Categories
News

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei (www.blockcast.cc)

Starting from Bitcoin, decentralized open source monetary policies are constantly emerging.

Written by: Richard Burton
Translation: Lu Jiangfei

How can we make money? This is an interesting question that I spent a lot of time thinking about. How did a new type of currency come about? Who decides how many dollars, euros, yen, and pounds should be in the market? When these currencies are created, who will put these currencies out? Why put money? To be honest, the “rabbit hole” of monetary policy is really deep.

Of course, I am also a newbie in this field. If I make any mistakes in this article, please correct me.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Currency history is a great history. My favorite book on currency history so far is “The Rise of Money: How Finance Affects World History” (The Ascent of Money) by Niall Ferguson. This book explains in detail The phased transition of currency, from the nick on the rock to the blockchain transaction that can sweep the entire planet in a few seconds.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

And I want to focus on some of the changes that have occurred in recent years: from a centralized bank to a decentralized bank. If you want to understand some basic conceptual knowledge first, you can view it at this link .

Centralized bank

Every one of us now lives in a globalized society. In the United States, people always spend a lot of time thinking about who is allowed to lead the country, but they spend very little time thinking about who is allowed to lead our money.

Central banks around the world are establishing and maintaining monetary systems in various ways. It seems that those who manage these central banks are either appointed by high-level government or elected through internal elections, but for the general public, they are basically very It is difficult to understand the selection process of the central bank’s management.

If we gather the most powerful central bankers in the world in one room, it is estimated that there will be no more than 1,000 people in this room.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Think about it: less than 1,000 people control the pulsation of the world’s currency-don’t you think it’s a bit surprised?

Personally, this thing is really crazy!

EUR

I really like the picture below, in which Christine Lagarde, the former President of the International Monetary Fund and the current European Central Bank President, and her colleagues gathered together to see such a “tall” environment around them. What is embarrassing is that everyone sitting on the table has white sideburns.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

When these old people decide to issue more euros, who do you think they are on the side of? Will they represent young people? Will it represent ethnic minorities? Or will it represent the poor? It is even unknown whether these people have thought about these issues in their minds.

Frankly speaking, these senior scholars should be responsible for the well-being of future generations, but maybe I was wrong.

Bank for International Settlements

Have you heard of Agustín Carstens? He is the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the “incarnation” of everything about central banks that I despise. If you look at this video , you will understand what this guy is doing: He made it clear that the central bank should track all user expenditures in real time. You know, in some countries today, the government needs to obtain an arrest warrant to access user payment data. If Agustin Carstens, the “big boss” succeeds, what are they most likely to do? It’s simple: create a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Agustin Carstens did not want to conceal the true intentions of the Bank for International Settlements. He even hopes to turn comprehensive financial supervision into the new normal.

It really turns my appetite.

Federal Reserve

There is no doubt that the Federal Reserve is the most successful central bank on the planet. They turned the US dollar from a single national currency into a global settlement currency. Just against this point, the Federal Reserve has accomplished a very remarkable achievement.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and FeiThe picture above is from wtfhappenedin1971.com

The power the United States has on the global stage is amazing. When the Fed creates more dollars, the world must kneel down. There is a funny meme video about the Fed’s recent performance on Twitter, which can be viewed here .

But do you know who is running the Federal Reserve? I didn’t know until recently that only 7 people have control over the Fed.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

As a global settlement currency, do you think that the fate of the US dollar is only determined by so few people. Do you think it is reasonable?

For me, the degree of centralization is too high!

21 million bitcoins

Bitcoin has completely changed the game. With the help of innovative agreements and very simple monetary policy, this new financial system has begun to emerge: if we issue all 21 million bitcoins in 144 years, let’s see what happens.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

If you think of Bitcoin as a meme, then it can be said that this concept is amazing! Everyone is attracted by “21 million” bitcoins. The concept of bitcoin is simple, but at the same time, it is a bit too simple.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

If 100 years later, we can adapt well to the “21 million” Bitcoin, then all currency problems in the world can be solved. However, ideals are full and reality is very skinny. I think a truly effective currency solution is much more complicated.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Do you think that the first monetary policy ever invested in blockchain will be the best solution that mankind can think of?

I do not think so.

Deflationary ETH

So far, the monetary policy of Ethereum is still pending. Unlike Bitcoin, the supply of Bitcoin is fixed from the beginning, while Ethereum does not have a fixed supply of money, but will continue to change over time or protocol development, but Ethereum’s monetary policy has been relatively mature and Continue to be enhanced. I think Justin Drake’s interview on Ethereum is one of the best ever. You can click this link to view it.

