Zeeshan Feroz, United Kingdom CEO of Coinbase, has argued that we need centralized entities like central banks and Facebook to support the crypto ecosystem. In an interview with CNBC published on Oct. 24, Feroz said he saw two ways for cryptocurrency to go mainstream: central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance and Facebook’s Libra. Central banks will catalyze adoption better than Silicon Valley As distinct from cryptocurrencies, a CBDC is a digital currency issued by a central bank, whose legal tender status depends on government regulation or law. CBDCs such as a digital US dollar or British pound, Feroz argued, could …

The government of the United Kingdom has stressed that is up to regulators, not the executive, to decide whether to press ahead with a proposed ban on certain crypto derivatives for retail investors. Finance Feeds reports that on Oct. 21, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen responded to a series of questions about developments in the U.K.’s approach to crypto-assets, including the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s ongoing consideration of the ban. Glen refrained from giving a determinate answer, underscoring that: “The final decision [...] is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from …

Archax, a London-based digital securities exchange, will use blockchain software firm R3’s Corda technology to manage post-trade activities. On Oct. 18, Archax announced in a press release that its post-trade processes will now run on distributed ledger technology. Archax will use a private version of Corda Enterprise within its own ecosystem. Graham Rodford, CEO of Archax, said that current post-trade processes in traditional financial markets involve many intermediaries, making them highly inefficient. Rodford said that using blockchain technology will make markets more efficient. Post-trade processes occur after a trade is complete, wherein a buyer and seller of a security approve …

Wales plans to test and subsequently launch its own cryptocurrency to boost the local Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) economy. Local news outlet Business Cloud reported on Oct. 15 that the Welsh Government awarded £100,000 from the £4 million Foundational Economy Challenge Fund to develop the system. The funding will cover both a consultation and a pilot program in North Wales. Not a new idea The idea behind the project is based on the Sardex: a mutual credit system implemented on the Italian island and region of Sardinia. Eifion Williams, the CEO of the company behind the Welsh digital currency, …

A 150-year-old English church is being sold for $1.5 million with the vendor accepting payment in Bitcoin (BTC). Vendor is willing to receive payment in Bitcoin According to a listing on Rightmove, a major British online real estate portal and property website, a vendor put an 18th-century church converted into a seven-bedroom character property up for sale and is willing to accept Bitcoin as payment. While the property unit is priced at 1.2 million British pounds ($1.5 million), the final price in Bitcoin is to be agreed and confirmed with the vendor and will depend on the market price of …

London-based decentralized communication startup New Vector has raised $8.5 million to drive adoption for Matrix, a major alternative messaging protocol. Slack rival Riot.IM The Matrix protocol, which enables secure communication via end-to-end encrypted messaging applications such as Riot.IM, an alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack, will continue scaling and growing its network with the newly raised funds, New Vector announced on Oct. 10. Investors of the New Vector’s Series A funding round included London-based European seed fund Firstminute Capital, cloud computing and Software as a service (SaaS)-focused Notion Capital and enterprise software venture firm Dawn Capital, the firm said. As …

The United Kingdom’s central bank has established provisions that Facebook’s yet-to-be-released Libra stablecoin must comply with in order to be issued in the country. The Bank of England presented its latest Financial Policy Summary and Record at a Financial Policy Committee (FPC) meeting held on Oct. 9. The document — which addresses the resilience of the U.K. financial system in general — discusses innovative developments in the payments sector, noting that Libra has the potential to become “a systemically important payment system.” Launch of new payment systems The FPC pointed out that it would require payment systems like Libra to …

Crypto wallet and debit card service company Cryptopay now offers transfers with the British pound (GBP) through the Faster Payments Scheme. Cryptopay revealed the development in a news release with Cointelegraph on Oct. 9, specifying that its United Kingdom-based users can now fund their accounts and make withdrawals with GBP, avoiding euro conversion charges. The release further explains: “Upon activation users will get their own sort code and account number, which means that the transfers will bear the account holder’s name, not Cryptopay. This is especially important as some banks may block crypto-related transactions resulting in money getting stuck with …

United Kingdom-based financial software firm Finastra has partnered with Ripple to join RippleNet, a global blockchain payments network with over 200 members. Faster integration with partners As officially announced by Ripple on Oct. 9, the new partnership will allow hundreds of Finastra’s customers to connect and transact with RippleNet to provide faster and cheaper cross-border payments. In turn, over 200 financial institutions on RippleNet will have access to Finastra’s network of banks, allowing mutual customers to access and partner with each other. Users will be able to send international payments with end-to-end tracking and monitoring of the fees, transaction time …

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a global trade association of publicly regulated exchanges, has urged the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) not to restrict cryptocurrency derivatives for retail investors. The WFE made a statement on Oct. 7 in response to the financial regulator’s consultation paper on potentially banning on crypto derivatives such as Bitcoin (BTC) futures and other crypto-related trading products, initially announced in July. The WFE proposed that the FCA develop proper consumer protection instead. Recommendations to build proper regulations The WFE offered an array of recommendations such as the implementation of standards, consideration of underlying market …

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the United Kingdom’s primary financial regulator, has seen a 74% rise in crypto-related investigations in 2019 so far. A local law firm reveals the data According to data from London-based law firm Pinsent Masons, the number of the FCA’s investigations into cryptocurrency businesses has surged from 50 cases in 2018 to 87 cases in 2019, according to a Financial Times report on Oct. 7. The outlet notes that this number includes both early stage scrutiny and extensive enforcement investigations. Crypto can benefit from increased scrutiny David Heffron, a partner at Pinsent Masons, stated that the …

United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase has reinstated GBP transfers for its United Kingdom customers, according to an official announcement on Oct. 3. Coinbase has also added full support for five new crypto assets — Basic Attention Token (BAT), 0x (ZRX), Augur (REP), Stellar (XLM) and XRP — to GBP wallets, the exchange revealed the same day. Clearbank is reportedly Coinbase’s new banking partner Coinbase had initially rolled out GBP support in 2018 after being granted an e-money license for fiat currency operations from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority. In parallel, it gained access to the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme (FPS) …