Author: Bloomberg
Bitcoin dropped back below $40,000, erasing most of the gains yesterday that were sparked by optimism about U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order to put more focus on the crypto sector. The largest cryptocurrency declined as much as 5.9% to $39,432 on Thursday, falling for the first time in three days. Ether dropped as much as 4.4% to $2,589. Most of the top cryptocurrencies were down at least slightly in the past 24 hours to 1:15 p.m. Hong Kong time, according to pricing from CoinGecko. Bitcoin jumped as much as 11% on Wednesday amid optimism about the trajectory of U.S.…
State Street Corp. is partnering with London-based Copper.co to offer custodial services on cryptocurrencies for institutional customers. The Boston-based bank expects to have the infrastructure enabling digital wallet safekeeping services available to its institutional clients by the end this year — just one part of the firm’s expansion into crypto that included launching a dedicated digital division in June. “Today we’re talking custody, but sky’s the limit,” Nadine Chakar, head of State Street Digital, said in an interview. State Street’s licensing agreement with Copper shows how the centuries-old firm is embracing crypto, using Copper’s technology instead of repurposing the firm’s…
Cryptocurrencies face a bad rap, but they’re showing the world they have the ability to be a force for good. Bitcoin has found its calling: As Ukrainians face escalating violence at the hands of Russian forces, the world’s premier cryptocurrency has become a key way for people to bypass centralized financial systems, store wealth and raise funds amid an unfolding humanitarian disaster. With Washington leading worldwide sanctions against what it described as “Russian elites and their family members,” some have expressed concern that the supposed shady-nature of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin could allow President Vladimir Putin and friends to evade those embargoes. Senator Elizabeth Warren is among those…
Binance Holdings Ltd. is in talks over a license to operate in Dubai, further bolstering its presence in the Middle East, a person familiar with matter said. The firm is in discussions with Dubai World Trade Centre free zone for a virtual asset service provider license, the person said, declining to be identified as the matter is private. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has already received in-principle approval from Bahrain’s central bank to be a crypto-asset service provider in the kingdom. For Dubai, the move is part of efforts to attract some of the world’s biggest crypto companies. The…
DCash — the digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar used by eight island nations — resumed functioning Wednesday after being down for almost two months. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank said in a statement the DCash platform was back online after crashing Jan. 14. The glitch was due to an expiring certificate on the version of the Hyperledger Fabric that hosted the DCash ledger, officials said. The bank said it upgraded the platform and conducted “extensive testing and assurance exercises” before bringing the currency back online. The ECCB made headlines a year ago when it became the first monetary…
President Joe Biden’s effort to craft a U.S. strategy for cryptocurrencies has highlighted a big question: Should the Federal Reserve enter the fray by issuing a digital version of the national currency, as China and others have already done? Although some are urging the U.S. to act, there’s really no need to rush that decision. The digital-currency technology required to safeguard Americans’ privacy will take years to develop. Meanwhile, policy makers can do a lot to improve the payment system by other means. So far, the main opposition to a U.S. digital currency has come from the banking industry. Some argue that each additional…
The Biden administration’s long-awaited executive order for government agencies to take a closer look at issues surrounding the crypto market is being celebrated by industry participants despite it lacking a clear path on possible regulation. “The executive order is quite vague. They still talk a lot about the need to keep restrictions on this asset class,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., said. “However, it is still the kind of signal that the Washington, D.C., establishment is becoming more comfortable with cryptos and that is bullish.” Bitcoin rallied as much as 11% on Wednesday. Ether, the second-largest…
Crypto exchange Bullish is eyeing a public debut in the second quarter after regulatory delays kept the company backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li from merging with a special purpose acquisition company and listings shares at the end of last year. Bullish extended the March deadline for its $9 billion tie-up with Far Peak Acquisition Corp. to May on Tuesday as the agreement still awaits approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal is among a slew of crypto firms merging with SPACs that have been slowed down by regulatory reviews, including stablecoin operator Circle and Israeli crypto…
A pair of serial entrepreneurs in Austria has bought the rights to defunct music platform LimeWire with plans to revamp its image for the internet’s next generation by selling nonfungible tokens attached to music, content and artworks. LimeWire, one of the earliest iterations of web-based music consumption with a reputation as a haven for illegal downloads, ended in controversy in 2010 after a judge shut down the business over inducing copyright infringement, which was then followed by a $105 million out-of-court settlement between major record companies and LimeWire’s then-CEO Mark Gorton. Now, brothers Paul and Julian Zehetmayr are hoping to…
Sports stadiums, buses and highway billboards across Argentina are plastered with adverts for cryptocurrency exchanges, as the nation’s economic instability fuels one of the world’s biggest booms in digital money. TV and radio hosts talk about investment options in digital coins, and a crypto exchange is currently one of the sponsors of the nation’s biggest soccer cup. Workers are increasingly getting paid in cryptocurrency to circumvent exchange controls and to protect them from currency swings and 50% inflation. Argentina has a higher proportion of employees getting paid in cryptocurrency than anywhere else, according to Deel, a payroll company that operates…