Author: Reuters
In a merger of buzzwords from 2021, Breakingviews is readying a new metaverse-based buy-now-pay-later digital-asset trading platform. If that’s too much to swallow, here are a few other improbable – if, sadly, not impossible – financial product innovations that could rear their heads in the coming year. First, how about combining blank-check companies with non-fungible tokens? NFTs are digital certificates that share technology with cryptocurrencies but are unique rather than interchangeable. They can be used, among other things, to authenticate ownership of digital assets. They are also all the rage, perhaps explaining why movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment, whose stock surged…
El Salvador’s government will send to Congress about twenty bills covering financial markets and investment in securities to provide a legal foundation for issuing bitcoin bonds, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Tuesday. Zelaya said the government was drawing up the legislation to create a framework to cover corresponding market regulation and issuance of securities in crypto assets after the Central American country said in November it would issue bitcoin bonds. “(This is) to provide a legal structure and legal certainty to everyone who buys the bitcoin bond,” Zelaya said in an interview on local television, without saying exactly when the…
Kosovo’s government on Tuesday introduced a ban on cryptocurrency mining in an attempt to curb electricity consumption as the country faces the worst energy crisis in a decade due to production outages. “All law enforcement agencies will stop the production of this activity in cooperation with other relevant institutions that will identify the locations where there is cryptocurrency production,” Economy and Energy Minister Artane Rizvanolli said in a statement. Due to cheap power prices in Kosovo in recent years, many young people in Kosovo have got involved in crypto mining. Faced with coal-fired power plant outages and high import prices…
Banks are gearing up to get in on the crypto craze in 2022. That sets them up to wrestle with a host of issues that differ from their core business, from murky regulation to a market that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Fights over profit and customers may also obscure other risks. The value of digital currencies outstanding has tripled to more than $2 trillion since the start of 2020. Traditional U.S. banks currently can’t trade such assets themselves, but their customers do and many bankers want in, despite skepticism from luminaries like JPMorgan (JPM.N) boss Jamie Dimon…
Bitcoin close to $70,000, “memecoins” worth billions of dollars, a blockbuster Wall Street listing and a sweeping Chinese crackdown: 2021 was the wildest yet for cryptocurrencies, even by the sector’s volatile standards. Digital assets started the year with a stampede of cash from investors large and small. And bitcoin and its kin were rarely out of the spotlight since, with the language of crypto becoming firmly entrenched in the investor lexicon. Here is a look at some of the major trends that dominated cryptocurrencies this year. 1/Bitcoin: Still no.1 The original cryptocurrency held its crown as the biggest and most…
Ferrari has signed a multi-year accord with Swiss technology firm Velas Network to create digital content for its fans, the luxury sports car maker said on Monday. From next season, Velas, a provider of digital products and services, will become a partner of Ferrari’s Formula 1 racing team. “In addition, Velas will be Title Sponsor of the Ferrari Esports Series, the online mono-brand series of the Prancing Horse, and of the Esports team that will compete in the F1 Esports Series, the official digital championship competed in by all teams participating in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship,” Ferrari said in…
Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) has fined the local unit cryptocurrency exchange Binance 8 million lira ($751,314) over violations found during liability inspections, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Saturday. Anadolu said the fine imposed on BN Teknoloji was the first of its kind after the authority took on responsibilities to oversee crypto asset service providers in May. The news agency did not provide further details about the violations or inspections. BN Teknoloji did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment at the weekend, while MASAK could not be reached for comment. Read full story on…
Thailand’s central bank said on Friday it expects to test its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the public in late 2022, later than planned, as an alternative payment option. The pilot project, previously planned for the second quarter of 2022, will evaluate the use of the CBDC in cash-like activities within a limited scale, deputy central bank director Kasidit Tansanguan told a news conference. The project will involve transactions such as deposits, withdrawals and fund transfers by financial institutions and around 10,000 users. After discussions with relevant parties and careful consideration, Thailand will proceed slowly, Kasidit said. “Thailand can…
Markets have been juggling worries over the Omicron variant of coronavirus over the past weeks, and cryptocurrencies have not been immune. As per cryptocurrency research firm CryptoCompare, total inflows into digital asset products turned negative in December’s third week. That marks the first time since mid-August. Average daily volumes also dipped from the start of the month through December 20, slipping 1.4% to $659 million. In January, they stood at $1.51 billion. However, digital products along with other risky assets have caught some Christmas cheer from the so-called “Santa Claus rally” this week. Bitcoin is up about 8% so far…
The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday it will issue a digital media photo collection via non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a first for China and a boost for the blockchain technology that underpins them and that Beijing has previously criticised. NFTs, which are digitised ownership certificates, have gained in popularity globally this year, featuring as everything from an autographed tweet to paintings. But China’s relationship with the technology behind them, which also backs cryptocurrencies, is a complex one. The issuance by the state news agency would indicate official support for NFTs, but party mouthpiece People’s Daily last month criticised them…