Introducing the Commissioner for digital money: safeguarding privacy and rights in the age of programmable money - The global race to develop Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and Stablecoins has quietly created unprecedented challenges across the world. The intrinsic programmability of this money and the oceans of new and valuable centralised data produced daily create chronic as well as acute governance challenges in each and every jurisdiction. A gnawing temptation to governments and other agencies to abuse these new powers. Both at implementation and then again over the longer term.Do we therefore need a Commissioner for Digital Money, similar to the UK’s ICO, for the digital pound and Sterling based stablecoins? Full Article Here The economic impact of adopting cryptocurrency as an alternative for goods and services - for all the hype surrounding both Bitcoin and crypto, they continue to remain largely unused as a means of exchange. More than $1 million is spent daily in the US on those goods and services using Bitcoin. However, this is a pittance compared to the annual US consumer expenditure of over $15 trillion. For Bitcoin to become a suitable alternative for buying goods and services, it must meet certain criteria. Full Article Here Metaverse and healthcare - experts in the healthcare business believe that the metaverse has the potential to provide significant value, although this is still an emerging trend. Medical software solutions, which allow users to engage with digital material in various ways (for instance, by managing data or exchanging medical pictures), now dominate the healthcare technology landscape. The metaverse’s highly immersive nature offers new ways for physicians to be trained and patients and carers to understand more about procedure and care plans before, during and after treatment. Full Article Here Dressed in disguise: how accounting rules hide the flaws of the fractional reserve banking system - this article looks at the controversial topic of flawed accounting rules that are designed to hide the truth about the health and solvency of the banking system. The level of accountancy inconsistencies in many global banks would appear to be largely ignored. Surely there is a need for greater transparency for the sake of shareholders and depositors as well as for regulators to maintain confidence in financial markets before it becomes too late? Full Article Here

this article looks at the controversial topic of flawed accounting rules that are designed to hide the truth about the health and solvency of the banking system. The level of accountancy inconsistencies in many global banks would appear to be largely ignored. Surely there is a need for greater transparency for the sake of shareholders and depositors as well as for regulators to maintain confidence in financial markets before it becomes too late? Full Article Here

Blockchain governance - blockchain governance creates the rules by which a blockchain will function, so enabling users to determine which blockchain is the most appropriate for them to select. It helps to coordinate code updates, and enable technological improvements, financial allocation and power distribution. Some blockchains have a decentralised network but a centralised basis for governance, technology and ecosystem growth. Other blockchains are autonomously decentralised but, in order to know how each blockchain functions, one needs to understand the way each blockchain has been designed - i.e. how it is governed. Full Article Here Gold: you can hold bullion or digital gold - gold has always been seen as a store of value during troubled times and in the last year central bankers have accumulated over 1,100 tons of gold. However, as well as holding physical bullion, it is possible to buy gold in a digitised format ( i.e. tokens pegged/backed by gold, or even digital gold), commonly referred to as Bitcoin. Full Article Here Why is tokenisation both relevant and important for the EU? - there continues to be much confusion around digitalisation of real-world assets (sometimes referred to as tokens) and cryptocurrencies. Whilst cryptos and tokens both use blockchains and distributed ledger technology, major corporations, central bankers and governments are increasingly beginning to realise the transformative potential that tokenisation offers their customers and citizens. Full Article Here The engine behind tokenised securities: standard ERC3643 - this article delves into standard ERC3643’s history and development, offering insight into the technical and conceptual breakthroughs that have made it the smart contract standard for permissioned tokens. It is a versatile protocol, suitable for digital assets which require controls on permissionless networks. Its built-in, privacy-preserved identity system makes it the standard for tokenised securities and real-world assets since it enforces compliance, which it does by allowing issuers to identify owners of digital securities on the blockchain without compromising the privacy of investors. Full Article Here

