Cryptocurrency custody firm Fireblocks hired Varun Paul, the former head of fintech at the Bank of England, as its first director of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and market infrastructure. Source
Panama’s path to crypto adoption is stepping up a gear. Towerbank, a Panamanian financial institution with over 200 employees and 40 years of banking experience, has declared itself Bitcoin (BTC) friendly, paving the way for crypto accounts. In a series of tweets and leaks from a blockchain meetup in Panama’s capital, Panama City, the bank is opening the floodgates to the crypto community. During the blockchain meetup hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain of Panama on Thursday, representatives from Towerbank invited crypto enthusiasts to open accounts at the…
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has accelerated the development of its digital ruble in response to Western sanctions. The monetary authority now intends to pilot transactions with the new version of the national fiat in early 2023 instead of 2024, as originally planned. CBR to Launch Transactions, Smart Contracts With Digital Ruble as Early as Next Year Sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have convinced the Bank of Russia to speed up the development of the digital version of the ruble, the Russian-language edition of Forbes reported, quoting…
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has proposed to adopt a “graded approach” to launching the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). The RBI also said it is exploring the pros and cons of introducing a digital rupee in India. RBI on the Upcoming Digital Rupee Launch The Reserve Bank of India released its annual report for 2021-22 Friday. India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) is among the many topics discussed in the report. “The design of CBDC needs to be in conformity monetary policy, financial stability…
“Not only are we an investor and a builder, we also wanted to adopt these types of disruptive technology to use, especially to use inside a bank,” said Panich in an interview. “We think Compound has created a regulated instrument that’s very easy to understand: U.S. dollar in, U.S. dollar out with a fixed 4% interest rate, so institutions don’t have to worry about how to interact with crypto.” Source
The World Bank has signalled its concerns over the Central African Republic (CAR) adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal currency and says it won’t support the newly announced “Sango” crypto hub. At the end of April CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra established a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the country and adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. On May 24 he announced a plan to launch the country’s first crypto hub called “Sango”. Sango is described as the country’s first “Crypto Initiative” — a legal hub for crypto related businesses encompassing…
Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 developer StarkWare has raised a further $100 million in its latest fundraising round despite the prevailing downturn in cryptocurrency markets. StarkWare’s series D fundraising round sees the firm’s valuation up to $8 billion, marking a four-fold increase in value just six months after its Series C round in November 2021. Tech investment firm Greenoaks Capital led the latest fundraising round in addition to private equity firm Coatue, Tiger Global and other investors. StarkWare has established itself as a major player in the Ethereum layer-2 scaling space, boasting…
The governor of the Bank of England, the British central bank, says bitcoin has no intrinsic value and the cryptocurrency is not suitable as a practical means of payment. His warning came after the crypto market plunged. Andrew Bailey on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned about bitcoin and cryptocurrency on the Jobs of the Future podcast, published Monday. His warning came after the crypto market plunged, shedding close to $500 billion this month. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has fallen more than 25% over the past…
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, one of the major banking institutions in Japan, will reportedly enter the cryptocurrency custody business. The company is entering a partnership with Bitbank, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, to launch a new company that will focus on offering institutional-grade custody for digital assets and NFTs. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to Enter Digital Custody Business Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, a major financial institution in Japan, has decided to enter the cryptocurrency custody business. The company announced that it will launch a digital assets custody company in partnership with Bitbank,…
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has warned about investing in the crypto market following the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST). “We have been cautioning against crypto and look at what has happened to the crypto market now,” said Governor Shaktikanta Das. RBI’s Governor on Crypto Market and Regulation The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, discussed the crypto market downturn and the regulation of crypto assets in an interview with CNBC TV18 Monday. “We have been cautioning against…