China launched a digital yuan operations center in Shanghai focused on cross-border payments, blockchain services and digital-asset platforms. China’s central bank has opened a new operations center for the digital yuan in Shanghai. The center will oversee platforms for cross-border payments, blockchain services and digital assets as part of the digital yuan’s ongoing development. State-run Xinhua News Agency reported the news on Thursday, citing a statement from the People’s Bank of China. According to Xinhua, the center is designed to promote the digital yuan’s role in global finance. With the launch, officials unveiled a cross-border payments platform, a blockchain service platform and a digital asset platform. Read more
Researchers at banking giant HSBC said they successfully applied quantum computers to algorithmic bond trading in an experimental test. Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), an international banking giant, announced the first successful test of quantum computing in a trading application on Thursday. Researchers at HSBC used a quantum computer processor as part of their algorithmic trading process, a method of trading that uses pre-defined rules to execute transactions, to find the likelihood of filling over-the-counter (OTC) bond orders at the desired price. HSBC announced that the quantum processing created a 34% improvement in predicting bond prices and the likelihood of filling orders without slippage. Philip Intallura, HSBC’s group head of quantum technologies, said: Read more
Experts weighed in on how a recent policy change at the US Securities and Exchange Commission could affect retail crypto investors. The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved new listing standards for commodity-based trust shares last week, a policy shift that could shorten the path to launching spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but questions remain for some investors. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said the policy change, announced by the SEC on Sept. 17, would be a positive move toward a “wave of spot crypto ETP launches.” Eric Balchunas, another senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, suggested that the SEC had just cleared the regulatory tape for crypto ETFs “so long as they have futures on Coinbase,” hinting at the different regulations that applicants will face depending on the investment vehicle they plan to offer. Read more