Justin Drake put forward a novel point of view. He felt that Bitcoin is expected to maintain inflation for decades, while Ethereum is actually likely to experience deflation within ten years or earlier. If it does happen In this case, the circulating supply of ETH will gradually decrease.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

For a store of value, do you think it is better to implement expansionary policies? Or is it better to implement a contractionary policy?

For me personally, I like the value store of digitization and deflation.

Maker

In the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), one of the most successful projects is Maker DAO, which absorbs collateral such as Ether and mints a stable coin called “Dai”. The system has undergone two major revisions, and the current collateral lock-up volume exceeds 7 billion U.S. dollars.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and FeiThe picture above is from defipulse.com/maker

I find that the magic of Maker is that anyone can contribute to the system or participate in the governance process surrounding its monetary policy, and many people gather every week to discuss interest rates and risks in the financial system.

I spent a lot of time researching the Maker protocol interface, and found that the people who built this system spent a lot of time and energy to ensure that it is safe for everyone, and all work is open source.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Do you think a more decentralized monetary policy is worth trying?

Personally, I think decentralized monetary policy is one of the most exciting ideas ever.

Fei

For the past four months, I have been helping the Fei Labs team prepare for the release of the new agreement. The Genesis Group has just launched and now anyone can participate.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

The Fei team is adopting a new method of creating decentralized stablecoins, aiming to further improve the scalability and capital efficiency of stablecoins in the DeFi field, and is currently exploring many new experimental mechanisms.

In just a few months, many people are willing to try this new encryption economic mechanism. Isn’t it cool?

I am willing to join in.

What’s the next step?

In fact, I prefer to think of Ethereum as an open source and open economic engineering system, where everyone can publish anything and interact with any type of code-“Ethereum is a protocol of agreement” .

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

In the next ten years, we will see the emergence of various open source monetary policies. Today, most stable currencies are anchored to the U.S. dollar, or effectively create a synthetic asset.

In the near future, we will see more interesting forms of stablecoins, such as RAI, FLOAT and OHM. These stablecoins are explained in detail in this excellent article by Messari columnist Ryan Watkins.

Understand the evolution of decentralized open source monetary policy: from the Federal Reserve to Bitcoin, to Maker and Fei

Are you excited?

I am excited!

Source link: ricburton.substack.com

Categories
News

Chairman of the Federal Reserve: Bitcoin is more suitable for speculation and cannot be used as a substitute for the US dollar (www.blockcast.cc)

Fed Chairman Powell believes that Bitcoin is not really useful as a value symbol, and there is no value behind it. It is more of a speculative asset, essentially a substitute for gold rather than the U.S. dollar.

Original title: “Powell: The Federal Reserve is not in a hurry to issue a digital dollar private cryptocurrency is more suitable for speculation”
Written by: Gao Xing, Fang Ling Source: Wall Street

As more and more institutions and investors embrace encrypted digital currencies, Fed Chairman Powell believes in his latest speech that the introduction of digital currencies is an important step for the financial system and requires careful preparation. There is no rush to launch them at present; Private cryptocurrencies represented by coins are more suitable for speculation.

On Monday, March 22, the Fed Chairman Powell Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said at a meeting that the USD’s CBDC will have a potentially huge impact all over the world, and the Fed will conduct extensive consultations before making a decision on this; the Fed does not need to be The first to launch a central bank digital currency. For the central bank, the central bank’s digital currency is good, but it also has great risks.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve: Bitcoin is more suitable for speculation and cannot be used as a substitute for the US dollarJerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve

For the digital dollar, the Federal Reserve has an obligation to stay at the forefront to understand the relevant technical challenges, as well as the potential costs and benefits.

In addition, Powell also stated that due to the key role of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the Fed’s digital dollar is far more important than fast action, so it does not need to seize the first place in the digital dollar. He believes that the real key lies in whether the public wants it. Or whether a new digital form of central bank currency is needed.

For private cryptocurrencies represented by Bitcoin, Powell believes that they are more suitable for speculation and cannot be used as a substitute for the US dollar.

Unlike the current U.S. dollar, which is backed by the value of the Fed, private cryptocurrency is not really useful as a value symbol, and there is no value support behind it. It is more of a speculative asset, essentially a substitute for gold rather than the U.S. dollar, so in trading The application of aspects is not frequent.

