Month: June 2023

ECB official labels crypto as ‘deleterious’ with ‘no societal benefits’ in scathing speech

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Fabio Panetta, an executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), has suggested a dark future for cryptocurrencies, in which the digital assets may be used for little more than gambling among investors. In written remarks for a panel at the Bank for International Settlements Annual Conference on June 23, Panetta said crypto’s perception among investors as a “robust store of value” began to dissipate in late 2021 and into 2022, when the total market capitalization fell by more than $1 trillion. According to the ECB official, the “highly…

The race for a Bitcoin spot ETF, Wall Street’s new crypto exchange, and other news

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The bid for the first Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States is gaining traction following BlackRock’s recent application, with both former applicants and new players seeking permission from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list a crypto ETF. Although it’s unclear whether the SEC will finally allow a Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock’s initiative appears to have “breathed new life into the race” amid the ongoing crackdown on the crypto industry. Other headline news includes Wall Street titans backing a newly launched crypto exchange despite the…

JPMorgan Enables Euro Blockchain Payments With JPM Coin

American investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co has enabled Euro-denominated payments via the JPM Coin, the native currency for their blockchain. Thus expanding the use of one of the projects known to promote the application of blockchain technology in traditional banking.  According to a Bloomberg report today, Basak Toprak, JPMorgan’s Head of Coin Systems for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, confirmed that activation of the JPM Coin for Euro payments occurred on Wednesday, June 21. He further stated that German Corporation Siemens AG conducted the first Euro-denominated transaction with…

Wirex may suffer card outage in EEA due to UAB PayrNet licensing issue

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Debit cards offered through crypto payment service Wirex may stop functioning in the European Economic Area (EEA), according to a June 23 email the company sent to some of its customers. The threat of stoppage was triggered by Lithuania’s central bank revoking the license of UAB PayrNet, Wirex’s card provider. This news comes after Wirex’s competitor, Cryptopay, also announced that its cards may stop working in the region due to the same issue. June 22 email sent to Wirex customers. Source: Wirex Wirex is a multi-currency crypto payment app that…

Brazilian Central Bank Adds Local Exchange Mercado Bitcoin in CBDC Pilot Including Mastercard

“We are pleased to be part of the consortium selected to join the Real Digital pilot in Brazil. Mastercard continues to engage in a series of partnerships to build trust and compliance in the digital assets ecosystem, while also solving real-world problems,” Walter Pimenta, executive vice president of Products and Engineering at Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean, told CryptoX in a statement. Source AddsBankBitcoinBrazilianCBDCCentralExchangeIncludingLocalMastercardMercadoPilot CryptoX Portal

Etherscan launches AI-powered Code Reader: Finance Redefined

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Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week. The past week in DeFi was filled with artificial intelligence (AI)-centered developments on Etherscan, Polygon’s latest security update and on-chain sleuth ZachXBT’s ongoing lawsuit supported by multiple crypto personalities. Etherscan launched an AI-powered code reader to retrieve and interpret the source code of specific contracts, while the Polygon co-founder proposed a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) upgrade to improve the protocol’s security.…

Volatility Shares Trust aims for listing of leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF

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A company behind providing cryptocurrency-linked and other exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for listing shares of a leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF. Volatility Shares Trust filed Form 8-A with the SEC on June 23, suggesting that the firm was preparing to launch an investment vehicle the regulator could consider a class of securities under its purview. The registration statement listed the Volatility Shares “2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF” under the ticker symbol BITX, which would offer leveraged exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) corresponding to…

Bitcoin price data suggests bulls will succeed in holding $30K as support this time

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Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading above $31,000 after its 24.3% rally between June 15 and June 23, which caught many off guard. For bears, that meant facing $165 million in short futures contract liquidations, but the unexpected rally also brought some degree of discomfort for investors using Bitcoin derivatives. Inflation remains the biggest question mark for traditional markets, a point highlighted by the recent 50-basis-point interest rate increase by the Bank of England, followed by similar moves in Norway and Switzerland, leading to the highest cost of capital in over…