In a rare insight into a central bank's blockchain trial, Carolyn Wilkins – the senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada – shares her main takeaways from Project Jasper, the bank's flagship DLT experiment.
The project involves public and private financial institutions, and aims to explore the development of a wholesale payments platform that relies on a blockchain-based settlement token.
As well as an enhanced understanding of the priorities and needs of the private financial sector, Jasper revealed the vital importance of sector-wide collaboration in designing a new system.
The trial also revealed that the technology still needs to improve before it can be considered a viable, safe and compliant replacement for the current system.
Beyond the value of experimentation, Jasper also gave the Bank of Canada the opportunity to consider policy issues, and the impact that a fundamental shift in payments systems would have on the global stage.
LendIt USA is the world's biggest show in lending and fintech, and in 2017 the event will return to New York City with a new track specifically designed for blockchain thought-leaders. LendIt is proud to welcome CoinDesk as the track media partner, and CoinDesk will also feature in the agenda. Readers save 15% with VIP code Coindesk17USA.
Wait, there's more:
Bitcoin, Blockchain and Trump: Where Do We Go From Here? *Opinion*: David Brill, fintech lawyer and former counsel to bitcoin exchange Gemini, shares his outlook for bitcoin and blockchain businesses in the new political landscape. He points out the need to balance Trump's promise to cut back on regulation with his freeze on SEC and CFTC funding, and expects more institutional support for blockchain than for bitcoin. Read more.
More Chinese Exchanges Change Policies Following Central Bank Meeting The example set by leading Chinese exchanges is being replicated across the sector. Several smaller competitors moved to introduce or increase trading fees yesterday, following a meeting with China's central bank. And at least six have announced changes to bitcoin and litecoin withdrawal policies, either delaying or halting them temporarily. Read more here and here.
China Fears Spread Beyond Bitcoin As Crypto Markets Slide The jitteriness in the bitcoin market yesterday spread to other cryptocurrencies, resulting in steep losses across the board, although most had started to recover by the end of the day. Read more.
Lawyer Arrested in Attempt to Sell Confidential Complaint for Bitcoin A strange story: the lawyer was wearing a disguise as he handed over sealed court documents to an undercover FBI agent (who might also have been in disguise, we don't know). Read more.
Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Offering Expands to $100 Million Documents submitted to the SEC earlier this week reveal that the offering has increased from $65m to $100m, and that the number of shares has gone up from 1 million to 10 million. Read more.
Ethereum Employment Startup Colony Launches Private Beta The aim is to build a platform for decentralized employment, allowing users to join "colonies" and earn tokens for performing tasks. The startup hopes to collect feedback in the beta phase as it fine-tunes the service. Read more.
India's Biggest Stock Exchange is Testing Blockchain KYC In what is perhaps the most significant blockchain trial to date for India's finance sector, the National Stock Exchange of India, several banks, a brokerage firm and blockchain startup Elemential successfully collaborated on a KYC data trial. Read more.
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