The Bank of England (BOE) is urging UK banks to expedite their digital payment solutions as cash use declines. The BOE’s recent paper highlights the need for innovations that allow direct payments from bank accounts, bypassing credit and debit cards, to save time and costs for consumers and retailers. The British central bank is developing […]
Bank of England Pushes for Swift Digital Payment Solutions as Cash Usage Drops
The Bank of England (BOE) is urging UK banks to expedite their digital payment solutions as cash use declines. The BOE’s recent paper highlights the need for innovations that allow direct payments from bank accounts, bypassing credit and debit cards, to save time and costs for consumers and retailers. The British central bank is developing […]
Bybit Launches Digital Rupee for Secure INR Payments
The crypto exchange Bybit has introduced a digital rupee (eRupee) as a new payment method for Indian rupee transactions. The launch aims to provide a secure alternative for INR users on its platform. Bybit Aims to Enhance INR Payments With Launch of Digital Rupee Bybit, a digital currency trading platform, announced the introduction of the […]
Slovenia Launches First Digital Bond in EU Sovereign History
On July 25, 2024, Slovenia issued its first digital bond, marking a significant milestone as the first EU sovereign and one of the earliest worldwide to do so. The bond issuance occurred under the European Central Bank’s (ECB) wholesale central bank money settlement experimentation program. The settlement was executed on-chain in wholesale central bank digital […]
Vivek Ramaswamy Predicts Trump’s Crypto Advantage and Harris’ Digital Asset Policy
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, has predicted that former U.S. President Donald Trump will gain support from pro-bitcoin and pro-crypto voters while Vice President Kamala Harris will “scramble to come up with some phony ‘digital asset’ policy framework to pander to pro-crypto voters.” Trump has embraced a pro-crypto stance, pledging support at the recent […]
SBI and Franklin Templeton Collaborate to Create Digital Asset Management Firm
Japan’s SBI Holdings plans to create a new investment management company in collaboration with major U.S. asset manager Franklin Templeton by the end of the year. This joint venture will focus on managing digital assets. The new entity will be 51% owned by SBI Holdings and 49% by Franklin Templeton. This move aligns with the […]
Digital Shekel Challenge: Bank of Israel Engages 14 Teams for Digital Currency Innovation
The Bank of Israel has initiated the “Digital Shekel Challenge” to explore the potential of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) system inspired by the BIS Innovation Hub’s “Project Rosalind.†Fourteen teams from various sectors have been selected to propose innovative use cases. The challenge aims to integrate digital shekel with other payment systems and […]
Marathon Digital Ordered to Pay $138M for Contract Breach
A federal court jury in Los Angeles has awarded Michael Ho $ 138 million after finding crypto mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. guilty of breaching a Non-Disclosure/Non-Circumvention Agreement. Ho had shared proprietary information about a large-scale energy supplier with Marathon, which had agreed not to bypass him. However, Marathon circumvented Ho and engaged …
Kamala Harris Urged to Embrace Digital Assets
The Digital Chamber, a crypto advocacy group, has called on U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to support the digital asset industry with three requests. The group urged her to promote pro-digital asset language in the Democratic Party’s platform, choose a vice-presidential candidate with expertise in digital asset policy, and engage with industry leaders. Digital Chamber […]
Spot Ethereum ETFs Set to Launch: Blackrock Highlights Rising Demand for Digital Asset ETFs
Spot ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are set to debut on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, following approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced that its Ishares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) will commence trading on Nasdaq on Tuesday, featuring a one-year fee waiver of 0.12% for the first […]
Cross-Border Digital Ruble Payments May Become a Reality in 2026
Generalized international settlements using the Russian digital ruble will not be available until 2026, according to statements from Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market. Aksakov stated that in 2025, authorities plan to expand the current pilot stage to implement these transactions within Russia. Subsequently, they will generalize and test […]
Rho Markets Pauses Platform After Attacker Siphons $7.6 Million in Digital Assets
The digital asset security platform Cyvers Alerts disclosed on July 19 that Rho Markets’ liquidity layer on Scroll had been exploited after hackers took control of an oracle access control. Cyvers reported that the attacker held $ 7.6 million across multiple chains, with USDC and USDT pools among the affected assets. Shortly after detecting …
South African Exchange Luno Leverages Fireblocks’ Enterprise-Grade Digital Asset Platform
South African crypto exchange Luno has announced that it is integrating its platform with Fireblock’s enterprise-grade digital asset transfer platform. Aleks Andjelopolj suggested that leveraging Fireblocks means Luno users will experience the same immediate transaction settlement enjoyed by customers of the same bank. The Allure of Fireblocks Integration The South African cryptocurrency trading platform Luno […]
Putin Calls to ‘Seize the Moment’ to Kickstart Digital Ruble and Crypto Adoption In Russia
President Vladimir Putin declared it was time for Russia to create the environment needed to increase the adoption of digital assets and the Russian CBDC, the digital ruble, as part of the country’s economic tissue. He also reported that over 30,000 transactions have been made in the pilot test phase of the digital ruble, with […]
Digital Asset Funds Achieve Record $17.8B Inflows in 2024, Reports Coinshares
Digital asset investment products experienced significant buying activity last week, resulting in inflows of $ 1.44 billion. This brings the year-to-date total to a record $ 17.8 billion, far exceeding the 2021 figure of $ 10.6 billion, according to Coinshares. Record Inflows in Digital Asset Funds Amid Price Weakness, Report Shows This …