Core Viewpoint - Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong raised concerns about the competitiveness of dollar-pegged stablecoins following China's decision to pay interest on its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Yuan [1][2]. Group 1: Competitive Landscape - Armstrong highlighted that China's move to offer interest on the Digital Yuan provides it with a "competitive advantage" over U.S. stablecoins [2][3]. - He emphasized that rewards or interest payments on stablecoins could benefit ordinary people, similar to community lending, and urged for a market-driven approach [2]. Group 2: Legislative Challenges - The potential for yield payments on stablecoins is a significant barrier to the passage of the cryptocurrency market structure bill, which is supported by industry leaders like Armstrong [4]. - Concerns from Democrats revolve around the possibility that interest on stablecoin balances could divert deposits from traditional banking systems, particularly affecting community banks [4]. Group 3: Market Reactions - Following Armstrong's comments, Coinbase shares experienced a slight increase of 0.19% in after-hours trading, after a regular session decline of 1.85%, closing at $245.93 [5]. - Over the past year, Coinbase's stock has decreased by 5.42% [5].

China is ramping up its push to get more people to use the country’sdigital currency, with 10 of the country’s largest banks announcing they will pay interest to holders of the digital yuan. The list includes Tencent’s neobank WeBank and Mybank, Alipay’s banking subsidiary. The banks say they will pay holders of China’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, every quarter, making their first payouts on March 20, the Chinese news outlet Sina Finance reported. The central bank first revealed details abo ...

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. The U.S.’s competitive advantage is at stake in the debate over whether to allow rewards on dollar-pegged stablecoins, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) policy chief Faryar Shirzad says. “If this issue is mishandled in Senate negotiations on the market structure bill it could hand our global rivals a big assist in giving non-U.S. stablecoins and CBDCs a critical competitive advantage at the worst possible time,” Shir ...

PIX is a payment method developed by the Central Bank of Brazil. Photo by BeInCrypto China's digital yuan entered a new era on January 1, 2026, as wallet balances began accruing interest at demand deposit rates. The move marks a decisive break from the prevailing global consensus that central bank digital currencies should remain non-interest-bearing. The European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, and Bank for International Settlements have long championed this principle as essential to financial stability. ...

Coinbase has warned that a renewed push in Washington to restrict how stablecoins can reward users could weaken the United States’ position in digital payments at a time when China is actively upgrading its own state-backed digital currency to make it more attractive. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, raised the concern in a post on X, arguing that restrictions around rewards could reduce the appeal of dollar-backed stablecoins overseas. He said the issue is especially sensitive as rival ...

Chinese investors have injected over $188 million into digital yuan-related stocks following the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) decision to allow central bank digital currency wallets to earn interest. According to Securities Times, the top ten shareholders in digital yuan firms now hold a combined market value of 1.89 billion yuan ($265 million). Seven CBDC-related stocks attracted net inflows exceeding 100 million yuan from major investors on December 29 alone, with Lakala leading at 371 million yuan ...

Chinese investors have poured over $188 million into firms working on the digital yuan following the People’s Bank of China’s decision to let central bank digital currency wallets accrue interest. Almost a third of that investment went into Lakala, a third-party payment service provider that works with merchant acceptance solutions and hardware wallets, reported the Chinese outlet Securities Times. The firm’s share price rose by over 12% on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday and continued rising on D ...

Core Insights - China's central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as the e-CNY or digital yuan, is set to undergo significant transformations aimed at enhancing its functionality and adoption in the financial ecosystem [1] Group 1: Transition to Digital Deposit Model - The e-CNY will transition from a "digital cash" equivalent to an account-based "digital deposit money" system, aligning with M1, which includes cash plus demand deposits [3] - This transition will make the digital yuan interest-bearing, allowing wallet balances to function as liabilities of commercial banks under the oversight of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) [3][6] - Starting January 1, 2026, the digital yuan will officially become interest-bearing, which is expected to drive greater adoption [6] Group 2: Adoption and Integration - Despite being in the testing phase for over five years, the digital yuan has onboarded millions of users across public and private sectors [2] - By mid-2024, transaction volumes for the e-CNY reached over 7 trillion yuan (approximately $986 billion), primarily driven by retail and domestic use cases [4] - The new operational model emphasizes full-scale integration in retail, government services, and international trade, moving beyond trial programs [4] Group 3: Infrastructure and Regulatory Enhancements - The PBOC's new action plan enhances the e-CNY infrastructure by adding reserves, security, and improved management to facilitate broader adoption [6] - The system will maintain compatibility with distributed ledger technologies while ensuring core monetary functions such as serving as a unit of account, store of value, and medium for cross-border payments [7]

The European Central Bank has confirmed that it will begin allowing blockchain-based transactions to settle in central bank money in 2026, as political attention increasingly shifts to the unresolved privacy questions surrounding the proposed digital euro. In a statement released Friday, ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone said the institution is preparing to make distributed ledger technology settlements possible within its existing monetary infrastructure next year. At the same time, he said th ...

European Central Bank officials said Thursday the institution is ready to roll out a digital euro after completing technical and preparatory work, confirming at this year’s final press conference that a review of the project is underway, with the European Council and the European Parliament participating. “We have done our work, we have carried the water, but it's now for the European Council and certainly later on for the European Parliament to identify whether the Commission proposal is satisfactory, how ...