Singapore central bank to trial live wholesale CBDC for settlements

A pilot program for a live Singapore dollar-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) was unveiled by Singapore’s central bank with a wholesale CBDC to be used by local banks for settlements.

“I am pleased to announce that MAS will pilot the ‘live’ issuance of wholesale CBDCs to instantaneously settle payments across commercial banks,” MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said on Nov. 16 at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

The MAS had previously only simulated the issuance of a CBDC in test environments, Menon said the central bank would soon partner with Singaporean banks to test using a CBDC as a settlement asset for domestic payments.

As part of the test program, Menon explained banks will issue tokenized liabilities that represent claims on their balance sheets. Retail customers could use those tokenized liabilities to transact with merchants, which would be settled via an automatic transfer of a wholesale CBDC.

#news #Singapore #CBDC #DigitalDollar

Grayscale ETH futures ETF a ‘trojan horse’ for spot Ethereum ETF: Analyst

Grayscale Investments is using its Ether futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) application as a “trojan horse” to corner the United States Securities and Exchange Commission into approving its spot Ether ETF, says Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

Seyffart said in a Nov. 15 X (Twitter) post following the SEC delaying Grayscale’s ETH futures ETF bid that he believes if the SEC approves Grayscale’s application, then it would enable Grayscale to argue for the approval of its spot Ether ETF application.

If the SEC denies Grayscale’s bid, the asset manager could argue the SEC is treating Bitcoin and Ether futures ETFs differently by allowing one under the Securities Act of 1933 but not the other.

#news #sec #etf

Owner of Hong Kong crypto exchange OSL secures $90M investment

BC Technology Group, the operator of Hong Kong’s publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange OSL, has announced a significant investment from industry firm BGX.

BC Technology entered into a partnership with BGX, which agreed to subscribe for shares in BC Technology for an investment of about 710 million Hong Kong dollars ($90.1 million), the firms said in a joint announcement on Nov. 14.

This strategic investment will involve the subscription of new shares under a specific mandate, subject to approval by shareholders, the announcement notes.

According to the firms, the investment marks a testament to OSL’s commitment to setting new standards in digital asset security, compliance and technological innovation. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, OSL was one of the first crypto exchanges to acquire a Hong Kong crypto license in 2023.

#news #btc #china

Bitget drops plans to seek crypto license in Hong Kong

Cryptocurrency trading platform Bitget has dropped plans to obtain a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong, citing business and market-related considerations.

Bitget officially announced on Nov. 13 that its Hong Kong division, BitgetX, accessible by the domain BitgetX.hk, will cease operations by Dec. 13, 2023.

As Bitget decided not to apply for a VATP license, the firm will have to permanently withdraw from the Hong Kong market, the announcement notes.

The company has strongly encouraged users to withdraw crypto assets from BitgetX before Dec. 13. “After this date, the BitgetX website will no longer be accessible and you will not be able to manage or access your assets on BitgetX,” the statement noted.

Bitget emphasized that users will not be able to trade their assets on the platform immediately as only withdrawals will be available. The exchange will also stop accepting new users starting from Nov. 13, the announcement said.

#news #bitget #china

Number of Bitcoin millionaire wallets triples in 2023

The number of crypto wallet addresses holding more than $1 million in Bitcoin has more than tripled this year.

BitInfoCharts data shows the number of addresses with more than $1 million in BTC increased from 23,795 on Jan. 1 to 81,925 currently, a 237% increase in the last 11 months.

The millionaire wallets are not one-to-one with individual users as many addresses with more than $1 million BTC belong to crypto exchanges and financial institutions.

Comparative data from Glassnode shows the number of addresses holding more than $1 million in Bitcoin peaked during the top of the last bull market in November 2021, posting a record 112,573 addresses on Nov. 9, 2021, the day before Bitcoin notched its all-time high of $69,000 on Nov. 10, 2021.

Bitcoin is currently changing hands for nearly $37,100, up 38% over the last month. Bitcoin’s price has been buoyed by market enthusiasm for multiple pending spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) products.

#news #btc #investments

Microsoft enters $100M partnership with Canadian firm after quantum breakthrough

Canadian quantum computing firm Photonic has emerged from stealth to raise $100 million for its all-silicon quantum computing platform. Among the investors is new partner Microsoft, which will co-develop quantum networking solutions with the startup.

The investment and partnership come as numerous experts in the industry laud Photonic’s novel approach to quantum computing as a “breakthrough” for the field.

Photonic’s technique involves building quantum computers using silicon spin qubits with a spin-photon interface — in other words, a computer that uses qubits made of light to perform quantum computations on silicon hardware.

Stephanie Simmons, founder and chief quantum officer of Photonic, said the company expects to bring a fault-tolerant, fully functional quantum networking system to market as early as within the next five years.

#news #ai #business