Snippings

A member of the European Central Bank (ECB) board, Fabio Panetta, referred to the issue of such stable coins at a recent Bundesbank-convened event about the future of payments noting that if the risks of such coins were to be minimised by insisting on a reserve in central bank money, that something like a Facebook would be “tantamount to outsourcing the provision of central bank money”.

 

Panetta states. “It could endanger monetary sovereignty if, as a result, private money – the stablecoin – were to largely displace sovereign money as a means of payment. Money would then be reduced to a ‘club good’ offered in return for the payment of a fee or membership of a platform.”

From ECB warns the future of money is at stake as Facebook preps January crypto launch:

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If people store, send, receive, and sell crypto assets in crypto wallets, then surely they should be regulated like bank accounts.

Except that is only one use case for a crypto wallet. It happens to be the primary use of crypto wallets right now but it is not likely to be the primary use of crypto wallets in a decade.

From Crypto Wallets Are Not Bank Accounts – AVC:

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Privacy-preserving digital payment alternatives, such as cryptocurrencies, involve high transaction costs and can be environmentally costly. Private initiatives proposed by “BigTech” firms are likely to lead to even less privacy. Central banks are better positioned, relative to private intermediaries, to commit to safeguarding data from outside vendors, because a central bank has no profit motive to exploit payments data. By helping consumers to monetize privacy, central banks would not be proposing a radical transformation to the payments landscape. Rather, they would be preserving aspects of payments that existed prior to the digital revolution.

From Monetizing Privacy with Central Bank Digital Currencies -Liberty Street Economics:

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Available from from February 2021. NFIs that are licenced as major payment institutions under the Payment Services Act will be allowed to connect directly to Fast and Secure Transfers (Fast) and the PayNow overlay central addressing service .

Singapore opens faster payment plumbing to non-banks:

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The landscape is quickly shifting for China’s fintech industry, which until recently offered the most compelling evidence of technology giants using their might — and a light regulatory touch — to rewire traditional financial services. With the call for tightened oversight coming from the top leadership, they are now rushing to shore up capital, mulling business overhauls and bracing for more turbulence as industry watchdogs set their sights on areas spanning lending, banking partnerships and data privacy.

From Ant Is Said to Face Slim Chance of Getting IPO Done in 2021 – Bloomberg:

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Under the draft rules for micro-lenders issued in early November, Ant would be forced to replenish capital. That could mean the company needs about $12 billion to comply, according to an estimate from Bloomberg Intelligence.

“The most impacted segment is Ant’s CreditTech business, which needs to go through material capital and funding top-ups at its consumer-loan subsidiaries or restructure its loan business,” BI’s Francis Chan said in a research note Monday. “This could compromise the segment’s revenue outlook, and hence that of the whole firm.”

The company also needs to apply to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for new licenses for its two micro-lending platforms: Huabei (Just Spend) and Jiebei (Just Lend). The banking regulator will limit the number of platforms allowed to operate nationally, and is unlikely to approve two licenses for Ant, said the people.

Ant will also need to apply to the central bank for a separate financial holding company license since its operations straddle more than two financial segments.

From Ant Is Said to Face Slim Chance of Getting IPO Done in 2021 – Bloomberg:

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Venezuelan soldiers are mobilizing. No, this is not the start of World War III – these troops are being put to work mining bitcoin (BTC) in the Nicolás Maduro regime’s latest, and possibly most audacious crypto-themed fundraising effort yet.

Per a video posted on Instagram by the 61st Battalion of the 6th Corps of Engineers of the Bolivarian Army, specialist soldiers have turned army buildings into giant mining centers, fitted with ASIC mining rigs, as well as a refurnishing hub, apparently for older or damaged equipment.

The troops appear to have converted a large warehouse into what they have entitled the “Center for the Production of Digital Assets.”

From Venezuelan Army Engineers Start Mining Bitcoin:

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Ed McAndrews, a cybercrime attorney and a former federal prosecutor, said “ransomware” hacking is running rampant across the country.

Local governments and companies often hire law firms like his, DLA Piper, to negotiate with the hackers.

“The average ransom has gone from $30,000 to upward of $500,000 and that’s the average,” said McAndrews.

McAndrews said governments often must pay because time is of the essence and many hackers have a reputation of freeing databases after being paid in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, which sources say the Delaware County hackers are demanding.

From Cybercriminals demanding $500,000 after hacking Delaware County, Pennsylvania computer network: Sources – 6abc Philadelphia:

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Our results indicate that ring-fencing encourages UK banks subject to the reform to rebalance their activities towards retail lending and away from capital markets. Specifically, banks whose funding structures are more affected by the reform reduce the interest rates they charge on domestic mortgages, leading to an increase in the quantity of their mortgage lending. Meanwhile, they reduce their provision of syndicated credit lines and underwriting services to large corporates. This rebalancing is consistent with the idea that deposit funding provides certain advantages to banks — for example, because households place a high value on the liquidity of deposits, or because of deposit insurance — and that redirecting these benefits towards consumer lending leads to a reduction in the cost of consumer credit.

From Separating deposit-taking from investment banking: new evidence on an old question – Bank Underground:

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The UK has launched a new National Cyber Force run by spies and military personnel which will block terrorists’ phone signals, disrupt servers being used by hostile states and hack enemy weapons systems.

From National Cyber Force will target UK adversaries online | Financial Times:

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