Web 3.0 TokenBytes - Web 3.0, FinTech and DeFi for Asia (11th Edition)
Syed Musheer Ahmed
FinTech Ballerina | ex-Regulator | Virtual Assets | FinTech | Web 3.0 |
Web 3.0 TokenBytes - Web 3.0, FinTech and DeFi for Asia (11th Edition)
Welcome to the 11th Edition of the FinStep Asia's Web 3.0 Newsletter covering Web 3.0, DeFi and FinTech in Asia.?
Firstly, a big thank you to all of our subscribers and readers as we go past the 5000 subscriber mark on LinkedIn! We are glad so many of you find the newsletter useful and we would love to get your input and feedback on things you liked, things you hated and things you would like :)
VFF FINTECH FORUM 2022?
VFF is back! VFF FinTech Forum 2022 is the Third Edition of our Flagship event. This will be a one-day hybrid conference that will bring together Thought Leaders, Fintech Experts, Financial Services CXOs and Fintech Startups to provide insights and discuss the core themes of Fintech for Industry 4.0 and WealthConnect and Fintech & ESG.? VFF FinTech Forum 2022 is an affiliated event of the StartmeupHK Festival 2022. StartmeupHK is an initiative by InvestHK aimed at helping founders of innovative and scalable startups from overseas to set up or expand in Hong Kong.?
////// NEWS ON METAVERSE, NFT AND WEB 3.0 //////
(Click on the headline to view the detailed article)
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed underscored the importance of consolidating Dubai’s status as a hub offering the most advanced ecosystem for the metaverse and as a frontrunner in adopting digital solutions globally. The Dubai Metaverse Strategy is aimed to support 40,000 virtual jobs and boost Dubai’s economy and support the UAE government’s vision of increasing the number of blockchain companies. Al Olama said the Dubai Metaverse Strategy is in line with the objectives of the UAE AI Strategy to enhance the country’s status as one of the world’s leading countries in futuristic sectors. The strategy supports the development of Web3 technology and its applications to create new governmental work models and development in vital sectors, including tourism, education, retail, remote work, healthcare, and the legal sector. VR and AR are two key enablers of the metaverse, responsible for 6,700 jobs and contributing US$500 million to the UAE’s economy.
China’s second-most populous city will introduce a three-year plan to promote the metaverse in the tourism industry, and encourage non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the art and culture industry, as part of a recovery plan for the city’s economy. The authorities have been working with tech firms to study how the metaverse can be applied to tourism, said Fang Shizhong, the director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, in an interview on Tuesday. Fang also said authorities will hold a digital art-themed event at November’s Shanghai International Artwork Trade Week to promote NFTs related to art and culture. Shanghai’s GDP growth rate fell by 13.7% in the second quarter from a year earlier, while the national GDP grew 0.4%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Authorities in the city imposed radical lockdown measures between mid-March and early July due to surging Covid-19 cases. Shanghai expects its metaverse industry to grow to US$52 billion before 2025. It will also set up a fund of US$1.4 billion to invest in the metaverse.
As the consulting industry continues to scramble for virtual land, KPMG has become the latest big firm to enter the metaverse. The firm’s digital ‘collaboration hub’ will work to help clients develop strategies within the space. Formally launched by the US and Canada businesses of KPMG, the firm’s new metaverse collaboration hub is said to offer a private place where employees, partners and clients can conduct virtual team meetings and share ideas. This includes the use of ‘virtual whiteboards’, for example. It would also be able to conduct training sessions, job interviews and employee evaluations in the metaverse, as well as meetings to demonstrate KPMG’s services and capabilities. KPMG is also understood to have formed dedicated teams of members with technology and innovation experience which will offer support to clients around metaverse design, use cases of NFTs, cryptocurrency assets, community engagement and broader Web3 integrations. The move follows the news that KPMG’s Canadian wing had recently added bitcoin and ether to its corporate treasury. In February 2022, it also reportedly purchased a World of Women NFT. In the months since, the value of that collection of tokens – in line with the wider NFT market – has tanked, falling from a peak of $37,000 in average value, to under $4,000 per now.
Animoca Brands, the company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the open metaverse, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of US$75.32 million (approximately A$104.57 million). The current raise is the second tranche of the funding previously announced on 18 January 2022, which was extended to accommodate due diligence processes. Investors in the current tranche included Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway Ltd, Cosmic Summit Investments Limited, and others. Animoca Brands will use the new capital to continue to fund strategic acquisitions, investments, and product development, secure licenses for popular intellectual properties, and advance the open metaverse, including through its efforts to promote digital property rights for online users.
