Bitcoin Daily: Banque de France Seeks CBDC Experiment Applications; Bitget Looks To Grow In The US

The Banque de France is seeking applications “to experiment with a central bank digital currency for interbank settlements,” according to an announcement from the French central bank.

The organization said that “the aim is to explore the potentialities offered by this technology, and to identify concrete cases integrating Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC] in innovative procedures for the clearing and settlement of tokenized financial assets.”

The submission deadline for digital applications is May 15. Interviews with those who put in eligible applications will be in June of this year, while the selection of applications is set to take place the following month.

The Banque de France also noted in its announcement, “The results of these experiments will be a key element of the Banque de France’s contribution to a broader project conducted by the Eurosystem on the potential implementations of a CBDC. Indeed, any decision to create a CBDC is a matter for the Eurosystem.”

In other news, Bitget, which is based in Singapore, said it had registered as a money services business with U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) before intentions for a roll out in the United States, CoinDesk reported. The company’s stateside office is in Denver, Colorado, as cited by the outlet.

Bitget, which was started in 2018, offers institutional and retail investors digital currency trading services. The firm began as a spot exchange prior to moving into derivatives in 2019. Bitget has kept a low profile in the West, but the exchange has now started to offer services in English.

The company has also established offices in Japan as well as South Korea, and it got a license exemption from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in February to run as a virtual currency service provider up to the conclusion of August without an additional regulatory green light.