This is Charles Brett’s start-of-the-week Enterprise Times ‘blockchain catch-up’ Week 12. Necessarily it is idiosyncratic and selective.
It is not intended to be comprehensive but does seek to highlight ‘Quick Takes’ on specific developments as well interesting pieces to read, a listing of some (not all) announcements/press releases and pointers to upcoming events.
Quick Takes – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 12
Deutsche Bundesbank and Deutsche Börse link blockchain and euro
Deutsche Börse, Deutsche Bundesbank and Germany’s Finance Agency have developed and successfully tested a settlement interface for electronic securities. They worked with a range of other market participants. Securities settlement using distributed ledger technology (DLT) was performed with the aid of a ‘trigger’ solution and a transaction coordinator in TARGET2, the Eurosystem’s large-value payment system.
Quick Take: in doing this, the participants have demonstrated it is possible to establish a bridge between blockchain technology and conventional payment systems and, in so doing, settle securities in central bank money with no need to create central bank digital currency. During testing, the Federal Government’s Finance Agency issued a ten-year Federal bond (Bund) in the DLT system, with primary and secondary market transactions also being settled using DLT. For CBDC promoters this should serve as a warning (even if the tested tranactions were not legally binding).
Blockchain 50 2021
This is Forbes’ third annual Blockchain 50 compilation. It features companies which it believes:
- are leading in the use of blockchain/DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology)
- have revenue or a valuation of at least US$1B.
On the 2021 list are 21 newcomers—including the world’s largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Four others from Asia—make their debut. They take the spots of such U.S. companies as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Ripple, all of whom are still active in blockchain but have (to Forbes) kept lower profiles in the space over the past 12 months.
Quick Take: the list is long, from AP Moller Maersk (with TradeLens) to Walmart via Mahindra Group. In the latter case believes the Group has multiple blockchain technologies Mahindra Group has developed multiple blockchain technologies, now powering parts of the telco, banking, financial and insurance industries. A piece to peruse.
7 pieces to read – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 12
- Central banks ramp up digital currency plans
- NFTs may be the sufficiently advanced technology artists have needed to utilise the power of blockchain tech
- Can Blockchain and international regulations get along?
- U.K. man must pay US$571M over stolen Bitcoin, CFTC says
- Blockchain forensics startup Chainalysis raises $100 million at US$2B valuation
- Coinbase competitor Blockchain.com raises US$3000M million in crypto funding frenzy
- CompTIA forms Blockchain Technology Interest Group.
Selected announcements/press releases/opinions – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 12
- Bitcoin vs blockchain, you should know what the difference is between them (opinion)
- 43% of Americans aren’t even familiar enough with blockchain to determine their trust-level in the technology (survey)
- Forget Bitcoin pricing: Ternio CEO says blockchain is the right bet (opinion)
- Rise of the exchange token: From utility coin to long-term investment? (opinion)
- Life-sciences pros believe in the potential of AI, blockchain: (survey)
- Online Blockchain plc: Umbria Network DeFi farm launches (press release)
- IRS operation Hidden Treasure cracks down on unreported Bitcoin and crypto users (press release).
Selected upcoming events
- Future of Cryptoasset Regulation Summit, Tuesday, 30th March 2021
- Central Bank Digital Currencies (SIMBA webinar) 8th April 2021 at 1400 EST/1900 UTC
- Blockchance Europe 2021 (July 7th-9th, 2021)
- LA Blockchain Summit (November 2nd-3rd, 2021).
