Category Token

A thousand years ago, when money meant coins, China invented paper currency. Now the Chinese government is minting cash digitally, in a re-imagination of money that could shake a pillar of American power.

It might seem money is already virtual, as credit cards and payment apps such as Apple Pay in the U.S. and WeChat in China eliminate the need for bills or coins. But those are just ways to move money electronically. China is turning legal tender itself into computer code.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have foreshadowed a potential digital future for money, though they exist outside the traditional global financial system and aren’t legal tender like cash issued by governments.

China’s version of a digital currency is controlled by its central bank, which will issue the new electronic money. It is expected to give China’s government vast new tools to monitor both its economy and its people. By design, the digital yuan will negate one of bitcoin’s major draws: anonymity for the user.

Continue reading at wsj.com

Crypto regulation in Spain remains on the political talks amid the current bull-run seen in the bitcoin prices. Now, the country’s Ministry of the Economy is about to create a new Financial Customer Ombudsman for crypto-related matters.

Independent Financial Customer Body Will Abide by the MiCA Ruling

Per La Información, Minister Nadia Calviño seeks to extend its guardianship to the financial body to cover topics such as protecting consumers in cryptocurrency services. To make it a reality, the minister will submit the initial proposal to a public consultancy “as soon as possible.”

Overall, Calviño also wants to canalize all conflicts between banks and their customers through the Financial Customer Ombudsman, including all businesses in the fintech sector.

Continue reading at news.bitcoin.com

Miami’s mayor, Mayor Francis Suarez, has been busy adding a personalized touch in trying to bring tech entrepreneurs to Miami. Striving to combine the financial elements of New York City and the technology character of San Francisco into a South Florida finance and tech oasis, the mayor is bringing a different attitude and policy outlook on innovation. Among one of the many areas this vision affects is bitcoin — something he believes, in an interview with Forbes, will be the “biggest story of the next few years.”

The mayor admits he’s always been fascinated with the idea of bitcoin. Its mathematical nature appeals to him and he’s aware of the growing popularity of bitcoin among the American people. There are three tangible paths the city is taking to expand its bitcoin-friendly nature:

1. Miami is considering giving city employees the opportunity to get their salaries paid in bitcoin
2. Local fees and taxes could be paid in bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency
3. Finally, the city’s treasury might place some of its investment capital into bitcoin, which would be a first for major cities in the United States (and perhaps in the world)

Continue reading at forbes.com

The increase in card payments that support multiple online transactions can drive the expansion of the global online payment gateway market during the trial period. The increase in digital installations can lead to the expansion of the online payment gateway market worldwide. The increased practice of cashless transactions and the emergence of payments from smaller denominations could lead to the expansion of the global payment gateway market in the coming years.

Market Research Future (MRFR) has announced a new launch in the global online payment gateway market. The report analyses all aspects of the global online payment gateway market in order to provide a comprehensive overview of market growth prospects during the 2018-2023 forecast period. According to the report, the global online payment gateway market is expected to grow at a strong CAGR of 12.8% during the 2018-2023 forecast period.

Continue reading at tokentimes.io

Digital currencies may challenge and someday could make redundant the SWIFT global banking payment system, according to a Central Bank of Russia official, Russia Today reported.

Given the pace of development of central bank currencies, several countries may launch one in the next five to seven years, according to First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova, RT said.

“Then we can deal with direct integration issues. In this case SWIFT it may not be necessary, because it will be a different kind of technological interaction”

Skorobogatova said at a meeting last week, RT reported.

SWIFT is a messaging network that banks and other financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions via codes. It enables cross-border payments along with other services between more than 10,000 financial institutions in countries around the world.

Continue reading at nasdaq.com

Understanding the context in which tokens are referred is important for understanding digital currencies. The purpose of this note is not to propose new terminology or definitions, but to provide guidance that can help prevent potential confusion or lack of communication in the use of the terms 'token' and 'account'.

The first section of this note explains how the cryptocurrency community addressed the concepts of tokens and tokenization. The second section examines the domains of the payment economy and central banks, and discusses tokens in the context of CBDC. The note concludes by highlighting some problems with the dichotomy 'tokens vs. accounts' and the potential challenges that may arise as a result of the continued use of these ambiguous terms.

The broad adoption of the ERC-20 standard probably helped shape the notion of a 'cryptocurrency token' as a custom asset issued on top of a blockchain through the use of smart contracts. Other blockchain platforms that followed Ethereum's example by offering flexible programming capability, such as Eos, Cardano, Tezos and Stellar, allow the issuance of custom assets that the cryptocurrency community calls tokens.

Read the full story at: marketscreener.com.

DeFi is a movement or ecosystem of financial applications built on top of blockchain networks with the goal of creating open source and transparent financial services for everyone without any central authority. The user gains full control over their assets and interacts with the ecosystem through peer-to-peer finance, powered by decentralized applications under the Ethereum blockchain.

Open Finance has had remarkable growth since the beginning of 2019. More than a year ago, there was $275 million in encryption blocked in DeFi. By the 25th of July this year, the amount had grown to $4B. This growth is a sign that there has been a growing interest in DeFi within the encryption community. Decentralized finance is the future of the financial sector and the next great paradise for players.

DeFi is also the fastest growing blockchain sector. Recent reports show that DeFi tokens outnumber other counterparts. One thing is certain that the future of Open Finance is highly promising and, through it, an entirely new industry will flourish.

Read the full story at: euroweeklynews.com.