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Exclusive: Why are Independent Third Party Crypto Custodians so Important?

Exclusive interview with Alexandre Kech: Part 1

The needs of crypto custodians caught public attention again with the recent hack of 250 million Japanese Yen from Bitpoint exchange in Japan. While certain exchanges such as Coinbase launched their own custodian services, to what extent they can safeguard the assets at the exchange?

Alexandre Kech, CEO of Onchain Custodian shares with us the importance of independent third-party custodial solutions. He identifies three grey areas for assets under custody by the exchanges and how Onchain Custodian identified the custodial needs for crypto players and traditional financial giants.

Prior to being the CEO at Onchain Custodian, you have been working at SWIFT for 17 years. Which pain points does SWIFT have in the system? What are the reasons that inspire you to enter into the blockchain industry?

I believe think SWIFT does not have any major pain points in terms of what they do in the banking space, they might have some challenges for the retail type of payments. Because in that space, the banks using SWIFT realize that it is not necessarily the most agile, easy, and cheapest to use.

“Most of the domestic as well as cross border retail remittance payments in the future will be off-bank.”

It will be done either by crypto companies or other means than banks.

The reason why I left SWIFT to join Onchain Custodian is that I believe in the tokenization of the economy.

“I think that, in the future, everything will be tokenized on blockchain. As I mentioned during the panel in Next Block Asia, Bangkok, real estate, fine arts, traditional equity – like private but also public investments – will be tokenized on blockchain, and I want to be a part of it.”

Can you share with us how you met Da Hongfei, founder of NEO on the journey of Onchain Custodian?

Da Hongfei wanted to create a custody business here in Singapore, Onchain Custodian. He was clearly looking for someone from the traditional capital market space who knows about the traditional custodian business. I went through a series of interviews, with him and Raymond Cheong our CSO, first via video, then I had the opportunity to meet them in Singapore in October. We had an hour discussion on the strategy and how we wanted to see this business going. In November 2018, I was hired as CEO of Onchain Custodian.

Crypto exchanges are starting to explore custodial solutions. Most of them are developing custodial solutions themselves. As a third party independent custodian solution, how would you compare Onchain Custodian against them? Why are independent third party custodial solutions so important?

I think what we bring to the industry is focus and dedication with regards to custody. Crypto exchanges can develop custody solutions by themselves. Nevertheless, their business focus will always be on the exchange itself and the custody business will be their second choice. That’s a challenge for them because history has proven that exchanges are the most hacked players in the industry. This is because many do not focus on custody as it is not part of their core business.

What we want to do as a third-party custodian is to build infrastructure, an operational environment that is secure and evolves with technology. Our R&D is dedicated to custody because that is our core business. That is what we offer to crypto exchanges but also investors who do not want to leave their assets in exchanges and prefer them in a separate third-party custodian.

What we also bring is transparency and neutrality. When you have your assets in an exchange, there are three transparency issues:

1) Whether those assets are in segregated accounts or commingled;

2) What part of the assets is in cold versus hot storage;

3) How easy is it to transfer those assets to another exchange for trading.

What we bring as a custodian is complete neutrality as we are independent of exchanges. If our customers want to withdraw their assets and transfer them to different exchanges, we can facilitate those processes for them.

As Onchain Custodian solution caters for different kinds of customers, such as central deposit repository, hedge funds as well as miners. What are the differences in custodian among these customers you have just mentioned?

There are two main types of customers, the first type of customers is crypto-centric. They have been in the crypto space for the last two to three years and are familiar with the crypto world. For instance, they are crypto exchanges, crypto funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals. They participate in token investments.

The second type is leaning towards the more traditional players such as hedge funds, asset managers, central depositories and custodians. In order for asset managers and hedge funds to go into the crypto space, there is a need for custodians. They would generally rely on traditional custodians such as State Street, Bank of New York, or DBS in Singapore. However, these giants are not ready. They are not geared up technically but also in terms of operations to manage those assets for their customers.

What we are currently doing is engaging with existing custodians, private banks, and central securities depositories to assess areas of collaboration. We also work with asset management firms in the traditional capital market space. While they have licenses and knowledge on the traditional market, we have the knowledge of crypto and blockchain so we can work together to offer strong solutions for our and their customers.

How does the SAFE™ Digital Asset Custody Platform fulfill the different needs of different customers? Can the platform be customized to meet different customer needs?

