A working group set up by seven central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has laid out a set of ground rules for the successful issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)... More
Blockchain
PBOC distributes digital currency to consumers via red envelope lottery
Consumers in the city of Shenzhen are being offered the opportunity to win one of 50,000 ‘red envelopes’ containing 200 digital yuan (US$29.65) that they can spend at any of more than 3,000 retail outlets in the city that now accept China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
Bank of Korea to test central bank digital currency
The Bank of Korea (BOK) is to issue and circulate a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2021 to test its viability as an alternative to cash and other forms of transaction... More
European Central Bank sets out case for a digital euro
The introduction of a digital euro “would support Europe’s drive towards continued innovation”, “strengthen the international role of the euro” and provide consumers with “free access to a simple, universally accepted, risk-free and trusted means of payment”, according to a new report published by the European Central Bank (ECB)... More
Austrian gin maker authenticates limited-edition bottles with NFC and blockchain
Buyers of a premium limited-edition gin distilled in Austria will be able to verify a bottle’s authenticity and track how many remain available for sale by using their NFC phone to scan a crypto-enabled NFC chip fitted to the label... More
Bahamas to roll out central bank digital currency nationwide
The Central Bank of The Bahamas is to launch its Sand Dollar central bank digital currency (CBDC) across the entire archipelago in October, after piloting the new e-currency on the islands of Exuma and Abaco... More
STMicroelectronics opens NFCW Expo showcase
NFCW EXPO: STMicroelectronics has opened a preview of its showcase in the NFCW Expo, ahead of the online trade show’s launch next week, enabling readers to access webinars and white papers exploring the latest NFC trends and learn about its NFC product range... More
DBS reports on the digital currency market in Asia
Asia is leading the way in the use and development of digital currencies and remains the world’s largest digital payments market, with China alone accounting for more than half of the total transaction value worldwide, according to a new research paper published by Singapore’s DBS Bank... More
Visa files central bank digital currency ecosystem patent
Visa has filed an application for a patent that sets out a way for a central bank to take fiat money that is currently in circulation, digitize it, remove the converted physical currency from circulation and then enable consumers and merchants to conduct transactions using a digital wallet “stored on a chip of a smartcard or a secure element of a user device”... More
LG pilots face-based digital currency payments in unmanned convenience store
LG CNS is piloting a new payments solution that combines face recognition, a blockchain-based digital currency and AI technology to let shoppers enter an unmanned store, shop and check out — without needing to come into close contact with either employees or POS equipment... More
Facebook scales back its digital currency plans
Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency project is scaled back — The New York Times — “The Libra project will now focus on creating a more traditional payment network in which coins will be tied to a local currency, somewhat like the digital dollars in a PayPal account. While Libra will also have a coin backed by multiple national currencies, which was the focus of the initial design documents, that will be less prominent.”
Bahamas expands digital currency pilot
The Central Bank of The Bahamas has extended its central bank digital currency pilot to the island of Abaco and revealed that the new Sand Dollar currency will include support for offline functionality... More
Carriers complete cross-border blockchain mobile payment
Customers of a US carrier have used a mobile payment app to bill purchases made at a merchant in Taiwan to their mobile phone account, a consortium of companies developing a blockchain-based carrier billing system has announced... More
Sweden begins central bank digital currency pilot
Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank has begun testing a digital currency designed to enable consumers to store an electronic version of the Swedish krona in a digital wallet and make payments, deposits and withdrawals using a mobile app... More
ST explains how NFC can be combined with blockchain technology to deliver smarter supply chains
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: Combining NFC and RFID tags with blockchain technology makes it possible to create secure, end-to-end global supply chains that eliminate the risk of counterfeit goods entering the system, reduce management complexity and increase transparency, STMicroelectronics explains in a new white paper now available to download from the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Lancashire Cricket puts mobile tickets on the blockchain
Lancashire Cricket becomes first organisation to activate blockchain secure ticketing — Lancashire Cricket — “Lancashire Cricket is leading the way in ticketing technology after becoming the first organisation in the UK, in any industry, to activate blockchain secure mobile tickets for all domestic and international fixtures at Emirates Old Trafford in 2020. The club will be using TIXnGO, a new blockchain mobile tickets platform, after successful trials took place during the 2019 season.”
Piedmont vineyard picks NFC screw caps to fight fakes
A family-run vineyard in Italy has become the first in Europe to use NFC-equipped screw caps on its bottles to protect buyers from counterfeit wines... More
World Economic Forum publishes central bank digital currency toolkit
The World Economic Forum has released a Policy-Maker Toolkit for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), designed “to help central banks evaluate, design and potentially deploy CBDC”... More
Sicilian farmers use NFC to let consumers verify the authenticity of premium blood oranges
Consumers purchasing premium Sicilian blood oranges will be able to track the provenance of the product using a new system that combines NFC tags and sensors placed on each box of oranges with a blockchain-based tracking system... More
Madeira to pilot fingerprint biometric cards for decentralized digital IDs
The Government of Madeira is to issue biometric cards containing an in-built fingerprint sensor to 3,400 of its citizens for the pilot test of Smart Island, a decentralized digital identity project encompassing 12 education, healthcare, port security, transport, payments, tourism and government services... More