Matteo Rizzi

A Banco de Portugal Occasional Paper on Decentralized Finance Decentralised Finance (DeFi) has gained significant attention in recent years. It aims to replicate the functions of the traditional financial system in a disintermediated way leveraging on the interplay between blockchain technology, smart contracts and stablecoins. This paper provides an overview of the underlying components of this relatively new ecosystem, as well as its associated risks from the perspective of a financial supervisory authority. While DeFi inherits the risks present in traditional finance, some of these risks could be amplified due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework and the intrinsic features of the DeFi space. Therefore, this paper also takes a closer look at the regulatory challenges involved, including the promise of self-regulation, and explores potential avenues for addressing these challenges without stifling the innovation that DeFi can foster.

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In the financial services arena, #AML professionals are constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of #KYC and #KYB processes. One of the most transformative technologies in this arena is #AI. Diogo Xavier Luis, CTO, explores how financial institutions can significantly streamline their operations, particularly in areas such as analysing #PEPs and #sanctions screening data by integrating AI into KYC and KYB procedures. Learn more >> https://lnkd.in/exF5edTM #RegTech #insurance #duediligence

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(For Sam Shead (LinkedIn Editor) on the Lisbon Web3 Summit... 3 final) Web3 and Decentralized Technologies Web3 technologies continue evolving, presenting opportunities and challenges for decentralized systems. Regulatory frameworks are developing to address digital assets and blockchain applications, while innovation continues in decentralized finance and digital identity solutions. The balance between innovation and regulatory oversight remains crucial for the sector's development. Workplace Evolution and Digital Integration Post-pandemic workplace transformations have catalyzed permanent changes in professional environments. Organizations increasingly adopt hybrid and flexible working models, supported by digital collaboration tools and AI-driven productivity solutions. This evolution requires careful consideration of work-life integration, digital wellness, and organizational culture in distributed environments. Data Privacy and Protection The exponential growth in data generation emphasizes privacy considerations across sectors. Organizations must navigate evolving regulatory requirements while maintaining innovation and service delivery. Key focuses include data sovereignty, user privacy rights, and secure data handling practices. The development of comprehensive, interoperable privacy standards remains a crucial challenge. Emerging Business Models Economic pressures and environmental considerations drive business model innovation. Key trends include: Growth in subscription and platform-based services Development of circular economy initiatives Integration of multiple services in comprehensive digital ecosystems Emphasis on sustainable and socially responsible business practices These models reflect evolving consumer expectations and the need for sustainable, scalable solutions. Strategic Implications Web Summit 2024 provides a crucial platform for examining these developments through multiple lenses. Key considerations include: Ethical Technology Development Ensuring responsible AI deployment Addressing algorithmic bias Promoting inclusive innovation Environmental Sustainability Reducing technology's environmental impact Developing green computing solutions Supporting circular economy initiatives Digital Rights and Privacy Protecting user privacy Ensuring data security Developing interoperable standards Future of Work Supporting distributed workforces Promoting digital wellness Fostering inclusive cultures Conclusion The convergence of these themes at Web Summit 2024 illustrates technology's increasingly central role in addressing global challenges. Success requires careful balance between innovation and responsibility, with particular attention to sustainability, ethics, and human impact. As technology continues evolving, the ability to develop solutions that benefit society while addressing environmental and social challenges becomes increasingly crucial. #WebSummit

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Hi World, First day in #websummit2024 Lisbon, You can come to the stand A348 tomorrow, DEPOTLY this is #web3 cryptoprocessing, if you are interested in #investing or integrating into your project, you can ask questions

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#EBAday is coming to Lisbon on 18-19 June 2024. Instant Payments remains a hot topic for the industry. Expert speakers will deep dive into the subject considering questions such as: What remain the main challenges for banks in the adoption of instant payments? Which fraud-fighting solutions are there? Which role does confirmation of payee play? Register to join us and learn more https://lnkd.in/dNWeufb #EBAday #Finextra #EBA_Association #nextgenbanking #CBDCs #crossborderpayments #BaaS #realtimepayments #openfinance #identity #fraud #fraudprevention #liquiditymanagement #cashmanagement #fintech #regulation #intantpayments #paymentsasaservice #requesttopay #embeddedfinance  

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The Finance WG welcomes ESMA's Guidance on Reverse Solicitation and the Classification of Crypto-Assets. ESMA’s work is a step toward the proper implementation of crypto-asset requirements in Europe, and around the globe. The Finance WG members collected feedback and reviewed the ESMA guidance across multiple calls and in depth discussions before submitting a few key themes for refinement. INATBA Members believe that a more balanced approach can ensure a dynamic market for Crypto-Assets in Europe. Overall, we recognize ESMA's efforts to guide crypto assets identification, however we believe the current criteria would benefit from further refinement, and further industry outreach, to address existing complex scenarios. INATBA reaffirms its commitment to working with regulators to refine guidelines, foster innovation, and protect investors. To review the full response, please visit this link: https://lnkd.in/daxB7qhZ Special recognition belongs to our member companies who provided feedback for this workstream: Blockchain.com Onchain Foundation Notabene AMLBot Groupe Caisse des Dépôts Dépôts Anotherblock Cryptopocket | Fiat ramp on/off NORTHSTAKE  token.com ProSquare Software Systems Imani Partners