Very good question. We have a version one and are working on a version two of our SAFE™ Digital Asset Custody Platform.

Version one is multi-sig cold storage-based, meaning that you need multiple signatures to sign transactions on the blockchain. This version will evolve quickly to version two because we want to be able to fulfill the requirements of multiple types of customers.

The version one today allows for co-managed and full custody, co-managed means that a customer has a hardware device that will be used for signing transactions and we have the other hardware devices to complete the transaction.

Full custody means we take care of everything. You just need to go on our user interface, authenticate yourself, and authorize the transaction, then we take care of the rest. This is still in cold storage, meaning that they will be multi-signature processing of transactions, which is a manual process. What we are doing is evolving the platform towards something that is fully automated, though remaining fully secure, that will cater to warmer storage solutions to cater to the needs of exchanges and different types of customers.

Version two is being built based on the feedback of our customers. We created a very simple version one on purpose three months ago to allow us to build a version 2 based on customer feedback. In parallel, we have explored different solutions to make version two more dynamic and automated such as a hardware security module and multi-party computation solutions.

Our version two will likely be based on a multi-party computation system. Multi-signatures are still used allowing the signing of transactions from different players who needs to act on the transaction. But it can be automated without necessarily the need for a human being to intervene.

SWIFT Takes Another Shot at Cryptos, Refers to Them as "Useless and Unsteady"

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has dropped another hammer on proponents of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, referring to cryptos as “useless and unstable.”

The run-up to the launch of SWIFT’s end-to-end international payments pilot, the company had revealed its proof of concept for the European continent while attending a breakfast in London.

FinTech Futures reported that the test pilot has reached sub-one-minute payment times between Singapore and Australia.

A Swift spokesperson had this to say at the event,

“[Cryptocurrencies] go down in value like a yo-yo. They’re useless and unstable. And even if crypto companies do make it stable, it’s still a basket of currencies.”

Currently, SWIFT provides messaging capabilities that aid with the transfer of money daily around the traditional financial system, processing approximately millions of payment orders on the network every day. With about 11,000 banks as well as financial institutions that are among its global members.

However, the 43-year-old Belgian-based establishment has seen its own fair share of tongue lashing as it has been referred to as being extremely slowly by crypto leaders, comparing today’s banking system to horse and buggy.

In the Money20/20 Europe expo held last year the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse had said that banks and payment platforms like Apple Pay are relying on outdated systems that are long overdue for replacement.

Image via fintechnews.sg

Turkey Leveraging Blockchain to Break US Dollar and SWIFT Dominance

In an effort to break economic ties with the United States and escape the US Dollar dominance of the global markets, Turkey is adopting blockchain and cryptocurrency at a greatly accelerated rate.

As Turkey’s economy teeters on the edge of a potential recession, the people and the government in the nation are seeking alternative solutions in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain.

The Turkish people are looking to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a path to financial autonomy, while the Turkish Government is accelerating blockchain and cryptocurrency services development to pull the nation out of the path of the coming recession.

According to a recent article by Forbes, Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency adoption is on the rise in Turkey as the nation’s economy hits a state of free fall. Turkey’s financial reserves have been depleted and there is rising economic tension with the US—sending the Turkish Lira to the lowest level in its history.

Turkey has dramatically increased resources directed towards the development of blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency technology to save the economy from recession. Along with experimenting with a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Turkey is investing in blockchain research, encouraging youth education into blockchain tech and giving more support to tech startups—all in an attempt to save the economy without relying on external resources and the United States’ support.

Breaking Turkish Dependency on Swift systems

Turkey’s interest in blockchain and a fast transacting CBDC is due to their reliance on SWIFT remittance.

Emre Aksoy, a strategic advisor to Turkish government bodies on crypto adoption and regulation told Forbes, “The Turkish government are trying to figure out alternatives to the SWIFT system. This is public knowledge.”

More than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in over 200 countries use the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (“SWIFT”) to execute international money transfers, making it an integral part of global cross‑border banking transactions. Aksoy explained, “3-4% of all countries’ GDP is being wasted on transaction costs and banking intermediaries. Cryptocurrency technology will cut these costs and reduce our reliance and dependency on other nations. Turkey now has a real shot at saving its economy.

