Theoretical research into a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the U.S. has found that distributed ledger architecture has “downsides.” The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Digital Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published their findings of their initial research into a CBDC on Feb 3. The research project, dubbed “Project Hamilton,” tested a “hypothetical general purpose CBDC” using two potential models. The first one processed transactions through “ordering server” distributed ledger technology (DLT), which organized the validated transactions into blocks to create an ordered transaction history. The researchers were able to use this architecture to …

A new report indicates that the blockchain industry is set for astronomical growth in the next decade, with the North American market leading the way. The report by Fortune Business Insights, titled “Blockchain Market Analysis Research Report, 2021-2028,” mentions that the global blockchain market size is expected to reach a whopping $104.19 billion by 2028, exhibiting at a CAGR of 55.8% across the forecast period. The presence of major industry players such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, AWS, Digital Asset Holdings and others in the North American market is expected to have a significant impact during the forecast period. For comparison, …

Flushing Financial Corporation, the parent company behind New York-based Flushing Bank has partnered with crypto firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) to offer Bitcoin (BTC) services to its customers. The bank was founded in 1929 and according to its Q4 report it held more than $8 billion worth of assets at the end of 2021, with a net income of around $200 million. According to an announcement, the partnership with NYDIG will enable the bank to offer its customers BTC buying, selling and holding services in a “safe and secure environment.” Flushing Bank stated that it aims to launch …

On Sunday, Hayden Adams, CEO and founder of popular decentralized exchange, or DEX, Uniswap (UNI), claimed that his JP Morgan Chase bank accounts were shut down with no explanation. In addition, Adams stated that the incident was personal in nature as he knew "many individuals and companies who have been similarly targeted simply for working in the crypto industry." This week @jpmorgan @Chase closed my bank accounts with no notice or explanation ‍ I know many individuals and companies who have been similarly targeted simply for working in the crypto industry Thanks for making it a personal — hayden.eth (@haydenzadams) …

The year 2022 is here, and banks and the traditional banking system remain alive despite decades of threatening predictions made by crypto enthusiasts. The only endgame that happened— a new Ethereum 2.0 roadmap that Vitalik Buterin posted at the end of last year. Even though with this roadmap the crypto industry would change for the better, 2021 showed us that crypto didn't destroy or damage the central banks just like traditional banking didn't kill crypto. Why? To be fair, the fight between the two was equivalently brutal on both sides. Many crypto enthusiasts were screaming about the coming apocalypse of …

Brenda Gentry, a former USAA mortgage underwriter from Texas, believes that the cryptocurrency ecosystem offers a fighting chance to overcome the generational curse of poverty. Gentry, a.k.a. MsCryptoMom, left her decade-long job as a banker to pursue a full-time crypto career as her initial investments from early 2020 confirmed the “unprecedented opportunities offered by crypto.” She currently runs Gentry Media Productions, a firm that advises decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) projects — generating up to 20 ether (ETH) each month, nearly $50,000 at the time of writing. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Gentry recollected the moment she first bought crypto: …

On Thursday, Metaco, an enterprise cryptocurrency platform for securing, trading, issuing, and managing digital assets, announced the addition of UnionBank as its latest client. Founded in 1982, UnionBank is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, with a collective $15 billion in assets under management. UnionBank will be also be deploying its digital asset management services on the IBM Cloud, which are fully integrated with Metaco's solutions. Through the integration, UnionBank will be able to improve the insurability of assets with FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certified controls for managing and migrating keys. FIPS 140-2 is the highest level of …

Founded by BitMEX Group CEO Alexander Höptner and CFO Stephan Lutz, BXM Operations AG announced today its plans to acquire Bankhaus von der Heydt, one of the oldest banks in Europe, to create a regulated crypto one-stop-shop in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Dietrich von Boetticher, the owner of the German bank, and BXM have already signed a purchase agreement. However, it still requires the approval of BaFin, the German financial services regulatory authority. The purchase is expected to be complete by mid-2022. According to the announcement, the company’s objective is to expand its operations in Europe. Following the launch of …

TCS Group, the owner of the major private Russian bank Tinkoff, is gaining exposure to digital assets. The firm has invested in Swiss digital asset service provider Aximetria, which is set to become the company’s first major crypto-related outfit, local news agency The Bell reported Wednesday. Citing data from Aximetria, the report suggests that TCS purchased 4,449 Aximetria shares worth 100 Swiss francs ($108) per share. Given that Aximetria’s total share capital was about 535,000 francs ($578,000), the publication reported TCS’ stake to be around 83.2%. A spokesperson for Tinkoff confirmed the news to Cointelegraph, stating that Aximetria will be …

Seba Bank, a Swiss-based digital assets banking platform regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, announced on Wednesday that it had completed a successful Series C funding round of 110 million Swiss franc, or $119 million U.S. dollars. Notable investors in the round included cryptocurrency exchange FTX, quantitative digital currency trading firm Alameda Research, decentralized finance asset management firm DeFi Technologies, and venture capital entities such as Altive, Ordway Selections and Summer Capital. The bank said it plans to use the funds to fuel international growth and drive demand from institutional investors in the digital assets industry. Seba has …

Indian financial services giant Axis Bank issued a financial contract between two domestic businesses by using a government-backed blockchain platform called Secured Logistics Document Exchange (SLDE). SLDE was developed and released on Jul. 28, 2021, by India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry to serve as a digital document exchange platform that uses blockchain-based security protocols for data security and authentication. According to the official announcement, Axis issued a letter of credit, a financial contract that guarantees payment upon conditions, between Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India and Lalit Pipes & Pipes Ltd. With SLDE, the Indian ministry aims to improve transparency …

Sun Hung Kai, one of the largest property developers in Hong Kong, continues betting on the cryptocurrency industry by investing in Swiss crypto outfit Sygnum. Sygnum officially announced Thursday that it closed a $90 million Series B round led by Sun Hung Kai, a real estate giant and alternative investment firm in Hong Kong. According to Sun Hung Kai’s group executive chairman Lee Seng Huang, the company has a strategic vision to expand its fund management offerings into digital assets. “Amidst growing institutional demand and regulatory oversight of this sector, Sygnum, with its track record as a fully-regulated digital asset …