Sandbox

UK plan on digital securities sandbox laid before Parliament

The regulations will take effect on Jan. 8, with the Bank of England and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority operating the sandbox.

The United Kingdom Financial Services and Markets Act’s provisions on a digital securities sandbox are scheduled to come into force in January 2024 after being presented to Parliament.

In a Dec. 18 publication, the U.K. government announced the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) regulations of the 2023 Financial Services and Markets Act, which were laid before Parliament, paving the way for crypto firms to test products and services in the country. According to the government, the regulations will take effect on Jan. 8, with the Bank of England and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority operating the sandbox.

“The DSS will allow firms and the regulators to test the use of new technology across our financial markets,” says a memo explaining the bill. “In particular, this will involve trialling the use of developing technology (such as distributed ledger technology, or in general technology that facilitates what are commonly referred to as ‘digital assets’) to perform the activities of a central securities depository (specifically notary, settlement and maintenance), and operating a trading venue.”

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EC launches blockchain regulatory sandbox for 20 projects annually through 2026

The European Commission’s regulatory sandbox will match up public and private sector projects with the appropriate participating regulators for assessments and consultations.

The European Commission announced the launch of the European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox on Feb. 15. The sandbox will provide a space for regulatory dialog for 20 projects per year through 2026.

The sandbox was first announced in 2020 and is being facilitated by a number of private firms that won tenders in 2022. Funding will come from the Digital Europe Programme. Projects will be chosen by an independent panel of academic experts on a competitive basis from public and private sector use cases of “Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies.”

Public sector projects on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) will be considered among the applicants. The EBSI is a pan-European blockchain run by a partnership of the EU countries with Norway and Lichtenstein.

Members of the annual sandbox cohort will be matched with national and European Union regulators to receive confidential legal advice and regulatory guidance, while regulators will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with new blockchain technology.

The application deadline for the first cohort of projects is April 14. Projects must have a proof of concept validated according to specifications and have a cross-border dimension.

Projects already chosen by public officials for deployment will have priority. Companies should be based in the European Economic Area (EEA). Those companies operate in consortium with companies outside of the EEA, as long as the beneficiary of the project is the EEA-based company. Participants will not be reimbursed for their expenses.

Projects selected will receive a written legal assessment followed by two virtual meetings with participating regulators. The EBSI Early Adopters incubator program is also accepting applications for its third cohort.

A similar sandbox program was proposed in United States Representative Patrick McHenry’s Financial Services Innovation bill. The United Kingdom may also get a comparable sandbox program in the next round of its financial services reforms.

Saudi Arabia partners with The Sandbox for future metaverse plans

In a partnership ceremony at the Leap 2023 conference in Saudi Arabia, The Sandbox entered into an MOU with the government of Saudi Arabia for future metaverse development.

Initiatives toward metaverse development continue to be a significant focus and key interest in the Middle East, as the Leap conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia highlights key topics in the industry.

On Feb. 7, a partnership ceremony was held at the conference, which acknowledged a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) between The Sandbox and the government of Saudi Arabia.

According to social media posts from Sebastien Borget, the co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox, the MOU is with the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA) for the purpose of “exploring, advising and supporting” one another in metaverse development.

While there are no further updates about the extent of the partnership, both parties have been actively pushing the boundaries of the Web3 space relative to their areas of expertise.

The Sandbox has partnered with some of the biggest names both inside and outside of the Web3 space, including Snoop Dogg, Gucci, Tim, Atari, HSBC and Warner Music Group, among others. 

Related: 69% users bet metaverse entertainment will reshape social lifestyle: Data

The Saudi-based conference comes as the Middle East continues to establish the region as a hub for emerging technologies. Last November, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was chosen as the location for the newly formed Middle East, Asia and Africa blockchain association.

Shortly before, the Dubai International Financial Centre instituted a crypto token regime to apply to all tokens recognized in the zone. The city has been a long-standing beacon of regional innovation when it comes to the Web3 space.

It opened the first nonfungible token store and, on Feb. 7, released its long-awaited regulations for virtual asset providers.

