Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has announced he will repeal emergency powers used to freeze $8 million from 210 bank accounts connected to Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ protestors, according to CBC news. On Feb. 24, Trudeau stated in a televised press conference that “we’re ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency” and said that his special powers granted by the Emergencies Act would end. He added: “We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe.” Today, after careful consideration, we’re ending the use of the Emergencies Act. Existing laws and …

It might seem unlikely that BlockFi founder and CEO Zac Prince would describe a prosecution that resulted in a $100-million fine for his company as “a win not only for BlockFi but for the broader cryptocurrency industry,” but that is indeed what he said. And, he might be right, although it remains to be seen for now. The settlement Founded in 2017, BlockFi is a New Jersey-based crypto financial institution with a team of 850 and one million clients worldwide. Its popular BlockFi Interest Account product, with half a million users, including 407,000 in the United States, was the object …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

On Feb. 9, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index, a key measure capturing the change in how much Americans pay for goods and services, has increased by 7.5% compared to the same time last year, marking the greatest year-on-year rise since 1982. In 2019, before the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the indicator stood at 1.8%. Such a sharp rise in inflation makes more and more people consider the old question: Could Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, become a hedge asset for high-inflation times? What’s up with the inflation spike? Ironically, the fundamental …

International oil and gas giant ConocoPhilips is dipping its toes into Bitcoin (BTC) mining as a way to eliminate the wasteful practice of flaring. According to a report from CNBC, the company is currently operating a pilot scheme in the oil-rich region of Bakken, North Dakota. Instead of burning excess gas, a byproduct of oil-drilling known as flaring, the company is selling it to a third party Bitcoin miner to be used as fuel. Speaking on the environmental impacts of “routine flaring”, a representative from the company stated that the decision to move into Bitcoin mining reflected the company’s overarching …

Ripple’s court battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has recently seen new developments that, according to some observers, could foreshadow an impending resolution of this massively consequential case. Feb. 17 marks the deadline for Ripple to unseal a series of 2012 documents whose contents will likely sway the opinions of both the court and the public toward either one side or another. In another plot twist, the court’s decision to treat some of the SEC’s documents as open to discovery could set a groundbreaking precedent for similar cases involving U.S. executive agencies. Here is where things stand …

The world recently got a sneak peek at what a digital dollar, or at least one component of a hypothetical United States central bank digital currency (CBDC), might look like, courtesy of Project Hamilton, a collaborative effort of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. The results of the project’s first phase were originally expected last summer but were released on Feb. 3. The project, announced in 2020, is named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury secretary, and Margaret Hamilton, an MIT staffer who contributed to NASA’s Apollo program. Researchers developed two …

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, or Boston Fed, has selected economist Susan M. Collins, University of Michigan provost, to serve as its new president and chief executive officer. The seat has become vacant in September 2021, when the then-president Eric Rosengren expedited his retirement amid a controversy around his securities trading while in office. Collins, who is Jamaican-American, will become the first Black woman in the Fed’s history to lead a Federal Reserve Bank. She will assume office on July 1. The Boston Fed is one of 12 regional branches of the Federal Reserve. Along with the Fed’s Board …

New York resident Heather Morgan, 31, claims to be many things: “a serial entrepreneur, prolific writer, irreverent comedic rapper, and investor in B2B software companies with high growth potential.” But her LinkedIn bio doesn’t mention anything about her alleged capability to help launder hacked cryptocurrency. Yesterday morning, FBI agents arrested Morgan — or was it her rapper alter-ego Razzlekhan?— and her husband Ilya Lichtenstein for allegedly conspiring to launder crypto connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack that saw 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC) drained from the crypto exchange. The pair have strongly proclaimed their innocence during a New York court appearance on …

Every global event or major political crisis these days can trigger a digital asset-related conversation. As China welcomes the world’s top athletes to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, showing off ultra-high-tech facilities and sports infrastructure, some United States politicians have raised concerns over the Games’ potential to act as a booster to the digital yuan’s adoption. In neighboring Myanmar, the military government that had overthrown the nation’s elected leadership a year ago is now looking into launching its own digital currency, not to project economic influence but to improve the domestic payments system and the struggling economy more broadly. Below …

XRP price rose by nearly 30% in less than a week amid positive sentiment around the court case, in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims that Ripple sold XRP as illegal securities. SEC vs. Ripple Judge Analisa Torres has granted Ripple permission to respond to the SEC's Memorandum of Law in support of Motion to Strike fair notice defense, according to court documents. Additionally, Judge Torres also ordered to unseal three documents concerning the SEC vs. Ripple case, including Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse's email thread and deposition notice and founder Chris Larsen's email string. Markets received Judge …

Martin J. Gruenberg, the acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, named “crypto-assets” among the agency’s key priorities in 2022, alongside addressing financial risks associated with climate change and promoting amendments to major federal statutes relevant to FDIC’s jurisdiction. A Feb. 7 statement outlines five key areas that the agency deems most important for its mission of maintaining public confidence in the U.S. financial system. Number four on the list is evaluating “crypto-asset risks.” Acknowledging the rapid pace with which digital asset-based products are becoming part of the financial landscape, the statement emphasizes systemic risks that this …