Late last week, Reuters reported that "[s]everal of the world's largest banks are in the process of investing around $50 million" to create "... a digital cash equivalent of central bank-backed currencies like the dollar or euro that would run on blockchain-based technology." The institutional cryptocurrency would be "convertible at parity and backed by cash assets held at a central bank." According to other reports this week, one of the world's largest social media companies has formed Libra Networks, a Swiss-based financial technology company. The company is reportedly planning to begin testing its own cryptocurrency aimed at making it easier for people without a bank account to send and receive money.

This week, a major U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange added USD Coin (USDC), a cryptocurrency pegged 1:1 to U.S. dollars held in FDIC-insured banks, to its merchant payment platform, enabling online merchants to accept USDC as payment. The firm behind USDC recently released a report from a major U.S. accounting firm attesting to the U.S. dollar reserves backing the stablecoin.

This week another major U.S.-based exchange disabled trading by U.S. customers of nine assets, stating that "it is not possible to be certain whether U.S. regulators will consider these assets to be securities." Meanwhile, Bitfinex, a foreign-based exchange, has reportedly launched UNUS SED LEO, "a utility token ... to maximize the output and capabilities of the Bitfinex trading platform." According to a press release, the exchange "conducted and completed a private sale of 100% of outstanding UNUS SED LEO tokens in exchange for one billion USDt worth of Bitcoin, USD, and USDt." Bitfinex is currently involved in litigation related to an investigation by the New York Attorney General.

According to a recent report, data from three major Japanese trading platforms indicates an increased interest in cryptocurrencies, with new account openings up 200% in the past two months. At the same time, a paper recently published by the European Central Bank found that cryptocurrencies do not currently pose a threat to financial stability in the euro zone. According to the paper, "in the current market, crypto-assets' risks or potential implications are limited and/or manageable on the basis of the existing regulatory and oversight frameworks."

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