Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg thinks that blockchain technology can solve a number of major regulatory issues in his home country. According to Bragg, blockchain technology could become a useful tool in reducing complications associated with financial regulatory compliance and transparency. “The future is technology by blockchain,” the senator said at an online panel of the Future of Financial Services 2020 conference, ZDNet reported on Nov. 4. Bragg said that blockchain-powered instant cross-border transactions “may well be the solution to one-touch government with international transactions in real time.” The senator stated that blockchain tech can solve major problems associated with …

The coronavirus pandemic is transforming our attitudes toward money — but what does this mean for the crypto sector? We spoke to Electroneum CEO Richard Ells about whether digital assets can offer a compelling alternative to cash, the challenges that the industry must overcome, and whether enough crypto projects are making the effort to comply with regulatory demands. 1. What would you say is crypto’s role in the current financial landscape? Cryptocurrencies are disrupting the entire financial landscape and reshaping the industry. Crypto is a wake-up call for traditional banks, monetary systems and authorities because they cut out intermediaries and …

Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia, has joined a blockchain trade finance network backed by HSBC. According to an official announcement on Nov. 3, Alfa-Bank is the first Russian bank to become a member of Contour — a blockchain platform connecting the world’s major financial institutions like HSBC, ING and Citi. The network allows bank customers to track the processing and modification of trade finance transactions and cut operational costs. Evgenia Fomina, head of the Alfa-Bank lending directorate, said that Contour-based pilots in the Russian market intend to improve the quality of cross-border transactions, stating: “The …

A now-deleted webpage announcing that Singapore’s largest bank is planning to launch a “digital exchange” supporting crypto asset trading is the latest sign of increasing institutional adoption of virtual currencies. The document, which appeared briefly on the DBS website, announced the new exchange will support Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic, (ETC), and Ripple (XRP), alongside the fiat currencies of Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and The United States. The announcement also noted plans to support asset-backed security tokens. Speaking to Cointelegraph, JST Capital co-founder Todd Morakis, described the move as a likely catalyst for other major banks …

Jack Ma, the now-retired founder of Alibaba Group, recently spoke to a crowd of bankers and regulators at the Bund Summit in Shanghai about the role digital currencies will likely play in the future global financial system: “Digital currency could create value and we should think about how to establish a new type of financial system through digital currency.” He opined that the current financial system governed by Basel Accords is too conservative and does not fit China’s growing economy: “After the Asian financial crisis, the risk control highlighted in the Basel Accords has been only focused on risk control, …

JPMorgan, the $316 billion investment banking giant, said the potential long-term upside for Bitcoin (BTC) is “considerable.” This new optimistic stance towards the dominant cryptocurrency comes after PayPal allowed its users to buy and sell crypto assets. JP Morgan, from "Bitcoin is a fraud and will blow up" in 2017 to "Bitcoin’s competition with gold" in 2020. We've come a long way. pic.twitter.com/xceabkHaVJ — Krüger (@krugermacro) October 24, 2020 The main factor put forward by JPMorgan’s Global Markets Strategy division is Bitcoin’s competition with gold. The note, obtained by Business Insider, reads: "The potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable …

A Russian official argued that the country should have launched research on a central bank digital currency four years ago in order to claim leadership in the field. However, according to Dmitry Peskov, a special representative of the President of the Russian Federation on digital and technological development, the first-mover advantage also brings a number of risks in terms of financial stability. According to news service RBC on Oct. 23, Peskov said that a fast-second strategy in developing a CBDC could be more efficient than becoming the world’s first issuer, stating: “The financial risk is so great that it seems …

Tokenization has given rise to the “Internet of Value,” an era in which financial assets — or any assets with underlying value — can be easily transferred peer-to-peer over the internet. While revolutionary, has largely remained a concept embedded strictly within the cryptocurrency space. Yet as the need for digitized processes continues to impact multiple sectors, tokenization could become a game changer for global digitalization. In order to drive mainstream adoption, the InterWork Alliance — — has announced the formation of two new member-led business working groups. The Distributed Ledger Technology Security and the Global Trade and Supply Chain, both …

On Sept. 27, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sought to center his employees’ work around the company’s core mission: “to bring economic freedom to people all over the world.” Armstrong argues for a narrow interpretation of Coinbase’s mission to build the best possible product because it is “already hugely ambitious” and because companies generally cannot succeed if their goals “include all forms of equality and justice.” Armstrong’s perspective is not unique to Coinbase and represents a broader tech industry incarnation of the white-savior complex rooted in the belief of the product’s inherent goodness. This belief is especially noteworthy in crypto, given …

One of China’s largest chemical producers has launched a new Blockchain Warehouse Receipt Platform to help the industry combat the rising costs of operations and trade financing. An increased demand for more environmental and safety measures amid the pandemic has further driven costs up in China’s petrochemical trade. Small enterprises were already struggling to meet the credit conditions of financial lenders, as a lack of effective risk control and difficulties in securely tracking transaction processes of bulk commodities have led financial institutions to tighten lending on warehouse financing. Major players in China’s petrochemical trade have now applied blockchain technology to …

A new PwC study found that blockchain technology through its wide range of use cases will potentially add $1.76 trillion to the global gross domestic product in the next 10 years. It would make 1.4% of the global GDP in 2030. The report states that increasing interest in blockchain technology is primarily due to the need for a more efficient system that can integrate trust in processes that depend on intermediaries. In another survey, PwC found that more than 50% of the CEOs believed the faltering trust in the business process was affecting their organization. According to PwC, blockchain will …

Japan needs to adapt its laws to issue a central bank digital currency, according to a local financial official. Kozo Yamamoto, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s council on financial affairs and a former official at the Ministry of Finance, believes that Japan must revise a law stipulating the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) mandate and responsibilities regarding the development of a CBDC. According to an Oct. 12 Reuters report, Yamamoto said that potential amendments to the BoJ law would be a good opportunity to consider other changes like adding job creation to the central bank’s mandate. The official also stated …