Bitcoin (BTC) adoption by governments and companies remains a dubious question and the “digital gold” thesis proposed by advocates faced harsh critics after Tesla sold 75% of its holdings in the second quarter of 2022. Larger entities buying or selling Bitcoin have always moved the needle on how close countries are to using cryptocurrencies as a store of value. Currently, the average purchase price of El Salvador’s Bitcoin holdings stands at $45,000, making it a rather unprofitable investment. Regardless of how long adoption by the large institutional holders will take, and its subsequent impact on price expectations, it is possible …

The World Bank has signaled its concerns over the Central African Republic (CAR) adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal currency and says it won’t support the newly announced “Sango” crypto hub. At the end of April, CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra established a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the country and adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. On May 24, he announced a plan to launch the country’s first crypto hub called “Sango.” Sango is described as the country’s first “crypto initiative” — a legal hub for crypto-related businesses encompassing economic policies including no corporate or income tax and the creation …

El Salvador’s historic embrace of Bitcoin (BTC) could have negative consequences on the country’s sovereign credit outlook, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analyst Jaime Reusche told Bloomberg this week that El Salvador’s Bitcoin gambit “certainly adds to the risk portfolio” of a country that has struggled with liquidity issues in the past. Under the leadership of President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador has recognized Bitcoin as legal tender and issued a state-run crypto wallet to facilitate payments, transfers and ownership. Along the way, El Salvador has amassed a treasure chest of 1,391 BTC, with President Bukele famously “buying the dip” …

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor (S&P) Global believes the country of El Salvador has severely harmed its credit rating after enacting its Bitcoin Law recognizing Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender nationwide on Sept. 7. According to a report from Reuters Thursday, El Salvador’s Bitcoin embrace exposes its economy to significant financial risks and could pose challenges for the country’s lending industry. The credit agency also believes the move could also dampen El Salvador’s chances of securing a $1-billion loan agreement it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The risks associated with the adoption of bitcoin as legal …

In a joint report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) have proposed to the G20 that a cross-border network of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), underpinned by efficient technological integration and proactive international cooperation, could be of significant benefit to the world economy. The report focuses on broadening the horizon beyond central banks’ individual studies of CBDCs for domestic needs, emphasizing that it is crucial to coordinate work at a global scale and to find common ground between various national efforts to reap the full benefits of digital currency. If tackled …

Wouter Witvoet, CEO of DeFi Technologies: “In the past, El Salvador struggled with trust in its monetary policy, so in 2001, it ‘dollarized’ its economy and effectively gave control of its monetary system to the U.S. Federal Reserve. It saw the U.S. dollar as a more stable, trustworthy currency than its own. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the U.S. has been pursuing a very experimental form of monetary policy involving tools like quantitative easing and a central bank that now directly monetizes, or purchases, government-issued debt to keep interest rates low. This is a playbook that is dictated by …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and a major financial regulator, is challenging fintech companies to pitch solutions for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. On Monday, the central bank officially announced a global challenge that seeks new retail CBDC solutions which enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion. As part of the initiative, the MAS is planning to distribute 50,000 Singapore dollars, or $37,000 USD at time of publication, to each of three challenge winners. They will also provide expert mentorship to 15 finalists in an effort t encourage rapid development of digital currency solutions. …

The World Bank has refused El Salvador’s request for help on the country’s transition to adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. It cited issues with Bitcoin’s environmental impact and transparency as reasons why it will not support El Salvador’s move to adopt Bitcoin as an officially accepted currency. “While the government did approach us for assistance on Bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support, given the environmental and transparency shortcomings,” a World Bank spokesperson said. The World Bank did note, however, that it can help El Salvador in other ways, including “currency transparency and regulatory processes.” Earlier …

When the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, were conceived back in 2012, blockchain technology was in its early days. Few could have foreseen the trajectory and the potential of blockchain for advancing these ambitious targets. But today, we see opportunities for blockchain technology to recast conventional approaches to sustainable development — and accelerate progress if deployed responsibly. Macro trends of 2020 There are a number of macro trends this year in the world of blockchain and sustainable development that provide context. This has been — and will continue to be — an important year for laying the groundwork for major …

Crypto industry leaders and law experts debated the privacy implications of central bank digital currencies, known as CBDCs, during the "Money Re-Imagined" panel as part of Consensus:Distributed on Monday. Lawrence Summers, the former United States treasury secretary and former chief economist of the World Bank, argued that the current fiat monetary system exhibits issues of too much privacy, advancing that a CBDC should seek to facilitate greater oversight capabilities. The current monetary system has "too much privacy" Summers argued that supporting the anonymous movement of multimillion-dollar sums of money should not be an objective of financial policy: “Of all of …

Financial institutions all over the world are increasingly experimenting with emerging technologies like blockchain to streamline payment systems and achieve financial inclusion. In a new study, the World Bank has once again emphasized blockchain’s potential for financial inclusion. Issued by the Bank for International Settlements on April 14,the new report from the World Bank Group on “Payment aspects of financial inclusion in the fintech era” outlines a wide number of crypto and blockchain-related concepts like stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). In the 70-page report, the bank provided a detailed overview of selected advances in technology that are considered …

India is fostering a digital future via Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Digital India” initiative: A national blockchain strategy that includes quantum computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence as digital technologies become the primary platform for economic activity and growth. The IMF and the World Bank have forecasted that India’s GDP will grow at the rate of 7%–8% for the next few years, driving a rapid rise in its hydrocarbon-fueled energy demand tied to growing urbanization, rising incomes and a steadily increasing population. Studies suggest that India’s share of total global primary energy demand is set to roughly double to around …