The Central Bank of Russia announced in late December that it would be testing out its state-backed cryptocurrency within a regulatory sandbox. It appears that the tests are now over and have been completed. Russia’s Central Bank And Blockchain According to a local report, Russia’s Central Bank has completed a pilot project for the issuance...Read More
The Central Bank of Russia announced in late December that it would be testing out its state-backed cryptocurrency within a regulatory sandbox. It appears that the tests are now over and have been completed. Russia’s Central Bank And Blockchain According to a local report, Russia’s Central Bank has completed a pilot project for the issuance...Read More
The largest standalone investment bank in Latin America, Banco BTG Pactual SA, recorded an impressive 42% net income growth during last year’s fourth quarter. The bank is regarded as one of the cryptocurrency-friendly traditional banking establishments. Last year, BTG started utilizing the Ethereum and Tezos blockchain networks for security token offerings. BTG’s Net Income On...Read More
Ripple’s expansion continues with a new partnership in Egypt. The country’s national bank has recently signed a co-operation agreement to join the blockchain-based payments network RippleNet to implement remittance payments. Ripple Partners With NBE The National Bank of Egypt is the oldest and largest bank in the country. As of yesterday, the NBE is partnering...Read More
Bitcoin is yet too volatile to threaten the existence of cash, and the latter will survive, states a new report conducted by Deutsche bank. Moreover, the report claims that digital assets will help with rebalancing the global economic power. Deutsche Bank had seen better years than in 2019. The German bank had to layoff 18,000...Read More
At its first policy meeting of 2020, the Federal Reserve didn’t change much. As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee decided not to raise interest rates. The Fed will keep repo operations in overnight money markets going until April. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell did walk somewhat of a tightrope trying to explain what the...Read More
Central banks have been contemplating the idea of creating their own cryptocurrencies for a while now. China has been one of the first countries to express its intentions in this regard. The country’s CCIEE chair even stated that they will be the first to launch its central bank digital currency (CBDC). A former deputy governor...Read More
Negative rates are becoming exceedingly popular among central and local banks around the world, and the trend extends in Germany with the start of 2020. Amid this, Bitcoin’s pre-programmed inflation rate raises the question if it could serve as a full-on alternative. Simply put, having negative rates means that instead of receiving interest income on...Read More
Bitcoin went through yet another week full of volatility and considerable market movements. The cryptocurrency decreased by a total of about $400 in the past seven days. This happens just before the Chinese New Year, and history revealed that it has historically been a rather bad time for Bitcoin. However, it’s also worth noting that...Read More
Banks in Hawaii, one of the fifty states in the US, would be able to provide cryptocurrency custodial services to investors under a new bill introduced by the state’s lawmakers late last week, should it pass approval. If successful, the legislation would grant Hawaiian banks the right to hold and manage digital assets such as...Read More
A recent survey from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) confirms the emerging trend of digital currencies backed by central banks. The publication reveals that 80% of the participants have declared that they are currently working on issuing their own cryptocurrency. CBDCs: Coming From Most Banks The survey was compiled by BIS at the end...Read More
The central banks of Hong Kong and Thailand revealed today in a published report that they are a step closer to creating a joint Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to facilitate efficient payments between the two countries. The banks confirmed that the upcoming CBDC dubbed Project Inthanon-LionRock is technically feasible and will utilize the blockchain...Read More
As a response to a legal case filed by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now clarified that Bitcoin is not banned in the country. The nation’s central bank says that it has only restricted regulated financial establishments from dealing with anyone using digital assets. RBI...Read More
Some major central banks, including that of Britain, Japan, and Sweden, have reportedly come together on cooperation towards cryptocurrencies. The organizations will share their experience in a dedicated group. Major Banks Come Together To Work On Cryptocurrencies Major central banks are stepping up on the matter of cryptocurrencies. According to a Reuters report, the banks...Read More
SEBA, the Swiss start-up bank selling cryptocurrency services to clients, is planning to initiate its second-stage fundraising. Less than two years after the first one that raised 100m Swiss francs ($103 M), the bank will seek the same amount to expand its services and develop additional products. Seba Bank To Raise 100M Last year, the...Read More
