Snippings

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy a couple of times, and he’s a thoughtful person.

It just comes back to the point I was making, which is I do not think it’s sincere or high integrity for leaders to just say, “Well, everyone knew the risks.” Because there were promoters and I think fairly intelligent people who indulged in this. Frankly, I’m very disappointed in a lot of people.

From Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire on the ‘violent’ UST wipeout – Protocol:

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The FCA’s new powers will allow it to address cash access issues at both a national and local level. As part of this, the Government will set out its expectations for a reasonable distance for people to travel when depositing and withdrawing cash.

From FCA to gain new powers to protect access to cash:

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There are 400 neobanks around the world with over a billion clients
Over 50 neobanks launched in 2021
The main focus of Neobanking is UK, Sweden, USA, Brazil and South Korea
The neobanks are worth around USD$300 billion with at least 36 unicorns (2021)
Less than 5 percent have reached breakeven, with most making heavy losses

From The state of neobanking 2022 – Chris Skinner’s blog:

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Of 7100 teens quizzed on payments apps by Piper Sandler, Apple Pay had the most monthly users, at a 23% penetration rate, ahead of Venmo, the Cash App, and PayPal.

Apple Pay’s dominance is in part explained by the fact that 87% of teens have an iPhone.

From Apple Pay most popular payments app with US teens:

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Consumers surveyed by the ECB demonstrated little knowledge of the digital euro, but they generally agreed that banks and/or central banks would be the safest and most reliable providers.

From ECB publishes report on payment preferences as part of digital euro investigation phase:

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The launch of El Salvador’s national Bitcoin wallet, referred to as Chivo, has been a flop, with the majority of users having ditched it already, according to a paper published last month by economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study is among the first in-depth nongovernmental efforts to quantify the success of the country’s national cryptocurrency push.

The study by the nonprofit, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, surveyed 1,800 households in cities and rural areas. Where Chivo may have had minor unexpected success is in banking the unbanked. Researchers say that those who continue using the Chivo Wallet are using it to hold and transfer dollars, El Salvador’s official currency, similar to how one uses any digital wallet or bank. Some respondents told the researchers that they use the app as a debit card for dollars, with 20% of Chivo users saying they now spend less cash.

From Most Salvadorans have already ditched their national bitcoin wallets – Rest of World:

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Together, with the FIDO Alliance and other major platforms, Microsoft has announced support for the expansion of a common passwordless standard created by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web consortium. These multi-device FIDO credentials, sometimes referred to as passkeys, represent a monumental step toward a world without passwords.

From Expansion of FIDO standard and new updates for Microsoft passwordless solutions – Microsoft Tech Community:

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You can use Windows Hello today to sign in to any site that supports passkeys, and in the near future, you’ll be able to sign in to your Microsoft account with a passkey from an Apple or Google device.  

 

The three tech giants have said that passwordless sign-in will work across all the desktop, mobile, and browser platforms that they control. That’s a large portion of modern technology, covering everything from laptops and desktops to smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches.

It also covers the most used operating systems, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Also included are the three most used web browsers: Chrome, Edge, and Safari.

The fascinating death spiral of the not-at-all-stablecoin Terra is a worked example of “Ponzinomics”. It wasn’t a black swan or a flying pig or a once-in-a-million-years combination of market circumstances that could not have been predicted. Far from it. It was widely expected by a great many well-informed industry observers, including the respected commentator Frances Coppola who had herself been mocked by the Terra founder Do Kown for being “poor” when she criticised the Terra model.

There was much media commentary on the topic of stablecoins following this collapse. 

 

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Coppola, on the other hand, pointed out that while investors were redeeming Tether en mass amid Terra’s collapse, other stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD) performed as safe-haven assets, thus proving to be more trusted.

From Analysts assess the aftermath of the Terra (LUNA) collapse | Cointelegraph interview:

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Despite the impressive growth of neobanks in recent years, they represent a significantly small portion of the overall banking market. Combined they hold a mere 0.4% of the world’s total banking assets.

From Neobanks’ Growth Comes at a Cost: What it Means for Traditional Banks:

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The same way that copyright infringements and piracy were not heavily reduced due to regulation, but rather thanks to the emergence of technological alternatives (streaming giants like Netflix or Spotify), I believe the most effective strategy towards digital sovereignty is the active adoption of an alternative internet architecture, with these values built in (by design) to its core.

From Europe’s Third Way is Web3: Why the EU Should Embrace Crypto – RegTrax – Stanford Law School:

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