Kasikorn Bank Acquires Majority Stake in Satang Crypto Exchange for $103 Million

Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank, also known as K-Bank, has successfully secured a majority 97% stake in the parent company of Satang, a prominent crypto exchange operating in the country since 2017. The acquisition, valued at 3.705 billion Thai baht ($102.8 million), was executed through K-Bank’s newly established subsidiary, Unita Capital, specializing in investments in digital assets companies, media reports said. Upon the completion of the transaction, Satang is slated to undergo a rebranding as Orbix. This transformation will be accompanied by the establishment of three subsidiary entities: Orbix Custodian, Orbix Invest…

Sam Bankman-Fried Tells Jury ‘Run on the Bank’ Felled FTX

Bankman-Fried has argued throughout his testimony that he had a vague picture of his empire’s finances in the run-up to FTX and Alameda’s collapse, and he said that by November 2022, when he tweeted, he still believed that FTX didn’t have any “hole” in its balance sheet, and Alameda still had assets in excess of liabilities. Source

Central Bank Digital Currency, or e-HKD, Could Add Unique Value, but Further Investigation Is Needed, HKMA Says

The report said the pilot found that an e-HKD could add value in three main areas – programmability, tokenization and atomic settlement – with the potential to facilitate faster, more cost-efficient and more inclusive transactions. However, the program’s 14 pilots with 16 participating firms were conducted on a small scale under a controlled environment, the report said. Source

Thailand’s Bank Acquires Local Crypto Exchange Satang

Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank (K-Bank) expanded its presence in the digital asset space with its latest acquisition of 97 percent stakes in the parent company of local crypto exchange Satang, Coindesk reported. The deal has been inked at a valuation of 3.705 billion Thai baht ($102.8 million). Satang has been operating as a crypto exchange in the country since 2017 and offers an array of services, including custody, staking, and crypto payments. However, the spot trading volume on the exchange appears to be much less at about $430,000 in the last…

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Begin Testing UDPN

As blockchain technology continues to mature, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered’s initiative offers a promising vision of the financial world’s future. German banking giant Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBK) and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures have begun testing the UDPN, a system that promises to ensure seamless communication and interoperability between various digital assets, stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Now Testing the Waters These tests, according to reports, include the transfer and swapping of USDC stablecoins, setting the stage for a transformative shift in how…

Deutsche Bank Trials a SWIFT Alternative for Stablecoins

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures are testing a system that will allow blockchain-based transactions, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to talk to one another, taking an approach similar to the SWIFT messaging layer in legacy banking infrastructure. The banks are running a series of test cases, including transferring and swapping USDC stablecoins, on the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), a permissioned blockchain system composed of validator nodes run by an alliance of banks, financial institutions and consultancies. The system, created by tech consultancy GFT Group and…

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Ventures Test SWIFT Killer for Stablecoins and CBDCs

The UDPN’s transaction nodes are where the magic happens, being connected to currency systems and currency pools,” Schacher said in an interview. “The way to envision it is each currency needs a transaction of its own, so to speak. This could be central banks in the future, owning transactions and operating CBDCs, or other financial institutions, or any other organization that is handling digital currencies, bringing it all into a regulated environment.” Source

Deutsche Bank Shares Jump 7% as Q3 2023 Revenue Beats Expectations

Thanks to its stellar financial performance in the third quarter, the bank has raised its full-year outlook for 2023. Shares of German banking giant Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBK) surged by a remarkable 7% on Wednesday morning following the company’s stellar Q3 2023 performance that exceeded market expectations. Despite an 8% decline in net profit compared to the previous year, the bank’s Q3 2023 net profit of €1.031 billion surpassed the €997 million analysts earlier predicted. Its strong financial performance makes it the thirteenth consecutive profitable quarter for the bank. Deutsche…

Bank of Spain embraces ‘digital euro,’ explains its benefits

Banco de España, Spain’s central bank, has joined a chorus of European banking institutions preparing their customers for the potential benefits of a digital euro. The central bank published a short text on Oct. 19 explaining the nature and uses of the European Union’s potential central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank claims that the physical cash format “does not allow to exploit all the advantages offered by the growing digitalization of the economy and society.” However, the digital euro will make electronic payments a vital piece of the financial system.…

World Bank Issues First Digitally Native Note on Luxembourg Stock Exchange

The basis for this issuance was Corda, R3’s digital ledger technology (DLT) platform that offers a sustainable infrastructure for digitally native notes. In a first, the World Bank has listed the “first digital native security” or “digital native note (DNN)” on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSe). The €100 million DNN, listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, is a key element of a more extensive endeavor to create a sustainable digital infrastructure for DNN issuance. The issuance happened through the involvement of Citi’s Issuer Services in the role of the issuing…