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🔴 UK government approach to tokenisation and regulation The Treasury has published Tulip Siddiq’s keynote address at last week’s Tokenisation Summit. 💡 HIGHLIGHTS 👉 Financial services sector at the centre of the economic vision, and plan for economic growth. 👉 We need to lean in to the emerging and disruptive technologies. 👉The transformative potential of DLT is clear, whether you are talking about cryptoassets, or how it might revolutionize traditional markets. 💡DIGITAL ASSETS 👉Ambition to make the UK a global hub for securities tokenisation. 👉 Digital Securities Sandbox will help adoption of DLT across capital markets. 👉 Government will issue a Digital Gilt Instrument- ‘DIGIT’.  👉 Other work includes the Digital Assets Bill, that clarifies the law around property in relation to digital assets, and work looking at innovation in areas such as funds, by the Technology Working Group established by the Asset Management Taskforce. 💡 THE BIG PICTURE 👉 Cryptoassets are here to stay. 👉 It is important that we don’t see traditional financial services and cryptoassets as separate islands with no means of crossing between. 👉 Traditional finance and cryptoassets have the potential to play an integrated role in each other’s future, to their mutual advantage. 👉 E.g. tokenisation of securities could facilitate ‘atomic settlement’, where payment for a security and its transfer of ownership happen simultaneously. 👉 Today the only meaningful proposition for such a settlement function is stablecoins. However, in future this role could also potentially be fulfilled in future by tokenised versions of central bank or commercial bank money. 💡 CRYPTOASSET REGULATION 👉 Last year, the Treasury published proposals for the financial services regulation of cryptoassets in the UK. 👉 These proposals still stand, and the government intends to implement them in full. 👉 The Treasury had also set out details for the treatment of fiat-referenced stablecoins as a distinct asset class. 👉The government intends to proceed with the new regulated activities for stablecoins, which will be implemented to the same timetable as the rest of the regulatory regime for cryptoassets.  👉 The government does not intend to bring stablecoin into UK payments regulation at this time.  👉 Aim to engage firms on draft legal provisions for the cryptoasset regime including stablecoins as early as possible next year. 👉 Previous uncertainty over whether cryptoasset staking services constitute a Collective Investment Scheme under financial services law - it doesn’t make sense for staking services to have this treatment. The Government intends to proceed with removing this legal uncertainty. If we are going to unlock the best of what tokenisation, blockchain technology, and cryptoassets have to offer, we need to facilitate the opportunities for traditional markets and cryptoassets to succeed to their mutual benefit. Thoughts? #innovation #tokenisation #stablecoins #staking

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This founder bootstrapped his business to a €2.5 BILLION valuation. Jouk Pleiter is the CEO & Founder of Backbase, a global fintech that’s modernizing software and infrastructure for banks worldwide. Founded in 2003, Backbase was bootstrapped to €200M ARR until they raised a single Private Equity round from Motive Partners in 2022, valuing the company at €2.5B. They have now grown to €300M ARR, work with 150 banks, and continue to expand across the world. In this Fintech Leaders episode, we discuss: - Bootstrapping the company - Why they eventually decided to raise external capital - Successful strategies for selling software to banks - Why company leaders should think in five-year chapters - International expansion - Amsterdam as a tech and fintech hub… lots more!

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European crypto regulation MiCA went in to effect as of 1st of July. Circle announced their stablecoins USDC and EURC are MiCA compliant. The interesting part is that they also have an e-money licence from France. Watch this space for emergence of crypto payments innovation in Europe. An excerpt from the coverage: “Circle’s new issuance and redemption processes for USDC and EURC are handled through Circle Mint France, targeting major institutions in the European market, including exchanges, market makers, brokerages, fintech companies, payment institutions, banks, and large enterprises”. #cryptopayments #mica #stablecoins https://lnkd.in/dHRknKJs

