Crypto Daily: Japan Introduces New Regulations for Cryptocurrency Margin Trading; 6 Banks Sign Up to Issue Stablecoins on IBM’s Blockchain Network
Japan Introduces New Regulations for Cryptocurrency Margin Trading
[cointelegraph] Japanese financial regulators have reportedly introduced new regulations or cryptocurrency margin trading, local news agency Nikkei reported on March 18.
The Cabinet of Japan, the executive branch of the country’s government, has reportedly approved draft amendments to Japan’s financial instruments and payment services laws, limiting leverage in cryptocurrency margin trading at two to four times the initial deposit.
Margin trading is the use of borrowed funds from a broker to trade a financial asset, thus forming a collateral for the loan.
The new rules — which are reportedly et to come into force in April 2020 — will require cryptocurrency exchange operators to register within 18 months of that date, which will purportedly enable the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to introduce relevant measures in regard to unregistered cryptocurrency “quasi-operators.”
Following promulgation of the new regulations, entities dealing cryptocurrency will ostensibly be monitored similarly to securities traders in order to protect investors. Additionally, cryptocurrency operators will be divided into groups to identify those engaged in margin trading and those issuing tokens through initial coin offerings (ICOs).
6 Banks Sign Up to Issue Stablecoins on IBM’s Blockchain Network
Six international banks have reportedly signed letters of intent to issue their own stablecoins backed by their national fiat currencies on IBM’s now-live blockchain-powered payments network, “World Wire.” The news was jointly announced by IBM and Stellar during a keynote at Money 2020 Asia in Singapore, financial news channel Cheddar reported on March 18.
As previously reported, IBM’s cross-border payment network, Blockchain World Wire (BWW) was launched in collaboration with Stellar (XLM) in September 2018. BWW, which went live today and reportedly has over 44 banks on service, aims to leverage cryptocurrencies to enable near real-time international settlements between banks.
In today’s development, Cheddar reports that 6 banks have confirmed their intent to issue stablecoins backed by their national fiat currencies on BWW- including Brazil’s Banco Bradesco, South Korea’s Bank Busan and the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.
Other as-yet-undisclosed banks will reportedly issue stablecoins backed by the euro and Indonesian rupiah, among others, IBM head of blockchain solutions Jesse Lund revealed.
Ahead of today’s bank-issued stablecoin announcement, IBM had also partnered with Stronghold, a Stellar-based, USD-backed asset, to create the Stellar network’s first stablecoin.
Lund has stated that IBM plans to expand its blockchain-powered settlement network with further assets. He said:
“We let the market drive the expansion and selection of the network incrementally. We are really feeling excited that we are on a roll to build something new and revolutionary that’s really going to change the landscape of cross-border payments.”
Disclaimer: The Daily Crypto Report is curated by DigiFinex for your reference only, it is NOT an investment advice.
For DigiFinex updates, community discussion and feedback, please join us at:
Telegram (English)：https://t.me/DigiFinexEN
Telegram (Chinese 中文): https://t.me/DigiFinexcn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/digifinex
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigiFinex-200396764083178/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/digifinex
Medium: https://medium.com/@digifinex
