Bitcoin Daily: Singapore Sees Blockchain’s Cross-Border Benefits; NYAG Calls For Disclosure Of Bitfinex/Tether Deal

The New York State Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James wants to see documents regarding an alleged deal made between cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin operator Tether that “misled their clients and investors.”

“While that and other discrepancies do not change the core issues in this case […] they only heighten the OAG’s [Office of the Attorney General’s] need to obtain documents and information in a timely, organized fashion so that the OAG may understand what has taken place, and what continues to take place, at these companies,” according to the memorandum of law.

Cointelegraph reported last month that the NYAG had alleged that after Bitfinex lost $850 million, it used funds from Tether to secretly cover the shortfall.

The NYAG pointed out that the case has not prevented Bitfinex and Tether from continuing “to operate their businesses in the normal course, as they have continued to do since the injunction.”

In other news, Singapore’s Chief FinTech Officer of the Monetary Authority said that while blockchain has potential for cross-border payments, the agency “does not see much” in retail bank digital currencies.

During comments at the Blockchain in Business event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on May 2, Sopnendu Mohanty revealed that Singapore’s central bank has run experiments to better understand the technology. As a result, it has learned about various blockchain-related use cases, including how to use blockchain to organize payments in the banking system, settle payments against securities, and carry out cross-border payments.

But while the MSA saw the benefits the technology could bring, it did not see a future for retail bank digital currencies, adding that “the next wave of central bank blockchain projects can make further progress by bringing technology exploration together with policy questions about the future of cross-border payments,” according to Cointelegraph.

Leading life sciences and healthcare companies Pfizer, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Premier announced that they have joined the MediLedger Project Contracting and Chargebacks working group.

MediLedger is working to connect the different parties on a common network and automating the contract reconciliation and chargeback processes to reduce errors, boost efficiency and lower the cost of patient care. The design phase is underway, with testing to begin in Q2/Q3 2019.

“This innovative approach has the potential to transform how chargebacks work for the industry, allowing us to deliver better services to our members,” Bill Marquardt, vice president of product strategy and planning for Premier Inc, said in a press release. “We are excited to collaborate with our partners to deliver these improvements.”

And Ripple has announced that Yoshitaka Kitao, Representative Director, President & CEO of SBI Holdings Inc., will be joining Ripple’s board of directors.

“I am excited to welcome Mr. Kitao to our board of directors. From conventional financial markets to digital asset markets, his deep understanding of the financial services industry will offer valuable business insights to help Ripple continue to scale,” Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple and executive chairman of Ripple’s board of directors, said in a press release. “Approximately half of our customers are located in Asia-Pac today, and we’re rapidly expanding our global footprint across the region. Mr. Kitao comes at a perfect time for Ripple as we look to deepen our customer base in Asia and beyond.”