A spokesperson for USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied reports that it blames the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its failed $9 billion plan to go public in December. The stablecoin issuer representative was responding to a Jan. 25 Financial Times article which characterized Circle as having “blamed” the securities regulator for its “derailed” listing as a result of dragging its feet on the approval of a merger agreement. However, a Circle spokesperson clarified to Cointelegraph that was not the case and that it doesn’t hold any blame over the SEC for the termination of its …

Central banks worldwide are pushing forward with digital asset projects despite the various crypto industry implosions over the past 12 months. China has rolled out its central bank digital currency (CBDC) to several cities, and it was available for use at the Winter Olympics. Many other central banks, including the Bank of England, are considering how to roll out a CDBC, while Nigeria’s CBDC has had poor uptake so far. India has already launched a pilot scheme, while Mexico has confirmed the launch of a digital peso. However, Tony Yates, Financial Times writer and former senior advisor to the Bank …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was remanded to the notorious Fox Hill Prison in Nassau, Bahamas, pending an investigation into the collapse of his exchange, had a different experience than many other prisoners. According to the Financial Times, Bankman-Fried was held in the sickbay where he had access to a toilet, running water, a TV, local newspapers, crossword puzzles, and many other perks, including vegan food. Anonymous prison officials disclosed that the former CEO spent his days watching the news and reading articles about himself. SBF’s prison experience appears to have been very different from what many other prisoners …

The Investment Association, a trade body representing British investment managers, is speeding up the approval of blockchain-traded funds with digital tokens substituting traditional shares by local government and financial regulators. As the Financial Times reported on Thursday, the trade body is pushing the government to establish a new class of funds employing blockchain technology and create a new task force to examine how distributed ledger technology could accelerate the creation of new products and services. The reasons behind such a push, according to the Investment Association, are the possible significant cost savings for end investors and the simplification of the …

Mainstream media outlets are finally reporting on the recent rally that saw Bitcoin creep close to its all-time high — but some commentators appear to be determined to spread FUD. Two articles released within hours of each other earlier today — a Financial Times editorial titled “The elusive promise of Bitcoin,” and a Fox Business piece called “Bitcoin no match for gold in coronavirus world” — state that Bitcoin does not live up to its promise as a store of value. There appears to be coordinated media FUD aimed at #bitcoin today - 2 articles in major media. As bitcoin …

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is expanding the use of its blockchain technology to help reduce the number of global payments rejected by errors, the Financial Times reported on April 21. The United States financial giant is adding new features to its Interbank Information Network (IIN,) which is now used by more than 220 banks around the world. The technology was initially designed to help institutions share payments data in real time — cutting delays in processing times. John Hunter, JPM’s head of global clearing, said it has built a new feature that can instantly verify whether a payment is heading to …

Seven southern European Union member states have released a declaration calling for help in the promotion of Distributed Ledger Technology’s (DLT) use in the region, the Financial Times (FT) reports Dec. 4. The declaration was reportedly initiated by Malta and signed by six other member states, France, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Greece, during a meeting of EU transport ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. The participating governments explained that DLT –– one type of which is blockchain –– could be a “game changer” for southern EU economies. Namely, the document cites “education, transport, mobility, shipping, Land Registry, customs, company registry, …

The Financial Times (FT) has released a Special Report on global financial markets Monday, October 1. In the report, FT dedicated two out of six sections to the cryptocurrency industry. In their report entitled “Exchanges, Trading and Clearing,” FT names cryptocurrency alongside such phenomena as Brexit and the emergence of new markets as “some of the biggest changes” in financial markets over the past ten years. One of the two crypto-focused articles in the report, entitled “Crypto exchanges must face up to responsibilities as they mature,” provides an overview of crypto markets in comparison with traditional markets, pointing out major …

London-based Bitcoin exchange Coinfloor plans on raising funds for expansion and launch a Bitcoin exchange traded fund linked to traditional commodities. UK Bitcoin exchange platform Coinfloor announced it will start accepting deposits in USD, euros and Polish zloty starting from Tuesday, reported the Financial Times on October 19. Coinfloor banks with Poland's largest financial institution PKO Bank Polski, and has admitted that British banks weren't keen in doing business with the company due to the uncertainties surrounding Bitcoin's legitimacy in the UK. Thus, Coinfloor's announced acceptance of Polish zloties is rather a sign of the UK's skepticism regarding digital currencies. …