• digital dollar private sector powell
    The government can't build a digital dollar without help, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (Photo: Wikipedia)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics,  Regulation,  Technology

    Building digital dollar requires private sector’s help: Fed Chairman

    Jerome Powell told an international financial conference that ‘the private sector has the experience and expertise’ needed to help build digital currencies

    March 18, 2021 /

    The chairman of the Federal Reserve said today that the U.S. government will have to work with private firms to improve the way money is moved around the world. Speaking via video at a Bank for International Settlement (BIS) conference in Basel, Switzerland on March 18, Jerome Powell acknowledged that the current system of cross-border payments needs to be improved and digitalized. He said: “The COVID crisis as brought into even sharper focus the need to address the limitations of our current arrangements for cross-border payments.” It has, he said, “shined a light on the less efficient areas of our current payment system and accelerated the desire for improvement and digitalization.” A key…

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  • digital yuan testing in Beijing Shanghai Guangdong
    The digital version is coming closer fast (Photo: Pixabay/Moreschy)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics

    China expands digital yuan testing in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong

    China’s digital currency will undergo large-scale testing in the nation’s capital, its commercial center, and its wealthiest province

    January 27, 2021 /

    The digital yuan’s highest profile tests began in Shenzhen in September, when city officials held a lottery, giving away $1.5 million in 50,000 in “digital red envelopes” containing 200 yuan—about $30—usable at 4,000 merchants who signed up to accept the digital yuan. That and subsequent tests have been called wildly successful by People’s Bank of China Governor Yi gang.

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  • Hong Kong embracing digital yuan
    Hong Kong's central bank is working with China to test a cross-border digital currency (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Technology

    Hong Kong embracing digital yuan

    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s chief executive said it is working with the People’s Bank of China to give the digital yuan a cross-border test

    December 4, 2020 /

    While Hong Kong is part of China, it is a special administrative region, meaning it has a border and a separate central bank. Which makes it an excellent cross-border test partner for the digital currency China is testing.

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  • China second digital yuan lottery
    Chinese President Xi Jinping told G20 leaders it's time for central bank digital currency rules (Photo: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics,  Regulation

    China launches second lottery to test digital yuan

    China’s central bank will repeat its $1.5 million “red envelope” central bank digital currency program in Suzhou, following the successful run in Shenzhen

    November 23, 2020 /

    The Shenzhen test acted as both a stress test and a marketing initiative. The City government gave away $1.5 million to 50,000 randomly selected citizens, who each received 200 yuan—about $30—usable at any of the 4,000 merchants who accept the digital yuan. The Suzhou test will include important new features that did not factor into the Shenzhen trials, most notably the ability to pay while offline.

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