settled in less than 15 seconds on average.
- Atomic regulation: The simulated ledger network enabled atomic settlement, meaning that both sides of the simulated transactions settled simultaneously or not at all, reducing exchange rate risks.
- Safer and more accessible transactions: The design of the distributed ledger system enabled 24/7/365 payments and supported goals related to interoperability between financial institutions, including central banks and banks of the private sector.
Separately, this week, a major global bank issued a press release announcing “the world’s first digital bond that is publicly listed and settled on blockchain-based and traditional exchanges.” According to the press release, “[t]The CHF375 million bond is digital only and will be issued on the blockchain-based platform of SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) while being dual listed and traded on SDX and SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX).
In a recent notable post, a major South African grocery chain reportedly announced plans to start allowing customers to pay for groceries with bitcoin at 39 stores in South Africa using any lightning-enabled app. bitcoins. According to reports, customers will scan a QR code from the app and accept the conversion rate on their smartphone at the time of the transaction.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide on the subject. Specialist advice should be sought regarding your particular situation.
POPULAR ARTICLES ON: USA Technology