US-based banking giant Citibank has said in a recent report that Metaverse will be worth up to $13 trillion by 2030. The downside though is that this will also lead to a spike in the number of crimes. An analysis of Elliptic’s data set also reveals that there is an illicit activity linked to Metaverse-related assets – MANA and SAND. Elliptic says in its report, The Future of Financial Crimes in Metaverse Report 2022, that of this illicit activity, 99.5 percent is linked to crypto asset thefts – highlighting the most common criminal activity at present. This mirrors wider criminal activity across non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where social engineering, fake giveaways, and MetaMask browser wallet attacks can create a dangerous environment for those buying, selling, and transferring NFTs. The Elliptic report has predicted that Metaverse is looking like an increasingly attractive liquidity venue for criminals looking to launder assets. Other crimes include fake airdrops in metaverse, phishing links (mislead users into clicking on phishing links instead of the official domain) etc. The report highlighted the importance of any Metaverse-related transactions and wallets to be screened for illicit connections to allow for proper screening to protect against money laundering, wash trading and sanctions risks.
E-commerce giant Flipkart said that it will allow buyers of Nothing Phone 1 in India to acquire Nothing’s limited edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from its mobile shopping app on Android and iOS. Nothing is a UK- based consumer electronics brand which launched its first smartphone Nothing Phone 1 this week. To create hype around the launch, the company has released an NFT collection called Nothing Community Dots and is using the Polygon blockchain to host it. The NFTs will provide buyers early access to new products, events, and specific gifts by the company.Flipkart said that customers who have pre-booked and subsequently purchased the new smartphone can redeem the NFTs via the Firedrops feature in the Flipkart mobile app. Firedrops by Flipkart marks the e-commerce company’s foray into Web3 and NFT ecosystem. It will be available on the Flipkart app from July 22.
Ebay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) filed two trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last week covering a wide range of products and services relating to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. A USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, Mike Kondoudis, tweeted Tuesday: “Ebay Inc. is coming to the metaverse.” He explained that the filings indicate the e-commerce giant’s plans for virtual good marketplaces, online retail stores with actual and virtual goods, NFTs, NFT exchanges, and NFT trading. One day before Ebay filed the two trademark applications, the company announced that it has acquired NFT marketplace Knownorigin. The e-commerce platform began allowing NFT sales in May last year, citing a “massive wave of attention” in the area.
During the past seven days, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have dropped 23.37% and 30-day statistics show NFT sales are down 63.10% from the month prior. While NFT interest has been waning, a recent study indicates that global regions like Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada lead the pack in terms of NFT interest. The research further suggests that “Poland, Nicaragua, and Belize are the most anti-NFT countries.” The most searched NFT project worldwide, according to search volumes by country, is Axie Infinity, which commands 112 countries in terms of the top searches by collection followed by Decentraland being the most searched in 43 countries and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) capturing six countries.
The founders of NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have an awful lot to prove with their startup Yuga‘s early beta vision of the metaverse, a gaming platform called Otherside.Otherside will be a platform for game developers similar to experiences like Roblox or Meta’s upstart Horizon Worlds, and those users will be able to build and monetize experiences in the virtual world on virtual land that can be bought and sold. The startup raked in roughly $317 million in an NFT land sale for the game, selling 55,000 virtual plots called Otherdeeds. Yuga’s challenge of maintaining a community of NFT holders throughout the development of the Otherside title during what many fear could be a historic crypto winter nested inside a recession is a certain level of daunting. The startup must also reckon with enduring skepticism of gamers surrounding NFTs while transitioning from the exclusivity of its pricey six-figure NFT clubs to the mass appeal of an MMO.?
