The Bank of Canada and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that they have conducted their first successful experiment between the two banks on cross-border and cross-currency payments using central bank digital currencies.
The banks linked their domestic payment networks, Project Jasper and Project Ubin1, which are built on two different DLT platforms. The Jasper-Ubin project3 was completed via a partnership with Accenture and J.P. Morgan.
“The world of cross-border payments is complicated and expensive: our exploratory journey into the use of DLT to try to reduce some of the costs and improve traceability of these payments has yielded many lessons. The importance of international cooperation through projects such as this one cannot be underestimated. Only through continued collaboration and fundamental research will it be possible for this technology to mature and for policy-makers to fully understand its potential,” Scott Hendry, Bank of Canada senior special director of financial technology, said in a press release about Jasper-Ubin project3.
In other news, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has issued a warning about phone scammers pretending to be Social Security Administration officials and requesting payment in bitcoin, prepaid gift cards, and bank wire transfers.
The department revealed that it as received more than 200 complaints with losses totaling more than $2 million so far this year — compared to the three complaints it received in all of 2018.
“Sophisticated phone scams use the trust victims have in their own governmental and law enforcement agencies against them. Victims of this type of phone scam are not limited to senior citizens — these criminals are targeting every strata of society and every demographic is vulnerable,” said chief of community affairs Nilda Hofmann, according to Hard Fork.
Blockchain-based company GrainChain is launching in Mexico.
The Texas-based distributed ledger-based transaction platform for bulk dry goods announced that the government of Tamaulipas, Mexico has adopted the company’s suite to help its farmers and grain elevators, focusing on commodity management and settlement.
“We are bringing the newest technology to the ag ecosystem here in Mexico,” said Luis Macias, CEO of GrainChain, in a press release. “Working together with public officials and private entities is the catalyst to bring this region to the forefront of technology, transparency and efficiency.”
And blockchain company Grandshores Technology is acquiring a 40-percent stake in Chinese industrial hemp producer Hangzhou Yupu Tading.
The purchase gives Grandshores access to cultivating over 1,600 kilos of hemp seeds, which the company is hoping will help it diversify from a “lethargic bitcoin market,” according to Hard Fork.