The global digital bank FV Bank is the latest financial platform to enable deposits in Circle-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). FV Bank on Wednesday announced the launch of a new service allowing its account holders to make direct deposits in USDC to the bank’s U.S. dollar accounts. The new feature enables customers to receive USDC on their accounts similar to traditional deposits like wire or the automated clearing house network. According to the announcement, received USDC funds are instantly and automatically converted into the U.S. dollar (USD) at the moment of deposit. This new solution allows FV Bank users holders …

Governments across the globe see central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a means to improve the existing fiat ecosystem. Cryptocurrency’s technical prowess supported by the central bank’s underlying trust is key to enabling a rich monetary ecosystem, suggests an International Monetary Fund (IMF) publication. “Digital technologies promise a bright future for the monetary system,” reads the publication attributed to IMF deputy managing director Agustín Carstens and BIS executives Jon Frost and Hyun Song Shin. A BIS study from June revealed that cryptocurrencies outdo fiat ecosystems when it comes to achieving the high-level goals of a future monetary system. Some of …

While Bitcoin (BTC) has failed in countering this year's rampant global inflation, it should still be considered as an inflation hedge, says Steven Lubka, the managing director of private consumers at Swan Bitcoin. According to Lubka, Bitcoin works well as a hedge against rising prices when inflation is caused by monetary expansion. It is less effective when inflation is caused by supply disruption of food and energy, which he sees as the leading cause of this year's rampant inflation. "In a world where the price of goods is going up because there's been a radical loss of abundance, Bitcoin isn't …

Despite some level of regulatory uncertainty around cryptocurrency in the Philippines, one platform has recorded a massive influx of Bitcoin (BTC) trading activity recently. Bitcoin trading volumes in the Philippines have been on the rise over the past few months on the major peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange Paxful. According to data from the Bitcoin tracking website Coin Dance, Bitcoin trading volumes denominated in the Philippines peso (PHP) have been steadily growing on Paxful and eventually hit a new high in July. Paxful’s Bitcoin trading volumes peaked at 111 million PHP ($1.9 million) during the week ending on Saturday, July 9, …

Amid economic and political turmoil, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, or CBSL, has warned the public against crypto purchases due to the lack of regulatory oversight. In a Tuesday notice, the CBSL said it has not authorized or licensed any company in Sri Lanka to offer crypto-related services, including exchanges, initial coin offerings and mining. The central bank said the warning was in response to “recent developments in relation to virtual currency usage,” likely referring to the market downturn and significant volatility in the prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Virtual currencies “... are considered as unregulated financial instruments …

Trust Wallet, a major self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet owned by the Binance crypto exchange, has completed a significant integration to enable easier crypto purchases. The Trust Wallet platform has integrated Binance’s official fiat-to-crypto provider Binance Connect with a plan to gradually enable users to purchase more than 200 crypto assets directly from credit or debit cards, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Wednesday. Trust Wallet’s new crypto buy option is designed to simplify the process of buying crypto, enabling verified Trust Wallet users to fund their wallet with more than 40 fiat currencies. To add funds to the Trust Wallet via …

Major stablecoin company Tether is expanding its stablecoin offering with a new cryptocurrency pegged to the British pound sterling (GBP). Tether officially announced on Wednesday that its upcoming GBP-pegged stablecoin, GBPT, will launch in early July and will initially be supported by the Ethereum blockchain. GBPT will be a stable digital currency pegged on the 1:1 ratio to the GBPT, aiming to provide a faster and cheaper option for asset transfers. GBPT joins a family of four other fiat currency-pegged Tether (USDT) tokens, including the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT. Other stablecoins include the euro-pegged EURT, the offshore Chinese …

The major stablecoin company Tether is looking to eventually get rid of commercial paper backing for its United States dollar-based stablecoin Tether (USDT). Tether issued an official statement on Wednesday to deny reports alleging that Tether’s commercial paper portfolio is 85% backed by Chinese or Asian commercial papers and is being traded at a 30% discount. The stablecoin firm called such allegations “completely false,” reiterating that more than 47% of total USDT reserves are now the “United States Treasuries.” In its latest assurance opinion issued in May, Tether reported that commercial paper makes up less than 25% of USDT’s backing, …

Bitcoin (BTC) ATM installations have marked a new comeback as June 2022 saw the reversal of the five-month-long downward trajectory for the first time this year. The global ATM installations worldwide fell consistently throughout the year, with May reporting the lowest number of 205 ATM installations. However, June saw the installation of over 882 ATMs in just the first ten days. As evidenced by the above graph, May 2022’s drop reached a range that was last seen three years ago in 2019. Over the last two years, in 2020 and 2021, Bitcoin ATM installations grew consistently owing to friendlier regulatory …

The World Bank has signaled its concerns over the Central African Republic (CAR) adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal currency and says it won’t support the newly announced “Sango” crypto hub. At the end of April, CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra established a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the country and adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. On May 24, he announced a plan to launch the country’s first crypto hub called “Sango.” Sango is described as the country’s first “crypto initiative” — a legal hub for crypto-related businesses encompassing economic policies including no corporate or income tax and the creation …

USDT Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has reported it cut its reserves allocation to commercial paper investments and increased that of United States Treasury bills over the first quarter of 2022. In a Thursday blog post, Tether reported its reserves were “fully backed,” seemingly in an effort to assuage many users’ fears around USDT briefly depegging from the dollar on May 12. According to the stablecoin issuer, its commercial paper holdings over Q1 2022 decreased 17% from roughly $24 billion to $20 billion, with an additional 20% reduction to be reflected in the firm’s next quarterly report. Tether also increased investments …

The recent crashes in stock and cryptocurrency markets have provided yet another chance to observe the better return opportunities of crypto versus stocks, according to several industry executives. This week, the crypto market saw one of its biggest sell-offs ever, with the total market capitalization plummeting more than 30% from $1.8 trillion on May 4 to as low as $1.2 trillion on Thursday. Bitcoin (BTC), the biggest digital asset by market capitalization, tumbled below $27,000 for the first time since late 2020, losing 30% of value over the same period. But the market instability has not been exclusive to crypto. …