This podcast covers the article written by Luc Falempin co-founder Tokeny, that delves into standard ERC3643’s history and development, offering insight into the technical and conceptual breakthroughs that have made it the smart contract standard for permissioned tokens. It is a versatile protocol, suitable for digital assets which require controls on permissionless networks. Its built-in, privacy-preserved identity system makes it the standard for tokenised securities and real-world assets since it enforces compliance, which it does by allowing issuers to identify owners of digital securities on the blockchain without compromising the privacy of investors. Full Article Here

Web 3.0: a new pathway for health? - the way in which we use the internet has evolved to where Web 3 is able to empower individuals and give them the ability to control their data (especially healthcare information) as opposed to big tech firms controlling and monetising their information. Blockchain is the technology behind Web 3.0 and is being used to secure patient data whereby bringing transparency and trust to the healthcare sector. The use of Web 3.0 in healthcare offers the promise of changing not only the way patient data is stored and handled but also how healthcare is administered as medics begin to use a range of new immersive Web 3.0 technologies. Full Article Here Will cryptos sink or swim? - despite all the doom and gloom that 2022 may have suggested, in 2023 cryptocurrency is showing a little more nuance and doggedness than predicted. With several forecasts from cryptocurrency analysts (some of which contradict) it is difficult to say if cryptos will, indeed, sink or swim. If we are to see traditional asset classes continue to struggle, will investors buy cryptocurrencies as the total number of people globally exposed to cryptos certainly continues to rise? Full Article Here Why do we need stablecoins, CBDCs or bank deposit tokens? - there has been considerable interest in stablecoins and many central banks are currently studying the potential of issuing CBDCs. In addition, there is the spectre of a new form of digital cash payment - ‘bank deposit tokens’. The demand for these digital cash entities is likely to expand as we see growing interest in the digitisation of real assets. Full Article Here Cryptoassets and judicial oversight of regulatory decisions - as regulation of cryptoasset activities becomes more extensive, judicial oversight of regulatory decisions becomes more important and the Financial Services and Markets Bill is expected to considerably expand regulatory rules relating to crypto assets. In light of this, it is of interest to examine developments that have arisen from judicial oversight of cryptoasset regulation so far. Full Article Here

As regulation of cryptoasset activities becomes more extensive, judicial oversight of regulatory decisions becomes more important and the Financial Services and Markets Bill is expected to considerably expand regulatory rules relating to crypto assets. In light of this, it is of interest to examine developments that have arisen from judicial oversight of cryptoasset regulation so far. Full Article Here

Financial institutions aligning to crypto custody regulation in the UK, US & EU - in the light of well- publicised scandals, bankruptcies and collapse of established financial institutions and digital asset service providers, regulators around the world are working hard to finalise regulatory frameworks within the crypto industry. There is a raft of regulatory bodies attempting to apply controls to the industry on a global, national or local/state level. What is the status of crypto custody regulation in the UK, the US and the EU, plus the influence of global advisory bodies prominent in this space? Full Article Here Blockchain and law enforcement - the use of blockchain technology is potentially a double-edged sword in that it has enabled the issuance of what some regulators cite as illegal securities. A case in point is the US- quoted firm, Coinbase, which has been issued a notice by the SEC for potential breaking of American securities law. Blockchain technology offers a range of applications to help law enforcement agencies to track and trace payments, bring greater transparency and enabling data to be held in a decentralised and more secure manner, although it does also raise important questions about privacy, security and civil liberties. As with any technology, it is important to carefully consider the potential benefits and risks before implementing it in law enforcement contexts. Full Article Here Metaverse and digital marketing - the way in which organisations promote and market their goods and services is quickly changing as our lives become ever more digital. The metaverse is just another challenge for digital marketers who, themselves, will need to evolve and adapt to embrace this virtual world. Arguably, the four marketing P’s - product, price, promotion and place - are all being impacted; but have your marketing colleagues kept pace? Full Article Here Restoring trust in digital assets - 2022 was a rocky year for the digital asset market and so how can trust be restored? Is it a question of waiting for more regulation, or should the industry heal itself? In a new Financial Markets Insights report on Restoring Trust in Digital Assets, The Realization Group interviewed 14 industry CEOs and leaders to find out their views on what to expect next. What caused the crisis and how has the industry responded so far? What myths and misunderstandings are being perpetuated by the media? What new industry standards are needed? They concluded that we can look to both the past and  future as we develop more workable business models, rules of engagement and regulatory regimes to help the industry recover and thrive.   Full Article Here

