From a price perspective, the cryptocurrency market is ending 2021 with a whimper as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other digital assets continue to trade well below their prior peaks. But the business of blockchain and crypto is heating up, as evidenced by the arrival of institutional capital and the flood of venture funding into the space. According to Nischal Shetty, CEO of India's WazirX crypto exchange, the digital asset revolution is already underway and will continue with or without your participation. Below is the concise version of the latest "Crypto Biz" newsletter, which is delivered to your inbox every …

Sber, the Russian government-backed company and the largest bank in the country, is launching a blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track the performance of major crypto companies such as Coinbase and Galaxy Digital. Sber Asset Management officially announced the news on Thursday, stating that the new ETF is linked to various blockchain and crypto industry firms, including hardware and software providers for mining and issuing crypto assets. Called “Sber — Blockchain Economy,” the fund is set to trade under the ticker SBBE and will track the eponymous index developed by Sber’s investment subsidiary SberCIB. SBBE’s portfolio will include some of …

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX is calling on banks to reach out and discuss the possibility of accepting stablecoins in exchange for a $1 million reward. In a Tuesday Twitter post, FTX said it was exploring forming relationships with banks in different regions to allow users to have “near instant and near free deposits and withdrawals” through stablecoins. The exchange floated the idea of offering a $1 million prize for the first bank in each region to accept the tokens, but hinted it would be open to giving more. How much would it cost to convince a bank to accept stablecoins? …

The state of banking and finance today presents a complex labyrinth that even seasoned bankers struggle to navigate. Despite appearances, there is a method to this madness. As Nobel Prize winners like Muhammad Yunus and Joseph Stiglitz have cautioned in the past: central banking, in particular, has morphed to keep the status quo in check. Or, in the words of Mike Maloney, an expert on monetary history and economics: It is “the biggest scam in the history of mankind.” Maloney reasons that giving a small group of unelected individuals the keys to the monetary printing press will undoubtedly rot away …

Wells Fargo has partnered with HSBC to use its blockchain tools for the settlement of bilateral foreign exchange (FX) transactions. Wells Fargo would use the HSBC-developed FX Everywhere platform for interbank FX transactions. Developed by HSBC in 2018, the blockchain settlement platform is primarily used to settle transactions between banks within the HSBC group. The latest partnership would be the first use case outside the HSBC group. The partnership would make way for settlement in U.S. dollar (USD), Canadian dollar (CAD), British pound sterling (GBP) and Euro (EUR) transactions. The official press release said that the platform would expand to …

Tascombank, one of the oldest commercial banks in Ukraine, is launching a Stellar-based pilot for Ukraine’s national fiat currency, the hryvnia. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced on Dec. 14 a private electronic hryvnia pilot launched by Tascombank and fintech company Bitt. The electronic hryvnia pilot is being implemented under the supervision of the National Bank of Ukraine and is supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT). Oleksandr Bornyakov, deputy minister of the MDT, said that the pilot project will provide a “technological basis for the issuance of electronic money” and is the “next key step to advance innovation …

German savings banks are reportedly planning to allow customers to invest in major digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) directly from checking accounts. Savings banks in German-speaking countries, also known as Sparkassen, are working on a pilot to launch an in-house cryptocurrency wallet and exchange next year, local business magazine Capital reported Dec. 13. The pilot project is subject to approval by Sparkasse committees early next year, while the banking association aims to develop related services at the beginning of 2022. An expert group from German IT service provider S-Payment is reportedly designing the concept for the project. …

Writing a book on decentralized finance is a bit like describing a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, to borrow from Winston Churchill. First, one must summarize the origins of modern decentralized finance, then the mechanics of the blockchain technology that provides the sector’s backbone, and only then do you arrive at DeFi’s infrastructure. It all should be done in 191 pages, too, including glossary, notes and index. It is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. Fortunately, the authors of DeFi and the Future of Finance — Duke University finance professor Campbell Harvey, Dragonfly Capital general …

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is reportedly in talks with Indonesia’s richest family, the Hartonos, to open a crypto exchange. As per a report published in Bloomberg, Binance Holdings Ltd. is looking to finalize a crypto venture with billionaire siblings Budi and Michael Hartonos-controlled PT Bank Central Asia (BCA), and Indonesia’s largest state-owned telecom firm PT Telkom Indonesia. The report also claimed that the BCA may enter into the partnership using a separate business entity and the terms of the partnership could vary at the time of finalization. If finalized, it would be the second crypto …

SBI Digital Asset Holdings, a fully owned subsidiary of Japanese banking giant SBI Holdings, announced a joint crypto venture with Switzerland’s SIX digital exchange (SDX). The joint venture would be set up in Singapore through a crypto issuance company and aims to become a regional liquidity hub for institutions. SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said: “This is an important step in building the necessary global infrastructure for widespread institutional adoption of digital assets. Together with SDX‘s strength in Switzerland and our planned digital exchange in Osaka, this venture will establish a powerful institutional corridor between Europe and Asia.” The partnership …

New York-based crypto exchange Gemini has announced that it will be expanding into Latin America through an upcoming partnership with Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia. The partnership will take effect Dec. 14, and will permit customers from Bancolombia to trade 4 crypto assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). A limited number of users will be able to buy crypto directly from their Bancolombia bank accounts through the Gemini exchange, which will provide crypto-specific infrastructure for exchange and custody of assets. It remains unclear whether the users will be able to withdraw the crypto holdings directly from …

Kotak, India’s leading private bank, has reportedly become the first to open its gates to the crypto community, as per a report published in Economic Times. The banking giant announced it has partnered with the leading crypto exchange WazirX, which would allow traders to use the banking services to liquidate their funds. The partnership between the two parties is being seen as a major breakthrough for the crypto community given Indian banks have frozen crypto payments and withdrawals for the past eight months. "WazirX has opened an account with Kotak which can be used to receive and pay money to …