As a consequence of Turkey’s reliance on SWIFT for remittance, the government is creating large scale blockchain infrastructure and developing their own central bank digital currency.

Blockchain-based systems hold a unique advantage over SWIFT which is a centralized service, while a blockchain is decentralized. This matters significantly because, in the case of SWIFT, you must rely on centralized financial institutions for every payment or transaction, which means that all transactions incur higher fees as the money must first be sent through the centralized system and then on to the recipient. In addition, as each transaction must be verified by the central authority, SWIFT payments can take days. Blockchain potentially enables safer, faster, and cheaper transactions.

In addition, the Turkish government is exploring CBDCs while also investigating potential membership of the Russian version of SWIFT, known as SPFS. New tech like blockchain and cryptocurrencies naturally are being looked at simultaneously. Despite traditionally having strong ties to the United States, the government is now showing some real aggression—making it known that there are other ways for them to do business. Turkey now realizes the strategic significance of their country in the global market and are making a stand against the US influence on their sovereignty.

Aksoy shared his belief that blockchain and cryptocurrency can help both the government and the Turkish people find a united path forward, one which can be mutually beneficial. He said, “This isn’t a quick make money scheme. It has the potential to protect the people and the wealth of the nation if implemented and welcomed with open arms.”

Turkey’s Population is Ready for Crypto

Over the last year, relations between the US and Turkey have dropped to an all-time low. Although the two countries have been NATO allies for nearly 70 years, that partnership has greatly deteriorated mainly over security concerns and the impact of the Syrian War.

A 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed 73% of Turks had a negative view of the United States, with only 20% having a positive view, the lowest among countries polled. The same study also showed only 11% of Turks had confidence in the current US leader, President Donald Trump, with 84% having no confidence in him.

Moving away from SWIFT and the US dollar is the most effective and potent way for Turkey to destabilize the United States’ influence in the region and the population are ready. Turkey has evolved into a thriving crypto-friendly nation and a theater of commerce for exchanges and blockchain businesses.

Turkey has a young population with a median age of around 30 years, so adoption of new tech is higher than most of Europe. More than 90 percent of adults have a smartphone and mobile internet users are north of 50 million. As such, Turkey’s population is a part of the rapidly growing cryptocurrency adoption.

In a recent interview with Ciara Sun, Head of Global Business Development & Partnerships at Huobi Group, was amazed at the rate of adoption and potential for cryptocurrency to thrive. Sun remarked, “We are 100% confident in Turkey—Turkey is a really great market. I was really surprised to discover that 20% of the population owns cryptocurrency, and the Lira is the fifth most popular fiat currency for crypto pairing in the world.”

What is Ripple (XRP)?

Founded by RippleLab’s Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb and released in 2012, Ripple is a global payment system that aims to replace the SWIFT system of cross-border payments with their open-source distributed ledger technology, the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP).

The purpose of Ripple is to create an “Internet of Value” through a digital platform that transfers and exchanges value, in the form of tokens, across the world in the same fashion that the internet allows for the near-instant transfer of information.

Ripple mainly targets the banking industry and other payment providers by allowing financial institutions to make real-time gross settlements across the RippleNet through their RTXP platform. Due to the growth in the international remittance market, the company has become very popular, and is currently the second-largest fintech firm in the US, valued at around $10 billion dollars.

RippleNet as the Internet of Value

The RippleNet is the digital network based on the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP) that banks and other regulated financial entities can join to facilitate communication and payments with one another.

The RippleNet is run by “validators” who ensure that each transaction follows the RTXP protocol. Ripple authorizes a group of validators to act as trusted and permissioned nodes to update and confirm transactions on the ledger if they are all in agreement that the transaction plays by the rules.

To access the RippleNet and make use of their transfer and exchange service, one must first enter through a Gateway, which is usually run by a bank or other financial entity. Businesses can also access Gateways and the RippleNet through Ripple products XCurrent, XVia, and XRapid, which help optimize and integrate businesses’ current payment solutions with the RTXP system.

What is RTXP and XRP? How Does It Work?

RTXP is Ripple’s alternative to a blockchain. As opposed to Bitcoin, which uses a proof-of-work algorithm to update the blockchain and hash each block with a unique code, RTXP is run by trusted and authorized validators in accordance with the Ripple Consensus Protocol (RPCA).

