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Bitcoin Nears $25K as Interbank Funding Stress Indicator Surges to Highest Level Since COVID Crash
14.3.2023
Banking sector stress strengthens the case for Fed pause next week. Likely beneficiaries from the financial stress are gold and bitcoin, one observer said
Crypto Seen as Investment Opportunity in the MENA Region Says Iceberg Capital Executive Chairman
7.3.2023
While interest in digital assets has waned in some parts of the world, in the Middle East and Northern Africa adoption of crypto has been skyrocketing according to Mustafa Kheriba, the executive chairman of the asset management firm Iceberg Capital Limited. According to Kheriba, factors such...
Kenyan Forex Crisis: Central Bank Orders Financial Institutions to Ration Dollars
6.3.2023
Growing shortages of foreign exchange on the interbank market have reportedly forced the Central Bank of Kenya to ask financial institutions to ration dollar purchases by Kenyan businesses. The shortages have forced Kenyan firms to seek greenbacks on alternative markets where the exchange rate...
China-backed Blockchain Project Proposes SWIFT Alternative for Stablecoins and CBDCs
23.1.2023
The company developing China’s blockchain network wants to create a system for international settlements with stablecoins and state-issued digital currencies. The plan is to establish a platform facilitating the use of these two fiat-based digital assets in foreign trade. Company Behind...
Hong Kong Presents Digital Currency Prototype, Project Aurum
24.10.2022
Financial authorities in Hong Kong have unveiled a prototype of the Chinese autonomous territory’s own central bank digital currency called Project Aurum. The two-tier platform features a wholesale interbank and a retail e-wallet system, participants revealed. Hong Kong to Issue Retail Tokens...
SWIFT partners with Chainlink for cross-chain crypto transfer project
29.9.2022
The project will connect SWIFT's network to nearly every blockchain to allow traditional finance players access to digital and traditional assets on the one network
SWIFT Is Experimenting With Decentralized Technologies to Allow CBDC Interconnection
22.5.2022
SWIFT, the interbank payments protocol and messaging system, has announced it is working to connect the different central bank digital currency (CBDC) protocols in development today. The company has partnered with Capgemini, a digital services provider, making a series of experiments to ensure that...
Ukraine Targets Russian Politicians’ Crypto Wallets as Russian Banks Are Cut From SWIFT
28.2.2022
Ukraine is now trying to expose cryptocurrency wallets used by politicians in Moscow amid warnings that Russia may employ digital coins to circumvent sanctions. The initiative comes as western allies agree to expel some Russian banks from SWIFT, the global interbank payments system. Government...
French Central Bank Trials Digital Currency for Interbank Settlement
19.1.2021
The pilot involved the settlement on a private blockchain of around €2 million
EU Seeks to Curb Reliance on US Dollar After American Sanctions Exposed Financial Infrastructure Vulnerabilities
19.1.2021
The European Union (EU) is reportedly planning to reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar-based financial system, after American sanctions on Iran exposed the vulnerabilities of the bloc’s financial infrastructure. According to officials, who are now determined to challenge the dollar’s...
Unbanked Hong Kong Chief Carrie Lam: “I Have Piles of Cash at Home”
4.12.2020
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she is currently unbanked and keeps piles of cash stashed at her home courtesy of US sanctions. Alongside 14 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, Lam has been slapped with punitive measures that effectively cut her off from the banking system. The US government...
FSB Report Says Stablecoins Promote Financial Inclusion: Urges Regulators to Tighten Laundering Controls
18.10.2020
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) says stablecoins have the potential to enhance the efficiency of the provision of financial services. The body adds that the hybrid cryptocurrencies have the potential to bring efficiencies to payments (including cross-border payments) as well as to promote...
JPMorgan’s Blockchain Lead Is Now in Charge of Ethereum-Based Interbank Information Network
8.10.2020
JPMorgan Blockchain Lead Christine Moy has been promoted to lead the bank’s Ethereum-based Interbank Information Network (INN)
SWIFT Says Criminals Prefer Cash for Money Laundering, Not Cryptocurrency
10.9.2020
A new report by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) says cryptocurrency is seldom used for money laundering activities compared to fiat or other traditional methods. Despite the perception that crypto assets are a preferred haven for illegally acquired funds...
Ripple CEO Hits Out at Reports Claiming Firm Is Pivoting From Interbank Payments
14.8.2020
The CEO of Ripple Labs, Brad Garlinghouse, has criticized the Financial Times for saying the XRP creator plans to move away from interbank payments
85% of Italian Banks Are Exchanging Interbank Transfer Data on Corda
27.7.2020
Banks across Italy are using R3’s Corda blockchain to vastly speed up the process of double-checking transaction logs
Fed Chair Jerome Powell Discusses Leveraging an Ethereum-Based Libor Replacement
5.6.2020
The Federal Reserve’s Chair, Jerome Powell has hinted at using an Ethereum-based interest reference rate in a transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor). Powell also detailed in a letter to Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), that the Ethereum version of Libor, a software called...
Argentina’s Central Bank Trials Blockchain for New Interbank Settlement Layer
21.4.2020
The trial for a faster, more transparent clearing system involves some of the country's largest banks
ODL Will Improve People’s Attitude Towards Banks, Says Interbank’s Peruvian Emerging Technologies Head
7.11.2019
Ripple’s Swell 2019 has begun in Singapore, and the news coming from the convention seems to be exciting, to say the least. CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that RippleNet has crossed over 300 clients, almost entirely from the financial sector. The ongoing event is attended by various leaders...
JP Morgan’s Interbank Information Network Gets Five New SK Members
23.9.2019
Five South Korean banking giants have joined JP Morgan for their blockchain-based payments initiative, the Interbank Information Network (IIN). The cross-border payments initiative operates on a ‘permissioned-variant’ of the Ethereum blockchain, dubbed, Quorum, and allows IIN members...