While the naysayers continue to wish for the so-called “Bitcoin bubble” to burst, the premium cryptocurrency continues to scale to new heights, seemingly with each passing day. For example, within the same week of Tesla announcing its foray into the crypto market, Bitcoin (BTC) proceeded to surge by almost $10,000. And even though the market subsequently faced a correction, things took a turn for the better as soon as news broke that BNY Mellon, the United States’ oldest private bank, entered the crypto fray, sending the largest digital currency by total market capitalization on an upward trajectory once again. In …

Major U.S. investment bank JPMorgan Chase will eventually have to get involved in Bitcoin (BTC), co-president Daniel Pinto believes. The executive told CNBC Friday that JPMorgan’s decision to introduce Bitcoin services would depend on the client demand to trade Bitcoin. Although the current demand is not strong enough, Pinto is confident that it could grow further: “If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved [...] The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.” Pinto’s latest remarks follow …

Bank of New York Mellon, America’s oldest bank, has announced plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as an asset manager on behalf of its clients. The impetus for the decision reportedly came from institutional investors — the top brass of BNY Mellon’s clientele — amid the 2021 bull season for the asset class. As the Wall Street Journal notes, BNY Mellon is hardly the first household name in traditional finance to embrace digital assets, the likes of Fidelity Investments have long been in the game. Yet it is the first national custody bank to commit …

Siam Commercial Bank — Thailand's oldest bank, established by royal charter back in 1907 — is cementing its reputation as a strong backer of innovative financial technologies. The institution's venture arm, SCB 10X, has today announced a new $50 million fund that will be dedicated to investments in global blockchain, decentralized finance and digital asset startups in their early and growth stages. The fund is just the latest of Siam Commercial Bank's forays into the blockchain and fintech space. The institution has previously partnered with Ripple on a blockchain-powered mobile app and worked with Azimo to use RippleNet for cross-border …

Last fall, the Bank of Korea announced it would be testing the distribution of a central bank digital currency in 2021. Preparations appear to be going ahead on multiple fronts, with the bank's publication of a new book today dedicated to the legal questions raised by the potential issuance of such a currency. According to a summary in Korean media, the book calls for revisions to the law to ensure that a future CBDC could successfully operate. The Bank of Korea has notably been using blockchain technology to manage the transactions in its 22-month long CBDC pilot program, which commenced …

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted another crypto firm a national charter. Per an announcement shared with Cointelegraph today, Washington-based institutional crypto custodian Protego is the second crypto-native firm to get national licensing from the OCC. The new charter is conditional, and Protego is authorized as a national trust bank rather than a traditional bank, meaning that it will not handle deposits. Interestingly, Protego is a relatively new firm and is still in the process of organizing. It will have 18 months to launch operations before the current charter expires. The OCC is the office of …

One of the most enduring cryptocurrency-related narratives revolves around the search of crypto’s definition as an asset class. Is Bitcoin (BTC) more of a digital currency or digital gold? Do its unique properties warrant viewing it as something completely distinct from the established categories of financial instruments? A recently published report by JPMorgan Chase’s strategists has sparked yet another round of such debates. The conclusions that the report presents are at odds with the “Bitcoin as a safe-haven asset” trope that has become somewhat conventional wisdom lately. The authors contend that the original cryptocurrency is actually not that great of …

Decentralized finance is a form of finance that does not require traditional intermediaries such as banks, brokerages or exchanges. All of the work that would normally be handled by these institutions is instead performed by technological solutions including smart contracts and blockchain. The legacy banking system and DeFi are markedly different. While traditional finance is slow to develop and adapt, in just a few years, companies operating in the DeFi sector have built a parallel financial system from the ground up. There are payment systems, lending protocols, exchanges and more. There is also a growing stablecoins market of fiat-pegged assets …

As the Bitcoin (BTC) price sees a sharp upsurge, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland has voiced his concerns about cryptocurrency investments. Gabriel Makhlouf, who is also a governing council member of the European Central Bank, warned the public about the risks of crypto investment on Bloomberg TV this Friday. The central banker specifically referred to a recent warning by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority on Jan. 11: “As the U.K. authority said a few weeks ago [...] if people want to invest in Bitcoin they've got to be prepared to lose all their money. That's certainly …

Japanese finance group SBI Holdings is building a digital stock exchange in collaboration with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, or SMFG. According to a Nikkei report Thursday, the new digital securities exchange is expected to be the first Japanese exchange trading digital stocks using blockchain technology. The companies are reportedly planning to roll out the exchange in Osaka in spring 2020, while the platform is expected to start handling digital securities in 2023. In order to launch the exchange, SBI and SMFG will set up an operator, Osaka Digital Exchange, or ODX. SBI will have a 60% stake in ODX, while …

Less than a year after the Indian supreme court overturned the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on crypto businesses, the bank’s position on digital assets is looking slightly more bullish. According to a booklet on payments released today by the RBI, the bank is “exploring the possibility as to whether there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency.” The bank added that if it found a need, it would look into ways to put digital currency into use. The RBI booklet acknowledged the popularity surrounding cryptocurrencies worldwide but claimed that Indian regulators and local government bodies are …

Russia adopted its cryptocurrency law in January, but this legislation does not provide a direct answer to some questions, including how local officials should deal with their crypto holdings. There are at least two other legal initiatives requiring Russian public officials to declare or even get rid of their cryptocurrency holdings entirely in 2021. On Dec. 10, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree obliging some public officials to disclose their crypto holdings by June 30. The decree was adopted as part of the country’s law “On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, which was made effective on Jan. 1. …