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| BANK STABLECOINS: IBM is taking its banking clients a step closer to cryptocurrency. Announced Monday, six international banks have signed letters of intent to issue fiat-pegged stablecoins on World Wire, an IBM payment network that uses the Stellar public blockchain. The network promises to let regulated institutions move value across borders more quickly and cheaply than the legacy correspondent banking system. While only one of the banks was identified – Philippines-based RCBC, which will issue a stablecoin backed by that country’s peso – the others will offer digital versions of euros, Indonesian rupiah, Korean won and Brazilian reals, “pending regulatory approvals and other reviews,” IBM said. Full story
BAKKT UP: More than six months since Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) revealed its vision for Bakkt, the hotly anticipated bitcoin futures market is still awaiting regulatory approval. ICE, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, originally planned to launch Bakkt in mid-December, but it got pushed back to late January. Then, on New Year’s Eve, the launch was indefinitely delayed, with ICE saying its previous Jan. 24 target “will be amended pursuant to the CFTC’s process and timeline.” CoinDesk’s Nikhilesh De looks at the complexities that may be causing the hold-up. Read more
FAREWELL CITICOIN: Citigroup said it has scrapped its plan for a JPM Coin-like, bank-backed token it started developing as far back as 2015. Codenamed "Citicoin," the project out of Citigroup's innovation lab in Dublin was never formally announced by the bank, even as a proof of concept. However, while Citi bankers believe the technology had the potential to live up to its promises, the bank concluded that it would do better to make "meaningful improvements in the existing rails by leveraging the payments ecosystem." Full story
CRYPTO CARD: Banking startup 2gether is soon launching a prepaid Visa debit card that allows users to spend either euros or any of seven cryptocurrencies across the 19 eurozone nations. Cardholders can use the firm’s iOS and Android app to buy, sell and manage bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), XRP, bitcoin cash (BCH), EOS, Stellar (XLM) and litecoin (LTC). The card “instantly” converts the cryptos to fiat currency, 2gether said, adding that it charges no fees for the service. Full story |
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| HURDLE AHEAD: Backed by strong trading volumes, bitcoin jumped above $4,000 over the weekend, reinforcing the short-term bullish trend. So far, however, the follow-through has been anything but positive, possibly because the still-bearish 21-week moving average (MA) is currently lined up at $4,073. That same hurdle reversed corrective rallies repeatedly in 2018. Thus, consolidation or a minor pullback to levels below $3,800 could be seen in the near-term. Full story |
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BEST OF THE BEST ‘DAMAGING’ RULES: The Bank of Mexico recently issued new cryptocurrency regulations that some experts have criticized as harmful for the industry, Finance Magnates reports. With Mexico being a major corridor for remittances, the country has “a lot to gain” from cryptocurrencies, Sebastian Acosta Checo, CEO of the Isbit exchange, said. Yet, the rules seem to have been rushed and are unclear and contradictory in parts, other industry insiders suggested. “The impact goes beyond the crypto industry. I believe it damages the economy as a whole,” said Checo. THE REST FIGHTING FAKES: Large numbers of Africans are falling victim to fake medicines, according to a report from Standard Digital. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated that up to 158,000 deaths from malaria may be caused by counterfeit antimalarials south of the Sahara annually. To tackle the issue, IBM’s research lab in Haifa, Israel, is building a blockchain platform to track the supply chain of genuine pharma products . The system provides a mobile app and a permissioned blockchain back end that can track and verify meds at any stage up to the point of consumption by the patient. CHIN UP: Despite the long-term bear market in cryptocurrency prices, some big-name individuals in the industry are still staying positive on bitcoin's potential. According to Forbes, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted over the weekend: "$4k & 300k. There are tough days, and there are good days." Meanwhile, EOS co-founder and BlockOne CEO Brendan Blumer also tweeted: "Over the next two decades, bitcoin will replace gold as the leading commodity to store value." |
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