Woutr

⚠️China is shifting its reserves away from US Treasuries and toward gold: China's Treasury holdings have declined nearly -$500 billion, or -41%, since 2020, to $618 billion, their lowest level since 2008. At the same time, the country's gold reserves have surged +20%, or nearly 400 tonnes. Since 2015 alone, China's gold reserves have more than doubled, to a record 2,387 tonnes, or ~7% of its official foreign reserves. This makes it the 5th-largest gold reserve holder globally. China is actively diversifying its reserves and moving away from dollar-denominated assets.

🇪🇺BREAKING: ECB launches “Digital Euro” for banks as Pontes begins tokenized finance pilot. President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde announces The ECB is launching Pontes today, a platform that will connect private blockchain networks with the TARGET system, allowing banks to settle tokenized assets directly in central bank money. “It's digital euro made available for banks,” the ECB says, allowing institutions to transact using tokenized assets and DLT “faster, without friction," she  adds. Pontes is the first step toward the ECB’s broader Appia ecosystem for tokenized financial markets, while consumer-facing digital euro testing is planned for mid-2027.