Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) – Germany’s largest federal bank – is poised to offer digital asset custody services and has teamed up with the crypto exchange Bitpanda. The main goal is to meet the increasing demand for digital asset management among institutional and corporate clients and it is scheduled for release in the latter half of...Read More
The encrypted Ethereum layer 2 network, TEN (aka The Encrypted Network), has announced the completion of a $9 million funding round led by the banking consortium R3. TEN is a layer 2 rollup platform targeting encryption, MEV prevention, scalability, and gas efficiency. It’s said to offer “a balance between Optimistic-based L2s and ZK-Rollups.” Using encryption,...Read More
Worrying developments at New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) have several Bitcoin investors anticipating a renewed U.S. banking crisis – which could bring money crashing back into the digital currency. The bank’s stock is down 41% over the past month, including a 28% plunge on Friday. Trading for $3.55 at writing time, it has now reached...Read More
A digital Euro CBDC will be “designed for making payments, not for investment,” explained Ulrich Bindseil, Jürgen Schaaf, and Executive Board member Piero Cipollone in a blog post on Feb. 19. They added that many banks worry their customers might withdraw deposits to hold digital Euros instead. “These fears are misplaced,” they stated. The ECB...Read More
The interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs among financial institutions such as banks and brokerages is surging as they push for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to change the definition of crypto assets. Under the new definition, they would have a bigger role in crypto, such as being Bitcoin ETF custodians. Banks Petition SEC for...Read More
Multinational financial services giant Citibank announced on Wednesday that it is experimenting with tokenized securities on the blockchain to bolster the adoption of distributed ledger technology on Wall Street. Based on the results of the “simulation,” the bank will determine whether it plans to offer related blockchain-based services in the coming weeks. Citibank Onboards The...Read More
One of the largest banking groups in Germany intends to launch crypto trading services for interested customers this year. According to a Bloomberg report, the cooperative financial group, comprising more than 700 local banks, a central bank, specialized service providers, and institutions, plans to enter the project’s pilot phase soon. DZ Bank to Lead Crypto...Read More
The Europen Union is developing rules and regulations that could be equivalent to a defacto ban on Bitcoin by 2025. Moreover, the European Central Bank (ECB) is spearheading the effort with support from two other major banks. On Jan. 31, Bitcoin environmentalist and venture capitalist Daniel Batten reported that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS)...Read More
British multinational bank Standard Chartered projects Bitcoin (BTC) to reach $200,000 by the end of 2025 – more than a 300% climb from where it trades today. The bank argued in a Monday research note that Bitcoin spot ETFs – which are expected to receive “imminent” approval – may absorb $50 billion to $100 billion...Read More
A recent move was the introduction of the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, another bill aiming to curtail the use of cryptocurrencies in America. On Dec. 11. the bill gained five new Senators as cosponsors, including, unsurprisingly, three members of the Banking Committee. Crypto advocate Evan Van Ness posted a list of Senators he claimed...Read More
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon attacked Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on Wednesday, suggesting that they’re only useful for criminals and may as well be banned. “If I were the government, I’d close it down,” Dimon said of the crypto industry during remarks on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Bitcoin, Banks, and Crime Dimon was one among...Read More
The global division of Spanish financial institution Banco Santander – Santander Private Banking International – has reportedly introduced a new feature that enables customers with Swiss accounts to engage in the investment and trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Given Banco Santander’s extensive history of more than 160 years and its broad customer base...Read More
Bitcoin (BTC)’s price will reach $150,000 by 2025 thanks to the upcoming “halving” and spot ETF approvals, wrote Bernstein in a Monday report. Analysts for the $691 billion asset manager’s crypto unit have modeled the asset’s future price based on its marginal production cost for miners, which they argue “acts as the price floor for...Read More
Commerzbank AG – the fourth largest bank in Germany – has received its Crypto Custody License after unveiling plans to break into digital asset safekeeping almost two years ago. This makes Commerzbank the first full-service bank in Germany to receive the license. Commerzbank Enters Crypto Custody Per a press release on Wednesday, the bank’s new...Read More
MicroStrategy’s Executive Chairman Michael Saylor spoke with CNBC on Thursday about the future of regulation and corporate adoption for Bitcoin (BTC), shortly after his company announced a $5.3 million BTC purchase last month. While the billionaire maintained that “you can never have too much Bitcoin,” he also claimed that “big banks” will be necessary for...Read More
