The cryptocurrency sector is the Wild Wild West in comparison to traditional finance, yet a number of banks are showing interest in digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). This year in particular has been notable for banks exploring digital assets. Most recently, JPMorgan demonstrated how DeFi can be used to improve cross-border transactions. This came shortly after BNY Mellon — America’s oldest bank — announced the launch of its Digital Asset Custody Platform, which allows select institutional clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The Clearing House, a United States banking association and payments company, stated on …

A U.S. think tank has launched a “technical sandbox” aimed at advancing the exploration of a potential United States central bank digital currency (CBDC). In an Aug. 31 Tweet from Digital Dollar Project (DDP), the organization said the new program would explore “technical and business implementation” questions revolving around a U.S. CBDC. The organization noted that the initial participants of the sandbox include crypto-firm Ripple, financial technology company Digital Asset, software platform Knox Networks and banking solutions firm EMTECH. The ‘Technical Sandbox Program' aims to give the federal government, policymakers, and the private sector a clearer understanding of how a …

The European Commission announced to remove a number of Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, aimed at hindering Russia’s capacity to carry out cross-border payments. In a joint statement released by the European Commission, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States highlighted their shared interest in defending Ukraine from the war against Russia: “We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.” While condemning the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s move to lay siege across Ukraine, the EU Commission …

The mainstream adoption of blockchain technology continues to pick up steam as stories like Microstrategy using Bitcoin (BTC) to pay bonuses for its board of directors and Topps announcing plans to release nonfungible token collectible trading cards make headlines on a almost daily basis. As more companies and organizations explore what the integration of blockchain technology can do for them, tokens that offer enterprise solutions and provide simple ways for interested parties to explore and use distributed ledger technology have seen triple-digit gains in 2021. Stellar (XLM), XRP, and XinFin Network (XDC) are three enterprise-focused cryptocurrencies that have seen their …

The price of XRP saw a 55% breakout over the past two days as the sixth-ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization has renewed its focus on the creation of a cross-border payment network that is inclusive and sustainable. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that XRP dropped to a low of $0.566 in the early hours on April 4 before a wave of trading volume helped lift its price to a high of $0.877 within the last few hours. The uptick in trading volume was sparked after Ripple posted a blog titled “Creating a More Financially Inclusive and Sustainable Future” …

As global interest in stablecoins explodes, a number of key players are pushing especially hard for more adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa. On Thursday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Africa Program published new analysis advocating more options for crypto users in sub-Saharan Africa. CSIS is a well-known Washington, DC-based think tank. The authors of the analysis, Judd Devermont and Topaz Mukulu, are extremely optimistic about the future role of crypto, specifically predicting that "Digital currencies almost certainly will become more common in general and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular." They conclude their analysis with a series of recommendations, including …