The inaugural summer of decentralized finance (DeFi) in 2020 — when millions of dollars in the form of crypto were invested into DeFi platforms — caught the attention of people around the world. And as summer 2021 proved to be another major success for DeFi, more and more people are considering taking the leap and seeing how they can get involved in the booming sector. The sums involved are not insignificant. Starting at $1 billion in February 2020, over $40 billion flowed into DeFi platforms in just one year. For those intimidated by crypto, it hasn’t helped that many DeFi …

On Wednesday, speaking at a meeting of the Exchequer Club — which is a group of senior economic and financial policy professionals headquartered in Washington, D.C. — Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered remarks on the topic of safeguarding trust in banking. In the speech, Hsu named reducing inequality, adapting to digitalization, acting on climate change and guarding against complacency as the main priorities of his office. Speaking on the regulatory challenges emerging as a result of digitization of the financial system, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) listed rising cryptocurrency-related and …

Crypto-related companies and figures have provided evidence about being de-banked by Australian financial institutions to a Senate inquiry. Crypto investment firm Aus Merchant, global remittance provider Nium and small peer-to-peer crypto brokerage platform Bitcoin Babe were speaking on a panel as part of the Senate inquiry into “Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre” on Wednesday. All three are registered with financial intelligence regulator AUSTRAC and are subject to reporting requirements; however, they all echoed similar sentiments of being de-banked without a concrete explanation as to why. Michaela Juric, the founder of the peer-to-peer trading business dubbed after her nickname …

Tim Stokely, the founder and CEO of OnlyFans has explained how banks had forced it to drop adult content from the subscription-based content platform. OnlyFans is a popular platform connecting online sex workers to subscribers, but the firm recently changed its policy to prohibit “sexually explicit conduct,” starting Oct. 1 — which has caused backlash from both creators and content connoisseurs alike. Speaking about the change of policy with the Financial Times on Aug. 24, Stokely noted that “we had no choice — the short answer is banks,” as he listed three banking giants who refused to provide services to …

Fidelity’s plan to corner the cryptocurrency market appears to be more ambitious than previously imagined, as the asset manager looks to provide more institutional pathways to digital assets. In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Christine Sandler, head of sales and marketing for Fidelity Digital Assets, said that institutional interest in crypto is growing. For most investors, the primary entry into crypto has been Bitcoin (BTC) and, to a lesser extent, Ether (ETH). Tom Jessop, who heads Fidelity Digital Assets, said the pandemic was a major motivator for investors to finally get into crypto: “What really got people off …

We’re living in a time where digital assets are moving towards mainstream adoption. From retail customers to traditional banks and financial service providers, digital assets are on the rise. Many of these assets promised to disrupt financial markets and large incumbents, and while they have received widespread attention, they haven’t quite achieved their potential. That said, large institutions are taking notice — 86% of the world’s central banks are exploring digital currencies, according to a report by the Bank for International Settlements. They recognize that despite being in a golden age of innovation, payment systems remain somewhat archaic. And so, …

JPMorgan Chase quietly opened up access to six crypto funds over the past three weeks as it looks to offer crypto exposure to a variety of clients. In the latest move, the bank’s private clients will now have access to a new Bitcoin fund created by crypto investment firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). NYDIG is owned by Stone Ridge Asset Management and the “Stone Ridge Bitcoin Strategy Fund” offers exposure to Bitcoin via futures markets. The NYDIG fund is in addition to five crypto funds that the bank opened access to last month: Grayscale Investments’ Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, …

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization and former foreign and finance minister of Nigeria, said blockchain technology could help empower unbanked and underbanked women around the world. Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Cornèr addressed the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response today, asking regulators and lawmakers how blockchain technology could help promote financial inclusion for women in the time of COVID-19 and beyond. Okonjo-Iweala, a co-chair on the panel, was the only one out of several members including representatives from the United States and Singapore to speak on women …

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said it will be publishing a consultation paper aimed at banks reducing their risk of exposure to crypto. According to the Switzerland-based Bank of International Settlements, or BIS, the Basel Committee will publish the paper on crypto exposure this week following its decision to hold a public consultation on the matter. The announcement came during a Friday meeting, during which the committee also discussed the impact of the current pandemic on the banking system as well as any proposed policy initiatives: “While banks' exposures to cryptoassets are currently limited, the continued growth and …

Crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital is expanding its services into crypto-backed loans for institutional investors. Clients at Anchorage can now access a line of USD credit backed by Ethereum through its partnership with U.S. commercial bank BankProv. Anchorage Financing will introduce a simple way for investors to put their Ethereum holdings to work, enabling them to access USD to meet their needs without liquidating their holdings according to the announcement. The crypto custodian also offers staking services for additional yields on Ethereum The digital asset bank holds on to the ETH, using it as collateral should a client be unable …

While much of the market reels from a devastating pullback that has dragged DeFi’s closely-watched total value locked (TVL) figure down from all time highs, one protocol is shrugging off the macro weight and surging up the TVL leaderboard. Ethereum-based Convex Finance cracked one billion dollars in TVL earlier today, rising as high as $1.14 billion and briefly entering the top-20 rank by size, per DeFiLlama. 2 weeks, 3 commas. $1,000,000,000+ TVL pic.twitter.com/NDOVabZB11 — Convex Finance (@ConvexFinance) June 1, 2021 Pseudonymous Convex team lead "C2tp" told Cointelegraph in an interview that the team has been overwhelmed by the support. “We …

The financial industry has seen a rise in demand for exposure to digital — and crypto — assets in all asset classes. This has led to interest, demand and investment from institutional finance, ranging from digital asset custody to digital asset trading desks, regulatory and compliance frameworks, and audit and risk models. It is fair to say that digital assets have taken the financial services industry by storm. While the attention and investment from traditional finance in decentralized finance (DeFi) is hailed as a progressive step, there are enormous challenges and hurdles that financial services and institutions need to consider …