“Bitcoin’s appeal as an alternative store of value asset is strengthening, according to analysts at Germany-based investment bank Deutsche Bank.
There seems to be an increasing demand to use bitcoin where gold used to be used to hedge dollar risk, inflation, and other things.
While bitcoin has gained 144% this year, gold is up 22%.”
See Also: Survey of millionaires finds 73% own or want to invest in crypto
“The Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DC/EP) could be a more attractive alternative to existing digital payment services provided by fintech companies in a cashless environment, said the 81-page report.
It cited anonymity enabled by the separation of a bank account and the digital yuan wallet, offline payment and interconnectivity with various payment options as contributing to the digital yuan’s success.
Commercial banks will be the only institutions permitted to operate in DC/EP exchange as it is the digitalization of legal tender. This will effectively level the playing field with fintech platforms.
The report also notes DC/EP would not disintermediate the commercial banks since the virtual currency is replacing cash rather than savings.”
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“The ‘traditional model of banking would be disrupted‘ by a widely used digital currency, Haldane said, adding that more attention needs to be given ‘to the potential longer-term benefits of such a structural shift.’
One such benefit is the emergence of so-called narrow banking, which would partially segregate banks’ “safe” payments-based activities from their riskier credit business.
On the monetary policy side, the central banker believes a digital currency could mitigate or possibly even negate the prevalence of negative interest rates. Haldane says zero-bound or negative rates ‘arise from a technological constraint on the ability to pay or receive interest on physical cash.'”
“In an apparent first, the regulatory body stated that it would not recommend enforcement action against IMVU for making VCOINs available for their “intended purpose.” According to the platform, users can buy, earn, and transfer the tokens off IMVU to convert to fiat.
IMVU would need to make the token ‘continuously available in unlimited quantities and at a fixed price‘ of $0.004, and would not ‘promote or support listing or trading‘ of the token on any third-party platform.”
“Lil Yachty has 10.7 million listeners on Spotify, 9.8 million Instagram followers and 5.2 million Twitter followers.
Fyooz did not disclose when Lil Yachty’s token will launch or what the rapper plans to do with it. He will be the largest influencer to feature on the platform.”
See Also: DEX Aggregator DEX.AG Rebrands to Slingshot After Raising $3.1M
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“VMware joins the ranks of IBM and other global tech conglomerates that have launched their own blockchain platforms. The firm identified highly complex and fragmented multi-party enterprise workflows that results in delays, increased costs and hindered innovation as core problems they aim to solve.
Last year, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger condemned Bitcoin as being ‘bad for humanity.'”
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“In an update on Thursday, OKEx said the private key holder ‘has completed assisting the authorities in a previously referenced investigation.’
OKEx was confirmed not to have been involved in any wrongdoing or illegal activities, and the private key holder has now returned to his normal business functions.”
The Disrupt 