Waves (WAVES) continued its price rally further into this week, even as its top crypto rivals wobbled between losses and gains elsewhere in the market. A 230% Waves boom The WAVES/USD trading pair surged by nearly 75% this week to reach around $31, its best level since Oct. 28, 2021. Its rally came as a part of an upside retracement move that saw it rising by a little over 230% in three weeks. In contrast, Waves' top rival in the smart contracts sector, Ethereum, underperformed, with its native token Ether (ETH) dropping by almost 2% in the last three weeks. …

The city of Lugano, the economic capital of Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, is adopting cryptocurrencies for tax payments as part of a new collaboration with the provider of Tether (USDT) stablecoin. Tether Operations Limited, the blockchain-based platform that powers USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has signed a partnership with the administration of Lugano, according to a joint announcement on Thursday. Tether and the city administration have established a center of excellence for blockchain adoption with a goal to become a major European blockchain hub. The collaboration intends to demonstrate the real-world use cases of blockchain by applying it …

Bitcoin (BTC) has the potential to become a "good bet" for investors if the Federal Reserve does everything it can to keep the U.S. economy afloat against impending recession risks, according to popular analyst Bitcoin Jack. The independent market analyst pitted the flagship cryptocurrency, often called "digital gold" by its enthusiasts, against the prospects of further quantitative easing by the U.S. central bank, noting that the ongoing military standoff between Ukraine and Russia had choked the supply chain of essential commodities, such as oil and wheat, resulting in higher global inflation. For instance, consumer prices in Europe jumped 5.8% year-over-year …

In the event of harsh Western sanctions, Russians’ savings could be confiscated, according to Nikolai Arefiev, a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and vice-chairman of the Duma’s committee on economic policy. The Russian government can potentially seize about 60 trillion rubles ($750 billion) worth of people’s deposits should Western nations decide to block all of Russia’s foreign funds, Arefiev said in an interview with the local news agency NEWS.ru on Monday. “If all the foreign funds are blocked, the government will have no other choice but to seize all the deposits of the population, or 60 …

The internet is filled with Bitcoin (BTC) price forecasts. For example, some analysts believe that the flagship crypto will hit $1 million per coin in the next 10 years, while others think BTC price will eventually drop to zero. Without dwelling on predictions that are five or more years ahead of us, let us focus on what Bitcoin could do, say, in the next six months? Again, the forecasts vary drastically. For instance, Antoni Trenchev, the founder of Nexo Finance, sees Bitcoin price hitting $100,000 by mid-2022. On the other end of the spectrum is Sussex University professor Carol Alexander, …

During Jerome Powell’s Jan. 11 United States Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Patrick Toomey posed a question to the incumbent-and-future Federal Reserve chief: “If Congress were to authorize and the Fed were to pursue a central bank digital dollar, is there anything about that that ought to preclude a well-regulated privately-issued stablecoin from co-existing with a central bank digital dollar?” “No. Not at all,” the central banker answered — a response that surely brought some relief to the crypto community. At least the Fed wasn’t seeking to ban stablecoins. That bullet had apparently been dodged. But, Toomey raised a significant and …

Hong Kong’s central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), wants to supervise stablecoin issuance and reserves management. HKMA published a discussion paper on Jan. 12 regarding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, in which it provided its views on how the industry should be regulated in Hong Kong. In the 34-page long consultation document, the HKMA paid special attention to “payment-related stablecoins,” pointing out that the market capitalization of all stablecoins hit $150 billion in December, accounting for 5% of the entire crypto market. The regulator added that all existing stablecoins are “mostly asset-linked and predominantly pegged” to the United States dollar, …

Bitcoin (BTC) regained its bullish strength after reclaiming $50,000 last week and continued to hold the psychological level as support on Dec. 27. Meanwhile, its rival for the top safe-haven spot, the U.S. dollar, also bounced off a critical price floor, hinting that it would continue rallying through into 2022. Triangle breakout The U.S. dollar index (DXY), which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of top foreign currencies, has been trending towards the apex of a "symmetrical triangle" pattern on its daily chart. In doing so, the index has been treating the structure's lower trendline as its solid support …

Stablecoins, or crypto assets which peg their value to less volatile fiat money, are useful tools for a variety of reasons. They can be used to cash out crypto investments, send or receive stable money abroad, and to pay for everyday consumer transactions without fear of fluctuation. A recent estimate from the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS, put the total stablecoin supply at roughly $150 billion. But central banks, the issuers of traditional fiat money around the globe, do not seem to be big fans of stablecoins. A sharp increase in supply coupled with a lack of relevant regulations …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com continues expanding its crypto on-ramp and off-ramp solutions with a new partnership with the California state-chartered bank Silvergate. Crypto.com announced on Nov. 30 that it is working with Silvergate to allow institutional clients to deposit and withdraw from the exchange using the U.S. dollar (USD). According to the announcement, bank transfers to and from the Crypto.com exchange are now available for institutional investors. With the help of Silvergate, institutional clients can transfer USD between their bank accounts and Crypto.com with no fees. The new feature is enabled through the Silvergate Exchange Network, a payments platform enabling …

Former Secretary of State HIllary Clinton has said that cryptocurrency markets need stronger regulations to protect against technological manipulation by Russia, China, and others. Her comments on cryptocurrency were part of a larger segment in a Nov. 24 interview with MSNBC TV news host Rachel Maddow on the manipulation of social media platforms by certain nations. Clinton’s warning extended to “technology of all kinds” which she said states and non-state entities could use to destabilize countries and the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. She said, “There’s one other thing that’s on the horizon which people are only …

Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) like Russia’s digital ruble do not pose any threat to United States sanctions, according to U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Adeyemo argued that the U.S. dollar “will remain the dominant currency in the world” despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies. Adeyemo pointed out that digital assets provide an “opportunity in lots of ways” for the U.S. economy, but it’s also associated with many challenges like money laundering. However, there are ways to combat this in order to benefit from the growing industry, the official said: “We do think …