HSBC, one of the largest European banks with total assets of $2.4 trillion, announced its intention to buy a virtual plot of LAND within The Sandbox for an undisclosed amount. The new partners will develop opportunities for users to engage with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts, according to the statement by The Sandbox. Delighted to announce we’ve partnered with @HSBC, one of the world’s largest international banking & financial services providers! Bringing a host of opportunities to engage with global financial services & sports communities in The Sandbox Metaverse.https://t.co/GmQ3lrVmnB — The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) March 16, 2022 The banking giant will …

Despite the financial volatility that has engulfed the global economic landscape over the last month or so, there seems to be no stopping the growth of the cryptocurrency market, especially the nonfungible token (NFT) sector. This growth is highlighted by the fact that crypto’s total market capitalization has increased from around $800 billion to $1.8 trillion since the start of 2021. Furthermore, a report from NonFungible.com released late last month reveals that sales associated with the NFT market ballooned to hit an all-time high of $17.6 billion during 2021, representing an increase of 21,000% from 2020. The report further suggests …

Alex Kriete, Co-Head of Digital Assets at Citi, announced his resignation from the banking giant after 11 years at the firm on March 10 via LinkedIn. He stated in his post that he intends to devote himself full-time to developing a new cryptocurrency company but provided no additional details at the time. Kriete co-led the Digital Assets Group with Greg Girasole for less than a year since the unit launched in June, 2021. Girasole also announced his departure via LinkedIn and, together him and Kriete plan to start their own blockchain-related venture. The two said they will share more details …

A council formed by traditional finance conglomerates American Express, Discover, Visa and Mastercard welcomes a decentralized finance (DeFi) banking firm to its participating organizations that help improve payment data security worldwide. Scallop, a regulated DeFi banking app recently announced its entry to the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global community with a goal to improve payment data security worldwide. According to the DeFi firm, it will be working with the PCI SSC by assisting in the ongoing development and adoption of the PCI Security Standards. Lance Johnson, PCI SSC Executive Director says that Scallop is doing its part …

With crypto being in the sights of many regulators, many have wondered if regulation is good or bad for crypto. However, Christian Borel, Senior Executive Officer at SEBA Bank, says that if the laws are clear, it may push crypto adoption forward. In a Cointelegraph interview, the banking executive mentions that institutions are likely to adopt crypto following the advent of clear regulations. Additionally, the presence of “regulated counterparties” within the banking industry creates a secure and trusted way for institutions and their stakeholders to have access to the crypto sector. “I expect to see a considerable acceleration in engagement …

Digital asset institution Sygnum Bank has announced a collaborative partnership with highly-accredited Swiss-born artistic sculptor, David Pflugi to issue 6,000 Art Security Tokens, or ASTs, via his new project, Victory Works. Orientated around the final of three international competitions: 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa; 2014 FIFA World Cup hosted by Brazil; and the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia, the artwork immortalizes the achievements of legendary players such as Oliver Kahn, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, and Zinédine Zidane, among others, with the display of their written signature. With an estimated collective valuation of CHF 6 million, equivalent …

Digital asset lending platform Celsius has become the first pool delegate from the centralized finance market to deploy a crypto-centric lending service on Maple Finance, utilizing the latter’s smart contract and blockchain infrastructure to facilitate a $30 million pool to institutional investors. Celsius succeeds existing pool delegates BlockTower, Orthogonal Trading, Maven 11 and Alameda Research in partnering with Maple on such an endeavor. The introduction of wrapped Ether (wETH) is set to complement the existing accessibility to trade Circle’s native stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), enabling investors to utilize the asset across an array of trading components, including staking, lending and …

The Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon has announced a partnership with blockchain-data platform Chainalysis to help track and analyze cryptocurrency products. BNY Mellon is the world’s largest custodian bank, currently overseeing $46.7 trillion in assets. Chainalysis is a blockchain-data analysis platform that offers services to traditional financial institutions, allowing large firms to manage the legal risks that come with cryptocurrency more easily. As part of the partnership, BNY will utilize Chainalysis software to track, record and make use of the data surrounding crypto assets. The risk management software offered by Chainalysis includes KYT (Know Your Transaction), Reactor, and Kryptos, …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

What are the key areas where blockchain is adding value to the RegTech ecosystem? Financial regulators and service providers are looking for the best and most cost-effective solutions to help the banks and other financial institutions comply with the rules and do business in a compliant regulatory environment. As blockchain is already disrupting the conventional ways of doing businesses, thanks to its benefits in terms of enhanced transparency, faster procedures, decentralized and most importantly, cost-effective nature. In essence, blockchain provides the solutions for the existing problems faced by financial institutions in terms of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer …

Morgan Stanley’s wealth management global investment office has published a report on Ethereum (ETH) arguing that the blockchain’s dominance could dwindle if strong market competition emerges. The investment banking giant’s report is titled “Cryptocurrency 201: What Is Ethereum?” and it provides a detailed rundown of the ecosystem along with its advantages and disadvantages in relation to Bitcoin (BTC). “Due in part to its more ambitious addressable market, Ethereum faces more competitive threats, scalability issues, and complexity challenges than Bitcoin. Furthermore, Ether is more volatile than Bitcoin,” the report reads. Morgan Stanley argued that Ethereum may lose smart contract superiority to …

The Super Bowl advertisements by crypto companies including Coinbase, FTX, and several others ruled the social media and news headlines for their out-of-the-box approach. However, The United States Senate Banking Committee chief Sherrod Brown was not impressed and blasted the ad-makers for not including appropriate warnings and risks involved. Brown, during the Tuesday Senate hearing on stablecoins, brought in the topic of popular crypto advertisements that aired during the Super Bowl. He said most of these ads failed to tell people about the downsides of investing in cryptocurrencies. The companies failed to mention the wild price swings and prevalent scams …