Coinbase slammed with $3.6M fine in Netherlands; Bitstop founders acquire Genesis coin; understanding token standards; Bank of America says “digital currencies appear inevitable”

Countries are learning that it’s not simply a case of “if you build it, they will come.”

The CEO of the world’s largest credit card company told shareholders on Tuesday that stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will play a “meaningful role” in the payments space going forward. 

A new LinkedIn job posting from the U.K.treasury is seeking a Head of Central Bank Digital Currency.

A Chinese firm is developing a new payment system interoperable with stablecoins and CBDCs –  that acts as a link for central banks to transfer and swap regulated digital currencies – recently unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) — the digital yuan, or eCNY — has received upgrades giving it smart contract functionality alongside a series of newly unveiled use cases. The smart contract function was launched on the Meituan app, a Chinese app offering retail and food delivery services, according to a Jan. 17 report by local cryptocurrency media outlet 8btc. When Meituan users place an order and pay with their e-CNY wallet, a smart contract triggers and searches for keywords and purchased items in their order. If a user buys something on the list of keywords for the day, they go in the draw to win part of a prize. (Cointelegraph)

China has enabled smart contract functionality for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, through the e-commerce app Meituan, one of China's largest food delivery and lifestyle apps.

The United States may have conceded a head start to other nations in "setting global standards for the future of money" regarding central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), but in the future it "should lead the development of an international regulatory framework around digital currencies," the Digital Dollar Project (DDP) said on Wednesday.

Bitkub Capital CEO Jirayut Srupsrisopa (also known as “Topp”) said that Thai central bank will be implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the Thai Baht wholesale market in the first quarter of 2023. The government is currently working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to handle remittances between the two countries using the new currency.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister wants to be the first user of a planned new central bank digital currency (CBDC) and take his salary in e-hryvnia, he told reporters at the World Economic Forum.