Blockchain innovation is surging throughout Southeast Asia, as the region is home to a number of fintech firms and global crypto companies. In particular, Singapore has become one of the world’s most crypto-friendly countries. This was recently highlighted in a report conducted by crypto exchange Gemini, which found that 67% of 4,348 respondents currently own crypto. The report further noted that Ether (ETH) is the most popular cryptocurrency in the region, with 78% of surveyors claiming to own the digital asset. Interestingly enough, the Ethereum blockchain may also be the network of choice for financial institutions based in Southeast Asia. …

Bitso, a major Latin American cryptocurrency exchange, is collaborating with the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin operator Circle to launch a new cross-border payment tool between Mexico and the United States. The company announced on Thursday that the integration with payment solutions from Circle aims to provide Mexican people with a new option to send and receive payments to or from the U.S. Called Bitso Shift, the new tool uses cryptocurrency to enable low-cost and instant cross-border payments available 24/7, allowing users to instantly exchange between Mexican pesos and the United States dollar (USD)-backed stablecoins. The new offering intends to unlock …

In a speech published Wednesday noon, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller reiterated his skepticism for implementing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in the United States. However, Waller is not an ordinary cryptocurrency skeptic, as he cites the development of genuine private-sector payment innovations, specifically stablecoins, as the reason why CBDCs are not needed. Top Stablecoins by Market Capitalization | Source: Treasury Report on Stablecoins (Nov. 2021) Despite the positive outlook, Waller highlighted three risks surrounding stablecoins. The first of which he noted as a potential destabilizing run, where unregulated or unscrupulous issuers provide financial instruments that go …

Circle, the United States-based issuer of USD Coin (USDC), has set its sights on thriving Asian crypto markets. In a move to strengthen its presence in Asia, Circle picked Singapore to establish a regional headquarters. The company is also setting up an investment arm called Circle Ventures, according to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire’s interview with Bloomberg. The venture arm’s first investment will focus on a Japanese yen stablecoin. Allaire said the company sees substantial opportunities in the Asian markets, where he expects to see strong adoption of stablecoins in borrowing and lending markets. He added that the inflation environment and …

Stablecoins are the cornerstone of the digital asset marketplace with a market cap of over $100 billion. Governments are already putting considerable resources in being up to speed with the trends. A November 2021 report published by the United States President’s Working Group on Financial Markets details the various measures to ensure stablecoin regulation is implemented within government guidelines. A global central bank survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) shows 86% of central banks are now actively engaged in some way with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a government-backed form of a stablecoin. Of this cohort of central …

Issuers of stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) may soon be required to work under the same regulations as banks, but that seemingly doesn’t frighten the CEO of the USDC-issuer Circle. Commenting on the Biden administration’s proposal to work on a bank-like regulation for stablecoin issuers, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire took a supportive stance for the recommendation. He highlighted that proposal’s aim to regulate dollar stablecoin issuers in the United States financial system as banks at the federal level by the Federal Reserve represents significant progress for the industry’s growth. Allaire noted the current steps would upgrade the …

Tether (USDT) has gone from being a renegade cryptocurrency to becoming the industry's primary crutch during the last seven years, according to a new report. Essentially, USDT is a bridge between traditional currencies like the U.S. dollar and decentralized digital currencies operating on open blockchain networks. Independent crypto outlet Protos provided an in-depth insight into the most common stablecoin and the liquidity providers who supply it to cryptocurrency platforms. According to the report, issued USDT is primarily acquired by just two market makers. Between 2014 and October 2021, Alameda Research and Cumberland received a projected $60.3 billion in USDT, accounting …

One under the radar cryptocurrency-powered payment app that's been gaining traction across Latin America is Reserve. The platform acts as a convenient way for people to convert their local currencies, which may be undergoing high inflation levels, to the United States Dollar via the Reserve stablecoin (RSV). The network also features the Reserve Rights token (RSR), which is used for protocol governance. Since its launch in March 2021, the platform says it has seen 367,000 total signups. Meanwhile the number of weekly active users has surpassed 100,000, with most located in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. In the past 30 days, …

When Bitcoin (BTC) first launched in 2009, critics were quick to raise questions about the impact of the lack of backing on the asset. This negative view was maintained even with the abandonment of the U.S. gold standard in 1971. Although fiat currencies offer no inherent value, this thought process has been enough to deter risk-averse investors from avoiding investing in cryptos altogether and others to abstain from using it in their day-to-day transactions. While cryptocurrency is volatile, it still offers benefits from traditional fiat currencies. As a result, finding a more stable option for cryptocurrencies could prove advantageous for …

There is no doubt that the $129 billion stablecoin market is bubbling, with hundreds of different projects, each with various features and functionality. However, despite the diversity, the stablecoin market is primarily dominated by the top five projects, which make up 94% of the total market capitalization and represent 99% of stablecoin trading volume, most of which are USD-stablecoins. As a matter of fact, most of the stablecoin market revolves around the U.S. dollar, adding currency exchange risks and frictions for users who don't live in the U.S. Yet, non-USD stablecoins can play an essential role in onboarding billions of …

Singaporean central bank Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has ramped up efforts to research and develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for retail use under the Project Orchid initiative. According to MAS managing director Ravi Menon, Singapore’s retail CBDC will be developed in partnership with private entities, which “would be the digital equivalent of today’s notes and coins.” Speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival, Menon highlighted the benefits of retail CBDCs in aiding faster and secure online transactions and building an inclusive payment ecosystem. He also believes that building an in-house retail CBDC can reduce the inherent investment risks …

The word “stablecoin” may have a pleasant ring to it — isn’t it nice to have something stable in the volatile cryptoverse? — but for critics, they are nothing short of a ticking time bomb. Whether that’s true or not, the push for regulating stablecoins is gaining momentum. The United States and the European Union are getting closer to formalizing their playbooks, and given the history of financial regulation emanating from Washington and Brussels, as well as the Financial Action Task Force’s guidelines on crypto over the past few years, it’s safe to say that the rest of the world …