Digital Economy & Crypo

Highlights of the third week of July 2022 in terms of digital economy, Web 3.0, metaverse and cryptocurrencies.

Telefónica has invested in Gamium, the company developing a decentralised metaverse whose avatars can be used to interact in other metaverses

The two companies said in a statement that the investment, the amount of which has not been disclosed, was made through Wayra, Telefónica’s open innovation initiative.

UK asset managers push for tokenisation of investment funds to receive regulatory approval in the UK

The authorisation represents a paradigm change in the system of notifications, including the start of court proceedings, and, above all, a sign of the English and Welsh judicial system’s own adaptation to new technologies.

Until now, summonses could only be served in person, with delivery and signature of the writ at the court offices. Or they were sent by fax and e-mail, when the party concerned or his lawyer had notified in writing his willingness to receive messages by these means.

Giambrone & Partners Studio Legale Internazionale  which advised its clients to apply for this new way of filing a lawsuit, said it is the first time a court outside the United States has accepted the NFT to send a request for the commencement of a case.

It also opens the possibility that the NFT will be used more widely for other types of notices and other court documents, such as a summons to a trial.

Government of Spain announces 3.8 million euros in aid for Metaverso and Web3

The government will allocate up to 3.8 million euros to SMEs and freelancers based in Spain or in the European Union working on experimental development and process innovation projects in the field of Web 3 and metaverse technologies.These high figures, which exceed the 8.8% estimate, make it almost certain that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates in its attempt to curb inflation. In fact, the CME’s FedWatch tool indicates an 85% probability of another 0.75% hike at the Fed’s July meeting.

In other countries, such as Shanghai, the government will create a $1.5 billion fund for the development of the metaverse. And the Paraguayan Senate approves a law regulating the trading and negotiation of cryptocurrencies.

Despite the crisis in the cryptocurrency market and much of the cryptocurrency industry, banks seem to be the most confident in cryptocurrency technology. 

BNP Paribas, Europe’s largest bank and the world’s sixth largest by assets, plans to offer custody and trading services for bitcoin and other cryptoassets.

Like BNP Paribas, Societe Generale is preparing a similar platform and is working on integrating security tokens into traditional finance.

Since 2019, Societe Generale has structured several blockchain-implemented security token issues for its clients, such as the €100m European Investment Bank (EIB) digital bond issued in 2021.

It has also ventured into the decentralised financial ecosystem (DeFi) through the Maker lending protocol. It should be recalled that the Banque de France has been working for some time on the development of a digital currency for the euro.

Its governor, François Villeroy de Galhau, recently stated that new tokenised assets and new decentralised market infrastructures will reshape the financial system from the ground up.

This increased focus on cryptoassets comes at the same time as the European institutions agreed to adopt the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA), created to regulate financial service providers of digital assets and to oversee the cryptoasset market, its issuance and trading in the euro area. For its part, the Bank of England is calling for urgent regulation of cryptocurrencies.