Because the validators are already selected and don’t have to spend the energy and time solving a cryptographic puzzle, transactions occur much more quickly, and are broadcast across the nodes and validated in a mere 5-7 seconds, as to opposed to Bitcoin’s block time of 10 minutes. Furthermore, Ripple can process 1,500 transactions per second.

This also means that while Bitcoin nodes “mine” BTC coins to update the blockchain, Ripple validators do not. In Ripple, no mining occurs, and validators (possibly banks or other invested institutions) maintain the ledger just to continue benefitting from the use of that technology.

Ripple uses two tokens, XRP and IOU, to represent the transfer of value across the system. XRP tokens can be exchanged between banks for fiat currencies.

For example, if someone in America were to send USD to a friend in China (who uses CNY), the US bank could trade USD for XRP, and then trade XRP for CNY, without processing fees and waiting 3-5 business days.

An IOU, on the other hand, is a form of debt, and can either be redeemed at a Gateway for the asset it represents, or can be stored digitally in a wallet on a “line of credit.” IOUs are issued by Gateways that act as middlemen and can stand in for nearly any kind of asset, such as fiat currency, cryptocurrency, securities, and other commodities.

Another aspect of Ripple’s XRP coin is that its supply is finite. 100 billion XRP have already been created, and due to transaction costs, the overall supply should dwindle over time.

Currently, the majority of XRP is held amongst the founders, banks, and in a private escrow account. The company profits by selling XRP and its software to clients, and by holding their majority stock of XRP, which they hope will appreciate over time.

Criticisms of Ripple

The two stand-out criticisms of Ripple are its centralized nature and reliance on trust.

Although Ripple has no direct control over the validators that maintain the RTXP ledger, the founders have enough XRP and power to influence the RippleNet if they wanted to.

Also, because there is only a small group of validators running the network compared to Bitcoin’s truly decentralized system of miners, there is concern that these validators could potentially work in concert to defraud the users.

In addition, because the majority of XRP is localized among its founders and in partner institutions such as banks, Ripple is not as equally distributed as other cryptocurrencies. XRP’s value is also not necessary for Ripple’s success, as their RTXP open-source protocol can be used without XRP, and its IOU token also has utility. As a result, Ripple is not dependent on its community for investing in XRP, leading many to wonder if Ripple offers any value to average consumers.

The RippleNet has also drawn parallels to the traditional banking system with its network of Gateways acting as middlemen and requiring trust. Gateways are entry points for one to exchange currency or assets on the RippleNet. However, there is no guarantee that the Gateway will be able to reimburse an IOU.

Therefore, users must trust the Gateway to fulfill its promise and pay its debt. It is important that users exercise caution when accepting payments from untrustworthy Gateways, and Gateways, in turn, must be wary of dealing with other Gateways that are untrustworthy.

The issue of trust and paying with credit are fundamental concepts of the banking industry that most cryptocurrencies tend to avoid. Bitcoin, for example, is famously trust-less, and no transaction can be made unless it is final. Although this has raised much concern and criticism from those in the crypto community, one can see the rationale behind using IOUs in the case that one was purchasing something physical that requires time to send by mail.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ripple hopes to create the Internet of Value with its RippleNet, allowing for the seamless and quick transfer of any type of asset under any condition. Multiple banks, including Santander and Union Credit, are using Ripple technology. Ripple has also partnered with payment processor MoneyGram, so it is making headway in adoption.

Finally, as Ripple is compliant with the new ISO20022 electronic payment communication standard, which is set to be adopted globally by banks within the next decade, the future of Ripple and XRP is in good hands.

US, EU Regulators Vow to Remove Russian Banks from SWIFT Network

Perhaps, one might say the attack on Ukraine by Russian forces is not well coordinated as leaders worldwide continue to announce sanctions on key individuals and institutions in Russia.

One of the latest sanctions seeks to ban by selecting Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a move announced in a joint statement from the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

SWIFT is an inter-continent payment network that helps facilitate payment settlements made across the border. It remains a well-regulated and trusted means of moving money used in international trades and for key remittance purposes. Following the Russian aggression on Ukraine, the leaders mentioned above have chosen to cut Russia off these networks to impose economic strain that will force Vladimir Putin’s forces to call off the hostility.

“We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion. Russia’s war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin,” the announcement reads.

Besides severing away from SWIFT, the world leaders promised to “commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.”

