Blockchain platform Maecenas has announced today, June 7, that it will hold the “world’s first cryptocurrency art auction”, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph. The platform will be selling fractional ownership of Andy Warhol’s 14 Small Electric Chairs – worth $5.6 mln – at crypto-friendly UK fine art gallery Dadiani Syndicate on June 20. The sale of 49 percent ownership interest in the painting, which is part of Warhol’s 1980 Reversal series, will allow buyers to purchase digital certificates of partial ownership on the Maecenas blockchain platform using their ART token as well as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum …

Raj Kundra, a British businessman and spouse of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, was questioned by Indian law enforcement (ED) in connection with Amit Bhardwaj’s alleged cryptocurrency ponzi scheme, Quartz India reports Wednesday, June 6. Amit Bhardwaj and his brother, Vivek Bhardwaj had been arrested in India on April 4 on the charges of scamming about 8,000 investors out of around $300 mln through their GainBitcoin investment scheme. The platform guaranteed 10 percent monthly returns, a claim not realized by investors, and issued its own MCAP token in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that is considered fraudulent due to the company’s …

Representatives from multiple central banks discussed whether or not cryptocurrency could spell the end of fiat currencies during the Money20/20 conference in Amsterdam today, June 5. During a panel talk titled “Cryptocurrency, the Central (Bank) Question”, representatives from the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Lithuania, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada took turns responding to the question “Can cryptocurrencies spell the end of fiat currencies?”. Bank of Canada executive James Chapman stated that cryptocurrencies are only a threat to fiat currencies in a “situation of hyperinflation”. Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board at …

Visa has said that their card payments are experiencing disruptions across Britain and Europe, the BBC reports today, June 1. Visa, which handles over 150 mln transactions a day, tweeted about the service disruption, noting that they will keep updating as they resolve the situation: We are currently experiencing a service disruption which is preventing some Visa transactions in Europe from being processed. We are investigating the cause and working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation. We will keep you updated. — Visa UK (@VisaUK) June 1, 2018 In comparison, the Bitcoin’s (BTC) decentralized network has been functional …

The Bank of England has issued a May 2018 staff working paper, which suggests that the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could pose a competition threat to commercial banks. Currently, the conventional - and profitable - business model of commercial banks relies on a plentiful and cheap supply of retail deposits, i.e. the storage of individuals’ and corporations’ cash holdings in their current and savings accounts. This underpins commercial banks’ net interest margin (NIM) profitability, but the paper warns that this situation could come under threat with CBDCs. The paper engages with the “radical idea” that the public …

A Scottish hospital is treating people who are addicted to trading cryptocurrencies in the UK’s first ever ‘crypto clinic,’ the Evening Standard reported today, May 28. Castle Craig Hospital in Peeblesshire, the Scottish Borders, has created a course of residential treatment for those it deems to be crypto addicts. Experts told the Evening Standard that crypto trading can become a form of behavioural addiction, with traders obsessively glued to “minute-by-minute” market fluctuations. The devised treatment program is therefore closer to existing methods for treating gambling addictions, rather than to substance abuse programs. Chris Burn, a gambling therapist at Castle Craig …

UK authorities have opened 24 investigations into cryptocurrency businesses over financial regulatory compliance, local media outlet CityWire reported May 25. Responding to a freedom of information request, regulator the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also confirmed it had opened seven whistleblower reports since the start of the year. While the FCA did not mention which specific businesses were on its radar, a response to CityWire stated that the investigations were being made in order to “determine whether they might be carrying on regulated activities that require FCA authorisation.” Addressing possible consequences of its own investigation, the FCA meanwhile appeared to …

A UK mosque has broken with opinion and opted to accept cryptocurrency donations for this year’s Ramadan period, local media report this week. The Shacklewell Lane Mosque in Dalston, East London, also known as Masjid Ramadan, partnered with local Blockchain startup Combo Innovation to set up a Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet for the Ramadan practice of Zakat, or almsgiving. The UK’s only Turkish-owned mosque, Shacklewell Lane is going against the rulings of various Islamic scholars and the Turkish government, who previously determined cryptocurrency to be “incompatible” with Islam. Interpretations are far from unanimous, however, with other sources suggesting cryptocurrency is …

On May 18, the Bank of England released a staff working paper, laying out various scenarios of possible risks and financial stability issues of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The paper constructs three models of CBDC depending on the sectors that have access to CBDC, from a narrow CBDC where access is limited to banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), to direct and indirect access extended to households and non-financial firms. The Financial Institutions Access model is limited to banks and NBFIs, where financial institutions can interact directly with the central bank to purchase and sell CBDC in exchange for …

UK trading platform LMAX has announced its entrance into the cryptocurrency market, launching an exchange targeting institutional investors, Financial Times reports today, May 21. LMAX, which has offered fiat currency trading since its inception in 2010, plans to cement the legitimacy of the cryptocurrency arena as institutional interest continues to grow. “We are furthering the legitimization of the crypto currency [sic] market by offering institutions a platform on which to acquire, trade and hold crypto currencies securely with high quality, deep liquidity,” CEO David Mercer said in a statement quoted by various media outlets. “The rise of institutional trading of …

The former head of Visa in the UK and Ireland has joined a startup bringing crypto to consumer payments, Business Insider NL reports today, May 19. Marc O’Brien, who worked for Visa between 2008 and 2014, has recently joined crypto consumer payment startup Crypterium, which aims to make it possible to spend crypto in everyday situations, Business Insider reports. Speaking on the importance of crypto adoption as a medium of exchange, O’Brien told Business Insider: “The idea is that cryptocurrency is actually quite difficult today to use as an everyday method of payment. If you were to go to an …

The Transport Minister of Malta has announced a partnership with UK middleware blockchain startup Omnitude to improve the Maltese Public Transport Service, local news outlet The Malta Independent reported May 17. Malta has expressed the aim of becoming the “Blockchain island,” a goal helped by major crypto exchange Binance – the world’s second largest crypto exchange by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap – announcing plans this March to open an office in the country. In April, OKEx, currently the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, also announced their intention of expanding to Malta. Malta’s Transport Minister Ian Borg said …