This is Charles Brett’s start-of-the-week Enterprise Times ‘blockchain catch-up’ Week 38. 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 38
Banks say draft capital rules make cryptoassets too costly to trade
Per Reuters, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, comprising regulators from the world’s main financial centres, proposed in June a graduated approach to capital requirements for cryptoassets held by banks. For the riskiest assets like Bitcoin, banks would have to hold capital at least equal in value to their exposures to the asset to absorb a full write-off.
Quick Take: if correct, this is one effective way to strangle cryptoasset adoption. Not to be able to use traditional financial service firms would also push cryptoassets to the fringe, and fringes are usually ‘where the bad guys lie in wait’.
China’s central bank says all cryptocurrency-related activities are illegal, vows harsh crackdown
The People’s Bank of China said services offering trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Overseas cryptocurrency exchanges providing services in mainland China are also illegal, the PBOC said. This is not the first time China has gotten tough on cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, Beijing announced a crackdown on crypto mining.
Quick Take: it is difficult to know what to make of this crackdown. Is it fear of what cryptocurrencies might do to China’s plans for its own CBDC? Or is it about constraining illegality? Or, perhaps, it is China’s Communist Party seeking to assert its authority? Or a combination of factors? It will take time to see how thoroughly the crackdown is executed. meanwhile, the rest of the world can only speculate about the fallout, good or bad.
7 pieces to read – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 38
- How a blockchain game turned $10 into $12,000
- What is blockchain?
- Tatum lets you interact with blockchains using API calls
- A primer to (sic) blockchain analytics and top tools in 2021
- Can you ‘own’ a goal? Collectible NFTs rolling into elite soccer
- FCA and Bank of England to deploy blockchain for regulatory reporting
- Etherisc and Mittweida develop blockchain-based decentralized insurance solutions.
Selected announcements/press releases/opinions – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 38
- How does blockchain technology help deliver the future…now? (opinion)
- Bitcoin, blockchain – are they right for you? (opinion)
- Blockchain’s biggest businesses: Forbes Blockchain 50 call for 2022 nominations (announcement)
- Polygon bug bounty program is live on Immunefi (announcement)
- Lumino Ceremony Uses a Combination of Zero-Knowledge Proof and Blockchain to Solve the Limitations of Privacy and Data Security (announcement)
- Smart contracts are the first step on the ETN-Network roadmap (announcement)
- Lancelot Media London launches Adwatch UK: Using Blockchain to Certify Advertising Campaigns and Protect Ad Budgets (announcement)
- Sparkle leverages Hedera Hashgraph to launch digital eReceipt and Universal Digital Coupon apps (announcement)
- Infura Transactions (ITX) simplifies transaction management on Ethereum (announcement)
- Salt Edge report: state of open banking payments in Europe in 2021 (report)
- Global Blockchain Market (2021 Edition) – Analysis by Type (Public, Private, Hybrid), Application, End-user, Region, and Country: Market Insights and Forecast with Impact of COVID-19 (2021-2026) (report).
Selected upcoming events
- CordaCon 2021 (September 28th-30th, 2021)
- TOKEN2049 Europe returns in-person in London (October 7th-8th, 2021)
- Digital Assets Week (October 18th-22nd, 2021)
- Crypto Valley Conference (October 28-29th, 2021; Rotkreuz, Switzerland)
- LA Blockchain Summit (November 2nd-3rd, 2021)
- Blockchain Conference/Blockchain Expo Europe 2021 (November 23rd-24th, 2021)
- Blockchance Europe 2021 (December 8th-10th, 2021 – was July 7th-9th, 2021)
- Bitcoin 2022 (6th-9th April, 2022).
