distributed ledger finance
A new report is out from a group of U.S. financial services companies – such as Citigroup Inc., HSBC, BNY Mellon and others regarding a “regulated liability network” (RLN) based on distributed ledger technology.
CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton distills the news, “Fitting somewhere in the middle of the debate between central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and private stablecoins, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s New York Innovation Center (NYIC), which has collaborated on the project since last year, concluded that “the network has the potential to deliver improvements in the processing of wholesale payments due to its ability to synchronize U.S. dollar-denominated payments and facilitate settlement on a near-real time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis.” Read more from CoinDesk.
more tips:
Regulated Liability Network U.S. Proof of Concept Findings – rlnuspoc.org
Research Study Examines Feasibility of Theoretical Payments System Designed to Facilitate and Settle Digital Asset Transactions – Federal Reserve Bank of New York
July 19
It’s official. Or, more official. Unnamed “aides” leaked the House Financial Services (HFS) Committee hearing schedule to Politico and confirmed, once again, that in two weeks there will be a Markup for two key crypto bills. “The committee plans to vote July 19 on stablecoin and crypto market structure bills, flood insurance legislation and a resolution that would nullify the CFPB’s small-business data collection rule,” reports Politico’s Eleanor Mueller. See the HFS schedule for the next two weeks.
more tips:
“Alex Grieve, who works as a crypto lobbyist on Capital Hill, joins returning guest [former Tessera general counsel] Adam Sternbach to break down the McHenry Thompson bill. After a dive into the specifics we explore whether this moves the needle…” – Underwater podcast (55 min)
the overseas narrative
In a new Wired article titled, “London Wants American Crypto Refugees,” the publication covers efforts made by the UK government, and the wider world, to attract innovative companies and talent from the United States amidst the regulatory fog in the U.S.. But Wired brings in a few skeptics on whether innovators are truly leaving the U.S. for friendlier regulatory climes.
“The message lobbyists are ‘pouring into the ears’ of politicians is that crypto needs bespoke rules if the UK is to keep pace with financial innovation, says Martin Walker, director for banking and finance at the Center for Evidence Based Management (…) [who adds] that an ‘anxiety-driven flexibility’ toward crypto risks a repeat of previous boom-and-bust cycles in finance. ‘After the dotcom bubble, which involved a lot of fraud, and the 2007 financial crisis, driven by bad financial innovation, it’s like the lessons have been completely forgotten,'” said Walker. Read more.
crypto jobs crash
A new report by think tank Brookings Institution takes a look at job listings over the past couple of years and sees a trend: smaller cities have seen a huge decline in crypto-related jobs whereas larger cities are seeing sustained activity even after such slumps as the implosion of crypto exchange FTX.
Brookings authors write, “The significant crypto surge and relatively sustained activity witnessed in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles underscore the “superstar” nature of how disruptive technologies (especially digital ones) cluster in the largest markets, while frequently leaving other places behind. Even as many local leaders sought to attract crypto businesses to create or grow technology hubs in their regions, the evidence presented here suggests that the metro areas that emerged as the most significant and resilient crypto centers had already developed solid regional advantages in tech or finance before seeing sizable crypto growth.” Read the report.
Another lesson according to the authors: “regional” cities need a long-term, authentic commitment to a “tech hub” strategy if they’re going to withstand market gyrations.
summer reading
NFT-Based Traceability and Ownership Management of Medical Devices – IEEE.org
regulatory investment winds
According to new PitchBook data, for the second quarter of 2023, investment in crypto companies reached a little over $2 billion. Back in the first quarter of last year, investment topped $12.14 billion – crypto’s peak quarter.
Lydia Chiu, VP of business development at Ava Labs, tells TechCrunch that the “decline in capital deployment could be attributed to regulatory headwinds in the U.S., which have inclined a lot of crypto-related deal flows in Q2 to be structured like traditional venture structures, like raising equity, opposed to token investments or simple agreement for future tokens (SAFTs).” Read more.
see more tips
How Tom Brady’s (And Others) Crypto Ambitions Collided With Reality – The New York Times
CFTC Concludes Former Celsius CEO Mashinsky Broke Rules Before Firm’s Collapse: Report – Unchained
FTX Lawyer Who Made Problems Disappear Is Caught Up in Crypto Firm’s Fallout – Bloomberg
If you would like this delivered as a newsletter, please sign up here.