As for the legal issues that digital currency may face, Powell said that it needs the support of Congress, the government and the general public, especially the approval of Congress. He believes that laws related to digital currencies are best presented as authorization laws rather than interpretations of existing laws.

Jens Weidmann (Jens Weidmann), the governor of the BIS who also attended the meeting on the same day, also expressed similar views as Powell. He believes that although the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are studying digital currencies, any possible introduction will take several years, and the digital dollar needs to be negotiated with legislators and may require legislation.

In addition, Agustín Carstens, President of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), also pointed out that for Bitcoin, a key issue is that it “cannot collapse”, and it takes a lot of effort to achieve this.

On the day of Powell’s speech, although Bitcoin’s offer on Coinbase fell, it remained at around $57,000. In the last seven months, the price of the cryptocurrency has soared due to a surge in trading activities and an increase in acceptance by the financial industry.

It is worth noting that Yellen of the United States mentioned her views on Bitcoin in February this year. She also stated that Bitcoin is still a “highly speculative asset.”

In February of this year, Yellen stated that using Bitcoin for transactions is an “extremely inefficient way”, and the energy consumed by these transactions is amazing; Bitcoin is also a “highly speculative asset”, and digital currency may bring For a faster and cheaper payment experience, “but there are many issues that need to be studied, including consumer protection and anti-money laundering.”

Source link: wallstreetcn.com

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, the articles published on this site only represent the author’s personal views, and have nothing to do with the position of ChainNews. The information, opinions, etc. in the article are for reference only, and are not intended as or regarded as actual investment advice.

Categories
News

OCC, a subsidiary of the US Treasury Department: Allows the Federal Bank to use stable currency for settlement and issuance of stable currency (www.blockcast.cc)

OCC, a subsidiary of the US Treasury Department: Allows the Federal Bank to use stable currency for settlement and issuance of stable currency

On January 5, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an explanatory letter stating that the Commonwealth Bank and the Federal Reserve Association can use public blockchains and stablecoins for settlement.

Note: OCC is affiliated to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is one of the five main regulatory agencies of the U.S. federal government. It is mainly responsible for issuing licenses and supervising federal banks.

OCC pointed out that as long as it complies with laws and good banking practices, “the Federal Bank or the Federal Reserve Association can verify, store, and record payment transactions by acting as nodes on the Independent Node Verification Network (INVN). Similarly, banks can use stablecoins to facilitate Customers verify payment transactions on the network at independent nodes, including the issuance of stable coins and the exchange of stable coins for legal tender.

The regulatory agency cited as an example that one entity (payer) may want to remit U.S. dollar payments to another entity (payee). The payer does not use a centralized payment system, but converts U.S. dollars into stable coins and transfers the stable coins to the payee through INVN. The recipient then converts the stable currency back to U.S. dollars. In a common use case in reality, payments are cross-border remittances. “

Decrypt pointed out that the OCC letter clearly shows that as financial intermediaries, banks face competition in accelerating capital flows. In OCC’s view, INVN, such as blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, is an effective and rapid way to transfer funds.

In this regard, the stablecoin USDC issuer Circle Joint Creation Jeremy Allaire tweeted, “This is a huge victory for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Because according to the letter of explanation, banks can treat public chains as similar to SWIFT and ACH. It has the same financial infrastructure as FedWire and treats stablecoins (such as USDC) as electronic storage of value. This importance cannot be underestimated.”

“We are moving on the path of implementing all major economic activities on the chain. It is great to see the forward thinking support provided by the largest national banking regulator in the United States.”

Categories
News

XRP supporters ask the federal government to view XRP as a currency (www.blockcast.cc)

  • The petition claims the SEC’s complaint has caused XRP holders a lot of damage.
  • Per the filing, the SEC should withdraw its complaint because FinCEN considers XRP a currency.
  • Ripple believes that the SEC’s complaint against XRP is an attack against the US crypto industry.

XRP supporters have come forth to fight for the digital asset as it performs poorly after the SEC filed a lawsuit against it. To this end, a person with the initials J.W filed a petition. Through this move, the proponent seeks to collect signatures from supporters to help XRP overcome the lawsuit, in which the SEC claims the coin is a security.

According to the petition, the SEC is responsible for safeguarding US citizens that invest in securities. Nonetheless, the authority filed a facetious complaint, claiming that XRP, which FinCEN already considers a currency, is a security. 

Are you looking for fast-news, hot-tips and market analysis? Sign-up for the Invezz newsletter, today.

