There has been much commotion about stablecoins among central bankers, regulators and lawmakers in recent years, most notably in the furor surrounding Facebook’s repeated attempts to launch variously designed stablecoins that would be native to its multiple social media platforms. Not everyone in the financial world is that perturbed though. A new speech for the Westminster eForum Policy Conference by Christina Segal-Knowles, executive director of the Bank of England's Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate, is titled “What’s Old is New Again” and aims to tone down some of the excitement and agitation surrounding the issue. Restricting her focus to stablecoins that …

Brazilian digital bank Nubank has raised $500 million from Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational holding company run by billionaire Warren Buffett. In an announcement from Nubank on Tuesday, the digital bank said the $500 million investment would be used to continue its international expansion — the company recently launched in Colombia — as well as attract new executives from major tech companies. Nubank reported it has more than 40 million customers in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Nubank CEO David Vélez said the funding would help in “democratizing access to financial services” across Latin America. He said that only half the people …

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said it will be publishing a consultation paper aimed at banks reducing their risk of exposure to crypto. According to the Switzerland-based Bank of International Settlements, or BIS, the Basel Committee will publish the paper on crypto exposure this week following its decision to hold a public consultation on the matter. The announcement came during a Friday meeting, during which the committee also discussed the impact of the current pandemic on the banking system as well as any proposed policy initiatives: “While banks' exposures to cryptoassets are currently limited, the continued growth and …

Sberbank and VTB, the two biggest banks in Russia, are not willing to move into the cryptocurrency market in the near future as their CEOs believe that crypto is either too risky or fake money. Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are probably the riskiest type of investment alongside the equity market. In a Thursday interview with local TV channel NTV, Gref claimed that a banking deposit is the best investment option as it is associated with the least amount of risk despite low returns: “A banking deposit is certainly the most reliable investment instrument. 100% …

Tinkoff, a major private bank in Russia, is struggling to offer cryptocurrency trading to its clients due to the central bank’s tough stance on digital assets. Tinkoff CEO Oliver Hughes said that the digital bank is willing to offer crypto trading services but is restrained by the Bank of Russia’s policies, CNBC reported. The executive announced the news at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday, stating: “There’s no mechanism for us to offer that product to them in Russia at the moment because the central bank has got this very tough position.” Hughes said that the bank has …

Starling, a United Kingdom-based online bank, is preparing to resume payments to cryptocurrency exchanges after suspending crypto exchange deposits last week. A spokesperson for Starling told Cointelegraph on Tuesday that the bank is set to restart payments to crypto exchanges on June 23 after temporarily suspending the feature as a measure to protect its customers. Starling blocked payments to some cryptocurrency exchanges last week, citing “high levels of suspected financial crime with payments to some cryptocurrency exchanges.” The bank said that it will reverse the measure after adopting “additional checks specifically for payments to crypto exchanges.” The spokesperson stressed that …

As cryptocurrency markets grew in the first quarter of 2021, South Korean banks saw record volumes of deposits and withdrawals to local crypto exchanges. South Korean commercial banks processed 64.2 trillion won ($57.9 billion) of transactions on real-name bank accounts linked to crypto exchanges in Q1 2021, according to data from Financial Supervisory Service acquired by Democratic Party member Kim Byung-wook. The Q1 results comprise data from lenders like Shinhan Bank, online bank K Bank and Korean NH NongHyup Bank, as well as four major local crypto exchanges including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit, local business publication The Maeil Business …

India’s central bank has issued an official notice regarding the fact that local banks are reportedly cautioning customers against using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Published Monday, the notice points out that the Reserve Bank of India is aware of media reports that certain banks have cautioned their customers against crypto by referring to the RBI’s quashed, three-year-old circular. “Such references to the above circular by banks/ regulated entities are not in order as this circular was set aside by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on March 4, 2020 in the matter of Writ Petition,” the notice reads, emphasizing that the circular …

The financial industry has seen a rise in demand for exposure to digital — and crypto — assets in all asset classes. This has led to interest, demand and investment from institutional finance, ranging from digital asset custody to digital asset trading desks, regulatory and compliance frameworks, and audit and risk models. It is fair to say that digital assets have taken the financial services industry by storm. While the attention and investment from traditional finance in decentralized finance (DeFi) is hailed as a progressive step, there are enormous challenges and hurdles that financial services and institutions need to consider …

The U.K bank with the worst record for dealing with scam complaints has issued a cryptocurrency scam alert. NatWest, which was rated as the worst U.K bank for accurately discerning legitimate fraud complaints in 2020, sent the warning to users of its mobile banking app after it reportedly received a record number of scam reports between January and March 2021. The warning made particular note of one type of scam which involves hackers installing remote access software on a victim’s computer or hardware. The trick usually sees criminals winning a victim’s trust online, either by posing as an experienced trader, …

The Bank of Canada does not see a strong reason for issuing a central bank digital currency at the moment. Timothy Lane, the Bank of Canada’s deputy governor and head of research at the bank’s fintech and crypto department, spoke on CBDC issues at a Wednesday panel, Reuters reports. According to the official, the Canadian central bank is now focused on CBDC implementations in more concrete terms, thinking about how it might work and look. However, the Bank of Canada has not found any solid case for issuing a CBDC. Lane said: “In terms of where we are with the …

Major Wall Street bank executives will appear before the United States Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to discuss the role of their financial institutions in the recovery of the American economy. Democratic lawmakers plan to grill a number of major bank execs, whose firms saw record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic while average Americans struggled to make ends meet. In prepared testimonies posted on Tuesday, CEOs at the Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo described their respective banks' responses to major challenges such as inequality, diversity, climate change, taxes, as well as how their banks handle cryptocurrencies. This year …