Japan Announces CBDC Program, Platypus Finance Loses $8.5 Million

Market Update Traditional indices are extending yesterday’s fall on the back of higher terminal rate expectations after a couple of hot economic data points this week. The $SPY (-0.91%) is holding above $400 while the $QQQ (-1.54%) has fallen just below $300. After a violent dump leading into yesterday’s close, $BTC (+3.52%) and $ETH (+3.49%) have rallied back to $24.3k and $1.69k, respectively. Liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) are outperforming today with $LDO (+15.7%), $RPL (+13.6%), and $FXS (+10.1%) all boasting double digit gains. Although alt-coins have shown impressive returns as of late, $BTC.D has risen almost 9% from last month’s lows potentially indicating fresh capital is allocating towards Bitcoin while existing capital is rotating around alt-coins within the crypto ecosystem.Japan’s central bank announced today its plans to launch a CBDC pilot program in April to test the efficacy of a digital yen. The program's two goals are to test the technical feasibility of a digital currency and to utilize the experience of existing industry leaders for expertise in designing and implementing the potential new currency. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has been experimenting with digital yen ideas over the last two years and has watched as China’s digital yuan is beginning