Finding Solace in Digital Currencies

With the broader global community seemingly against Russia, the question remains whether the country will take solace in embracing digital currencies as a way to boycott these sanctions.

Recalling the Russian Central Bank that has been pulling its weight to ban digital currencies, a move similar to the push by the People’s Bank of China last year. While the agitation to ban Bitcoin came earlier this year, the ongoing economic severance might serve as an avenue for the apex bank to rescind its position very soon. These nascent asset classes may be one of the most accessible options for Russians to transact with the global economy.

MEXC Global Enables Crypto Purchases with Zero Transaction Fees via Fedwire, SWIFT

MEXC Global has permitted purchases that attract zero transaction fees through SWIFT and Fedwire to boost the globalisation of cryptocurrency trading.

Therefore, the crypto exchange seeks to ease the access to digital assets through a Global Bank Transfer Program for USD deposits made using the Fedwire and SWIFT transfer networks.

Per the announcement:

“Users can now purchase crypto with a 0% transaction fee in over 170 countries including such important regions as Europe and North America.”

MEXC Global acknowledged that the direct deposit option with no charges would offer users convenience and affordability as they seek an enhanced crypto trading experience.

Having bagged the “Best Crypto Exchange in Asia” award at the Crypto Expo Dubai in October 2021, MEXC Global has highlighted its user-driven policies and the deposits with zero transaction fees are not an exemption.

Sand, the Vice President and Head of the Middle East and South America of MEXC, commented:

“Insisting on users’ needs as the core and growing in a user-driven way. MEXC has a good community culture and insists on listening to users’ feedback to make continuous improvements. At present, many company executives and even our founders pop by the community every day to answer various questions from users.”

SWIFT is the acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which is a vast messaging network used by financial institutions and banks to securely, accurately, and quickly send and receive information about money transfers. SWIFT is the system behind the scenes for most security and international money transfers.

While Fedwire is a real-time electronic funds transfer service used by government agencies, businesses, and banks for same-day and mission-critical transactions. Therefore, it is used for time-critical and large-value payments.

Meanwhile, with consumers’ tastes, needs, and preferences changing, 87% of merchants noted that crypto payments would give them a competitive edge, according to a recent survey by big four audit firm Deloitte.

SWIFT Payment System Embraces Blockchain Technology

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is making a targeted move to integrate blockchain technology in a bid to drive efficiency in some of its international financial operations.

As reported by Bloomberg, citing a post from the body, the payment enhancement will be in collaboration with Symbiont Inc, a blockchain startup with innovative fintech solutions.

The SWIFT blockchain pursuit will be used to create “efficiencies in communicating significant corporate events,” like dividend payments and mergers, SWIFT said in its post.

SWIFT presents one of the most robust financial messaging infrastructures for companies worldwide. The platform helps encode a message that can easily be understood by members signed up on its platform. The SWIFT system currently has over 11,000 users spread across 200 countries.

The collaboration with Symbiont, as well as Vanguard, Citigroup, and Northern Trust, will see SWIFT automate corporate action workflow using Symbiont’s technology platform, Assembly. The connections through Assembly will make the system more accessible, functional, and faster with the aid of its embedded smart contracts.

“By bringing Symbiont’s Assembly and smart contracts together with SWIFT’s extensive network, we’re able to automatically harmonize data from multiple sources of a corporate action event,” said Tom Zschach, chief innovation officer at SWIFT. “This can lead to significant efficiencies.”

The deal brings together the compatibility of SWIFT’s technology with Symbiont’s blockchain tech footing to take global transaction communications a step further.

SWIFT plays a vital role in the movement of funds around the world. Notably, the platform has not been immune to attacks as it has suffered targeted breaches in the past. Blockchain technology may be able to compete with and perhaps solidify the existing security infrastructures of the SWIFT body.

SWIFT came into more prominent limelight when the war in Ukraine broke out. The private organization sanctioned Russia, cutting off Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT system and thus the global financial sector. With its targeted efforts into blockchain technology, the payment processing system is on pace to enhance the platform’s overall performance.

SWIFT Works with Chainlink Labs to Develop Cross-chain Interoperability Protocol

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has entered into a partnership with the Chainlink Labs Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to improve the efficiency of traditional finance (TradFi) on the blockchain.

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced this Wednesday at the SmartCon 2022 conference in New York City on Sept. 29.

