In 2018, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wrote to the heads of the country’s biggest high street banks to emphasize the importance of due diligence when dealing with crypto businesses. That seems to have led to widespread high-risk ratings and bans on crypto-related banking, impacting both crypto businesses hoping to operate in the U.K. and investors alike. Banks are, understandably and responsibly, concerned with scams, but the current situation creates uncertainty. Crypto investors need to be able to move their money around as they like, and crypto businesses need access to payment rails for a variety of other …

The latest earnings call from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, highlighted decreased search advertising spending from financial services and cryptocurrency subcategories. Alphabet released its earnings report for Q3 on Oct. 25, outlining a 6% increase in revenue totaling $69.1 billion in comparison to Q3 last year. Revenues were down slightly from Q2 2022, dropping from $69.7 billion. However the breakdown of revenues from Google Services, which includes its advertising earnings, showed that this segment increased from $58.8 billion to $61.3 billion over the past year. Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, noted particular strife in the financial and the cryptocurrency sectors …

Bear markets are a good time to reflect — and a question that isn't asked often enough is this: Why do crypto projects have such a high failure rate… and how can they scale to boost their chances of success? That's a topic we're going to dive into during Cointelegraph's latest ask-me-anything session on YouTube, where we'll be joined by Qonetum Finance. CEO and CTO Yoda Regev will be with our very own Rachel Wolfson to discuss the challenges facing fledgling projects that are trying to get off the ground. While CoinMarketCap data shows that thousands of token projects have …

The finance minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, revealed India’s plan to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cryptocurrencies during its G20 presidency, from Dec. 1, 2022, to Nov. 30, 2023. Sitharaman has previously called for global collaboration to decide on crypto's future and has been cautious against mainstream crypto adoption citing risks to financial stability. However, speaking to local Indian reporters on Oct. 15, she confirmed, "That (crypto) will also be part of India's thing (agenda during G20 presidency)." The G20, or Group of Twenty, is a global forum for addressing the major issues related to the global economy. According …

For years, mass adoption has been pitched as the endgame of crypto. We’re supposed to envision a world where we can pay for our morning coffee with stablecoins and put mortgages on-chain to be used as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi). In a world in which crypto has become mainstream, prices would likely reach all-time highs, but at what cost? Concessions inevitably would be made to meet consumer expectations to realize this future. Though the proliferation of online banking may seem like it set the stage for a seamless transition to DeFi, traditional finance (TradFi) customers are accustomed to a …

In July 2021, TikTok hit three billion downloads. The social network boasts more than one billion active monthly users. And, in the United States, TikTok is now more popular with Generation Z than Instagram. Over the last six months, Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a drop of more than 70% from its all-time high north of $69,000 in 2021. Market volatility is to be expected. But, if decentralized finance (DeFi) is looking to have a future, it needs to be embraced by more people. The aforementioned volatility (as well as the cynicism of cryptocurrency in general) puts many investors off. Fortunately, …

How do cryptocurrency investments impact the broader crypto-economy? Although the cryptocurrency market appears to grow in a positive feedback loop, that does not mean that (un)expected events may not impact the trajectory of the ecosystem as a whole. Although blockchain and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally meant as ‘trustless’ technologies, trust remains key there where humans interact with one another. The cryptocurrency market is not only impacted by the broader economy, but it may also generate profound effects by itself. Indeed, the Terra case shows that any entity — were it a single company, a venture capital firm or a project issuing …

APR vs. APY: Which is better? The APY provides a clear idea of an account’s earning potential. The APR shows what will be owed. Both are calculated over a single year, which provides a more accurate picture than calculating the interest rate alone. Because the APR is calculated at an annual rate, it can be more advantageous for borrowers seeking the best rates, instead of investing in crypto assets and hoping for a return. However, because the APY is based on an annualized rate that includes compounding earnings, it's more beneficial for investing crypto assets—it provides a more accurate representation …

The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, or OMFIF, an independent global think tank for central banking and economic policy, has released a report suggesting that blockchain technology in a public finance management system could provide information essential to “formulate and design fiscal policy.” According to a Tuesday report, the OMFIF said modernizing public finance management through blockchain could help governments identify potential corruption and waste by providing “enhanced transparency and traceability of payments.” The report suggested the technology could facilitate the prevention of embezzlement of funds given the global rise in fraud from cases including ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. …

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week staring down a wild macro environment after sealing its lowest weekly close in nearly two years. As risk assets across the global economy take a hammering and the U.S. dollar surges, the largest cryptocurrency is on a limp footing. September, having started out on bulls’ side, is now living up to its informal crypto market nickname — “Septembear” — and BTC/USD is currently down 6.2% since the start of the month. The bad news keeps coming for hodlers, who are clinging to dormant coins in increasing numbers as the dollar runs rampant and mainstream …

For years, various blockchain projects were rumored to be future “Ethereum killers,” projects that would unseat Ether from its throne and usurp its title as the top digital asset. That day seems to have come, though it appears it was an inside job. Lido-staked Ethereum (stETH) and other liquid staking derivatives are primed to render Ether (ETH), as an asset, obsolete. The transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoW) allows everyday decentralized finance (DeFi) users to benefit from rewards previously reserved for miners simply by holding stETH or any other ETH liquid-staking derivative. This has given way to a wave …

A subsidiary of DeFi Technologies, Valour, will debut its new Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Exchange Traded Product (ETP) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Trading of the ETP begins on Sept. 23. The company positions its ETP as a “sustainable and climate-friendly” exposure to Bitcoin with a management fee of 1.49%. The alignment with global environmental goals and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) is reportedly achieved through funding certified carbon removal and offset initiatives to neutralize the associated BTC carbon footprint. To structure the ETP, Valour partnered with Patch — a platform that provides climate action infrastructure and has previously worked …