Snippings

Huw van Steenis, Co-chair of the Global Future Council on Responsive Financial Systems at The World Economic Forum, and someone who I always take very seriously on such topics, writes from Davos that he met a number “giants of the payment world” who said that the largest stablecoins are now hoping for regulation (and in fact arguing behind the scenes for such).

The just-published fourth report in the series on The Future of Banking from the IESE Business School identifies payment systems as one of the key challenges for banks moving forwards. It similarly reinforces the need for regulation around stablecoins and highlights the issue of whether fintechs have access to central bank accounts. This is because if a digital currency is to be a substitute for commercial bank deposits, then non-bank issuers must commit to guarantee the one-for-one convertibility with public money. The lack of access to central bank accounts and liquidity facility services complicates such a commitment, which threatens to jeopardise the stability of such alternatives.

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The historian Niall Ferguson told me during the global financial crisis that he wished more central bankers and financiers had studied history, not economics. He was right. The decentralized finance world is getting a pacey lesson in the history of finance – whether currency pegs breaking, runs on funds and the mechanisms to build trust in money.

From What I learned at Davos 2022 – from a financial futures expert | World Economic Forum:

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The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) is creating a US division, in response to the rapidly growing demand across North America for technology that delivers rigorous digital age checks. Whether it is to create social media accounts on well-known platforms such as Meta, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram or Reddit; to buy age-restricted goods, such as alcohol, vaping products or even marijuana; to access online gambling, as it is rapidly legalized by individual states; or to help websites comply with child safety laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), demand for online age verification which goes beyond simply asking a user to check a box or input their date of birth, is soaring.

From New Trade Body Launches, Representing High Quality, Privacy-Preserving Online Age Verification Providers in North America – AU10TIX:

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‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones

From ‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones | Cryptocurrencies | The Guardian:

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One victim reported they had been trying to order an Uber near London’s Liverpool Street station when muggers forced them to hand over their phone. While the gang eventually gave the phone back, the victim later realised that £5,000-worth of ethereum digital currency was missing from their account with the crypto investing platform Coinbase.

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A third victim said he had been vomiting under a bridge when a mugger forced him to unlock his phone using a fingerprint, then changed his security settings and stole £28,700, including cryptocurrency.

From ‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones | Cryptocurrencies | The Guardian:

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American technology entrepreneur Zaryn Dentzel told police he had been attacked at home in Madrid by masked thieves. He said they tortured him with a knife and stun gun before disappearing with millions of euros in bitcoin.

From ‘Crypto muggings’: thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones | Cryptocurrencies | The Guardian:

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The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) is creating a US division, in response to the rapidly growing demand across North America for technology that delivers rigorous digital age checks. Whether it is to create social media accounts on well-known platforms such as Meta, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram or Reddit; to buy age-restricted goods, such as alcohol, vaping products or even marijuana; to access online gambling, as it is rapidly legalized by individual states; or to help websites comply with child safety laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), demand for online age verification which goes beyond simply asking a user to check a box or input their date of birth, is soaring.

From New Trade Body Launches, Representing High Quality, Privacy-Preserving Online Age Verification Providers in North America – AU10TIX:

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JPMorgan Chase expects to lose more than $1bn in the next few years on its new digital-only international consumer bank that began operations in the UK last year.

Sanoke Viswanathan, JPMorgan’s chief executive for international consumer growth initiatives, said during an investor day presentation on Monday that the bank hoped the digital Chase business would break even by 2027 or 2028.

From JPMorgan warns overseas digital bank losses could top $1bn after UK push | Financial Times:

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JPMorgan’s (JPM.N) consumer bank Chase in Britain has attracted more than half a million customers since launching eight months ago, in the most detailed snapshot given by the Wall Street giant to date on how the digital venture is progressing.

Chase has also amassed 10 billion dollars’ worth of customer deposits in Britain and has processed 20 million payments,

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Variable Recurring Payments lets businesses collect customer payments via the Faster Payments service, meaning payments can be received in near-real time.

From NatWest completes first ‘non-sweeping’ customer payments through VRP:

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One of the Mutant Apes was flipped for $42,000, Motherboard reported. Transaction ledgers show the Bored Ape was also sold by the scammer to a pseudonymous collector known as “DarkWing84,” who purchased it for more than $200,000. The NFT was then swiftly transferred to a collection called “GBE_Vault,” which is where it currently sits.

If the current owner “wanted to cause trouble for Seth Green they probably could, because that person becomes the holder” of the commercial usage rights, said Daniel Dubin, a tax and litigation attorney at Alston & Bird LLP.

From Someone Stole Seth Green’s Bored Ape And Star Of His New NFT Show:

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