How do cryptocurrency prices compare to fiat currencies? Neither is backed by a commodity like gold or anything with an underlying value. The biggest difference between cryptocurrency values and fiat money is that fiat currencies are backed by central governments and declared as legal tender. Its value is basically derived from the fact that the central government has stated that it has value and two parties in a transaction put their trust in that value. Most countries today operate in a fiat currency system, where central banks and monetary reserves control the supply of money and, as such, indirectly control …

Canadian citizens used Bitcoin (BTC) mainly for investment purposes in 2017, according to a study by the Bank of Canada (BoC) published July 23. The study is an update to the results of the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS) conducted by Canada’s central bank within a short period between December 12 to 15, 2017, a few days before Bitcoin reached its all-time high of 20,000 on December 17. According to the survey results, Canadians have mainly used the major cryptocurrency for investment purposes in 2017, rather than for transactions, which previously had been cited as the main reason for dealing with …

On July 17, IBM announced its involvement in a U.S. dollar-pegged stable coin project dubbed Stronghold. While the IT titan isn’t new to the world of crypto, stable coins have been attracting more mainstream players lately, and big league investments — from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Thiel — have started pouring in. Here are the largest advancement made in this field in the past months, along with the reasons why it might have attracted such major investors. What are stable coins and why do we need them? Cointelegraph has previously covered the concept of stablecoins in depth. …

The U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade discussed major questions around digital currencies in a hearing today, July 18. The hearing, entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency,” considered potential domestic and global implementations of cryptocurrencies. At the hearing, the Subcommittee discussed the deployment of cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, blockchain, by central banks, arguing whether central banks should introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Addressing this point, Rodney Garratt, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claimed that the banks have to decide whether they want “to withdraw completely from providing a …

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deadline to implement ban to stop dealing with all crypto-related accounts expires Thursday, July 5, local news outlet The Times of India reports. The Supreme Court had also ruled earlier this week not to grant interim relief to those affected by the upcoming ban. Panjak Jain, who works in Indian blockchain and crypto communities as an investor and an advisor, tweeted on July 3 that “it’s unfortunate, but India’s Supreme court refused to stay the @RBI’s limitation on regulated entities from working w/ #crypto businesses.” Jain added that the “silver lining” is that the …

American stock broker Peter Schiff “technically lost” to ShapeShift CEO and crypto commentator Erik Voorhees in a ‘Bitcoin Debate’ at the SoHo Forum July 2. The two financial thought leaders debated about the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) and its underlying technology blockchain, questioning the potential for mass adoption, and comparing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with other asset types such as fiat money and gold. Voorhees, the Bitcoin bull of the debate, claimed that Bitcoin will eventually become a substitute for state-backed money, while government structures would be reorganized using blockchain technology. Voorhees argues that Bitcoin is “supremely good money” praising …

Stablecoin Tether (USDT), which is allegedly backed 1:1 by the US dollar, has issued 250 million more tokens today, June 25, according to data from Omni Explorer. At the end of March, Tether had released 300 million tokens, leading to a small price increase for Bitcoin (BTC). The move also was met with backlash from critics on Twitter about the controversy surrounding the stablecoin’s lack of an official public audit to confirm the legitimacy of its claims to be backed by fiat. More recently, Tether had made the news when a new study compiled by the University of Texas suggested …

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cointelegraph.com. Cryptocurrency is a poor substitute for fiat money, claims the Bank of International Settlements in a chapter of its annual report, released on June 17. In a solid and neatly formatted document laden with footnotes and graphs, the BIS’ experts present a particular historical view on money that they use as a vantage point in establishing the alleged superiority of stalwart centralized institutional arrangements over the chaos of permissionless distributed ledgers. How robust is their argument? The sender is the message Before delving …

Rapper and singer Akon of twelve Billboard Top Ten Hits, including the famous “Smack That,” has announced the creation of his own cryptocurrency for use in his new African “Akon Crypto City,” Page Six reported yesterday, June 19. During a panel at Cannes Lion, Senegal-descended Akon said that his cryptocurrency, the Akoin, will be available in two weeks for use in the 2,000 acres of land recently given to him by the president of Senegal. The new Akon Crypto City describes itself as a “100% crypto-based city with Akoin at the center of transactional life [...] blend[ing] leading Smart City …

A Bitcoin trader in Los Angeles, California is facing prosecution for allegedly running an unregistered multimillion dollar Bitcoin-fiat money transmitting business, NBC LA reported yesterday, June 11. Under her pseudonym the ‘Bitcoin Maven’, Theresa Tetley, 50, reportedly earned at least $300,000 annually from her black market business, which ran between 2014 and 2017 via a listing on localbitcoins.com. The U.S. Attorney's Office has contended that the ‘Maven’ exchanged between $6 and $9.5 mln in the course of her operations. The case is reportedly considered to be the first of its kind in Southern California. Tetley has pleaded guilty to federal …

Crypto exchange Binance announced plans to allow fiat-crypto trading this year through a separate Malta-based exchange, a Binance representative told Cointelegraph today, June 11. Binance is currently the second largest cryptocurrency exchange by 24-hour trading volume, seeing about $1.5 bln in trades on the day to press time. While Bloomberg reported today that Binance will “soon allow customers to convert digital tokens into fiat currencies”, a Binance representative clarified to Cointelegraph that “Binance.com is a pure crypto-to-crypto exchange.” They confirmed that crypto-fiat trading will only be offered through a separate local exchange the company is opening in Malta. Binance Malta …

Representatives from multiple central banks discussed whether or not cryptocurrency could spell the end of fiat currencies during the Money20/20 conference in Amsterdam today, June 5. During a panel talk titled “Cryptocurrency, the Central (Bank) Question”, representatives from the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Lithuania, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada took turns responding to the question “Can cryptocurrencies spell the end of fiat currencies?”. Bank of Canada executive James Chapman stated that cryptocurrencies are only a threat to fiat currencies in a “situation of hyperinflation”. Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board at …