In a move that may suggest growing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies and NFTs, Nomura Holdings has announced it is establishing a new digital assets team to look into possible opportunities in the asset class. The wealth management company said that it was restructuring its Future Innovation Company into a brand new Digital Company, which will begin operations in April. The main objective of the new company will be to increase clients' use of digital assets and provide related services. Nomura Group President and CEO said, Kentaro Okuda said: "The new Digital Company will lead deeper collaboration among internal and external …

While many marvel at the growth cryptocurrency and Web 3.0 communities are experiencing, they fail to consider the opposing side of the coin (or, dare one say, token). Traditionally, new technologies have continued to follow a cycle in which they rise to the world's attention and its legislators, only to have bad actors abuse their power and consequently have the need for reform arise. Although oversight has proven to offer many benefits, such as instilling confidence in institutional investors, the opposite can be true if the right voices aren't being represented. To ensure that legislation continues to propel Web 3.0 …

Russia’s Ministry of Finance has upped the stakes in its drawn-out showdown against the country’s Central Bank by formally introducing a bill that proposes to regulate digital assets rather than banning them. On Feb. 21, the Ministry introduced a draft of the federal law “On digital currency” to the government. This stage of the legislative process precedes the bill’s introduction to the parliament for consideration. The agency cited the “formation of a legal marketplace for digital currencies, along with determining rules for their circulation and range of participants” as the rationale for the initiative. Emphasizing that the bill does not …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

In a tweet published early Friday, Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, the entity developing the Terra Luna (LUNA) and Terra USD (UST) stablecoin ecosystem, announced the injection of 450 million UST ($450 million) into the Anchor protocol's reserves. The proposal passed a vote by the Luna Foundation Guard on Feb.10. Anchor serves as the flagship savings protocol of the Terra ecosystem, offering users of up to 20% interest per annum on their UST deposits, paid for by borrowers. Funded. pic.twitter.com/NLvnSa0bBu — Do Kwon (@stablekwon) February 18, 2022 The protocol's reserves had recently dwindled to as low as $6.56 million …

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has officially initiated work on the country’s cryptocurrency regulation bill, filing the first public notice on the federal legal portal. Russia’s finance ministry on Thursday filed two development notices announcing the start of the process of developing a legal framework for activities related to transactions with digital currencies and their issuance. The first notice, called “On Digital Currency,” informs about the government launching a public consultation on rules for digital asset transactions, inviting proposals from financial market participants, citizens and legal entities. The second notice details a similar process for possible amendments …

The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, on Feb 10 to register the name “NYSE” for several blockchains and crypto related products and services. The goods specified include virtual reality and augmented reality software, nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and online marketplaces. According to the application, the financial exchange would be able to provide “downloadable virtual goods” for NFTs and digital collectibles, as well as "authentication of data in the field on NFTs using blockchain technology." This is not the NYSE's first foray into NFTs or …

Blockchain can vastly alter the business landscape, improving existing processes and enabling new models for ownership and value transfer. Since the technology operates in a peer-to-peer fashion, transactions can be conducted autonomously, eliminating some of the intermediary costs typically incurred as assets move from one place to the next. A single example of this is represented in the financial sector, where blockchain technology supports secured global money transfers with reduced complexity, fees and instantaneous results. Looking ahead to healthcare, the blockchain has also enabled the secure sharing of data for patient medical data and voting systems. Although this technology’s growth …

The DeFi lending and borrowing market has grown significantly in volume as new lending protocols continue to attract capital and NFT-backed loans become more popular. According to Dune Analytics, the top three platforms in terms of market capitalization are Aave, Maker, and Compound. These platforms, however, still are facing issues when it comes to collateral requirements and volatile digital assets. Hashstack Finance is a DeFi platform whose crypto-native lending protocol, called Open, is trying to provide a solution to collateral requirements, specifically the over-collateralization of loans. Hashstack announced on Monday the release of its closed beta testnet that enables the …

Fidelity, the multinational brokerage giant, released a paper on Bitcoin (BTC) titled Bitcoin First. The financial services provider calls for BTC to be treated separately from the rest of the digital assets. The paper argued that BTC is fundamentally different from the hundreds of other digital assets trading in the market and no other digital asset is likely to overtake the top cryptocurrency “as a monetary good.” Fidelity’s paper called Bitcoin a superior form of money rather than just a tech. It is the most ”secure, decentralized form of asset and any "improvement" will necessarily face tradeoffs.” The paper read: …

New research has found that the annual transaction volume on the Bitcoin network surpassed that of some well-known card networks, such as American Express (AmEx) and Discover, during 2021. The NYDIG Research Weekly’s Jan. 29 report stated that Bitcoin processed $3 trillion worth of payments during 2021, placing it above popular credit card networks American Express ($1.3 trillion) and Discover ($0.5 trillion). The report authors, NYDIG Global Head of Research Greg Cipolaro and Research Analyst Ethan Kochav, also found that the Bitcoin network had settled more transaction volume in Q1 2021 than “all credit card networks combined for the entire …

On Monday, VanEck, a financial institution with close to $82 billion in assets under management with exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, mutual funds, and institutional accounts, announced the launch of its first cryptocurrency fund. The fund is listed as an exchange-traded note, or ETN, on the Deutsche Borse Xetra and SIX Swiss Exchanges with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), Tron, Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC). Gijs Koning, co-head of VanEck Europe, elaborated on why it was important for the firm to facilitate investment in digital currencies: In early 2017, we determined that digital assets could provide …