A new pilot program launched by the BIS, Eurosystem, De Nederlandsche Bank, and the Deutsche Bundesbank this month aims to give them surveillance over international flows of crypto assets. Project Atlas is a proof-of-concept that aims to combine data from crypto exchanges with on-chain data. This will be available on a single analytics platform “for...Read More
Researchers at Standard Chartered Bank recently claimed that Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, could rise to 500% of its current price by the year 2026. The bank’s bullish prediction follows a similarly optimistic forecast for Bitcoin (BTC), which it claimed could reach $120,000 before 2025. Why ETH Could Skyrocket Per a research...Read More
The move appears to be a part of a wider push to offer digital assets to institutional clients. The tokens represent a claim against the bank and are processed on a private blockchain owned and managed by Citigroup. Clients can access the service through existing bank systems, according to reports on Sept. 18. Global head...Read More
Big Three credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded numerous regional banks in the United States due to weak earnings last quarter and sizable unrealized losses, according to the firm’s Monday note. Meanwhile, banking giants including Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N), US Bancorp (USB.N), State Street (STT.N) and Truist Financial (TFC.N) have been placed on...Read More
Esther Freeman – a 70-year-old Israeli resident who turned a $3,000 BTC investment into over $320,000 in 2021 – has terminated the legal battle with Bank Hapoalim. The latter was unwilling to accept her crypto profits, casting doubts on the source of the funds she used to hop on the Bitcoin bandwagon. Her investment is...Read More
According to recent research by CoinGecko, two-thirds of the 30 biggest global banks by assets under management (AUM) support crypto trading through regulated exchanges. Furthermore, around 74% of the top 50 banks worldwide support crypto trading by connecting to regulated exchanges, the report added. “However, none support retail crypto trading or on-ramping from respective native...Read More
Well-known crypto critic, Senator Elizabeth Warren, won support from Washington-based banking advocacy group, the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), for newly introduced bipartisan legislation that seeks to regulate the crypto industry and eliminate loopholes for illicit activity. Its support has been viewed as a peculiar move because both Warren and the Wall Street banks have hardly...Read More
Societe Generale’s crypto arm – SG Forge – announced acquiring a regulatory license approval as Digital Asset Service Provider from the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF). With it, SG Forge has become the first company to receive a license from France’s financial regulator as a digital asset provider. The DASP license represents the highest level...Read More
The largest banking institution in Russia by assets value – Sberbank – will reportedly enable private investors to buy and sell digital currencies in the following weeks. The entity jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago, attempting to launch several cryptocurrency projects. For one, it sought approval to issue its own digital currency and...Read More
Following Monday’s announcement of lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance, firms both inside and outside of the crypto industry have started polarizing. The civil lawsuit filed against Binance – which the SEC claims is the real beneficiary of Binance.US – has not yet begun. However, companies with exposure to the situation have started taking steps to...Read More
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the largest bank in Australia, announced a temporary decline in “certain” payments to cryptocurrency exchanges as part of newly introduced measures to battle scams in the country. According to an official release, the CBA will decline or hold crypto payments for 24 hours or more. As part of the scam...Read More
One of two crypto-friendly banks that provided much-needed liquidity for the industry – both of which went bankrupt earlier this year – Silvergate Bank, has been ordered to present a concrete plan for the voluntary liquidation they agreed to within the next ten days. Liquidation to Happen ASAP Silvergate first announced plans for voluntary liquidation...Read More
The American boutique investment bank Cowen Inc. is closing its crypto asset unit. It has become the latest financial institution to shy away from digital assets amid a darkening regulatory environment. “Today will be the last day for the team here at Cowen Digital,” the bank stated, according to a May 31 report by Bloomberg....Read More
Binance is reportedly examining a proposal to offer its institutional clients the option to secure their collateral outside the crypto exchange in a bid to reduce counterparty risk. The move comes amidst growing calls from institutional digital-asset traders for a much-needed change after FTX’s dramatic collapse late last year that led to significant losses. Reducing...Read More
Following increased regulatory action from the SEC and other local and global watchdogs, members of the crypto community have been worrying about the industry’s future relationship with the banking sector. Pivot to Europe in The Cards The restlessness surrounding future crypto regulation was amplified following the collapse of both Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, both...Read More