SWIFT provides global businesses with one of the most robust financial information infrastructures, an interbank messaging system that allows cross-border payments.

The platform helps encode information so that members who register on its platform can easily understand it. The SWIFT system currently has more than 11,000 users in 200 countries.

To improve the gap between traditional and digital assets of TradFi institutions and allow more traditional financial (TradFi) participants to access a variety of digital and traditional assets on a network that can connect different types of asset classes, this partnership will enhance interoperability to benefit capital markets institutions.

CCIP will enable SWIFT messages to indicate on-chain token transfers, helping interbank networks to communicate across all blockchain environments.

Jonathan Ehrenfeld Solé, strategy director at SWIFT, said that one of the reasons for the success of the partnership with Chainlink on CCIP is the “undeniable interest” in cryptocurrencies from institutional investors.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network built on the Ethereum network, founded by CEO Sergey Nazarov.

The Chainlink network has made a name for itself by providing reliable tamper-proof data for complex smart contracts on any blockchain.

Built using the Ethereum ERC-20 standard, LINK is the native token of the Chainlink ecosystem. Node operators are paid in LINK for securing the network by staking the token. This incentivizes honesty and integrity among the nodes as penalties are incurred for dishonesty.

SWIFT Releases Blueprint for Global CBDC Operation

As the majority of the world’s Central Banks are now developing or researching the prospects of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications has detailed how these individual CBDCs can co-exist in a global setting.

As detailed by SWIFT‘s head of innovation Nick Kerigan, the trial involved as many as 14 central and commercial banks, including the Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France, Standard Chartered, UBS, and HSBC saw all these participating entities connect through a single hub.

“We believe that the number of connections needed is much fewer,” Kerigan said. “Therefore, you are likely to have fewer breaks (in the chain) and you are likely to achieve greater efficiency.”

The trial is billed to be followed by more detailed and specific testing in the coming months, with additional perspectives set to be investigated.

SWIFT is an electronic system that allows banks all over the world to send information and payments to each other, following its 8-month investigation into the cross-border transaction capabilities of CBDCs concluded that a single viable central connection can suffice in keeping all of the individual e-fiat notes together.

While SWIFT has a very viable proposal to connect CBDCs the way it has connected financial players transacting using fiat and digital money, the body may have an unexpected rebuttal to deal with.

With the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, SWIFT blocked financial institutions from Russia in compliance with broader financial sanctions from Western watchdogs. This move may prevent some Central Banks from linking their CBDCs to the SWIFT system for any likely instance of censorship in the future.

While this fear remains a viable one, Kerrigan believes the focus for partners will be different.

“Ultimately, what most central banks are looking to do is to provide us with a CBDC for the people, the businesses and the organisations in their jurisdiction,” he said, “So a solution that’s fast and efficient and that gains access to as many other countries as possible would seem to be an attractive one.”

Binance Informs Customers of Upcoming Service Disruption

It has been brought to the attention of the retail customer base of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance that there is a possibility that they may be unable to access their accounts at some point in the not-too-distant future due to the fact that the exchange may go out of business. In the event that anything comparable occurs, there is a possibility that on-ramp and off-ramp bank money transfers will no longer be possible.

Users who wish to buy or sell cryptocurrencies for an amount that is less than one hundred thousand dollars and want to use the SWIFT payment method will be affected by the disruption in service that is currently taking place. After the temporary disruption in operation, customers will only have access to the SWIFT payment method to the extent that their bank accounts are denominated in United States dollars. This is the rationale for the aforementioned limitation.

The day that will mark the beginning of the day is going to be February 1, which is when the implementation period for the new rule is planned to begin. This day will also mark the beginning of the day.

Binance sent an email to its customers, also known as “Binancians,” on the 21st of January to inform them of the news and emphasise that the company is “actively seeking” a new SWIFT (USD) partner in order to prevent service interruptions for upcoming bank payment transfers. Binance customers are also referred to as “Binancians.” People who trade cryptocurrencies on the Binance market are referred to as “Binancians.” In the marketing materials distributed by Binance, customers are referred to not just as “Binancians,” but also as “Binancians.” Residents of Binance are sometimes referred to as “Binancians” when referring to themselves collectively in common vernacular. Binancians are users of the Binance platform who engage in cryptocurrency trading. Binancians are referred to by this platform’s name. The year 2017 marks the beginning of Binance’s operations.