MORE HEADLINES ON METAVERSE, NFT AND WEB 3.O
/////////////////// NEWS ON DE-FI? ///////////////////
Tesla revealed that it has converted about 75 per cent of its Bitcoin holding into fiat currency, which added about $963 million to its balance sheet, with it their crypto holding now has dropped to $218 million. Tesla's Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on the earnings conference call that the company sold the Bitcoin to maximize its cash because of Covid related uncertainty. He added that the sale should not be seen as 'a verdict on Bitcoin.' Prior to this, Musk had criticised Bitcoin citing the adverse impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment. His company stopped accepting Bitcoin last year, but continues to accept Doge for merchandise sale.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) CEO Eddie Yue thinks cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) will continue to play an important role in the financial system despite the recent instability in the sector. Speaking during a meeting of G20 financial officials, Yue called for greater regulation of the crypto industry to prevent another crash like the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) and its companion token, LUNA, reports FinBold. Yue said the technology and the business innovation behind these developments are likely to be important for our future financial system. In January, the HKMA issued a statement signaling it would continue to cautiously explore its relationship with crypto assets by “striking the right balance between maintaining a safe and efficient financial system in Hong Kong and supporting financial innovation.” Later in the year, the HKMA released a discussion paper warning that the rise of a popular stablecoin could undermine Hong Kong’s local currency.
The Reserve Bank of India is in the process of implementing the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in a phased manner for the wholesale and retail segments, an official said on Wednesday. The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23, by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934 has been made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, executive director (fintech), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. The passage of the bill has enabled the RBI to conduct a pilot and subsequent issuance of CBDC, he said.
Blockchain solutions provider ChainUp Group (“ChainUp”) and insurer OneDegree Hong Kong Limited (“OneDegree”) announced today a strategic partnership to provide clients of ChainUp Custody with insurance and technology combined risk management services through OneInfinity by OneDegree. Through this partnership, OneInfinity will officially become ChainUp’s Preferred Service Partner. Leveraging each other’s industry and technical expertise, both parties are committed to promoting higher standards of security in the digital asset space and facilitating the healthy and sustainable growth of the Web3 community.
BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP SS) confirmed its developing digital asset custody capabilities, but it’s partnering with both Fireblocks and METACO. BNP SS is the fifth largest global custodian, with assets under custody of €15.2 trillion at the end of 2021. Last week the bank shared details about a tokenized bond it helped EDF issue on the public Ethereum blockchain, which is referred to as a live experiment. That issuance used Fireblocks technology, and BNPSS plans to leverage its technology for tokenization, hot wallets and connectivity infrastructure.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) called for new global rules for cryptocurrencies on Monday, and will submit a report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in October on regulatory and supervisory approaches to stablecoins and other crypto assets. The body of regulators, government officials and central bankers pointed to recent market turmoil as evidence of risk to financial stability, highlighting that the failure of a market player can quickly transmit risks to other parts of the ecosystem and have spillover effects into traditional finance. The statement from the FSB made particular reference to “so-called” stablecoins, which have been on the agenda for several financial authorities since even before May's Terra crash.
Denelle Dixon of Stellar Development Foundation says understanding the similarities and the differences of the dotcom bust is critical to making sure that we emerge from crypto winter even stronger.
"There is certainly room to argue similarities: rising interest rates, a regulatory environment challenged to keep pace with innovation, pricey marketing tactics to grow the user base, and very enthusiastic venture capital investment. There are also some important differences: risky dependence on leverage and lack of or limited consumer education. Understanding the similarities and the differences is critical to making sure that we emerge from crypto winter even stronger. What can the past and present tell us about how we deliver this transformational technology to the masses so it lives up to its origin story as an equalizer to financial access? - Click on the link above to read more
?MORE HEADLINES ON DE-FI
/////////////////// REGULATORY NEWS ///////////////////
By November, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines are set to sign a deal to integrate their QR Code payment systems. It will then allow people to buy goods and services throughout the region by just scanning QR codes, bypassing the need for US dollars as intermediary.?If you are planning to travel in Southeast Asia later this year or anytime after, you may soon be able to do so without much hassle with currency exchange. In fact, you will be able to pay for your goods and services using just QR code as a payment method–that too in local currencies, without the need of US dollar as an intermediary.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is set to take a more comprehensive approach to crypto regulations and is targeting to consult on proposed measures in the next few months. According to Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS, the regulator is looking to widen the scope of the crypto regulations to cover areas such as consumer protection, market conduct, and reserve backing for stablecoins. According to MAS, reviews and public consultations are underway among international standard-setting bodies and regulators to strengthen regulation in the above-mentioned areas. MAS will be organising a dedicated Green Shoots during which, MAS will explain its position on cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, blockchains, tokenisation, smart contracts, and digital assets by delving into their risks and opportunities as well as shortcomings and potential. The regulator will also set out to see how its developmental and regulatory approaches will “work in harmony to achieve the vision of Singapore as an innovative and responsible digital asset hub”.
