Snippings

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Cash is a safe and highly liquid instrument for the payment of goods and services. As legal tender, cash fulfills the functions of unit of account, means of exchange and store of value. The amount of cash issuance remains high in Japan despite the declining use of cash — accounting for about 20% of nominal gross domestic product.

Cash becomes more useful when natural disasters or military conflicts cause serious damage to communities – for example, via power shortages or the destruction of buildings and computer systems or by weakening trust in the private-sector banking system.

From Central bank digital currency cast aside in Japan – Asia Times.

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Like many other central banks, the Bank of Japan has conducted central bank digital currency experiments since 2021 to test the technical feasibility of the core functions and features of a retail CBDC ecosystem. The second phase of testing began in April 2022. But the central bank is not considering its implementation in the near future

From Central bank digital currency cast aside in Japan – Asia Times.

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It is common to make a distinction between account-based and token-based digital currencies, as in this report from the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (on which some of us collaborated), this working paper from the Bank of Canada, this staff discussion note from the International Monetary Fund, and this note from the Bank for International Settlements, among many other sources. In all of these papers, the distinction the authors make is that an account-based system requires verifying the identity of the payer, while a token-based system requires verifying the validity of the object used to pay.

From Token- or Account-Based? A Digital Currency Can Be Both – Liberty Street Economics.

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Gold-pegged cryptocurrencies are designed in a similar way to stablecoins, but rather than being backed by fiat are backed by the value of physical gold.

From 8 Top Gold Backed Crypto Tokens & Where to Buy (2022):

Perth Mint token

Tether Gold

Pax Gold

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There is still no law linking an NFT token to the asset it points to, without an additional specific contract or licence to this effect.

From NFT news: Salesforce NFTs, Latvian NFT money laundering, gamers still hate NFTs – Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain:

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March ended a solid quarter for bullion demand. The U.S. mint sold 426,500 ounces of gold between January and March, up 3.5% from the first quarter of 2021. Similar to its monthly says, this was the mint’s best quarter in 23 years

From U.S. Mint sees strongest gold bullion demand in 23 years, sells 426k ounces in Q1 | Kitco News:

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A new project called called Transient Electronics for Sustainable ICT in Digital Agriculture is starting. Based in the UK and led by the University of Glasgow, it will feature input from academics in Canada, Finland, Poland and Switzerland.
Over the course of the next three years the partners will design, build and test new types of sensors made from sustainable and biodegradable natural materials powered by supercapacitors made of compostable natural materials like rice husks, proteins from wool or biodegradable polymers made of starch and cellulose. Any metals used will be chosen to be harmless to the environment, such as copper or zinc nano particles.

From How the Internet of Things could power a green revolution on the farm | Engineer Live:

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According to Ashish Chauhan in The Times of India, a group of farmers in the Gujarat region were able to put together fake matches for the very real Indian Premier Cricket League. The “players” were given scripts to follow and the whole thing was broadcast on YouTube with commentators who sounded exactly like the IPL’s familiar voices. It all looked real enough that bettors in Russian cities were wagering on the fake action through Telegram channel the scammers set up.

From Russian bettors fall for fake Indian Premier League cricket match scam:

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Blockchain (or “DLT”) adds no functionality to a SSI/Identity system that is not equally well, if not better, provided by a QR code on paper. None of the benefits Blockchain is supposed to bring hold up under mild scrutiny. Blockchain adds significant complexity and cost, as well as usability issues and serious privacy concerns. “Blockchain” in SSI exists for PR only, not for engineering reasons.

From SSI-on-Blockchain is Objectively a Bad Thing | Niko’s Blog:

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Thanks to the “Starbucks is a bank” vision of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, millions of Starbucks customers who are members of the rewards programme are essential loaning the business around $1.6 billion at a 0% interest rate.

From Starbucks: Banking & Serving Coffee – Fintech Talents:

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