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🚨 Tokenisation, stablecoins, staking - what's next for the UK?🚨 Two speeches of note today at the City & Financial Global Tokenisation Summit. 1️⃣ Sasha Mills, Executive Director for Financial Market Infrastructure at the Bank of England, talked about innovation in wholesale financial markets. 2️⃣ Tulip Siddiq, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, talked about the government's plans for crypto, stablecoins and staking. 🤔 What did they say? 1️⃣ Sasha Mills, on innovation in wholesale financial markets: Digitisation has been the combustion engine of financial markets, transforming paper-based systems to computer-based activity, on to the digital systems of today. Tokenisation can further revolutionise financial markets. Not a novel concept – but the real innovation is the type of infrastructure on which that token sits, and what that enables. ✅ Distributed ledgers can reduce the need for a single central party to perform record-keeping on the ledger. ✅ No single point of failure in how critical data is stored. ✅ Cryptographic techniques to secure data can reduce risk by improving the security and integrity of financial transactions ✅ Programmability has facilitated the consolidation and collapsing of the trade and post-trade functions, resulting in reduced settlement risk, and unprecedented efficiency gains in the trade lifecycle. 🤔 What is the Bank of England’s role in this reinvention? ✅ Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS): ➡ allows industry to experiment with developing technologies to issue, trade and settle digitally native securities, and ‘digital twin’ tokenised securities in a safe and secure environment for a range of regulated asset classes. ✅ Innovations in Money: ➡ Money needs to keep up with tokenised assets. BoE considering ways to enhance usefulness of central-bank money as a settlement asset for digital asset transactions. Also considering what additional functionality a wholesale central bank digital currency could bring. ✅ Post-trade settlement: ➡ Traditional processes are sequential and often manual, time-consuming, costly, and operationally risky for all users of financial markets. The tokenisation of securities on distributed ledgers – digital securities – offers the potential to merge trade and post-trade functions, shortening settlement cycles and offering more programmability and automation in financial transactions. 2️⃣ Tulip Siddiq, on plans for crypto, stablecoins and staking: ✅ Government to introduce regulatory regime for cryptoassets. ✅ Stablecoins to be regulated at same time as cryptoassets. ✅ Issuance and custody will be regulated. ❌ No longer a phased approach. ❌ Stablecoins not to be in scope of payment services regulation. ❌ Staking is not a Collective Investment Scheme. ............. 🤔 What's next? ⏩ Expect to see the framework early next year. I'd love to hear your thoughts 👉 #HMT #BoE #innovation #tokenisation #stablecoins #staking

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Thrilled to finally publish the tokenomics of #WPAY, the new governance token at the heart of #WirexPay as we approach mainnet launch. A lot of my time and energy (+ let's not forget the brilliant team at Wirex) has gone into this, because I personally want to make sure it fairly represents our commitment to a truly decentralized, community-driven payment network. You'll find all the details: https://lnkd.in/eGYP-HsU 📌 Wirex Pay DAO 📌 $WPAY Tokenomics 📌 $WPAY Allocation 📌 Node Operation Rewards 📌 Mainnet Launch and Timeline 📌 Wirex vs Wirex Pay 📌 $WXT vs $WPAY ⚡️ TDLR Read the key highlights from BeInCrypto: https://lnkd.in/e92rC8X9 #decentralized #web3 #payments #DAO #innovation #cryptocurrency

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At iMaps Capital Markets, we know the frustration of wanting to invest in a product only to find your bank or broker won’t open the ISIN. The solution? Listing on a trusted exchange with daily liquidity, clear #regulations, and seamless accessibility. Listed on Europe’s Leading Platform for #StructuredProducts: Our Public Retail Offering ETIs are listed on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. Interesting fact: Stuttgart is the largest exchange in Germany’s #trading volume in these products which also makes it the global leader! This ensures a highly active, transparent environment with liquidity provided daily from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM CET by EUWAX #Flexible Investment Options for Every Portfolio: With minimum investments starting as low as €100 per unit, our ETIs cater to a variety of investment strategies. Whether you’re just starting out or managing a complex portfolio, there’s an option that works for you. Retail Public Offering Made #Simple: Our ETIs come with Key Information Documents (KIDs) in national languages, making them accessible and compliant across passported regions. By listing at the Stuttgart Stock Exchange and having EUWAX as a Quality Liquidity Provider, we ensure your #investment journey is smooth, reliable, and tailored to your needs. #ScalableInvestmentProducts #ActivelyManagedCertificates #ETIs

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💼 Lombard Finance: A New Era in Digital Lending 🚀 Lombard Leman Finance is revolutionizing the finance world with its cutting-edge solutions in digital lending and blockchain technology. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eWuEKi4Q #CryptoNews #CryptoMarket #Blockchain #DeFi #Blockchain

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𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 - 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁! 𝗪𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - 𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱'𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 At Sors, a leading VASP registered with the Central Bank of Ireland, we are proud to showcase another promising projects in our portfolio - Fortuna Custody Solutions The mission at Sors is clear: Creating, Selling and Trading digital assets. As experts in crafting Web3 solutions, portfolio management, and over-the-counter services, we are thrilled to introduce Fortuna, a platform at the forefront of institutional-grade digital asset protection. Fortuna is using cutting-edge technology and robust security protocols to ensure the highest level of asset security. With regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland, we continue to set the benchmark for digital asset custodianship in Europe. Whether you are managing crypto funds, NFTs, or other digital assets, you can trust Fortuna to keep them secure, compliant, and accessible. Swipe through to learn how we Fortuna is helping institutions across the globe protect their digital wealth. #DigitalAssets #CryptoCustody #BlockchainSecurity #InstitutionalInvestors #FortunaCustody #CryptoCompliance #CryptoCustodian #Ireland #FinTech

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