Jonny Fry / James Tylee of Digital Bytes by Team Blockchain on Cyber.FM 15th December 2021

Jonny Fry is joined by James Tylee to discuss this weeks Digital Bytes newsletter featuring special guest: Nicholas Fitzpatrick, partner at DLA Piper. We Discuss: WhatsApp to offer digital payments - so is Facebook to finally get its way? - WhatsApp is to trial offering a cohort of its 2.5 billion users the ability to send, not just messages, but also to make digital payments. This potentially realises an ambition Facebook laid bare when it first revealed its digital currency ambitions three years ago. On closer inspection, if it is safer to create and issue a cash-backed stablecoin (as opposed to depositing cash in a bank) what happens to those banks relying on fractional banking, and who takes on the role of the commercial lender? Metaverse and self-sovereign identity (SSI): new superpower? - the metaverse is a new buzzword ‘doing the rounds’, but what does it actually mean and how is it going to change everyday life? Besides an exciting aspect of virtual reality (VR) that everybody could at least vaguely relate to there are many other interesting developments, particularly around the digital economy and trusted interactions enabled through digital and self-sovereign identity (SSI). We explore the symbiosis of the two hottest technologies - metaverse and self-sovereign identity - and how they fit within Web 3.0. Crypto regulation varies in each jurisdiction - the rules and regulations for cryptocurrencies vary depending on the jurisdiction in which they are being promoted. There appears to be a real lack of agreement or coordination between regulators worldwide, apart from a significant number of countries expressing concern that those wishing to use cryptos cannot do so for illegal purposes - hence the need for KYC and AML verification. NFT in sports: manna from Heaven? - as the sports world has sought to recover from the financial consequences of COVID-19, two themes have emerged. First, the paramount need to secure sources of revenue and second, an urge to accelerate the adoption of technologies which offer new ways of engaging with fans in a way which is, at least partially, insulated from the vagaries of global pandemics. And so, news that the National Basketball Association (NBA- as it so often is) was a successful early adopter of NFT collectibles and is (in partnership with Dapper Labs) generating significant numbers from its early Top Shots drops, has been welcomed like the promise of ‘manna from Heaven’ across the sports industry.