Tokeni(z)ation or tokeni(s)ation? “z vs s”: which should you use? - the shift from 's' to 'z' in words like tokenization/tokenisation, highlights its digital relevance for better search rankings and engagement. This article gives an historical overview, plus linguistic variations, and invites readers to discuss how this impacts digital content.

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The evolution of money and emergence of digital assets - a look at the historical phases of currency, the legal implications of tokenization and the rise of cryptocurrencies, so exploring the evolution of money from bartering to digital assets. The article emphasizes the need for a legal framework for digital assets, highlights institutional interest in cryptocurrencies and examines the evolving financial infrastructure. It also hints at the follow-up to currency and the impact of digital assets on payment systems and traditional financial institutions.

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FSB crypto proposals - the Financial Stability Board (FSB), initially the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), was formed by the G20 leaders in 1999 for international financial collaboration. Evolving into the FSB in 2008, it aimed to enhance stability by uniting authorities, institutions and standard setters. It also addressed emerging financial systems such as cryptocurrencies, releasing recommendations for global stablecoin (GSC) regulation; the guidelines encompass diverse aspects, from accountability to cross-border cooperation. Questions arise about the FSB's influence, intentions and industry impact, given its associations and the evolving crypto landscape.

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Blockchains transformative role in automotive innovation - blockchain technology is revolutionising the automotive industry with enhanced data security, privacy and connectivity. Minima's lightweight Proof of Work blockchain protocol enables secure real-time communication between vehicles and infrastructure, predictive maintenance and tokenisation of EV charging. This innovation has garnered interest from vehicle and wallbox manufacturers, although regulatory obstacles could arise.

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The ideal stablecoin should be pegged to a clear value, audited for asset verification, should utilise smart contracts for real-time transparency, share income with holders, ensure transparency and traceability, offer privacy controls, provide insurance and be user-friendly. Achieving these attributes could lead to widespread adoption of stablecoins as secure alternatives to cash and traditional banking systems, potentially serving as a steppingstone towards the eventual issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

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Blockchain explorers: why do they matter? - blockchain explorers are tools similar to search engines (e.g. Google) for blockchain data, offering insights into transactions and more. Whilst they provide transparency, privacy risks still exist but, alongside transparency, smart contract insights and real-time alerts are other benefits. Notable explorers include Etherscan and Blockchain.com, allowing for data, verification of details and utilisation of analytics to be searched whereby enhancing transparency in the blockchain ecosystem.

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Does Coinbase’s new base blockchain make it an infrastructure provider? - Coinbase's Layer-2 network - Base - is an Ethereum blockchain for innovation. Developed with Optimism, it tackles issues experienced by Ethereum by speeding up transactions, lowering fees and maintaining security. Aave, Uniswap and OpenSea are all integrating with Base and even Coca-Cola is using Base for NFTs. This trend shows Base's broad potential beyond finance and positions Coinbase as an infrastructure provider. Base's impact is just starting, promising innovation and adoption in the blockchain realm.

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Crypto theft in the first half of 2023 - in the first six months of 2023, around $700 million in assets were stolen through scams and hacks, with DeFi protocols being a major target. Whilst this amount is lower compared to previous years, challenges such as ransomware attacks persist. However, in spite of this stolen funds were returned more frequently this year and the revenue from digital asset scams declined, being attributed to improved security practices, stricter regulations and law enforcement actions. Nevertheless, progress, caution and improved awareness are all still crucial in safeguarding crypto assets as the industry continues to evolve.

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The characteristics of the ideal stablecoin - the ideal stablecoin should be pegged to a clear value, audited for asset verification, should utilise smart contracts for real-time transparency, share income with holders, ensure transparency and traceability, offer privacy controls, provide insurance and be user-friendly. Achieving these attributes could lead to widespread adoption of stablecoins as secure alternatives to cash and traditional banking systems, potentially serving as a steppingstone towards the eventual issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

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PayPal’s new stablecoin means it can offer payment services and products - PayPal’s USD (PYUSD) represents a significant shift beyond revenue generation, so positioning the company as a key player in the evolving digital economy. This move aims to go beyond conventional payment processing whereby facilitating transactions in emerging areas such as the metaverse and digital equities. PayPal’s new stablecoin means that it can now offer not simply payment services but tangible products that others such as Elon Musk's 'X' can now use and so further shape the digital economy's future.

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Asset tokenisation - DeFi's accessibility, transparency and security offers the promise to transform the financial sector and the way in which we trade assets. It could democratise financial services, especially in areas with few or unreliable financial institutions whilst making global transactions faster and more efficient. The worldwide tokenisation industry is predicted to grow to potentially $68trillion by 2030 as institutions complete their proof of works and scale their digitisation programs.

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Liquidity pools and the DeFi ecosystem - liquidity pools on decentralised exchanges are digital asset collections enabling automated trading on decentralised exchanges. Users trade directly using smart contracts and liquidity pools help make trading smoother, adjusting prices automatically based on the volume of buyers and sellers. Liquidity pools offer other advantages such as improving financial inclusion, can generate a passive income. The future of DeFi and liquidity pools is promising but security, scalability and regulation do need to be addressed.

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Has the Law Commission got it wrong regarding a ‘new, third type of property asset’? Dr Stephen Castell responds to the Law Commission's final report on digital assets, contending that the Commission has erred by proposing a new legal status for digital and crypto assets that is unnecessary and scientifically incorrect. He argues that the Commission's attempt to distinguish between different sets of algorithmic data as a new category of property is a technical fallacy and that existing Common Law can address any legal concerns. Castell warns that the proposed new property status could lead to miscarriages of justice akin to past instances such as PO Horizon, and highlights the Commission's limited understanding of technical nuances in law making.