In a survey conducted by KuCoin last July, Saudi Arabia was revealed to be a significant market for digital currency adoption due to local regulations. The government is currently researching the possibilities for a central bank digital currency.

3 reasons why the MANA and SAND metaverse token rally could end soon

Apple’s rumored VR headset launch appeared to fuel a sharp rally in metaverse tokens, but data suggests that the momentum is unsustainable.

The metaverse hype that began in 2021 dissolved almost entirely by the end of 2022 as the top projects in the space, Decentraland and The Sandbox, lost 95% of their market capitalization. The most prominent reason for the fall was a lack of user growth. 

Still, the metaverse narrative is far from dead and will grow in the future. Reportedly, Apple will launch its virtual reality gear sometime in spring 2023. The announcement was a positive catalyst for Decentraland’s MANA and The Sandbox’s SAND, causing a double-digit price surge.

While there’s evidence of positive buying volume supporting the pump, the weak fundamentals of metaverse platforms and overheated market indicators suggest that the price pump risks reversing quickly.

The Apple pump-and-dump

Facebook’s (Meta) foray into the metaverse was one of the most prominent catalysts for metaverse tokens. The idea for Decentraland’s and The Sandbox’s growth is that a decentralized metaverse would flourish more than Meta’s centralized version.

However, the technology has yet to become popular among the masses. In 2022, the percentage of VR users among Steam gamers was less than 2%, and the usage has yet to grow over the past two years. This is discouraging for the technology’s adoption because the gaming sector was the first to embrace it.

The technology suffers from a fundamental issue where VR headsets are unsuitable for long hours. Studies have found that prolonged usage of headsets can cause mental health problems.

Apple’s recent VR news caused an uptick in metaverse tokens, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to the success of these projects. Samsung and Oculus, owned by Meta, already have devices on the market, raising the question about the potential impact of Apple’s new devices on VR adoption.

Poor usage data hinders the reality of a sustained metaverse token rally

Arguably, metaverse euphoria peaked in the last quarter of the same year when Facebook rebranded to Meta. However, the usage statistics of the two most popular metaverse platforms, The Sandbox and Decentraland, remained unimpressive throughout the price surge. Fewer than 5,000 unique active wallets (UAWs) were interacting with the smart contracts at the peak on both platforms.

The Sandbox unique wallet addresses interacting with a decentralized application’s smart contracts. Source: DappRadar
Decentraland unique wallet addresses interacting with a decentralized application’s smart contracts. Source: DappRadar

Since then, the usage has decreased even further, with fewer than 1,000 UAWs per day, reflecting terrible fundamentals.

Moreover, while the token prices have jumped, the nonfungible token sales for The Sandbox lands haven’t improved with similar prices and volume since the last quarter of 2022. It once again confirms that activity across the platform is uneventful.

Token dilution risks remain

Decentraland is also on the creditor list of Genesis, which filed for bankruptcy last week. According to the court filings, the defunct lending firm owes Decentraland $55 million.

However, according to Decentraland’s Discord, Genesis owes only $7.8 million. A community spokesperson added, “The Treasury remains healthy and the credit amount does not represent a substantial part of the Foundation’s treasury.”

The Genesis issue has been long known; thus, it’s possible that the organization might have dissolved the issue by now. However, it will likely affect the pace of its ecosystem growth, which is small to begin with.

On the other hand, the SAND token suffers from the risk of dilution due to monthly unlocks until the end of Q3 2024. If market conditions do not improve, some investors may be inclined to sell their portion of the tokens.

Despite its shortcomings, as long as there’s a possibility that the technology will become a part of the future, the market is continually going to appreciate the first movers in the space. The problem is long-term visions may not sustain short- to medium-term rallies.

MANA/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The sudden spike after days of low volatility has caused the Relative Strength Index (RSI) metric to show overheated readings. The situation has become more challenging, as the price has been trading at resistance from the breakdown region of the FTX collapse.

Nansen data shows exchange inflows for MANA and SAND were $8.4 million and $12.6 million, respectively. It suggests that more investors moved to sell than buy into a positive breakout.

Nevertheless, the recent uptick in MANA was supported by healthy volume, as reported by data from analytics firm Santiment, which is encouraging for buyers. But MANA/USD must take out the $0.735 resistance and support area for continued upside.

