Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and former United States President Donald Trump have both slammed digital currencies as a threat to the U.S. dollar. Griffin, the founder of the $38-billion hedge fund Citadel LLC, told the Economic Club of Chicago on Monday that crypto is “a jihadist call that we don’t believe in the dollar.” He expressed his dismay over the younger generation working on dollar alternatives in the crypto sector: “What a crazy concept this is, that we as a country embrace so many bright, young, talented people to come up with a replacement for our reserve currency.” “I …

International Monetary Fund, or IMF, managing director Kristalina Georgieva said more than half of all central banks in the world are exploring how to launch digital currencies. Speaking at a virtual conference hosted by Bocconi University on Oct. 5, Georgieva said the IMF was looking at central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, and digital currencies as a whole from the perspective of macroeconomic stability. She said the technology had given people the opportunity to make “seamless, and less costly” transfers, and called CBDCs the most reliable form of digital currency, given they had “backing of the state” and were generally …

This week, United States lawmakers and regulators have stolen much of the spotlight once more. The cryptocurrency-related provisions of the infrastructure bill, a tiny grain of sand in the grand scheme of the omnibus legislation, had all laser eyes glued to the fateful House of Representatives vote — which never happened. There is a sense, however, that the bill will become law sooner rather than later. We have also learned from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifying to Congress that the Fed sees no use in a China-style blanket ban on cryptocurrency, eyeing tighter regulation of stablecoins instead. The latter …

On Monday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released an official white paper exploring the potential of a retail-focused central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD). According to the document, the HKMA will seek to understand the “potential architectures and design options” from a technical and regulatory policy perspective, with the ambition of creating a dual-tier system — the first being designed for a “central bank to issue and redeem CBDC,” and the second being retail-centric for “commercial banks to distribute and circulate either rCBDC or CBDC-backed e-money.” Hong Kong debuted its investigation into CBDCs in …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is changing the way that people all over the world think about money faster than any previous financial revolution. Banks, which have monopolized the way we’ve accessed money since antiquity, are finally seeing their status being challenged. Now, it’s DeFi which is starting to provide an alternative that could turn the economic landscape on its head and democratize access to finance. This seismic shift in power away from governments and banks and towards real people is long overdue, particularly in developing nations where DeFi is already emerging as a tool for remittances and small loans. Financial inclusion …

The Nigerian Federal High Court joins the growing list of regulators across the globe to approve the rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as a legal tender. Named eNaira, the digital currency will be issued by the central bank and supported by a homegrown eNaira wallet. Nigeria’s CBDC issuance approval was revealed in a federal court hearing held on Oct. 2 led by Justice Taiwo Abayomi Taiwo, according to a report by Voice of Nigeria. The official eNaira website says that the digital version of the Nigerian naira will be made available universally, stating “anybody can hold it.” …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a set of policies for the emerging markets and developing economies to ensure financial stability amid global crypto adoption. The IMF believes in the potential of crypto assets as a tool for faster and cheaper cross-border payments, citing the dramatic increase in the value of the crypto markets despite the bearish trends from May 2021. The report attributes high returns, transaction costs and speed and reduced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards as the primary drivers for crypto adoption. To counter the resultant financial stability challenges as a result of increased trading of crypto assets, IMF …

Brazil Stock Exchange (B3), one of the world’s few exchanges trading Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds, is exploring ways to provide data inputs for the country’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Luis Kondic, managing director of listed products and data at B3, claimed that the stock exchange is considering providing oracles to bridge external data with Brazil’s projected CBDC, the digital real. The executive provided his remarks at a CBDC-related online event hosted by the Central Bank of Brazil on Thursday, Cointelegraph Brasil reported. “We are looking at it and evaluating the best ways to interact and participate in this …

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) continues investigating the development of the global central bank digital currency (CBDC), publishing a new joint report with seven central banks. Released on Thursday, BIS’ latest CBDC report refers to joint efforts with the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the United States Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank to explore a retail CBDC. The report provides an executive summary of progress made by the investigation since the October 2020 publication of a report that pointed out the common foundational principles and …

United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell believes the federal government needs to regulate the cryptocurrency market but that a blanket ban on Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets is not in the cards. Speaking in response to a question from Representative Ted Budd, Powell clarified that a China-style ban on digital assets was not something he’s considering. Budd’s question came in response to Powell raising doubts about the regulatory status of stablecoins and the central bank’s ongoing deliberations around a so-called “digital dollar.” (In Powell’s view, a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, could perform many of the functions …

Global payments giant Visa has introduced a project that aims to be a “universal adapter” of blockchains that can connect multiple cryptocurrencies, stablecoins as well as central bank digital currencies (CBDC). According to an official announcement on Thursday, Visa’s research team is working on a “Universal Payment Channel” (UPC) initiative, a blockchain interoperability hub connecting multiple blockchain networks and enabling transfers of digital assets from different protocols and wallets. “Imagine splitting the check with your friends, when everyone at the table is using a different type of money — some using a central bank digital currency [...] like Sweden’s eKrona, …

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) published an issue paper providing its perspective on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The paper outlines CBDC purposes, designs, as well as the potential benefits and associated risks. The bank will be seeking comments on the proposed paper until Dec. 6. The document focuses on a “general-purpose” CBDC that is a digital currency issued to “any individual or business that wants to use it.” “Such a ‘general-purpose’ CBDC would be closer in function to cash and better placed to fulfil the role of central bank money than a ‘wholesale’ CBDC,” RBNZ wrote. The …