Digital Bytes June 28th Edition with Jonny Fry / James Tylee featuring Jannah Patchay Executive Director and Policy Lead at the Digital Pound Foundation (DPF)

The role of blockchain in modernising stock markets - the way in which financial organisations and private clients buy and sell stocks and shares has evolved over the years, from open outcry to electronic dealing. Once again, the infrastructure for stock markets is set to potentially be transformed as a direct result of blockchain technology. The promise is to make stock markets transparent, faster, more efficient and safer by automating many of the current processes and procedures. Full Article Here Lessons learnt from the collapse of SVB -  In a flurry of events precipitating from several months of financial hassles, Silicon Valley Bank, the 39-year-old economic powerhouse headquartered in California, was shut down by state and federal banking regulators. The bank's parent company, SVB Financial Group, filed for bankruptcy only a week after the shutdown, with its representatives forced to sell its portfolio of treasuries and securities at a $1.8 billion loss. This came at the heel of a significant recession in the US, making Silicon Valley Bank the most significant bank failure since Washington Mutual's closure in the financial crisis of 2008. Full Article Here Shareable links for cryptocurrencies - many people who start to interact with cryptocurrencies find that, initially, the user experience is not easy since there is a copious amount of jargon to learn  - notwithstanding the joys of passwords and memorable words in case you lose the keys to your wallet. Shareable Links make the transfer of cryptos from one wallet to another much easier and whilst this feature is currently exclusive to Bitcoin.com wallets, there is no reason that if a blockchain is fast and cheap then other blockchains will also be able to offer Shareable Links too. Full Article Here Policy drivers for a retail CBDC - as a digital form of central bank-issued fiat currency, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have seen an explosive growth in interest over the past four years with each jurisdiction having its own unique blend of policy drivers and motivations. This article explores a few of the key policy drivers for the introduction of a retail CBDC (in the UK, specifically), which, when extrapolated more broadly, can also apply generally to other jurisdictions seeking similar policy outcomes. Full Article Here