In view of the concerns expressed by the RBI on the destabilising effect of cryptocurrencies on the monetary and fiscal stability of a country, the RBI has recommended the framing of legislation on this sector. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended to the government that it should frame regulations for cryptocurrencies and prohibit them. The government, however, seems to be of the view that a "global collaboration" is needed for any effective regulation or ban, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on July 18. Sitharaman went on to add that given the borderless nature of cryptocurrencies, international collaboration was required to prevent any kind of regulatory arbitrage. Sitharaman's comments come amid speculation that the government could introduce legislation to regulate the crypto sector. Even before the said bill, all eyes are on the crypto consultation paper the government is currently working on. The paper, which will likely outline the government's stance on crypto.
The way we pay is becoming increasingly digital. To ensure financial stability in this digital age, it is crucial that we all still have easy access to central bank money, which is the foundation of our currency. The digital euro can achieve that. The public sector, and central banks in particular, are responsible for preserving the integrity of the monetary and payment systems in the interests of citizens. A digital euro, if carefully designed and introduced, could play a decisive and beneficial role in this endeavour, serving as a public good for the transition of our society and economy into the digital age.
The United States Treasury has published a framework for international cooperation on crypto interactions. The framework focuses on global cooperation on several aspects of the crypto market, and also makes room for innovation.? Besides the aforementioned protection of entities and the global economy, it also focuses on mitigating illicit financial activity and preventing national security risks. The U.S. has touched on the latter point before, with the treasury having taken action over North Korea hacks on crypto entities. The statements in it are focused on ensuring that the crypto activity follow “America’s core democratic values,” while also protecting consumers, investors, and businesses, and the safety of global financial and monetary systems. It appears that the U.S. is willing to let the crypto industry develop and flourish, so long as it adheres to laws. This should provide a boost to the market, which has taken a beating in recent months.? Crypto is by its nature unrestricted by borders and jurisdiction, so it is understandable that countries want to work together to ensure that laws are followed. Governments will have to establish some sort of standards, especially when it comes to cross-border transactions.
The Republic is exploring the possibility of building a virtual platform for international dispute resolution which will offer arbitration hearings and mediation sessions in the metaverse, said Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong. This platform could tap augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to enable parties involved in a dispute to view a replica of a relevant site. The minister noted that many businesses, legal counsel, arbitrators, mediators and expert witnesses come to Singapore for arbitration hearings and mediation services even if their disputes do not have a substantial connection to Singapore due to its strong legal system. "If businesses see a need for an online replica of what Singapore might offer in the real world space, for this to be replicated in the metaverse space, we will explore building one”, said Mr Tong. Mr Tong said the Government is closely studying the characteristics of the metaverse and its implications, risks and related legal issues. "For instance, the immersive, interactive, decentralised and anonymous elements pose potential risks to online safety, consumer protection, privacy and the protection of intellectual property," he said.
Hong Kong’s long-anticipated law governing cryptocurrency has finally been put before the Legislative Council, with the first and second readings of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill 2022. The law is significant in bringing Hong Kong into the group of major financial centers creating cryptocurrency regulatory structures. Importantly, when viewed as part of regulations and guidance from bodies such as the Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in recent years, it would also give Hong Kong the most comprehensive framework governing virtual assets. Financial services regulations work to further investor protection. These customer protection-like mechanisms help to boost investor confidence and participation in the ecosystem. Banks and financial services firms invest heavily in operating compliance functions that integrate within rules-based systems developed by financial regulators. Many of these institutions will await regulatory clarity before opting to participate in a new market.
People in Russia will soon no longer be allowed to use digital assets as a form of payment. Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law prohibiting the use of digital assets, such as cryptocurrency and NFTs, to pay for goods and services. In addition, as Protocol notes, the new law also requires crypto exchanges and providers to refuse transactions in which digital transfers can be interpreted as a form of payment.