2022 was a rocky year for the digital asset market and so how can trust be restored? Is it a question of waiting for more regulation, or should the industry heal itself? In a new Financial Markets Insights report on Restoring Trust in Digital Assets, The Realization Group interviewed 14 industry CEOs and leaders to find out their views on what to expect next. What caused the crisis and how has the industry responded so far? What myths and misunderstandings are being perpetuated by the media? What new industry standards are needed? They concluded that we can look to both the past and  future as we develop more workable business models, rules of engagement and regulatory regimes to help the industry recover and thrive.  

Carbon credits and the reshaping power of blockchain - blockchain technology is being used to help create a more transparent and efficient carbon credits market. The demand for carbon credits has grown significantly with the increasing focus on mitigating climate change and reducing carbon emissions. However, the existing carbon credits market is fragmented and lacks perspicuity, making it difficult for buyers and sellers to navigate. Full article here The hybrid future for workers: how digital asset management complements the new work environment - any employee's physical/geographical position in the workplace has no bearing on their ability to conduct work. Employees can still maintain their workload even if they are not physically in the office; and being in the office does not necessarily make them more productive. Since hybrid working has a permanent and transformative effect on organisations, now is the time for businesses to look at how their teams will work in the long run and which technologies will continue to support and maintain productivity. Digital asset management (DAM) systems can help solve the many of the challenges when you work in a ‘hybrid’ way and, furthermore, there is a growing pool of highly skilled digital nomads who aspire to work remotely. So, how do you attract this talent to your company? Full article here Metaverse and NFTs - non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being used by a wide range of industries and organisations. Whilst NFTs may be put to various uses, one of the most common is representing objects in a metaverse or virtual environment. As we begin to understand and unlock the potential of the metaverse (a sector that could be worth $13trillion by 2030), we are seeing more organisations developing a wide variety of ways to entice consumers into using NFTs and the metaverse. Full article here Cryptocurrency: the antidote to counterparty risk - the recent high-profile failure of multiple US banks has highlighted counterparty risk as a major concern for businesses depositors. This article looks at how cryptocurrencies can offer an alternative for businesses when it comes to treasury management because of their decentralised structure that reduces counterparty risk and also that it offers faster transaction processing, lower transaction fees and greater transparency. However, businesses still need to weigh up the risks and benefits of using cryptocurrencies as part of their treasury management strategy and consider how insurance can help offset some of that risk. Full article here

The recent high-profile failure of multiple US banks has highlighted counterparty risk as a major concern for businesses depositors. This article looks at how cryptocurrencies can offer an alternative for businesses when it comes to treasury management because of their decentralised structure that reduces counterparty risk and also that it offers faster transaction processing, lower transaction fees and greater transparency. However, businesses still need to weigh up the risks and benefits of using cryptocurrencies as part of their treasury management strategy and consider how insurance can help offset some of that risk.

The UK Treasury's proposals are making a concerted effort to bring crypto asset activities onshore, at least to the extent that firms wish to market directly to UK customers. The UK also remains committed to driving the international regulatory agenda by shaping a baseline of global regulatory standards to mitigate regulatory arbitrage opportunities and ensure that customers are not driven to unregulated platforms. Whether the UK will establish itself as a global crypto hub will ultimately depend on the details of the crypto legislation, but keeping a strong international dimension will help. Full Article Here

