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Japan Urges Regulators Worldwide to Subject Crypto Exchanges to Bank-Level Oversight
19.1.2023
Japan has reportedly urged other countries, including the U.S., to regulate crypto exchanges like they do banks. A top official at the Financial Services Agency explained that the recent FTX implosion wasn’t brought on by crypto technology but by “loose governance, lax internal...
RBI Begins First Retail Digital Rupee Pilot in 13 Indian Cities With 8 Banks
30.11.2022
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is launching its first retail digital rupee pilot on Dec. 1 with the participation of eight banks. The pilot will start in four cities and then expand to cover nine more cities across India. RBI Picks 8 Banks, 13 Cities to Test Retail...
New York Fed and 9 Major Banks to Test ‘Interoperable Network of Central Bank Wholesale Digital Money’
19.11.2022
Nine major financial institutions and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have started to experiment with a digital dollar proof of concept to see if distributed ledger technology can improve settlement between central banks, commercial banks, and regulated non-banks. The New York Fed details that...
Report: 950 FTX Users in Taiwan Had Digital Funds Worth $150 Million Held on the Exchange When It Collapsed
19.11.2022
At the time of FTX’s collapse, about 950 users in Taiwan had a total of $150 million worth of digital assets stored or held at the crypto exchange, a law firm has reportedly said. FTX users in Taiwan were reportedly investing in interest-bearing digital assets using cheap funds borrowed from...
Indian Central Bank RBI Begins First Digital Rupee Pilot Today
1.11.2022
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is launching its first digital rupee pilot on Nov. 1. with the participation of nine banks. “Settlement in central bank money would reduce transaction costs by pre-empting the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or...
Spanish Exchange Bit2Me Launches API for Crypto-Keen Banks
14.10.2022
The Spanish crypto exchange player Bit2Me says that it has launched an API for banks and companies looking to get into the crypto space.
An API is an Application Programming Interface, in essence, a software-based intermediary platform that lets two applications communicate with one other....
Kenyan Central Bank Rejects Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Claims Country Lacks Forex to Import Oil
4.10.2022
The Central Bank of Kenya appeared to rebuke the country’s new deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, after it rejected the latter’s claims the East African nation lacks enough foreign exchange to import oil. According to the bank, all the foreign exchange used in private transactions...
Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller Discusses Cryptocurrency Having ‘Big Role in a Renaissance’ — ‘People Aren’t Going to Trust Central Banks’
30.9.2022
Renowned billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller says he could see cryptocurrency “having a big role in a Renaissance because people just aren’t going to trust the central banks.” He added that he will be “stunned” if the U.S. isn’t in...
Why Celsius and Voyager Were More Like Uninsured, Quasi-Banks
14.8.2022
William D. O'Connell, PhD Candidate, Political Science, the University of Toronto.______
There is a well-known saying shared by both crypto experts and skeptics: “Not your keys, not your coins.” The phrase, popularized by Bitcoin entrepreneur Andreas Antonopoulos, refers to how the contents of...
Russian Blockchain Alternative to SWIFT to Prevent Disconnection of Nations, Banks
13.7.2022
A Russian university is ready to test its blockchain-based analogue to the global payment messaging network SWIFT, from which Russian banks were cut off as part of Western sanctions. The developers say their system would not allow the disconnecting of countries and banks. Russian Developers Create...
Kazakhstan Develops New Program to Team Up Crypto Exchanges with Banks
17.6.2022
As countries across the world intensify efforts to attract crypto industry players, the authorities of Kazakhstan have launched a pilot program to encourage selected local banks to partner with licensed crypto exchanges.
In a statement, the country’s government said that the exchanges that...
Russia’s Industrial Giant Rostec Announces Blockchain-Based Alternative to SWIFT
4.6.2022
Rostec, the Russian manufacturing and technology conglomerate, has developed a system allowing the processing of international settlements and storage of digital currency. The blockchain-based platform has been announced as an alternative to SWIFT, which is unavailable for some Russian banks....
Russian Bankers Suggest Criminalizing Crypto Storage in Non-Custodial Wallets
20.4.2022
Keeping cryptocurrencies in non-custodial wallets may be criminalized in Russia, if authorities accept a proposal from the trade association representing Russian banks. While financial regulators think the idea deserves attention, lawmakers and experts doubt it’s possible to implement such...
Report: Fed’s Secret Repo Loans to Megabanks in 2020 Eclipsed 2008 Bailouts, Data Dump Shows $48 Trillion in Stealth Funding
13.4.2022
Following the controversial bank bailouts and Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008, reports show in late 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Federal Reserve participated in providing trillions of dollars in secret repo loans to megabanks. At the end of March, investigative journalists, Pam and Russ...
FDIC Asks Thousands of Banks to Disclose Crypto Plans
11.4.2022
The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has asked thousands of banks and other financial institutions it supervises to declare existing crypto activities and any plans they have to engage in crypto activities in the future. Banks to Disclose Crypto Plans to FDIC The Federal Deposit...
Report: LBMA Asks 6 Russian Gold Refiners if They Have Ties to Sanctioned Entities
7.3.2022
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said it wants six accredited Russian gold refiners to clarify if they have commercial ties with sanctioned Russian entities. The association’s request comes a few days after it revoked the membership of three sanctioned Russian banks. LBMA...
Venezuela Might Be Affected by Russian Banks’ SWIFT Suspension
2.3.2022
Analysts from Venezuela have expressed their worries about the expulsion of a number of Russian banks from SWIFT, an international messaging system that allows the interconnection of banks. These measures could affect the finances not only of Venezuela, but also of other countries in the region...
Apple Pay and Google Pay to Become Unusable with Cards from Sanctioned Russian Banks
25.2.2022
Customers of five sanctioned Russian banks will be unable to use their cards to pay with Apple Pay and Google Pay, the central Bank of Russia, said.
The banks in question include banks under the VTB Group, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, and Otkritie, per the announcement. The banks...
Apple Pay to halt support for Russian banks sanctioned on war in Ukraine
25.2.2022
Russians cashed out over $1.3 billion from banks on the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the largest amount since the onset of COVID-19
‘All Winter Olympics Merchants Now Accept Digital Yuan,’ Say Chinese Banks
29.1.2022
The Chinese central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), is gearing up for what will be the biggest week yet for its digital yuan. And while the token remains officially in its pilot phase, it will be showcased to the world next week as the Winter Olympics begin. Domestic adoption plans will...