This Week in Web3: Blockchain Succeeds Where Crypto Can’t

People and businesses tend to think of crypto in one of two ways. The first is that crypto and blockchain more broadly are transforming technologies that will reshape the financial and payments sectors. This view tends to be held by people and businesses that believe in crypto.

The second view is that crypto and blockchain are mostly scams, that regulators should crack down on the sector, and that the technology serves no useful purpose.

The digital asset industry has been around for over a decade, but those two central questions swirling around the sector’s real-world utility and scalability remain unanswered — with both sides still shoring up their arguments and sharpening their key points.

Each week PYMNTS rounds up the most pressing crypto and Web3 news, updates and announcements for readers, tracking the key data points along the sector’s journey toward (or failure) making meaningful and sustainable headway across global payments and commerce. 

See also: From Transaction to Transformation: Blockchain’s Loyalty Proposition

Just Don’t Call It Crypto

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday (Sept. 17) that as the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase may be one of the biggest users of blockchain technology.

However, Dimon said that blockchain is just a good way to share data and continues to maintain a skeptical attitude toward cryptocurrencies. “We’ve been talking about blockchain for 12 years, not much has happened — it ain’t like AI [artificial intelligence],” Dimon said.

PYMNTS reported Sept. 11 that JPMorgan Chase is aiming to use its blockchain services to boost its corporate banking market share in Switzerland.

The news comes as Japan is reportedly considering whether to loosen its rules for the crypto industry. The nation’s consideration is being driven in part by a growing number of Japanese firms that are exploring blockchain-related initiatives. The Japanese firms include Sony, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Toyota Motor and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is the country’s biggest bank, per the report.

Elsewhere, efforts regulate the cryptocurrency sector by India’s government have not hurt its population’s adoption of digital currencies. In fact, the country now leads the world on the 2024 “Global Adoption Index” from blockchain research firm Chainalysis. 

Crypto Payments and Blockchain Currencies

If Australia creates a digital currency, it will likely be the wholesale, not retail, variety. That’s according to a report issued Wednesday (Sept. 18) by the country’s central bank, arguing that “a clear public interest case” for issuing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia has yet to be found. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) did note that its assessment could change as the costs and benefits are better understood.

The central bank’s latest report comes on the heels of new research this week showing that 134 countries are exploring CBDCs. Those countries make up 98% of the global economy, according to findings by think tank Atlantic Council.

The newest data shows that all G20 countries are exploring CBDCs, with 44 countries piloting the digital currencies, compared to 36 nations in 2023. The think tank’s report shows that three countries have launched CDBCs (the Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria), while two countries explored digital currencies before canceling them: Ecuador and Senegal.

On the private sector side of things, Visa and Singapore-based digital payments solutions provider dtcpay have partnered to help consumers and businesses convert digital currencies into fiat and make digital payments. By integrating dtcpay’s digital payments capabilities with Visa’s global payments network, this collaboration will enable access to 130 million merchants in more than 200 countries and territories, the companies said Wednesday.

Crypto in the Courts

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced a settlement with audit firm Prager Metis that includes charges related to the firm’s audits of FTX. In one action, the SEC alleged that Prager Metis issued two audit reports for FTX between February 2021 and April 2022 that falsely misrepresented that the audits complied with generally accepted auditing standards.

At the same time, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly wants a new trial, arguing a federal judge hamstrung his defense. Bankman-Fried, 32, was found guilty last year of masterminding an elaborate, multibillion-dollar fraud at FTX — which declared bankruptcy in 2022 — and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

And elsewhere, cryptocurrency trading platform eToro has agreed to pay a $1.5 million government settlement, the SEC announced Sept. 12. The settlement stems from charges that eToro’s platform operated an unregistered broker and clearing agency, facilitating the buying and selling of certain crypto assets as securities.

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