Decred (DCR) co-founder Jake Yocom-Piatt believes that the emergence of CBDCs will facilitate the growth of crony capitalism. He speculates that if successful, central banks will be able to play favorites without the need for intermediaries. At least nominally accountable In a Cointelegraph interview, Yacom-Piatt opined that the way the banking system is currently set up, if the Federal Reserve wants to provide a loan to a company or an industry, it cannot do it directly. Instead, it must first make a loan to a commercial bank, who then will lend out these funds. This creates at least some level …
Days into his term as acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks spoke with Cointelegraph on how he hopes to update legacy systems with crypto technology. Brooks came to the OCC from a role running Coinbase’s legal team only months ago, which informs a great deal of what he identifies as areas for improvement. He took charge of the OCC only seven weeks later upon the departure of Joseph Otting. Regarding the role of crypto in conversations in Washington D.C., Brooks noted a sea change. The government is curious, which may partially explain his …
Rumor has it that Chinese banks are freezing client accounts that have a history of buying and selling cryptocurrencies. According to a Chinatimes report on June 13, banks in China have clarified that they are not shutting down any legit fiat to crypto accounts. Major banks reply According to the report, China Merchants Bank, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and industrial and Commercial Bank of China all responded that: "As long as the operation is legal, the channel is legal, the virtual currency source is legal and if the web page also supports the bank …
David Weild IV, who is known as the father of the JOBS Act, believes that the issuance of the digital dollar is imminent and that the U.S. government should hurry up with it. In addition to garnishing bipartisan support for one of key legislations of the Obama era, Wield served as vice-chairman of NASDAQ, and currently manages his own decentralized investment bank that helps crypto and blockchain companies raise capital. China is unpredictable Weild does not believe that the digital yuan will generate a lot of demand outside of China because of the restrictive nature of its political system. Meanwhile, …
Treasury Prime aspires to bring U.S. banks out of the stone age by providing automation through APIs. It appears that they internally use rudimentary blockchain technology to handle their compliance efforts. Time travel The company focuses on connecting fintechs and banks “the most comprehensive banking API ever”. Treasury Prime CEO Chris Dean told Cointelgraph that U.S. banks are way behind the curve, technologically speaking: “The interesting thing here is that in the U.S., the banking system is 50 years behind. And all we're trying to do is really move that up 20 or 30 years.” The company serves several cryptocurrency …
Around 4,000 Chinese bank accounts of cryptocurrency traders have reportedly been frozen by local law enforcement. According to a report Monday by 8BTC, police froze the bank accounts of thousands of over-the-counter traders from the Chinese province of Guangdong. This purportedly comes as part of a wider investigation into illegal activities such as gambling and money laundering, which 8BTC states have been commonly facilitated by crypto OTC trading with the stablecoin Tether (USDT). Per the report, authorities started freezing the bank accounts on Thursday. One retail investor reportedly found his bank account frozen after buying cryptocurrency on a major, credible …
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) remains committed to piloting a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the bank’s first deputy governor has said. Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari made the comment during a virtual stakeholder workshop on payment systems and services, according to a report from GhanaWeb on June 8. This spring, the central bank established a Fintech and Innovation Office to foster development in the local industry, and has in recent years adapted its organizational structure to respond to major changes in the payments sector. Notwithstanding these approaches to encouraging electronic cash transactions, Opoku-Afari emphasized that the bank’s specific CBDC pilot plans …
South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank has announced a new consortium with a local law firm and a blockchain laboratory to jointly develop digital asset-based financial services. According to the Korea Herald on June 10, the bank signed a memorandum of understanding with law firm Bae, Kim and Lee, and blockchain developer, Hexlant. The consortium intends to research and develop cryptocurrency exchanges. Crypto exchanges permitted The move follows the passing of a bill by the South Korean National Assembly in March, which focused on the introduction of a permit system for cryptocurrency exchanges. To maintain a permit, exchanges will have to …
China Zheshang Bank, a national commercial bank, used blockchain technology to issue an asset-backed commercial paper, or ABCP. It was issued as a part of the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors’s (NAFMII) pilot project for ABCPs. An asset-backed commercial paper is a short-term investment issued by financial institutions to help companies meet short-term goals. Dubbed “Lianxin 2020 Lianjie First Phase Asset-backed Commercial Paper,” the period of the Lianxin ABCP is six months and the span of the next issuance is yet to be specified. An official of the NAFMII noted that the use of blockchain technology would provide …
Decentralized finance, commonly referred to as DeFi, has grabbed the attention of mainstream financial and technology audiences alike. While the sector has been applauded for bringing about innovative digital finance solutions from lending to payments, progress has been overshadowed by high profile security breaches. Adhering to these security guidelines will ensure that DeFi solutions will be better equipped to offer users a more instant, safe and secure network than traditional banking services. New DeFi market opportunities overshadowed by security threats When governments enforced lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the mainstream financial and banking system buckled under the …
JPMorgan would have to move to Wyoming to protect itself from million-dollar Bitcoin (BTC), one blockchain advocate has warned. Speaking on financial news show the Keiser Report on June 6, Caitlin Long, who’s been appointed to the Wyoming blockchain committee, argued that the state was now far ahead of New York on Bitcoin support. Long: $1M BTC will spark lawsuits In the future, she told host Max Keiser, Bitcoin may cost $1 million, which will bring new forms of legal problems for owners and financial institutions. “There are people now finally starting to put leads on Bitcoin because Bitcoin is …
The business of cryptocurrency custody is getting more competitive and lucrative by the day. The most recent announcement has come from Switzerland, where local family-owned bank Maerki Baumann announced on May 29 that it had expanded its cryptocurrency services through the introduction of crypto custody and trading. The private bank first announced its crypto initiatives in 2019 by extending business account services to blockchain companies. Thanks to regulatory approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Maerki Baumann will initially offer trading and custody services on five major cryptos including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The bank’s announcement …