SAND/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

A similar trading set-up for SAND sees resistance for the token at around $0.93. If buyers conquer this level for the metaverse tokens, we can expect the rally to continue. However, based on fundamentals and short-term risks, it remains unlikely that the price can break above the resistance. 

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Nifty News: Trump NFTs surge 800%, Yuga Labs blacklists NFT exchanges and more

Donald Trump’s NFT collection started strong but looked lifeless until a few days ago.

Trump NFTs daily sales surge by 800%

Former United States President Donald Trump’s nonfungible token (NFT) trading card collection has recently witnessed a massive resurgence in daily sales volume.

Compared to Jan. 17 sales volumes, Jan. 18 and 19 saw spikes of 800% and 600% respectively, according to market metrics aggregator Cryptoslam.

Some pundits believe the renewed interest could be due to his imminent return to social media networks, following reports that the former president was seeking to rejoin Facebook and Twitter ahead of the 2024 presidential election campaign.

The collection of 45,000 self-themed trading cards was launched on Dec. 15 and initially priced at $99 each.

Buyers of the collection were automatically entered into a sweepstake which included “1000s of prizes,” including one-on-one dinners, zoom calls and rounds of golf with the former President.

They quickly sold out and recorded daily sales volumes of over $3.5 million but plummeted to a baseline of around $26,000 by the end of 2022.

Yuga Labs blacklists NFT marketplaces

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creator Yuga Labs has blocked secondary trading of its “Sewer Pass” NFTs on marketplaces that do not fully support creator royalties.

The NFT project was first announced on Jan. 12 and became available for minting on Jan. 17.

Only Bored Ape Yacht Club or Mutant Ape Yacht Club holders are able to mint the Sewer Pass, which acts as an entry pass to its new skill-based NFT game, called Dookey Dash.

A royalty is a fee that is taken from the price of a sale and sent to the content creator. Yuga Labs has been vocal about its opposition to broader shifts within the industry to royalty-free marketplaces.

The Sewer Pass has seen a high volume of trades on secondary marketplaces, with a floor price of 1.81 ETH ($2,809) and sales volumes of 15,627 ETH ($24,267,411), according to data from NFT Price Floor.

Based on Yuga Labs’ 5% creator royalty fee, secondary sales for the collection have already netted revenues of over $1.2 million.

Neopets raise $4 million to build metaverse

Virtual pet website Neopets — which was popular throughout the 2000s — has raised $4 million from gaming and blockchain investors with plans to create its own metaverse.

Some companies providing the funding are venture capital firm Polygon Ventures; investment firms Hasket Capital and IDG Capital; gaming company NetDragon Websoft; and the Ava Labs-run Blizzard fund.

According to the announcement, ‘Neopets Metaverse’ will be a play-and-earn virtual pet game based on the original and would allow players to “raise, care for, customize and battle with their Neopets” on the blockchain.

In the announcement, HashKey Capital’s investment director Xao Xiao notes: “We believe that GameFi plays a crucial role in the larger metaverse narrative, serving as the interactive layer in the value chain and a key driver of traffic across Web2 and Web3.”

Neopets was founded in 1999 and the company is hopeful that Neopets Metaverse will bring “the magic of Neopets in a positively fresh light to old-time players, as well as attract and nurture a new generation of Neopians.”

The community has had an underwhelming response to the announcement, with some suggesting its previous effort at creating a Neopets metaverse had been a flop.

The company had initially launched an NFT collection using the Solana network on Nov. 12, 2021, which allegedly went so poorly that it resulted in the hashtag #NoNeoNFT trending on Twitter.

Touch the metaverse, researchers say

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has created a pair of haptic gloves that it believes can bring the sensation of touch to the metaverse.

The invention, called the HaptGlove, is an untethered and lightweight glove that will allow metaverse users to interact with virtual objects in a much more realistic fashion by conveying touch and grip.

A professor who is working on the HaptGlove. Source: NUSnews.

When users put on the HaptGlove, they can sense when their virtual avatar’s hand touches something, as well as tell how hard and what shape the object is as a result of the HaptGlove restricting the user’s finger positions.

