Author: The Financial Times
Cryptocurrencies are popular. If you aren’t a curmudgeonly old fuddy duddy you probably own a lot by now. Even I, as curmudgeonly as anyone, own a few. Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority put the number of people in the UK owning crypto at around 2.3m, and given the publicity around the various currencies it makes sense to think that number is already rather higher. Several surveys back that up. Interactive Investor research suggests that some 45 per cent of young adults (18-29) made their first ever investment in crypto. Data from Boring Money has 11 per cent of young…
Meta is working on plans to allow users to create and sell non-fungible tokens as Facebook’s parent company seeks to join the rush of companies trying to capitalise on the digital collectible craze. Teams at Facebook and Instagram are readying a feature that will allow users to display their NFTs on their social media profiles, as well as working on a prototype to help users create — or mint — the collectible tokens, according to several people familiar with the matter. Two of the people said that Meta has also discussed launching a marketplace for users to buy and sell…
Andreessen Horowitz plans to raise up to $4.5bn for a new set of cryptocurrency funds, aiming to more than double the amount it raised less than one year ago in a sign of the growing frenzy surrounding digital assets. The Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm told investors last week it planned to raise up to $3.5bn for its latest cryptocurrency venture fund and up to $1bn for a separate fund focused on seed investments in digital asset start-ups, said people briefed on the discussions. Andreessen plans to finalise the new funds by March, one of the people said. The firm…
Pyth — a crypto project built by some of the world’s largest high-speed traders — is to add a governance token to its network, in a bid to spur users to supply top-quality data to its feed of trading prices. The digital token, called PYTH, could bring its owners fees from the information they supply to the Pyth project. Pyth acts as a price feed of data from equity, conventional currency, crypto and commodity markets. The data is published on a blockchain anonymously in less than a second, and can be used for other crypto projects. Details were laid out…
A top EU financial regulator has renewed calls for a bloc-wide “ban” on the main form of bitcoin mining and sounded the alarm over the rising proportion of renewable energy devoted to crypto mining. Erik Thedéen, vice-chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, told the Financial Times that bitcoin mining had become a “national issue” for his native country Sweden and warned that cryptocurrencies posed a risk to meeting climate change goals in the Paris agreement. Thedéen said that European regulators should consider banning a mining method known as “proof of work” and instead nudge the industry towards the…
If you’re looking for sound and unbiased financial advice on investing in cryptocurrencies, then social media “influencers” should not be your first port of call. In something of an EU first, Spain moved to nip such an encounter in the bud on Monday, with its national securities market commission being given the power to regulate crypto advertising. The measures, which take effect in a month’s time, require influencers and their sponsors to pre-notify authorities of some posts and to warn of crypto’s risks or face fines. Singapore also placed new restrictions on crypto advertising on Monday. Spain’s new powers come…
Spain is imposing restrictions on influencers’ promotion of cryptocurrencies as European authorities struggle to get to grips with the unregulated sector. In an apparent first for the EU, Spain’s national securities market commission has been given the power to regulate crypto advertising. The measures, set out in the country’s official journal on Monday, take effect in a month’s time. They require influencers and their sponsors to pre-notify authorities of some posts and to warn of crypto’s risks or face fines. “We are very excited about how this will bring some order to how crypto is promoted, not just through traditional…
A top technology adviser to the judiciary has proposed the creation of a new institute of legal innovation that would spot gaps in the law thrown up by technologies such as crypto assets and AI, and promote the greater use of English law in global business contracts. Professor Richard Susskind, technology adviser to the Lord Chief Justice and a director of think-tank LegalUK, believes an independent body, along the lines of the Alan Turing Institute, which pioneers research into artificial intelligence, would highlight areas of law that had failed to keep up with innovation. The institute would also promote English…
The co-founder of N26 admits that the German online bank rushed to be global too quickly and missed out on the cryptocurrency boom, as it battles to justify its status as one of Europe’s most highly valued fintechs. The Berlin-based group, which counts Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Li Ka-shing among its backers, is one of a wave of European online lenders established over the past decade to shake up the region’s banking system. However, almost a decade since its founding, N26 is closing its US operations after exiting the UK in early 2020. While the group offers current accounts…
The UK’s crypto lobby has stepped up its influence in Westminster with the launch of a cross-party group of lawmakers, as politicians on both sides of the Atlantic intensify efforts to regulate growing digital asset markets. The Crypto and Digital Assets Group, composed of UK MPs and members of the House of Lords, will work to make sure that new rules for the digital asset industry “support innovation”, according to SNP MP Lisa Cameron, who will chair the group. The group also pledges to help tackle economic crime and consumer protection at a time when regulators have repeatedly warned about…