/////////////////// NEWS ON FINTECH ///////////////////
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Bloomberg and the Hong Kong United Youth Association (HKUY) have partnered to launch the Greater Bay Fintech Talent Initiative aimed at bridging a potential technology skills gap in the region. With the Greater Bay Area (GBA) aiming to bring the economic area of Southern China closer together, this initiative is designed to accelerate local talent development and equip students with relevant skills and knowledge for a digitally integrated financial region. Also more than 20 corporations (including include Ant Group, Bank of America, Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Guangfa Bank (Hong Kong Branch), Citi, Credit Suisse, CSOP Asset Management, DBS Bank (Hong Kong), Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, HSBC Bank, Huatai International, J.P. Morgan, KPMG China, Polymer Capital Management (HK), Royal Bank of Canada, Taiping Financial Holdings Company, Welab Bank and ZA Bank) are supporting the initiative by providing students with technical training, networking opportunities and bespoke mentorship.
Global survey conducted by banking software company Mambu, which polled 6,000 consumers to understand their attitudes to green finance, their expectations of financial institutions and the types of sustainable products and services they’d like to consume, checks strongly how banks are committed to their sustainability agenda. Of the respondents polled across the region, 31% indicated having knowingly banked with a sustainable finance institution or made use of a sustainable banking product or service, a figure that stands a little bit higher than the global average of 29%. A breakdown by nation shows that consumers in Thailand (43%), as well as Vietnam (43%), are the biggest adopters of sustainable finance, followed by Malaysia (30%) and Singapore (27%).
Google Wallet is now available as a standalone app for the Singaporean and USA users as a complementary experience to Google Pay. This digital wallet for Android and Wear OS standardises the way users save and access essential items such as vaccine cards, event tickets, boarding and loyalty passes. The new Google Wallet provides granular settings and Android security features that have already been used, such as authentication, biometrics and encryption so that users can customise their own privacy experience. At launch, Google Wallet can be used to access flight tickets from national carrier Singapore Airlines, e-cards from partners like Watsons and National Library Board, and also store the user’s vaccination certificate.
As of July 1, some 3,709 employees — excluding crypto companies — have been laid off across 41 “layoff events” in the second quarter of 2022, according to an analysis by Roger Lee of Layoffs.fyi. For context, that is 3,709 out of 36,861 startup employees laid off overall during Q2, meaning that fintech accounted for 10.1% of the total. Based on that categorization, the fintech space ranked third behind food and transportation, respectively. However, the site classified companies such as Better.com in the “Real Estate” category. So if you include that company’s layoffs — which amounted to some 3,000 in the first quarter of 2022 — the fintech numbers inch up even higher and fintech becomes the category that saw the most layoffs by percentage — 15.4% — in the first half of 2022.
The National Payments Corporation of India, or NPCI, which is the retail payments entity of the country, expects to implement the linking of credit cards to the unified payments interface (UPI) network, the organisation’s chief executive Dilip Asbe has said. This comes over a month after Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das announced the allowing of linking of credit cards to UPI to facilitate payments. “We are talking to BoB Cards, SBI Cards, Axis Bank, and Union Bank of India. We should be in a position to submit our proposal to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in ten days and once we get the approval, we should be able to start in two months," Asbe said at an event organised by the Bank of Baroda on Friday, July 22.
MORE HEADLINES ON FINTECH
/////////////////// INDUSTRY REPORTS & FEATURES ///////////////////
// REPORT 1 // The Macroeconomic Impact of Cryptocurrency and Stablecoins
The World Economic Forum has been working with members of the public and private sectors, civil society and academia to highlight what history has taught us about financial risk. The Digital Currency Governance Consortium (DCGC) community – comprising a global, multisector set of more than 85 leading organizations – continues to discuss the potential solutions and regulatory paths for the future to enable continued encouragement of the responsible roll-out and adoption of digital currencies. Based on projected macroeconomic outcomes, the majority of economists interviewed predict that allowing cryptocurrency to play a regulated role in the economy will bring the highest macroeconomic net benefit to society.
Read more and access the Report here>>
// REPORT 2 // DIGITAL BANKS: A Proposal for Licensing & Regulatory Regime for India
NITI Aayog recommends a potential template, pathway and the operative steps under the applicable laws to be executed for enacting a Digital Banking licensing and regulatory regime for India. The following 3 step sequence is recommended– Step 1: Introduce a restricted Digital Business bank licence and a restricted Digital Consumer Bank license. Step 2: The applicant acquiring this restricted license enlists in the regulatory sandbox and commences operations as a Digital Business bank/Digital Consumer bank as the case may be, in the sandbox.Step 3: Contingent on satisfactory performance of the Licensee in the sandbox, the restrictions can be relaxed when the Licensee graduates from the sandbox and becomes a full-scale Digitalbank (Business or Consumer as the case maybe).