NUS claims that the HaptGlove will also be useful in other areas, such as education and medicine, by allowing surgeons to prepare for surgeries in a “hyper-realistic environment” or giving students a hands-on learning experience.

The concept of haptic gloves is not new, with Meta working on their version. However, NUS claim that its gloves can provide users with a much more realistic sense of touch compared to others that exist today.

Those working on metaverse games have suggested that virtual reality is such an immature technology, it is difficult to incorporate it into metaverse products. Existing games like The Sandbox and Decentraland are yet to launch dedicated virtual reality clients.

More Nifty News:

On Jan. 18, NFT marketplace Rarible announced that it would expand its marketplace builder to include Polygon-based NFT collections. The builder will allow artists and projects to customize their marketplace, with its CEO Alexei Falin believing that community marketplaces would become the future of NFT buying and selling.

Crypto exchange Binance announced on Jan. 19 that it would tighten its rules for NFT listings, requiring sellers to complete Know Your Customer verification and have at least two followers before listing on the platform. The firm plans to “periodically review” NFT listings that do not “meet its standards” and recommend them for delisting.

Ukrainian pro-crypto groups announce Web3 roadmap

The roadmap proposes the launch of a regulatory sandbox and the creation of a national blockchain-backed realty register.

Blockchain4Ukraine — a group of pro-crypto Ukrainian lawmakers — and the citizen group Virtual Assets of Ukraine (VAU) revealed a joint roadmap for promoting and developing Web3 in the country. The document was signed by its co-authors on Nov. 14, according to regional media. 

The roadmap proposes a set of measures for promoting Web3, such as the launch of a regulatory sandbox for blockchain and Web3 projects, creation of a national blockchain-backed land and realty register, preparation of a “blockchain plan” to rebuild the country after the war, and integration of Ukraine into the European blockchain community.

VAU and Blockchain4Ukraine also intend to work on a self-sovereign identity pilot project and to seek ways of implementing blockchain into Ukraine’s healthcare and education systems.

The list of potential partners of the roadmap includes civil society and nongovernment organizations as well as business and scientific communities. The group working on the roadmap will prepare a set of bills to promote its initiatives on the legal level.

Related: Ukrainian art museum to preserve art and cultural heritage through NFT auction

In June, Ukraine became the third country outside of the European Union to join the European Blockchain Partnership, an initiative derived by the EU’s 27 member states to deliver cross-border public services. Back then, VAU CEO Konstantin Ermolenko revealed Ukraine’s interest in running test-node of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure and pilot use cases of the cross-border public services based on blockchain technology.

In March 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the country’s first major cryptocurrency-related legislation, the bill “On Virtual Assets.” The bill establishes the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine as two major regulators of the crypto market.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has managed to gather over $100 million in cryptocurrency donations through its government-curated Crypto Fund of Ukraine.

The Sandbox co-founder explains how the metaverse has evolved for brands: Web Summit 2022

According to a co-founder of The Sandbox, the future of the metaverse is in a state of evolution, with both brands and users as important catalysts of growth.

The building of the metaverse is an ongoing process. Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox metaverse, even called the future of the metaverse evolving.

Speaking to Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson at the Web Summit tech conference in Portugal on Nov. 3, Borget said that what we see today in The Sandbox is “the natural evolution of things” after almost a decade of work. The evolution of the metaverse, particularly the way brands engage with users, has accelerated at rapid speed.

It’s this fast-paced development that has investors pouring billions of dollars into metaverse projects across the space.

“We’re now seeing in The Sandbox with more than 200 studios around the world that are building on a daily basis,” Borget said in reference to the new tools being released for creators

Many of these studios include iconic, mainstream brands that have found value in engaging with users on a digital plane. Household names such as Gucci, The Walking Dead series, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg and more have joined in metaverse investments or participation.

Borget said that often, a big frustration of consumers is that they can’t create alongside the big names they love. This is something that metaverse projects allow as they progress.

“It is not just about the influence and the reach of the celebrity or the brand. It’s all about the content — the characters, stories and locations that people are familiar with and want to interact with.”

