Appold Market Watch - Week 23 to 27 October 2023

October 30, 2023 Robert Gaskell

Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 27 October 2023

JP Morgan reported that its own Stablecoin, JPM Coin, now handles $1bn worth of transactions daily with plans to widen its usage. The JPM Coin has been applied as a settlement layer for some of its clients when making payments across jurisdictions. The blockchain network allows for significant cost savings and much faster settlements compared to traditional processes. Expect more launches of Stablecoins in permissioned networks from institutions and corporations in the future, along with Sovereign issues in the form of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).
Following UK Government legislators filing the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (ECCT) last year, it passed Royal assent last week. The filing and approval will allow authorities to freeze and seize digital assets if they are suspected of being used illegally. This powerful Bill also allows digital assets used in crime and illegal activities to be recovered without conviction, allowing lawmakers to respond quicker to suspending and recovering assets.
European clearing house, Euroclear, announced the launch of a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) solution for the issuance of digital securities. The service will enable the issuance, distribution and settlement of digital securities. The process was demonstrated with a World Bank issuance of €100m and listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Citi’s Issuer Services acted as the issuing and paying agent, TD Securities as the dealer, and Euroclear Bank as the issuer Central Securities Depository.
Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered's FinTech and venture arm, SC Ventures, have announced the successful completion of their first Proof-of-Concept (PoC) on GFT Technologies Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN). The UDPN is an interoperable payment infrastructure that can facilitate government-approved digital currency systems, encompassing regulated stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The collaboration enables real-time transfer and swap test transactions between EURS and USDC Stablecoins on the infrastructure.
Since the recent change in legislation, the UK’s regulator (the FCA) has reported three common issues with the crypotasset financial promotions which include:
- Promotions making claims about the ‘safety’, ‘security’, or ease of using cryptoasset services without highlighting the risk involved
- Risk warnings not being visible enough due to small fonts, hard-to-read colouring or non-prominent positioning
- Firms are failing to provide customers with adequate information on the risks associated with specific products being promoted
  The enforcement of the new regulations has caused some exchanges to exit the UK having been unable or unwilling to meet the obligations with around 221 alerts being issued where failures to comply have occurred.