Google Pay, Walmart-backed PhonePe to join India’s CBDC pilot
In April, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shri Shaktikanta Das announced plans to expand its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot beyond banks. Last month the central bank said payment providers would join the digital rupee pilot this quarter.
Now Reuters reported that five payment providers have applied, citing sources. They are Google Pay, Walmart-backed PhonePe, Cred, Amazon Pay and Mobikwik.
PhonePe is India’s leading payments app, followed by GooglePay. Together they make up 85% of transactions and value for UPI, India’s successful instant payment solution, which processes almost 14 billion transactions monthly.
Not mentioned among the digital rupee applicants is third ranked player PayTM, which has a 6% UPI market share. Cred is fourth, AmazonPay is sixth and Mobikwik is sixteenth, but the UPI figures drop off significantly beyond the big three.
If the CBDC follows UPI, then banks might end up playing second fiddle to the payment apps. Three banks rank in the top ten for UPI apps – Axis, ICICI and Kotak Mahindra – with the largest in the fifth spot. However, the three banks combined have a market share of less than one percent.
The percentages reference the user interface used to initiate payments. UPI is for interbank payments, so the money comes from bank accounts.
A Reuters source also stated that the erupee pilots are likely to stay in the pilot stage for a couple of years, which makes sense.
Advanced CBDC functionality takes time
From the early days, the central bank managed expectations, noting that the CBDC was unlikely to compete with the well-established UPI payment infrastructure.
Without more advanced functionality, there’s no incentive for consumers to switch. And if providers offer cash incentives, the switch could be temporary, as has happened in China with its digital yuan red envelope incentives.
Some of the distinguishing functionalities of India’s CBDC include offline payments and programmable payments, which are still in the early stages. Unlike rolling out the app, both may take a little time to come to fruition.
Plus, both the Ministry of Finance and central bank believe that the CBDC killer app will be cross border payments, especially for remittances. Even more so than the other two features, cross border payments take time to develop through collaboration with other jurisdictions.
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Read more: Ledger Insights
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Euro stablecoin market surges under MiCA
French and Irish fintech companies have partnered to introduce a euro-backed stablecoin. The coin will launch on the Stellar blockchain a month after MiCA stablecoin laws came into force.
The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework is gradually coming into effect in line with its planned implementation timeline. The initial set of regulations, which took effect on July 1, focused on stablecoins and their issuers.
These clear guidelines have both cleaned out the market of players not able to meet regulatory requirements and created a favorable environment for stablecoins pegged to local currency.
One example is a new partnership between the France-based fintech company Next Generation and Ireland-based electronic money institution (EMI) Decta, which announced a plan to reintroduce a euro-pegged stablecoin, EURT, on the Stellar blockchain.
According to the involved parties, the initiative, which launched on Aug. 5, is fully MiCA compliant.
MiCA rebirth
Next Generation has strong ties to the renowned fintech player Tempo France. This company initially launched EURT in 2017 in collaboration with the Stellar Foundation, pioneering one of the first euro-pegged stablecoins.
However, the absence of a regulatory framework then led to the project’s suspension. However, under MiCA, stablecoins are classified as electronic money tokens (EMTs), aligning them with traditional e-money and necessitating that issuers possess an EMI license or be a credit institution.
This regulatory clarity has transformed the euro-backed stablecoin market, making it more predictable and attractive to investors.
Circle became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with MiCA and chose France as its European headquarters, citing the country’s “forward-looking” stance on digital asset regulation.
The activation of MiCA is expected to drive substantial growth in the euro-backed stablecoin sector. Market predictions forecast a minimum market capitalization of 15 euros by 2025, reaching 70 billion euros by 2026 and potentially surpassing 2 trillion euros by 2028.
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Read more: CoinTelegraph
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UBS says ‘going into Japan now is like catching a falling knife,’ warns stock sell-off will continue
“The only reason why the Japanese market is up so strongly in the last two years is because the Japanese yen has been very, very weak.
Once it reverses, you got to get out right and I think they’re all getting out right now as a result of that,” Tay said.
“The yen, which weakened to a 38-year low of 161.99 against the U.S. dollar in June, reversed course during the run-up to the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting.”
“It strengthened sharply after the BOJ raised its benchmark interest rate last week to around 0.25% and decided to trim its purchases of Japanese government bonds.”
“Currently, the yen was last trading at 144.82, its lowest level against the greenback since January. A stronger yen pressurizes Japanese stock markets, which are heavily dominated by trading houses and export-oriented firms by eroding their competitiveness.”
“Tay said the yen can indicate whether the Japanese market will do well. As the yen has strengthened, stocks have declined, “there is still a lot more pressure on the Japanese stock market, unfortunately,” he said.
“While Tay acknowledged that some gains made by the market were due to corporate restructuring efforts by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, “the main driver was the Japanese yen.”
“Now, with the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling rate cuts are on the table and the Bank of Japan raising rates, the interest differential between the two central banks will narrow, making a “carry trade” less attractive, potentially setting the stage for the yen to strengthen further.”
EVERYONE IS WONDERING WHY DID THE MARKETS CRASH ON 8/5 AND THEN REBOUND. JAPAN SET THE STAGE WITH A WEAKING NIKKEI. THIS ARTICLE SHEDS LIGHT ON THE CURRENCY SIDE OF THIS EVENT AND HOW THE YEN NEEDS TO STRENGTHEN AGAINST THE DOLLAR
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Read more: CNBC
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Morgan Stanley, one of the most important financial institutions in the world, has stated that CRYPTOCURRENCIES WILL DISRUPT THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM IN 2024.
In a Banking And Financial Law Journal, it is documented that Morgan Stanley has also stated that Ripple is a LEADING PAYMENT ALTERNATIVE TO SWIFT.
And their own research reports, Morgan Stanley notes that XRP is more efficient than BTC and is closer to what traditional banks do today.
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