Read more and access the Report here>>
// REPORT 3 // Q2 2022 Quarterly FinTech Insights
Highlights of the Q2 2022 Fintech insights by FT Partners– FinTech deal activity continues to weaken as higher interest rates, lower valuations, and economic uncertainty take their toll following a period of record activity. Total dollar volume of global FinTech deal activity across private company financings, IPOs, and M&A transactions in Q2 2022 was down 67% from the peak of activity in Q3 2021. Additionally, Q2 2022 activity declined 29% year-over-year from Q2 2021 and declined 24% from Q1 2022. Private company financing volume raised in Q2 2022 totaled $27.6 billion, representing the lowest quarterly volume since Q4 2020 ($11.8 billion) and a drop of more than 30% from Q2 2021 ($39.6 billion). Private company financing may actually be beneficial as the IPO market is essentially shut and some companies may be choosing to raise additional capital rather than pursuing an IPO at this time. Also of note, there is a lag in the quarterly data with many deals announced during Q2 likely agreed upon some months prior. Given this lag effect along with our real-time pulse on the market, FTP expects to see a more pronounced slowdown in activity in the months ahead.
Read more and access the Report here>>
// REPORT 4 // Consumer attitudes to CBDC: Considerations for policy-makers
A specially commissioned survey reveals how consumers from Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria and the US feel about central bank digital currency - by OMFIF and Giesecke+Devrient. Some very interesting incidental insights on adoption of digital apps and mobile money in the findings– Consumers’ attachment to cash payments remains strong, despite digital developments and the impact of Covid-19: . More than 70% of respondents say cash remains one of their three most frequent forms of payment, and it remains the most frequent in Germany, Nigeria and Indonesia today. In Germany and Indonesia, around 50% of consumers use cash more than any other payment format. In the US, however, consumers are more likely to use debit and credit cards than cash. In Nigeria, bank transfers are used as often as cash as the leading forms of payment.?
Read more and access the Report here>>
// REPORT 5 // Application of the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures to stablecoin arrangements
The CPMI & IOSCO have issued final guidance on stablecoin arrangements (SA) confirming that the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures apply to systemically important stablecoin arrangements that transfer stablecoins. This guidance is a major step forward in applying "same risk, same regulation" to stablecoins, and extending the international standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems to cover systemically important stablecoin arrangements.This report is intended for use by systemically important SAs as they design, develop and operate their services and arrangements, including SAs that have the potential to become systemically important after launch; and by regulatory, supervisory and oversight authorities as they carry out their respective responsibilities for systemically important SAs.
Read more and access the Report here>>
// REPORT 6 // Data Protection, Technology and Private Sector Information Sharing
Thi report aims to help jurisdictions responsibly enhance, design and implement information collaboration initiatives among private sector entities, in accordance with data protection and privacy (DPP) rules, so that the risks associated with increased sharing of personal data are appropriately taken into account. This looks at global anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing requirements and how responsible private-to-private collaboration can contribute to their effective implementation. It also provides an introduction to the DPP principles and objectives that stakeholders should (or must) consider when designing private sector collaboration initiatives.
Read more and access the Report here>>
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Musheer Ahmed's Profile: Musheer is the Founder & Managing Director of FinStep Asia, which is building Asia’s next generation of Businesses. FinStep Asia enables Fintech and Blockchain firms in their innovation journey through venture building, growth advisory, bespoke research and curated content creation.
With over 16 years of experience in Trading and FinTech, Musheer has been one of the key contributors in building the Fintech ecosystem in Hong Kong as the co-founder and inaugural General Manager of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong. He has worked closely with several regulators and government bodies on fintech and digital economy policy, providing advisory and delivering workshops on a range of topics.
He is on several advisory boards and a mentor/advisor to several startups, while a regular guest lecturer at many universities in Hong Kong and Singapore. He is cofounder of IndiaTech HK, a platform bridging Indian & Chinese tech ecosystem via Hong Kong and is also Board Member & Co-lead Islamic Fintech, Global Impact Fintech Forum (GIFT), a leading global body created by global Fintech champions from 60+ countries. He is a regular contributor and author of articles on Fintech, Digital Banking, Islamic Fintech and Investment Banking and has been quoted in various media channels, including CNBC, Bloomberg, SCMP, Financial Times, S&P, Asian Investor, Economic Times, etc.