A big ask

The petition seeks to gather 100,000 signatures before getting a response from the White House. At the moment, it has 25,959 signees. Should it get the 100,000 signatures, the petition seeks to ask the White House to halt the SEC’s complaint against XRP because it is causing XRP holders a lot of damage. While it is not clear who filed the petition, its tone sounds like Ripple Labs’ official position. On December 29, the organization announced that it would file its response to SEC’s story to address the regulator’s unproven allegations against XRP. 

In the announcement, Ripple noted that,

“The SEC’s decision to file this action is not just about Ripple, it is an attack on the entire crypto industry here in the United States. We’ve always said that there is a dangerous lack of regulatory clarity for crypto in the U.S.”

Ripple further cited that the regulator’s lawsuit has already affected countless innocent XRP retail holders with no connection to Ripple. Also, the complaint has unnecessarily muddied the waters for exchanges, market makers, and traders. The organization added that the SEC has introduced more uncertainty into the market, consequently harming the community they seek to protect.

Exchanges disrupted

Adrian Pollard, the co-founder of bitHolla (an exchange software provider company) agrees with Ripple and told Invezz:

“The whole Ripple and XRP situation is not only a difficult situation for investors of XRP but for the exchange platforms that have to halt trading of the currency which disrupts business”.

He chimes in that the lawsuit on Ripple will have devastating effects on the regular investors of XRP. Despite the damage, he thinks that it is highly unlikely the SEC is going to stop its pursuit of Ripple Labs even if 100,000 signature were gathered. XRP investors are unfortunately going to be collateral damage in this situation.

Categories
News

US federal regulators released a new statement on stablecoins (www.blockcast.cc)

Stablecoins have been a major topic in and out of the crypto industry recently — not only due to all the CBDCs that are being developed in the world, but also because of coins such as Facebook’s Libra. Now, a group of major US regulators set up some new rules regarding the coins.

PWG discussed stablecoins and their classification

According to the recent statement on Financial Markets issued by the President’s Working Group (PWG), there are some new expectations regarding stablecoins. The PWG did not say anything particularly new or revolutionary. However, the statement did establish certain levels of clarity, showing the direction in which stablecoin development might continue from this point forward.

Are you looking for fast-news, hot-tips and market analysis? Sign-up for the Invezz newsletter, today.

The PWG — including representatives from the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the US SEC, and the CFTC — said that stablecoin issuers need to abide by the rules regarding the financial law. Essentially, they need their systems to be compliant with the AML requirements before entering the market.

However, they never strictly stated that stablecoins are currencies, or commodities, which would subject them to somewhat less aggressive regulation than derivatives or securities.

Instead, they simply said that stablecoins may be any of them, depending on their design and other factors. Their classification would decide on which set of rules and regulations they need to be in compliance with.

Stablecoin issuers have a single new rule to follow

In essence, nothing was really changed, and regulators are once again simply inviting responsible innovation. However, one thing that is interesting to note is the expectation for stablecoin issuers to have certain systems set up before launching their coins.

Brian Brooks, the active Comptroller of the Currency, also noted that the group did recognize the importance and value of stablecoins and their role in the national and global economies alike. They understood the need to ensure that these financial tools will not be used for criminal activity or become a matter of national security.

While the statement was fairly mild, the fact that it did not make a statement similar to the recent bill by Representative Rashida Tlaib is encouraging. Tlaib’s bill proposed targeting node operators as money service providers, which caused quite a bit of outrage in the crypto industry.

Categories
News

TRON (TRX) wants NY Federal Judge to dismiss ICO lawsuit (www.blockcast.cc)

  • The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Tron, alleging irregularities and violation during TRX ICOs.
  • Tron said the plaintiffs filed the case two years after the ICO ended and they did not participate.
  • Tron’s motion also alleges that the plaintiff bought the TRX token via a secondary exchange.

The Tron Foundation has filed a motion, asking the New York federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit from plaintiffs who alleged violations during the company’s $70 million ICO in 2017.

According to the Tron Foundation, the allegation cited in the class action lawsuit is “fatally flawed.”

Are you looking for fast-news, hot-tips and market analysis? Sign-up for the Invezz newsletter, today.

Tron’s initial coin offering (ICO) was conducted from August 24 2017 to September 2, 2017. The platform raised $70 million from its TRX token which is the native currency for the online platform.

On April 3 when the lawsuit was filed, 10 other lawsuits were also filed in the New York Southern District Court against issuers and crypto exchanges. All of them alleged there was a distribution of unregistered securities.

The motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed on December 15, with the Chinese blockchain developers stating that the case doesn’t have any link to New York. It also noted that the lead plaintiff wasn’t involved in the ICO funding and did not participate in any way. Tron also asserted that the lawsuit was filed nearly two years after the ICO ended.

Tron said Plaintiffs bought tokens via secondary exchange

The Tron motion also pointed out that three of the plaintiffs bought their TRX tokens via Binance, which is a secondary exchange to the offerings. As a result, Tron said the suit should be dismissed since the underlying law doesn’t cover deals done through secondary exchanges.

Tron also said the Tron Foundation doesn’t have a hand in the plaintiff’s decision to buy the TRX token through a secondary exchange after the ICO has ended two years ago. According to the motion, the company is only responsible for TRX sales made during the coin offering and shouldn’t be liable for any purchases made afterward through other exchanges.

Tron also rubbishes claims that Tron’s whitepaper in 2017 was deceptive by classifying TRX tokens as not compromising securities.

 “This claim was not even pleaded in the original complaint, and it is nothing but a litigation afterthought,” Tron stated.

Categories
News

Bitcoin’s Best Friend: The US Federal Reserve (www.blockcast.cc)

Bitcoin's Best Friend: The US Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve and Bitcoin | Defining the M1 Money Supply | Jerome Powell and the Fed Make BTC Possible | Bitcoin Media Narrative is Changing | One Very Important Question

#Bitcoin, #FederalReserve, #Money

Cryptocurrency And Bitcoin Visa Card – GET $25 FREE ON
► CRYPTO.COM https://platinum.crypto.com/r/ab *Code is AB

Trade On Binance!
https://www.binance.com/en/register?ref=UAMKZ47P *Code is UAMKZ47P

Trade On AAX
► AAX EXCHANGE https://www.aax.com/invite?inviteCode=zpqm9Fn03yVG

CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET PRICES AND DATA
► COINGECKO https://gcko.io/altcoin-buzz

TRADE BARCELONA FC, JUVENTUS AND UFC TOKENS ON CHILIZ EXCHANGE
https://www.chiliz.net/register/FZAkA1 *Code is FZAkA1

🔺 NOTE If you use the above referral links, we receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

🔥 TOP CRYPTO NEWS – https://www.altcoinbuzz.io
🚀 FREE NEWSLETTER – http://eepurl.com/dnIEz1
🔶 TWITTER – https://twitter.com/altcoinbuzzio
💡 FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/altcoinbuzzio
🔷 TELEGRAM – https://t.me/AltcoinBuzzChat

⏰ Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:03 The Federal Reserve and Bitcoin
2:11 Defining the M1 Money Supply
4:37 Jerome Powell and the Fed Make BTC Possible
5:23 Bitcoin Media Narrative is Changing
8:56 One Very Important Question

References:
https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1335560678858481665
https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1335277432669138944

https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1335279637438599176

https://twitter.com/blockfolio/status/1335372325865263106
https://www.coindesk.com/50k-btc-bloomberg-bitcoin-rally
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/1369061/bitcoin-price-latest-news-max-keiser-paul-tudor-jones-fiat-currency-dollar-pound
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/investing/bitcoin-ethereum-xrp-cryptocurrencies/index.html
https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-all-time-high-5-crypto-experts-digital-asset-bullish-2020-12-1029866919
https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/stock-market-outlook-bitcoin-portfolio-crypto-skeptic-investing-bernstein-2020-12-1029854263

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55145444
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/investing/bitcoin-prices-record-high/index.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/12/02/blackrock-ceo-reveals-surprise-real-impact-of-bitcoin-on-the-us-dollar/?sh=65861f0947f1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/12/04/another-crypto-skeptic-suddenly-flips-to-bitcoin-but-adds-a-stark-warning/?sh=6b26345b5aac

Disclaimer:
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to accepted levels of risk tolerance of the content creators/reviewers and their risk tolerance may be different than yours. Altcoin Buzz is not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided.
Please do your own due diligence and rating before making any investments and consult your financial advisor. The researched information presented we believe to be correct and accurate however there is no guarantee or warranty as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments so please do your due diligence. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.

Categories
News

Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: Privacy should be the core of CBDC (www.blockcast.cc)

Robert Bench, director of applied research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, believes that privacy should be a priority in the creation of digital currencies, not after the fact.

Bench stated at the “Digital Chamber of Commerce” panel meeting on Friday: “We have realized that from a technical point of view, privacy is a vital issue.”