A guide to Web3 architecture - there is an increasing consensus that blockchains should be built modularly. A core blockchain needs to be safe, decentralised enough, and have good throughput. Through second-layer protocols, side chains and other modules, it should be able to handle large volumes of data. Single parts should be maintained and updated without taking the whole blockchain down. Through advanced composability, private blockchains can fit specific needs much better. Full Article Here The rise of the inflation-resistant new model asset-based economy: central bank digital assets vs central bank digital currencies - have you ever considered inflation-resistant money? In an age of bank runs, are you nervous of your government plans for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the risk of expiring money? Or even how your social credit score might restrict your access to your own savings? This article highlights the real risks of CBDCs in the context of our times and economic history, exploring the alternative of a commercial-off-the-shelf offering of CBDAs (central bank digital assets) to all central banks, global financial institutions and ‘anyone with a mobile phone’ who has a desire to escape inflation and an economic cycle of bank runs. Full Article Here Treasury consultation underlines UK ambition to onshore crypto industry - the UK Treasury's proposals are making a concerted effort to bring crypto asset activities onshore, at least to the extent that firms wish to market directly to UK customers. The UK also remains committed to driving the international regulatory agenda by shaping a baseline of global regulatory standards to mitigate regulatory arbitrage opportunities and ensure that customers are not driven to unregulated platforms. Whether the UK will establish itself as a global crypto hub will ultimately depend on the details of the crypto legislation, but keeping a strong international dimension will help. Full Article Here

- blockchain is a phenomenal technology, with the potential to transform the way in which assets are traded. So far, it has been used largely by deregulated actors - often via centralised exchanges. Currently, the pre-eminent use case for tokenisation is trading real world assets, but its reputation has been dragged through the mud. Full Article Here

Are stablecoins safer than bank deposits? - stablecoins, whilst miss-named (as surely it would be better to call them ‘pegged’ coins), can offer a much lower risk for those who have large amounts of cash compared to leaving money in a bank. Stablecoins can provide greater transparency and security whereby removing the risk of depositors being exposed to bankers lending their cash to other people. The reality is that, once you give your cash to a bank, you become a creditor, and banks can use your money as they wish to generate returns for shareholders - not you. Full Article Here Censorship resistance in cryptocurrency - in crypto, “censorship resistance” means the freedom to transact, the freedom from seizure, and the inability to change a transaction. Bitcoin is widely seen as the digital asset with the most censorship resistance but, in reality, if you use a cryptocurrency to make a transaction you are leaving a fingerprint that others are able to track and trace. Unlike cash, which is often much harder to track, is this why governments are imposing limits on the amount of cash their citizens can use? Full Article Here How blockchain is impacting the healthcare market - the global health care market is huge and is set to dominate most economies even further as people live longer. Blockchain technology is being deployed in a variety of ways to reduce costs, deliver greater transparency and even enable individuals to monetise their own medical records. Full Article Here Why do we need real world assets on blockchain anyway? - blockchain is a phenomenal technology, with the potential to transform the way in which assets are traded. So far, it has been used largely by deregulated actors - often via centralised exchanges. Currently, the pre-eminent use case for tokenisation is trading real world assets, but its reputation has been dragged through the mud. Full Article Here

with the many different types of blockchains available to launch a token, or to build decentralised applications (dApps) on, which one is the most popular? According to Electric Capital’s Developer Report, Ethereum is still the most popular. But there is an interesting mix of other blockchains making up the top 10 that should be considered, or at least explored, when venturing into the blockchain space.  Full Article Here