While several countries and entities are starting to consider launching their own central bank digital currencies (CBDC), Australia might be on the opposite side. The nation’s Reserve bank seems to think that there’s no current need for such a product among customers, as the payment system now is stable enough. No CBDC in Australia The...Read More
The European Central Bank is considering the launch of its own CBDC, according to the bank’s President – Christine Lagarde. She indicates in a recent interview that they need to adjust to this changing world and that the bank will not interfere with any private companies in coming up with a similar digital form of...Read More
11 years ago today, Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network at approximately 18:15:05 UTC and the world hasn’t been the same since. The Bitcoin blockchain came to life on January 3, 2009, and so far, more than 600,000 blocks have been mined into existence. Nakamoto’s genesis block is special and the hardcoded block has a...Read More
Plutus is a new crypto app in the industry that has been working secretly on solving the problems in the industry and brings crypto closer to the masses without the needs of a bank. In our blockchain news today we find out more about the app. The new crypto app Plutus was founded by an...Read More
The Bank of Korea (BOK) is taking another important step towards adopting the trend for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The bank will reportedly organize a dedicated task force to build on top of the existing CBDC research and to improve it further. Bank Of Korea’s CBDC Task Force A local report from today shows...Read More
State-backed stablecoins appear to be on the rise in the last several months, and Russia is taking the next step into launching its own. The country’s central bank has reportedly started testing digital currencies backed by real assets in a regulatory sandbox. Russia Tests Digital Assets The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira...Read More
Indian banks may start turning down potential customers, because of their religion, as per a recent report. Furthermore, protesters in Hong Kong are boycotting one of the largest banks in the country, HSBC, due to the latest alleged political arrests. Naturally, among economic and financial turmoil of the kind, it’s hard not to bring Bitcoin’s...Read More
With stricter new regulations on the horizon for the crypto space around the world, Australians have found that it’s actually their traditional financial institutions that have been breaching well-established anti-money laundering rules and other industry standards this year. Westpac, one of the country’s largest banks, is now under investigation for millions of purported violations of...Read More
According to the blockchain analysis firm Ciphertrace, major U.S. banks process roughly $2 billion in digital currency transactions that go undetected every year. Ciphertrace disclosed a slew of financial institutions have not deployed the right KYC/AML infrastructure to detect unregistered cryptocurrency transfers. Also read: US to Strictly Enforce Crypto Rules Similar to FATF Guidelines All...Read More
Around half of European countries, over 20, now have 0% interest rates and a few are already in negative territory. Ukraine, which has the highest benchmark interest rate on the continent, has just reduced it again, for the fifth time this year. The race between central banks to cut rates, when there is inflation, has...Read More
China has been confronted with multiple economic and financial problems this year amidst an ongoing trade war with the United States. Authorities in Beijing have been trying to overcome the challenges with administrative measures in what has become a market economy over the years. And it’s backfiring. Inflation of the yuan just rose to its...Read More
On December 8, the U.S.-based coffee firm that uses cannabidiol (CBD) in its product, Crazy Calm, launched a promotion that aims to send $5 per order to the charity EatBCH. The founder of Crazy Calm, Matt Aaron, also detailed that the startup wanted to leverage the payment processor Shopify but the company closed their account...Read More
Deutsche Bank analysts have made some predictions regarding the future of cryptocurrency. Strategist Jim Reid explained why cryptocurrencies are inevitable and how the existing fiat money system could crumble over the next decade, leading to soaring demand for cryptocurrencies. Also read: Swiss Licensed Crypto Bank Expanding Into 9 Markets ‘The End of Fiat Money?’ –...Read More
Banking, in the traditional sense of the term, has become a financial burden for account holders in regions where the era of subzero interest rates has already set in. European nations like Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Eurozone countries have been in negative territory for some time, and banks there have started passing the burden to...Read More
The world economy is a complex system that has undergone many different phases in the past century. As strange as it may sound today, there have been times when banking crises were rare, pay was rising alongside productivity, and the U.S. dollar would buy a certain amount of pure gold. Despite its obvious successes in...Read More