“One of our experiences is that the issue of privacy and identity must be considered in the early stages of creation. From a privacy or identity perspective, it is not good to treat privacy or identity as a temporary process, and it is more important from a security perspective. So.”

The digital world usually means less privacy. Currency is no exception. Although countries have set their sights on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), the privacy of payments has declined compared with cash transactions. However, CBDC may or may not give users privacy.

Speaking of privacy issues, Bench said: “Policy makers need to consider this as early as possible. If you add it later, the effect will be poor.

Bench’s comments answered questions from panel host and former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Chris Giancarlo. Giancarlo asked about the privacy considerations of the US CBDC and other digital currencies.

During the discussion, Craig Sellars, co-founder of Tether (USDT), regarded physical cash as a benchmark for necessary privacy in the digital world. He said: “They have certain characteristics that cannot be removed: point-to-point fungibility, privacy and anonymity.”

“We should transfer our question to this question: If we have the technology to preserve the characteristics of paper money, why should we accept digital dollars with less freedom? I don’t think we should and need not do this.”

Categories
News

Federal Reserve Policy Statement: Continue to maintain benchmark interest rates at current levels (www.blockcast.cc)

The Federal Reserve today issued a November Federal Open Market Committee statement that it will maintain the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0%-0.25%, the excess reserve ratio (IOER) at 0.1%, and the discount rate at 0.25%.

The announcement also stated that the United States will maintain a loose monetary policy stance and strive to keep the inflation rate moderately higher than 2% for a period of time so that the average long-term inflation rate can reach 2%, while long-term inflation expectations remain at 2%.

The Federal Reserve said it will continue to increase its holdings of US Treasury bonds and mortgage bonds at the current rate to maintain the smooth operation of the market.

This is in line with economists’ expectations that the Fed will not take new monetary policy actions.

The Federal Reserve stated that “weak demand and the earlier drop in oil prices have been suppressing consumer price inflation.”

“The new crown pneumonia epidemic is causing huge economic difficulties in the United States and around the world.”

“The overall financial situation remains accommodative, partly reflecting the policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to American households and businesses.”

“Economic trends will largely depend on the spread of the virus. The ongoing public health crisis will continue to affect economic activity, employment and inflation in the short term, and pose considerable risks to the medium-term economic outlook.”

The Fed’s balance sheet this year has expanded by about US$3 trillion to reach US$7.1 trillion, which has triggered concerns about future inflation and boosted investor demand for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is seen as a hedge against rising consumer prices and a weaker U.S. dollar.

Categories
News

Federal Reserve Bank reveals details of digital dollar research (www.blockcast.cc)

The President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has revealed details of the Fed’s ongoing research into a potential digital dollar. 

Speaking in a keynote address on September 23, Loretta Mester emphasized that the Federal Reserve has been exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDC) since before the pandemic, noting that its Board of Governors has been “building and testing a range of distributed ledger platforms to understand their potential benefits and tradeoffs.”

She also noted initiatives from regional Federal Reserve branches, including a multi-year partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Boston Fed, in addition to collaboration between the Fed’s New York Branch and the Bank for International Settlements. 

Despite the ongoing research, Mester asserted that the initiatives do not “signal any decision by the Federal Reserve to adopt such a currency,” adding that issues related to “financial stability, market structure, security, privacy, and monetary policy all need to be better understood.”

Mester noted that the Covid pandemic has resulted in significant disruptions to “crucial infrastructure” of the U.S., such as the payments sector, and had resulted in major changes to the patterns and volume of domestic transfers:

“The spread of COVID-19 heightened the reliance of businesses and individuals on digital services and faster connectivity, as many employees began to work from home and consumers turned to online shopping.” 

Looking ahead, Mester emphasized the importance of “making necessary investments to ensure that the U.S. payments system remains resilient in the face of extreme stress events will need to remain a priority.”

Mester’s speech comes two weeks after the Central Bank of The Bahamas announced the archipelago nation was aiming to become the first country to launch a CBDC, revealing that it’s ‘Sand Dollars’ digital currency will be launched nationwide in October.

Many analysts are critical of the prospects of success for CBDC initiatives however, with economist John Vas describing state-backed virtual currencies as “a defensive posture” against the threats posed by decentralized crypto assets to governments’ long-standing hegemony over monetary policy.

Go to Source

Image Credit: Refer to Source
Author: Refer to Source Cointelegraph By Samuel Haig