World’s Largest Pension Fund Loses $165B, New Digital Yuan Partnerships, Raising BTC Awareness, TCS Enables Crypto Trading for Banks
In this edition:
- World’s Largest Pension Fund Loses $165B in a Quarter
- New Collaborations for China’s Digital Yuan
- Guerilla Marketing Campaign Raises BTC Awareness
- Tata Consultancy Eases Crypto Trading for Banks in India
Fellow Anchorians, we leave another successful week behind us! Since we are now officially in the second half of this 2020, maybe we all have a good reason to celebrate – we endured. Many challenges are yet to be faced but, darn, we have learned a lot so far.
Our industry, along with all others, had its ups and downs during the pandemic. Nonetheless, it prevailed and showed us once again the possibilities of crypto in the modern world. Truth be told, crypto bounced back swiftly while some traditional businesses still struggle and continue to sink.
Is this the perfect time for people to choose crypto? Probably. Yet, we can tell for sure that both governments and private enterprises are going in the same direction, at least partially. My friends, without further ado, let’s jump into another Weekly Crypto Roundup!
World’s Largest Pension Fund Loses $165B in a Quarter
Imagine losing the worth of the entire BTC market cap! That is a lot of money, in this case precisely, 165 billion US dollars. World’s largest pension fund, the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), lost just that much in the first quarter of 2020.
GPIF reported a negative return of almost 11% in the first three months of 2020, compared with a 4.61% gain in the quarter before that. COVID-19 pandemic crippled many economies but this was still a shocking piece of information for many.
This is officially the biggest loss ever for the Fund with potentially terrible consequences – people who have been working hard their entire lives are now in fear of what happens next. Unfortunately, this occurrence illustrates perfectly how sensitive national economies can be in uncertain times, no matter how strong at the moment.
Meanwhile, crypto successfully addresses these pain points, especially stablecoins designed to endure any type of economic crisis.
Again, COVID-19 as a global event is definitely an anomaly, a variable we cannot yet calculate adequately. However, what good is the system if it works only in the ‘’calm waters’’? Individuals are left alone, forsaken by the institutions they believed in.
Nevertheless, do not worry, my friends, you can still have a choice. If the mountain will not come to Muhammad… Well, you know the rest. Stay safe and find an alternative!
New Collaborations for China’s Digital Yuan
China does not rest when it comes to the development of its central bank currency digital yuan. With a focus on implementation, the People’s Bank of China chose new partners that will take this project on another level.
The most famous name here is definitely DiDi, a version of Chinese Uber and an industry giant. Recently, they have partnered up with the Digital Currency Research Institute of the PBoC. DiDi has over 550 million users and values around $56 billion. A big partner indeed! In this manner, digital yuan can be tested in public transportation and food delivery services.
Of course, there are other companies that have joined the party. Meituan and Bilibilibili are also new PBoC’s partners. Meituan is a service platform with 240 million users while Bilibilibili is a well-known Chinese video-sharing website.
Oh also, have you heard of ByteDance? They own Tik Tok, something you have definitely heard of. Apparently, they are on board, too!
One thing is certain, China is very keen on the implementation of digital yuan and these new partnerships prove it. The Chinese government saw a window of opportunity to become a leader in CBDC development and acted on it. As a consequence, many countries around the world started their own CBDC projects, including the USA.
We can only speculate on how central bank digital currencies will impact the global economy, but there is a chance that the top currencies in the digital sphere will not be equivalent to the present fiat currency order of power.
Guerilla Marketing Campaign Raises BTC Awareness
What was the last thing you did to drive mass crypto adoption? You don’t have to be a famous entrepreneur or a well-spoken politician – sometimes a conversation with your stubborn aunt Karen will do.
All jokes aside, we all know that many people around the world don’t know how Bitcoin works, and even those who are a little bit familiar with crypto are still wary of it, mostly because of all the negative labels. So, what can one do about it?
Ideas Are Like Flames, a German collective, launched an interesting campaign dubbed Bitcoin Awareness Game.
‘’Spreading the word about Bitcoin the right way is a difficult task, but we thought it could also be a lot of fun. So we went ahead and collected some mostly uncontroversial pieces of Bitcoiner wisdom and married them with the classic Bitcoin Logo. The result: 18 unique sticker designs.’’
Stickers with slogans such as FIX THE MONEY, FIX THE WORLD, EXIT FIAT, FREEDOM MONEY, and 15 others are available for free download on the collective’s website. In this manner, these German crypto enthusiasts try to educate people on BTC’s mission.
Who knows, for some this could even be tattoo material! Anyway, we salute initiatives on awareness, just keep sustainability in mind when printing.
Tata Consultancy Eases Crypto Trading for Banks in India
Once again, we are talking about India’s crypto renaissance! Tata Consultancy Services, a subsidiary of industrial giant Tata Group, found a technical way to enable crypto trading services for banks and financial institutions in India.
Tata’s new product, Quartz Smart Solution, connects traditional banking world with cryptocurrencies: ‘’The solution is designed to support multiple cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, digital currencies linked to fiat currencies, trading venues and public blockchain networks, thus offering choice and flexibility to customers when deciding their trading and investment strategies. Importantly, it can help banks and investment firms offer their customers the ability to transfer payments in the form of ‘digital cash’, and benefit from lower transaction costs and quicker access to liquidity.’’
Simply put, with the help of Quartz and its technical solutions, Indian banks can expand their portfolios by offering clients crypto investments in a secure manner. Large-scale collaborations are indeed the future for crypto!
This also means that crypto regulation in India will probably be more supportive from now on and this collaboration represents another great victory for the crypto community in this Asian country. Good luck, India, and for the rest of the world – we will make sure to keep you posted!
Final Thoughts
Hi again, champs! This 48th edition of our Weekly Crypto Roundup had a very positive tone, don’t you think? I mean, when it comes to crypto, at least. While the world still struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, crypto and blockchain are taking important leaps forward.
Again, feel free to share your thoughts with us in Anchor’s Telegram Community, we love talking to you, guys.
This summer will bring us many innovations from the crypto world, I am sure of it. Rest assured, our Roundup will not let you down. Until next week, I wish you fair winds and the following seas, my fellow Anchorians!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is not legal, accounting, or financial advice. I am not a lawyer, accountant, or financial advisor. I am not registered as an investment adviser with any federal or state regulatory agency. The Information should not be construed as investment or trading advice and is not meant to be a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any cryptocurrencies.
