Crypto Flipsider News – G7 Outline for CBDC, Polkadot Surges Ahead of Parachain Auctions, ARK Applies for Bitcoin ETF, A16Z Pushes Crypto Policy, U.S. Is Now Biggest Crypto Miner

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G7 Finance Leaders Issue Outline for CBDC
Polkadot (DOT) Surges Ahead of Highly Anticipated Parachain Auctions
Ark Invest Applies for Bitcoin ETF, Andreessen Horowitz Pushes for Crypto Policy
The United States Takes Over as the Biggest Bitcoin Miner

G7 Finance Leaders Issue Outline for CBDC

With the prospect of launching digital money from central banks at an all-time high, the finance leaders of the G7 have stepped up efforts to create a framework for the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

In an October 13 summit, the finance leaders of the world’s seven most advanced economies issued an outline for CBDCs. At the meeting, it was agreed that a CBDC must “support and do no harm” to the banks’ ability to fulfil its mandate on monetary and financial stability and meet rigorous standards.

Highlighting the need for both efficiency and security, the finance ministers and central bank governors have agreed that:

"Any CBDC ecosystem must be secure and resilient to cyber, fraud and other operational risks, must address illicit finance concerns, and be energy efficient."

In addition, a CBDC must be grounded in long-standing public commitments to transparency. An upside is that they believe that CBDCs can be used to enhance cross-border payments.

Flipsider:

As the race for CBDCs continues, experts have predicted that CBDCs could replace stablecoins in the future

Why You Should Care

The issuance of an outline for CBDCs by the G7 would ensure that there is a universal standard for every country looking to launch a CBDC.

Polkadot (DOT) Surges Ahead of Highly Anticipated Parachain Auctions

Polkadot , often referred to as the Ethereum-Killer, has announced the schedule for the much-anticipated debut of its Parachain slot auctions. The announcement was made following unanimous approval from the blockchain’s on-chain governance council members.

According to the Polkadot Council, the network’s first parachain slot auctions will begin on November 11. The parachain auction process involves the allocation of slots to projects for building on the Polkadot cryptocurrency network.

The first five projects to win an auction would be onboarded to Polkadot simultaneously on December 15. After that, the second batch of six parachain auctions will follow with one new auction every two weeks.

On Kusama, the pre-production environment for Polkadot, parachain auctions have seen over 2.4 million KSM contributed to crowd loans. This excitement has caused a major price surge for DOT (Polkadot’s network token).

24 hours after the announcement was made, the price of DOT rose by more than 25% to break the $43 mark on October 13.

The five-day price chart of Polkadot (DOT). Source: Tradingview

Flipsider:

Polkadot has taken a conservative approach towards onboarding projects for its parachain that has been tagged less exciting than Kusama

Why You Should Care

The auction of parachain slots on Polkadot has been in the works for about five years, and this highly anticipated event could position Polkadot as one of the top blockchains to beat.

Ark Invest Applies for Bitcoin ETF, Andreessen Horowitz Pushes for Crypto Policy

Ark Invest has joined the queue of Wall Street players vying for a green light by U.S. regulators for a Bitcoin ETF. On October 13, Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management LLC filed with the SEV for an ETF tracking Bitcoin futures under the ARKA ticker.

According to analyst Eric Balchunas, Ark Invest’s partnership with 21Shares and white-label Alpha Architect to launch a Bitcoin ETF was “another good sign” that the SEC could soon give the green light for a Bitcoin ETF.

In another interesting move, the executives of the leading Silicon Valley VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has embarked on a major crypto policy push in Washington. According to the report, the executives of a16z will be meeting with policymakers this week.

The focus of the meeting will be creating a guide for crypto and Web 3.0 regulation. The meeting between a16z executives and the U.S. policymakers confirms their push for better regulatory standards for the new internet paradigm.

Flipsider:

According to Todd Rosenbluth, senior director of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA, approval of an ETF may be delayed until 2022

Why You Should Care

The push for crypto-friendly policies along with the increase of new tickers and the SEC filing from Ark Invest for a Bitcoin futures ETF are “good signs” for the crypto community.

The United States Takes Over as the Biggest Bitcoin Miner

Following China’s crackdown on mining activities, the United States has now overtaken the Asian nation, which has outlawed cryptos, as the biggest miner of Bitcoin.

The latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) shows that the United States contributed 35.4% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate in August. The U.S. was followed by Kazakhstan and Russia with 18.1% and 11.2%, respectively.

Until its recent crackdown, China had been the world’s top mining market, once contributing as much as 65% to the global hashrate of Bitcoin in April 2020. But, according to the CBECI, China contributed 0% in August 2021.

Flipsider:

The Bitcoin hashrate is down by 24% from its all-time high of 180.67TH/s recorded in May

Why You Should Care

While the effect of China’s crackdown lingers, analysts like Michel Rauchs believe that with the establishment of new mining zones, the downturn will “be fully recovered soon.”