Aside from the value of top-tier brands and big-name celebrities popping up in digital words, Borget said something to highlight is the actual users:

“Players themselves bring life by being present, by engaging in the land. That is also something that should be seen as valuable because they contribute to the growth of the network.”

Any evolution of a digital platform cannot be made without active users engaging with the new tools and experiences. User needs and complaints shape how a given online space will look like. 

Borget said engagement with a platform is more than just liking, sharing or retweeting. Rather, as the metaverse advances and users interact in digital spaces, the engagement is created together, user and brand side by side.

“To me, that’s real engagement. That’s something that many brands are looking at because they not only reach Gen Z, but they help define the future of themselves in 3D worlds.”

Despite recent rumors surrounding low metaverse engagement, investors and even governments are bullish on building out the digital universe. Recently, a city in Japan decided to turn to metaverse schooling to help with issues of student absence in the area. 

In Norway, a local government agency dealing with taxes decided to open its first metaverse branch to cater to the tech-savviness of younger digital native generations.

Metaverse platforms refute ‘misinformation’ about daily active users

User data from DappRadar consists of metaverse users who have also made an in-game purchase with the project’s native token, but the Decentraland and Sandbox projects disagree with that criteria.

Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-based Metaverse projects Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND) have hit back at reports suggesting low daily user activity on platforms, arguing a “misinformed” metric was used to measure each of the platforms’ Daily Active Users (DAU).

The controversy appears to have come from data originating from DappRadar, with observers suggesting the Decentraland metaverse sees 30 Daily Active Users despite having over $1.2 billion in market cap.

However, Decentraland said in an Oct. 8 tweet that “some websites are tracking only specific smart contract transactions but reporting them as daily active users […] which is inaccurate.”

Sandbox CEO Arthur Madrid tweeted on Oct. 10 that “on chain transactions does not mean Users” and that nonfungible token (NFT) owners “invest in an asset that will grow in value over time based Utilities.”

In its tweet, Decentraland said “better data” can be found at DCL Metrics, a data aggregator custom-built for Decentraland, which measures DAUs by the number of “people who login and then move out of a parcel.”

This distinction is significant, as Decentraland’s September data shows 56,700 Monthly Active Users but only 1,074, or 1.89% of those users actually interacted with Decentraland’s smart contracts.

Similarly, Sandbox refuted data suggesting its platform has a low number of DAUs, stating on Twitter that it has 201,000 Monthly Active Users.

Related: Metaverse promises: Future of Web3 or just a market gimmick?

But while this shows blockchain data should never be interpreted without context, it appears as though user experience and engagement are the biggest cause for concern according to a recent Reddit thread.

The thread saw one poster refer to Decentraland as “Desertedland,” while another poster said the popular Metaverse game had become a “ghost town.”

The controversy comes as even the most legitimate Metaverse projects face unprecedented pressures in the current bear market — which has caused a steep drop in token prices.

Decentraland’s MANA is currently priced at $0.65, down 88.8% from its all-time high (ATH) of $5.85 with a market cap of $1.43 billion.

Meanwhile Sandbox’s SAND is priced at $0.78, down 90.6% from its ATH of $8.40, with a market cap of $2.36 billion. Both MANA and SAND are down more than 5% over the last 24 hours.

Metaverse platforms refute ‘misinformation’ about daily active users

User data from DappRadar consists of metaverse users who have also made an in-game purchase with the project’s native token, but the Decentraland and Sandbox projects disagree with that criteria.

Ethereum blockchain-based metaverse projects Decentraland and the Sandbox have hit back at reports suggesting low daily user activity on platforms, arguing a “misinformed” metric was used to measure each of the platforms’ daily active users (DAU).

The controversy appears to have come from data originating from DappRadar, with observers suggesting the Decentraland metaverse sees 30 DAU despite having over $1.2 billion in market cap.

However, Decentraland said in an Oct. 8 tweet that “some websites are tracking only specific smart contract transactions but reporting them as daily active users […] which is inaccurate.”

Sandbox CEO Arthur Madrid tweeted on Oct. 10 that “on chain transactions does not mean Users” and that nonfungible token (NFT) owners “invest in an asset that will grow in value over time based Utilities.”

