Senate Banking Democrats Tout FedNow; Crypto Exchanges Attract Most Scrutiny

FedNow this month

FedNow, the Federal Reserve’s real-time payment system is expected to launch later this month. Last week, 57 companies were “certified as ready” for the new service with “41 financial institutions participating as senders, receivers and/or correspondents supporting settlement, 15 service providers processing on behalf of participants, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.” Read the release.

The Democrats’ Senate Banking Committee Twitter account touted the FedNow news on Monday tweeting, “Our banking system is one step closer to real-time payments, which will help consumers and small businesses send and receive money instantly and safely. And the more banks that sign on, the more Americans that will have access to instant payments.”

Meanwhile, back in April, the Federal Reserve was already trying to debunk the idea that FedNow will replace cash and/or provide an on-ramp to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). See “Is FedNow replacing cash? Is it a central bank digital currency?

And in early June, Bitwise crypto research analyst Ryan Rasmussen explained to Blockworks 5 important ways that stablecoins remain relevant in spite of FedNow’s launch of an always-on payment service including stablecoins’ global reach. Read them all.

more tips:

Crypto market comeback hasn’t helped stablecoin volumes, says Fitch – The Block

exchanges and regulators

The Wall Street Journal took a look at crypto trends among the world’s financial regulators yesterday and saw a broader trend which included reeling crypto exchange, Binance: “Regulators have shifted gears this year, placing greater scrutiny on crypto exchanges’ operations following the collapse of FTX. The harsher stance from European regulators threatens to further curtail Binance’s footprint and force it to increasingly rely on markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.” Read more.

segregating assets

One of the biggest complaints in the U.S. by regulators, not to mention the rest of the world, when it comes to businesses involving crypto is the commingling of assets. In other words, mixing the assets of one party with those of another party without expressed permission or disclosures.

On Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tried to fix the commingling conundrum with  a proposal for a law “requiring digital payment token providers to keep customer assets in a statutory trust. Digital payment tokens is the term using in Singapore for cryptocurrency and stablecoins” –  read more in Ledger Insights. MAS hopes to institute the proposal as law by the end of the year.

use case – gaming

French video game publisher Ubiosoft that it will further expand its gaming product line to include blockchain technology and that a new game will require a NFT (non-fungible token) or token to play. Decrypt reports, “Champions Tactics will be Ubisoft’s first game built on Oasys, a gaming-centric blockchain network that has attracted the interest of other gaming giants like Square Enix, Sega, and Bandai Namco. Last fall, game developer DoubleJump.Tokyo announced that it is building an Oasys game based on Sega’s Japanese Sangokushi Taisen historical card game IP.” Read more.

read more:

NFTs, explained – The Verge

see more tips

Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss Tweets $1.5B ‘Final Offer’ in Debt Talks Over Crypto Firm Genesis – CoinDesk

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Application Is Refiled by Nasdaq to SEC (July 3) – Bloomberg

An American Revolution – How US Crypto Policy Diverges From Rest of World – PYMNTS

In the Philippines, Group eyes educating youth on blockchain’s potential – ABS CBN News

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