How blockchain and AI can complement each other - the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been astronomical but it comes with challenges, such as copyright problems. Lawsuits are currently rocking top players in the AI art industry, but is there any way that blockchain could solve this problem? And, what are the intersections and points between AI and blockchain technology? Full Article Here DEX versus CEX - crypto trading is becoming increasingly popular because it allows traders to buy and sell different tokens that can later be used for many things. DEXs (decentralised exchanges) and CEXs (centralised exchanges) are the most popular platforms for trading cryptocurrency. This article gives details of the CEX vs. DEX argument and looks at each in depth. Full Article Here Changing a currency: the demonetisation in Nigeria - changing a country’s currency and demonetisation can have a huge negative impact on an economy. However, in 2016, India engaged in the policy, immediately causing a considerable amount of harm. Nigeria has recently changed its currency in an attempt to tackle its shadow economy and brought about untold misery on its citizens. As a result, will this force Nigeria to rethink its stance towards digital currencies? Full Article Here One “multichain” to bridge them all? - with the many different types of blockchains available to launch a token, or to build decentralised applications (dApps) on, which one is the most popular? According to Electric Capital’s Developer Report, Ethereum is still the most popular. But there is an interesting mix of other blockchains making up the top 10 that should be considered, or at least explored, when venturing into the blockchain space.  Full Article Here  

Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets. Full Article Here

Fractional ownership of real estate - fractional ownership of real estate traces its roots back to the 1960s in the form of REITs and timeshares. Whilst the size of tokenised real estate is relatively small at $200billion - given that the global real estate market is over $326trillion - there is huge scope for growth of tokenised real estate. Since residential property sector accounts for 80% of the real estate market, tokenisation of peoples’ home offers a massive, broadly untapped opportunity. Full Article Here Crypto charity tokens: what exactly are they? - the majority of the burgeoning interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies is motivated by personal financial gain and financial innovation. Simultaneously, there is an intriguing trend toward using cryptocurrency for charitable causes. Not only do hundreds of organisations accept Bitcoin and other digital currency donations, but new institutions that use digital tokens - together with their underlying cryptography-based technology known as the blockchain - are developing in innovative ways. These daring projects have the potential to alter the charitable industry. Full Article Here Pros and cons of hardware wallets - hardware wallets store cryptocurrency offline, which means they are not connected to the internet; this is called “cold storage”. They are physical devices that look like USB sticks and work like simple, single-purpose computers. With a hardware wallet, your private key is used to digitally sign crypto transactions inside the device, which are then safely sent to the blockchain through a crypto bridge. Full Article Here Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets. Full Article Here

Much has been written and discussed about the ‘crypto winter’ that has hit the cryptocurrency industry, so how can players set about speeding up the arrival of spring? It is vital to rebuild trust through governance, education and protection - including partnering with banks to explore ways of innovating and further protecting customers. Crypto-bank partnerships could be key to strengthening customer confidence and moving out of winter. Full Article Here

Welcome to this week’s Digital Bytes. This week we have analysis on the following topics: The scalability of DLTs and blockchains One of the reasons for not using DLTs and blockchain-powered platforms was that they were considered to be unscalable. However, there are now a number of examples where DLTs/blockchains have been deployed  - indeed, handling huge amounts of data quickly and in a very secure manner. The ability to process and automate transactions using smart contracts has led to the creation of new ways to handle trades in the form of automatic market makers - which could have implications for the way that different securities are traded. Full Article Here Blockchain interoperability - there are more than 100 blockchains that have varied specifications and serve different use cases, and interoperability refers to the capacity to transfer value between those networks that use the technology freely. Interoperable blockchains enable applications to employ smart contracts on multiple blockchains, and digital assets can be traded between these blockchains. Interoperability is a goal of many projects as it ensures that more users are able to use the blockchain. Full Article Here dApps: helping to power new decentralised products and services - decentralised apps (dApps) are the backbone for many blockchain innovations, such as DeFi. They have more use cases than financial systems and they are used across different industries worldwide. Questions worth answering are, what application of dApps will drive DeFi’s future, and whether dApps will be widely adopted in the financial sector? Full Article Here Building trust to move out of the crypto winter - much has been written and discussed about the ‘crypto winter’ that has hit the cryptocurrency industry, so how can players set about speeding up the arrival of spring? It is vital to rebuild trust through governance, education and protection - including partnering with banks to explore ways of innovating and further protecting customers. Crypto-bank partnerships could be key to strengthening customer confidence and moving out of winter. Full Article Here