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Dr Stephen Castell responds to the Law Commission's final report on digital assets, contending that the Commission has erred by proposing a new legal status for digital and crypto assets that is unnecessary and scientifically incorrect. He argues that the Commission's attempt to distinguish between different sets of algorithmic data as a new category of property is a technical fallacy and that existing Common Law can address any legal concerns. Castell warns that the proposed new property status could lead to miscarriages of justice akin to past instances such as PO Horizon, and highlights the Commission's limited understanding of technical nuances in law making.

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Hong Kong had a miserable isolating lockdown which exacerbated the perception of its decline as a financial centre, after Beijing had been asserting its political authority and boosting alternatives in mainland China. Beijing has changed its mind, now seeing Hong Kong as a useful asset at a difficult economic time especially in its one-country two-systems format - for finance at least. Hong Kong is also due for a key role in the digital assets ecosystem and holds an intriguing position in the mBridge wholesale CBDC project. Bifurcation of the global system amid geopolitical tensions may increase Hong Kong’s importance while it sits on both halves, for now. Might digital finance and the logic of CBDCs eventually bring that to an end?

Embedded banking/finance disrupts global brands - embedded banking and finance is enabling global brands to offer financial services/products and highly profitable income streams to their customers via an App. Although this presents challenges to traditional banks, it offers the potential for those such as Elon Musk to realise his dream and create a super-App whilst making financial services more inclusive and available to the 1.4billion globally who are currently unbanked. Given the digital nature of embedded banking and finance, it is likely that we will see more digital currency solutions being implemented to compliment real-time transactions and payments.

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Blockchain analytics: insight into blockchains - analytics on blockchain transactions are essential for those businesses handling digital assets whether the assets are cryptos or real-world assets. Analytics help financial institutions safeguard their transactions, reduce financial crime risk and ensure compliance whilst offering insights for those buying and selling digital assets. Blockchain transaction analytics offer a powerful tool to handle large volumes of digitised data in a very efficient manner.

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Tokenised real world assets - imagine aspiring to own a US$190 million Marilyn Monroe painting, a 1963 Andy Warhol painting titled Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) bought for US$105 million, or having to pay a lesser US$850,000 for a print of Queen Elizabeth. How many art lovers could afford this? But, what if you could buy shares of an artwork? What if you could buy fractions of a publicly-traded company, debt instrument, classic car or commodity? That is the core principle behind tokenisation of real-world assets.

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Hong Kong is central to China’s capital markets ecosystem, but is a digital currency? - Hong Kong had a miserable isolating lockdown which exacerbated the perception of its decline as a financial centre, after Beijing had been asserting its political authority and boosting alternatives in mainland China. Beijing has changed its mind, now seeing Hong Kong as a useful asset at a difficult economic time especially in its one-country two-systems format - for finance at least. Hong Kong is also due for a key role in the digital assets ecosystem and holds an intriguing position in the mBridge wholesale CBDC project. Bifurcation of the global system amid geopolitical tensions may increase Hong Kong’s importance while it sits on both halves, for now. Might digital finance and the logic of CBDCs eventually bring that to an end?

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As the Law Commission moves from consultation to detailed proposals on the legal treatment of digital assets, the focus switches to the lawmakers and regulators. Let us hope that political expediency does not take over and we see laws that reflect a typically well-informed, insightful and forward thinking proposal…

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DeFi and privacy - balancing transparency and data protection - DeFi, which stands for decentralised finance, is growing fast and, according to Defillama, as of June 2023 it has a total locked value of $41.4 billion. DeFi offers a range of traditional financial services, such as interest-bearing accounts, loans, borrowing and prediction markets, in an alternative, decentralised way. For DeFi to garner greater institutional support it will likely be required to comply with AML/KYC checks, such checks on the face of it are an anathema to a decentralised way of doing business.

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Tokenised deposits - Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published paper in April 2023, the comparing stablecoins to the unstable era of privately issued bank notes before the creation of the United States Federal Reserve. The BIS highlighted the stability of tokenised deposits, arguing that tokenised deposits as a form of payment supported the ‘singleness’ of money, making it interchangeable in all forms. Financial markets and regulators need to balance the need for stability and keep the current status quo, versus embracing innovation which offers the allure of lower costs, less risk and faster payments. The dilemma is set to continue but it seems that, in some shape or form, digital currencies will become increasingly available and so offer an alternative way to make payments.

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NFTs: beyond art - non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have hugely impacted the art world. Even though some digital art collections are starting to gain traction in the mainstream art world, most NFTs are still a very obscure niche, and most mainstream media does not ‘get’ their cultural value. However, these digital certificates offer many possibilities in a wide variety of other industries, recording data that enables greater transparency and efficiency for a wide variety of use cases.

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The Law Commission’s “third category” welcomed but look to the future - as the Law Commission moves from consultation to detailed proposals on the legal treatment of digital assets, the focus switches to the lawmakers and regulators. Let us hope that political expediency does not take over and we see laws that reflect a typically well-informed, insightful and forward thinking proposal…

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Using AI to help decide or even give comfort as to the appropriateness of any investment (including Bitcoin) has to be treated with care. There has been considerable interest in AI with some claiming the technology will lead to an improvement in productivity, but potentially numerous jobs are being impacted and people being made redundant.