In its tweet, Decentraland said “better data” can be found at DCL Metrics, a data aggregator custom-built for Decentraland, which measures DAUs by the number of “people who login and then move out of a parcel.”

This distinction is significant, as Decentraland’s September data shows 56,700 Monthly Active Users but only 1,074, or 1.89% of those users actually interacted with Decentraland’s smart contracts.

Similarly, Sandbox refuted data suggesting its platform has a low number of DAUs, stating on Twitter that it has 201,000 Monthly Active Users.

Related: Metaverse promises: Future of Web3 or just a market gimmick?

But, while this shows blockchain data should never be interpreted without context, it appears as though user experience and engagement are the biggest cause for concern, according to a recent Reddit thread.

The thread saw one poster refer to Decentraland as “Desertedland,” while another poster said the popular metaverse game had become a “ghost town.”

The controversy comes as even the most legitimate metaverse projects face unprecedented pressures in the current bear market — which has caused a steep drop in token prices.

Decentraland (MANA) is currently priced at $0.65, down 88.8% from its all-time high (ATH) of $5.85 with a market cap of $1.43 billion.

Meanwhile, Sandbox (SAND) is priced at $0.78, down 90.6% from its ATH of $8.40, with a market cap of $2.36 billion. Both MANA and SAND are down more than 5% over the last 24 hours.

Think tank launches ‘technical sandbox’ exploring United States CBDCs

The Digital Dollar Project’s Technical Sandbox Program is set to begin in October, aiming to provide a clearer understanding of the ramifications of a United States CBDC.

A United States think tank has launched a “technical sandbox” aimed at advancing the exploration of a potential United States central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In a Wednesday Tweet from Digital Dollar Project (DDP), the organization said the new program would explore “technical and business implementation” questions revolving around a U.S. CBDC.

The organization noted that the initial participants of the sandbox include crypto-firm Ripple, financial technology company Digital Asset, software platform Knox Networks and banking solutions firm EMTECH.

The Technical Sandbox Program aims to give the federal government, policymakers and the private sector a clearer understanding of how a potential CBDC would be rolled-out.

This includes the potential implications to retail and wholesale and international use cases such as cross-border payments.

The U.S Federal Reserve has yet to decide whether or not it will implement a CBDC but has been exploring the potential risks and benefits that come with them.

On Jan. 20, it released a discussion paper examining the pros and cons of CBDCs but neglected to give any hints about its future plans.

The paper suggested that CBDCs could act as digital money free from credit and liquidity risks, improve cross-border payments, help preserve the dominance of the U.S dollar, promote financial inclusion and extend public access to safe central bank money.

Potential risks found included a changed U.S financial system, more severe bank runs for other forms of money, reducing the power of monetary policy, operational resilience and a difficult balance between transparency and safeguarding consumer privacy rights.

Meanwhile, China’s own CBDC, the digital yuan, is quickly being rolled out across the country, while the same is occurring in Nigeria with the eNaira. The Bahamas and countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union have also launched CBDCs, while Russia is set to roll out its own in 2024.

The FedNow service, an instant payment service set to be launched in mid-2023, aims to begin “technical testing” in September, according to a Monday press release. FedNow is seen as a step toward an eventual CBDC.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP partner Alexandra Steinberg Barrage, a former FDIC policy expert, tweeted her support for the program on Wednesday. Barrage suggested that regardless of what your views are on a U.S. CBDC, pilot programs and data are essential when evaluating new tech.

The Technical Sandbox Program is set to begin in October with cross-border payments being the initial focus for the early participants.

The program is set to be released in two separate phases, including an educational phase and a pilot phase.

During the educational phase, providers and participants will seek to understand the technology from both a functional and business perspective. While in the pilot phase, the focus will be on identifying and testing specific ways in which CBDCs can be utilized.

Related: Fed and MIT’s CBDC research: Distributed ledger tech has ‘downsides’

The Digital Dollar Project is a partnership between the not-for-profit organization Digital Dollar Foundation and IT consulting firm Accenture. DDP seeks to encourage research and discussion around a U.S. CBDC and released a white paper proposing a tokenized U.S. digital dollar in May 2020.