A March 18th post by BitMEX Research discusses the two approaches governments can take with regards to the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and the ramifications for the economy. Money supply In the modern economy, the money supply is largely determined by the banks’ ability and/or willingness to make loans. “From a liquidity perspective, the largest deposit-taking institutions in an economy have an almost unconstrained capability to create new loans, since the funds loaned out will automatically get placed back into their own bank as a deposit.” The only exception to this rule is “physical cash” since …

BitMEX, the world’s second largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume as of press time, believes that amid the ongoing global coronavirus crash, Bitcoin faces its biggest challenge and the opportunity to prove its potential during the global financial crisis. The 2020 coronavirus financial crash could be the biggest opportunity Bitcoin has ever seen On March 17, BitMEX’s research arm, BitMEX Research, published an analysis of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the financial markets. Titled “Inflation Is Coming,” the blog post by BitMEX Research outlines the coronavirus financial market crash as the biggest economic turmoil since the 2008 …

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is reportedly developing a regulatory sandbox for cryptocurrency companies in the country. The news was reported on March 16 by local newspaper Chronicle, citing a representative from the bank speaking at a conference on March 13. Chronicle reports that RBZ’s deputy director for financial markets and national payment systems, Josephat Mutepfa, revealed that the bank is working on a regulatory framework that would see companies involved with cryptocurrency go through a special regulatory sandbox. The sandbox will reportedly help the bank decide if a particular company can be allowed to operate independently. Speaking at …

Hostility to Bitcoin (BTC) from the global regulators is a double-edged sword that can hurt authorities if they lose their power, the Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) warned. During a panel at a Liquid meetup at Litecoin Summit on Oct. 29, Blockstream CSO Samson Mow predicted that regulatory restrictions to Bitcoin could have both favorable and unfavorable consequences for the regulators themselves. Regulators should be careful while enforcing Bitcoin regulation The panel is a part of the event hosted by BTC technology firm Blockstream and BTSE exchange in Las Vegas, BTSE’s global marketing director Lina Seiche shared on Oct. 31. …

For the entirety of cryptocurrency’s short history, Venezuela has been seen to be among the most striking example of the need for the utility. The South American country has hosted escalating political tension for years, as skyrocketing hyperinflation, electricity blackouts and shortages of vital food and medicine intensified popular discontent. Venezuelan trade volume dominates P2P markets Venezuelan peer-to-peer (P2P) markets have long been a leader in terms of volume, in part owing to widespread geo-blocking that targets Venezuelan citizens on the part of cryptocurrency exchanges. Recently, Binance announced that as of July 1, 2019, the residents of Venezuela and 28 …

EOS holders voted to reduce the annual inflation rate from 5% to 1% as of June 1, according to data on the voting platform maintained by EOS Block Producer (BP) EOS Authority. According to the poll’s description, out of the current 5% of annual EOS inflation, 4% is being accumulated in the eosio.saving account while 1% is distributed among BPs in exchange for network maintenance. About 3.6 million EOS are reportedly created and sent to this on-chain account every month, and this number increases due to compound inflation mechanisms. The original purpose of accumulating funds on the aforementioned account was …

Stablecoin project Reserve announced that it will launch a crypto-fiat payments app in Venezuela and Angola in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 12. In the same announcement, the firm revealed that it is listing its separate utility token, Reserve Rights (RSR), on major exchange Huobi Global’s token sale platform, Houbi Prime. Per the press release, the project’s stablecoin app — to be launched for Android users via Google Play “in the coming weeks” — will enable people and businesses to switch back and forth from their local fiat currency to the firm’s stablecoin, the Reserve Dollar (RSD). …

The Universal Protocol (UP) Alliance, a coalition of blockchain firms including crypto exchange Bittrex and decentralized browser Brave, will launch its own euro-pegged stablecoin in April, according to a press release on March 28. The UP’s stablecoin, dubbed the Universal Euro (UPEUR) will be pegged to the euro on a 1:1 basis and will reportedly allow customers to earn up to 8 percent interest. The Universal Euro will purportedly be available directly on digital money platform Uphold and participating exchanges, as will be accepted by crypto custodian and device providers such as BitGo and Ledger. The new stablecoin targets residents …

So is crypto actually a currency? This is open to interpretation. While some crypto startups have sought to ensure that their tokens can be used to buy something specific — whether its collectible cats or stocks — others are creating assets with a deliberately limited supply to help crypto users store value and see it appreciate over time. One example is Bitcoin Rhodium. Its commodity, XRC, has a total supply of 2.1 million tokens coded in the blockchain. Named after a rare precious metal, the new crypto asset argues that other solutions were not a tempting proposition for investors seeking …

Venezuela has automatically converted pensioners’ most recent monthly bonus into its national oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), according to a report from English-language politics blog Caracas Chronicles Dec. 12. First launched as a pre-sale in February, the controversial Petro has been in circulation as one of Venezuela’s two official currencies as of August 20: the second being a rebranded fiat currency, the Bolívar Soberano (Sovereign Bolivar, or Bs.S.), which is indexed to the Petro. According to Caracas Chronicles, pensioners’ recent government payouts Dec. 7 arrived initially in Bs.S. to pensioners’ web fiat wallets, but were automatically withdrawn and converted into …

The never ending tragedy known as the Eurozone is flirting with disaster and the unknown consequences of what would happen if Greece is ejected by brute force or leaves by sheer will from the EU. Interestingly enough, the first Bitcoin ATM has arrived in Athens just in time. 4 options The clear lesson being learned is the recipe of political and social integration before economic integration makes a terrible meal. A lot of noise and overcomplicated explanations have been put forth as to what will happen. In reality, there are four options left as to how this can play out: …

The number of Venezuelan bitcoin users has doubled and the trading volumes of Venezuelan bitcoin exchanges have increased substantially since 2014. A spokesman of bitcoin Venezuela told Panampost: “The price [of bitcoin] never fluctuates at the same rate as the devaluation of the bolívar, which lost 60 percent of its value in one month.” The country’s largest bitcoin advocacy organization stated that a significantly large portion of bitcoin buyers hold the digital currency, and they are not worried about its volatility. Instead, some are very optimistic on the value of bitcoin, and they are hoping to see a short-term increase …