Russia’s central bank is reportedly set to begin developing a cross-border settlement system using its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) amid ongoing sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The plans to move forward with Russia’s digital ruble are expected to come in the first quarter of 2023 and will see Russia's central bank study two possible cross-border settlement models, according to a Jan. 9 report from local media outlet Kommersant. The first proposed model sees various countries entering into separate bilateral agreements with Russia to integrate their CBDC systems. Each agreement would be made to ensure the conversion …

The power that influencers have in affecting public perception and therefore causing alterations in the value of a product, service, asset or currency has increased to the point where they can crash or uplift entire markets with their content and takes. The Elon Effect In 2021, Elon Musk could send the price of the famous memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE) up by 50% with just a single tweet. He still has a lot of power over the crypto markets, and several people in the cryptocurrency world and traditional finance have accused Musk of manipulating the cryptocurrency market with just a few tweets. …

There is no excuse for not putting a few hours of research into how to properly custody your crypto, according to lead on-chain analyst James Check. Joining the latest debate around self-custody, the analyst pushed back against the notion that managing private keys is too complicated and risky for the average crypto user. “If you have gold in your vault, if you have cash in your wallet, it's the same concept: you need to exercise a level of responsibility,” said Check in our latest Cointelegraph interview. Check argued that, while third-party custody and semi-custodial solutions such as collaborative custody may …

At the end of January 2022, member of the Belgian parliament Christophe De Beukelaer became the first European politician to convert his salary to Bitcoin (BTC). Celebrating the anniversary of this experiment, Cointelegraph reached out to a lawmaker to know more about his experience. Back in 2022, Beukelaer, who represents Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) party, cited the example of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and how American politicians are working to make their native states or cities Bitcoin hubs to justify his decision. The Brussels MP’s monthly salary of EUR 5,500 ($6,140) was to be converted to Bitcoin using …

There’s no denying that the crypto market has been gripped by immense bearish pressure over the past year, as made evident by the fact that the total capitalization of this sector has continued to hover below the $900 billion mark for most of the year after having scaled up to an all-time high of $3 trillion in 2021. These conditions have been characterized by many companies facing insolvency, as well as many of the world’s top exchanges laying off their staff in recent months. Moreover, the recent FTX debacle has set in motion a contagion effect that has continued to …

While Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs were an afterthought to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of sound money, they are now considered one of the main pillars of Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption. However, the global Bitcoin ATM network, which used to add thousands of machines each month in 2021, recorded a net addition of just 94 Bitcoin ATMs over the past six months since July 2022. A year-long bear market in 2022 — accompanied by geopolitical tensions and global inflation — hindered various initiatives aiding the growth of the entire crypto ecosystem. As a result, efforts to install new Bitcoin ATMs dipped in many countries …

Mexico's central bank digital currency (CBDC) development is still in an initial phase, and it is unlikely to be ready for launch by 2024. According to local media reports, Mexico's central bank, known as Banxico, is currently working on legal, administrative, and technological requirements for the peso's digital version. The first of three stages for the proposed launch timeline. In December 2021, the local government announced its plan to introduce a national digital currency, noting on a Twitter post that the "new technologies and next-generation payment infrastructure" would improve Mexico's financial inclusion and project the launch for 2024. A year …

Scuderia Ferrari, the racing division of luxury carmaker Ferrari, joined the growing list of Formula One racing teams to end partnerships with their cryptocurrency sponsors. Ferrari exited its multi-year partnership deals with Velas Blockchain and chip manufacturing giant Snapdragon, resulting in a cumulative $55 million loss for the Italian team ahead of the 2023 season. The Ferrari-Velas partnership from 2021 — set at $30 million a year — was aimed at increasing fan engagement through nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and other shared initiatives. However, the team was noncompliant with the clauses that permit Velas to create NFT images, according to RacingNews365. …

The retail industry is one of the most important sectors of the United States economy. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has left the trillion-dollar retail sector vulnerable to in-store theft. Findings from the National Retail Federation’s 2022 Retail Security Survey show that retail losses from stolen goods increased to $94.5 billion in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020. Some retailers also have to lock away certain products to prevent theft, which may lead to decreased sales due to consumers’ inability to access goods. Retailers look toward blockchain to solve retail theft Given these extreme measures, many innovative retailers have started …

The creation of smart contracts and Web3 interfaces has led to an entirely new play-to-earn or nonfungible token (NFT) genre of video games. But during the 2021 crypto bull market and subsequent crash of 2022, many of the games in this niche went through incredible ups and downs in terms of player count and transaction volume. Despite this volatility, one Web3 gaming executive who spoke to Cointelegraph says that new innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) will make the genre better than it has ever been. Alex Connelly is the chief technology officer of Immutable, developer of the Gods Unchained digital …

While the 2022 bear market grazed off the excitement around the budding crypto sub-ecosystems such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse remains well-positioned for long-term disruption. Considering the myriad consumer and business-centric use cases the metaverse could cater to, a McKinsey & Company report highlights the technology’s potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030. For the Metaverse to reach its full potential, the report highlighted the need for four technology enablers — devices (AR/VR, sensors, haptics, and peripherals), interoperability and open standards, facilitating platforms and development tools. However, the success of Metaverse is weighed by a …

Cryptocurrency adoption has been on the rise in El Salvador in recent years, with the country becoming the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender. This landmark decision has attracted the attention of the global cryptocurrency community and has sparked discussions on the potential benefits and challenges of widespread adoption. El Salvador’s controversial move with its cryptocurrency adoption would not have been possible if it was not due to President Nayib Bukele, who garnered international attention after announcing the Bitcoin adoption plan and passed it into law. The legislation required all businesses within the country …