The Singapore government, together with a number of the world's largest financial and manufacturing companies, have formed an alliance to promote the introduction of digital technologies in trade and commerce. According to a press release from the media, the Singapore government, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and 16 other companies, including Mastercard, Mitsubishi Corporation, DBS Bank, Tokio Marine and Marubeni Corporation, have teamed up to accelerate the adoption of digital technology in trade and commerce. The new partnership is part of the ICC TradeFlow Alliance initiative, which uses TradeTrust, a digital trading platform created by Singapore-based blockchain company Perlin. The goal of the initiative is the transition from paperwork to digitization of all trading processes, which will reduce time and maintenance costs, as well as the number of cases of fraud and human errors. At the same time, I want to emphasize that Singapore has become a leader in the volume of transactions in bitcoins. Here, transactions with the first cryptocurrency in the amount of $ 8.58 billion were made.
The group of the most influential central banks, led by the Bank for International Settlements, is going to create a commission to monitor the possibility of launching a digital currency of the central bank (CBDC) in their jurisdictions. The commission will include the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank (ECB), Swedish Riksbank, Swiss National Bank and Bank for International Settlements (BIS). According to a press release, the group will appreciate CBDC's use cases, including the economic, functional, and technical aspects of currency development. The group will also consider the possibility of cross-border payments and transfers. Participants plan to share with each other their knowledge of new technologies related to digital currencies. Banks intend to collaborate with other institutions and regulators, in particular with the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Committee on Payment Systems and Market Infrastructure (CPMI). The commission will be led by Benoît Cœuré, Head of the Innovation Center of the Bank for International Settlements, and Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of CPMI.
NEO blockchain project invested in non-custodian exchange Switcheo. This was reported by Switcheo developers on their blog. Investments were provided as part of the NEO EcoBoost ecosystem development program. It is known that $ 100 million was allocated for the EcoBoost program. Switcheo CEO Ivan Pun believes that the new financing will help his company implement several planned projects, including launching products from the field of decentralized finance (DeFi). NEO founder Da Hongfei said the two projects will continue to “work in tandem” to develop the NEO ecosystem. Switcheo launched in 2018 and is the most popular decentralized exchange for working with NEO and tokens based on its blockchain.
Bitcoin kits over the past 12 hours have shown increased activity. According to Whale Alert, the largest cryptocurrency transactions were made on the Binance platform. Their amount reached 2.2 thousand coins. The total amount of cryptocurrency whale transfers amounted to approximately $ 63 million. Some investors note that such activity previously led to a drawdown of the main coin. If the trend continues now, then by the end of trading on January 15, it will be possible to see bitcoin for 8.5 thousand dollars. Earlier it was reported that Bitcoin received support and returned to values above $ 8000.
Sacramento Kings Basketball Club has partnered with Ethereum Studios ConsenSys to launch blockchain sports equipment auctions. The system was introduced on January 15 and uses the Treum logistics platform ConsenSys to authenticate each item put up for auction and to ensure transparency in the initial and subsequent sales process, including rental and exhibit information for demonstration. The first auction will be held this Wednesday - it will be put on the game shirt of Sacramento Kings defender Buddy Hilda. To participate in the auction, fans are invited to go to the club's website.