As crypto traders debate whether Bitcoin (BTC) is going to $25,000 or $15,000 first, the world’s largest financial institutions are laying the groundwork for mass adoption. The proverbial floodgates are unlikely to open before the United States provides a clear regulatory framework for crypto, but regulators and industry insiders are confident that guidance could come in 2023 at the earliest. In the meantime, megabanks like BNY Mellon, whose roots date back to 1784, are entering the space. This week’s Crypto Biz chronicles BNY Mellon’s foray into digital assets, JPMorgan’s ongoing experimentation with blockchain technology and Crypto.com’s new European headquarters. BNY …

Traditional finance and payment giants JPMorgan and Visa are teaming up to streamline the use of their private blockchain solutions Liink and B2B Connect to facilitate cross-border payments. According to an Oct. 11 report from Forbes, JPMorgan’s Liink is a network specifically designed for cross-border transfers and is offered under the bank’s blockchain and payments initiative Onyx. Onyx provides a platform for institutions to share financial information and validate transactions. Visa’s B2B Connect is a similar network to Liink that was built for institutional grade use and has now been integrated with Onxy’s Confirm. Confirm is an account-information validation product, …

While testifying before United States (U.S.) lawmakers, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon referred to himself as a “major skeptic” on “crypto tokens that you call currency like Bitcoin,” labeling them as “decentralized Ponzi schemes.” Dimon was asked what keeps him from being more active in the crypto space during an oversight hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Sept. 21. Dimon emphasized that he sees value in blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), ledgers, smart contracts, and “tokens that do something," but then proceeded to lambast crypto tokens that identify as currencies. Asked for his thoughts about the draft U.S. …

The head of JPMorgan’s digital assets unit Umar Farooq has suggestedthat most of the crypto assets on the market are “junk” and that real crypto use cases are yet to fully present themselves. During a panel discussion at the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Green Shoots Seminar on Aug. 29, Farooq stated that regulation is yet to catch up to the burgeoning industry which is holding back many traditional financial (TradFi) institutions from getting involved. He also opined that with the exception of a few, utility for most crypto assets is lacking: “Most of crypto is still junk actually, I mean …

Stablecoin issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle have accumulated a significant share in the United States Treasury market, outperforming major traditional finance players. Various stablecoin providers collectively held $80 billion worth of short-term U.S. government debt as of May 2022, according to a study by the investment bank JPMorgan, The Financial Times reported on Aug. 20. Tether, Circle and other stablecoin firms accounted for 2% of the total market for the U.S. Treasury bills, holding a bigger share of T-bills than totally owned by Warren Buffett’s investment giant Berkshire Hathaway. Stablecoin issuers have also outperformed offshore money market funds (MMF) …

Despite the ongoing cryptocurrency market decline and associated forced layoffs in major crypto firms, a career in crypto doesn’t turn less attractive to many traditional finance executives. European crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider 21Shares announced three major hires on Wednesday to expand its presence in countries like France, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. Marina Baudéan, 21Shares’ newly appointed head of France, Belgium and Luxembourg, is debuting her crypto career after working for more than 15 years at the British universal bank Barclays. Baudéan is confident that crypto is “all about the next generation of technology,” and it’s here to …

Most Bitcoin (BTC) traders would rather see a sharp price correction and a subsequent recovery than agonize for multiple months below $24,000. However, BTC has been doing the opposite since June 14 and its most recent struggle is the asset’s failure to break above the $22,000 resistance. For this reason, most traders are holding back their bullish expectations until BTC posts a daily close above $24,000. Events outside of the crypto market are the primary factor impacting investors' perspectives on digital assets and on July 14, United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that inflation is "unacceptably high" and she …

The historic deleveraging of the cryptocurrency market could be coming to an end, which could signal the close of the worst of the bear market, according to a JPMorgan analyst. In a Wednesday note, JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou highlighted the increased willingness of firms to bail out companies and a healthy pace of venture capital funding in May and June as the basis for his optimism. He said key indicators support the assessment: “Indicators like our Net Leverage metric suggest that deleveraging is already well advanced.” The deleveraging of major crypto firms, where their assets have been sold either willingly, …

Bitcoin's (BTC) month-to-date chart is very bearish, and the sub-$18,000 level seen over the weekend was the lowest price seen since December 2020. Bulls' current hope depends on turning $20,000 to support, but derivatives metrics tell a completely different story as professional traders are still extremely skeptical. It’s important to remember that the S&P 500 index dropped 11% in June, and even multi-billion dollar companies like Netflix, PayPal and Caesars Entertainment have corrected with 71%, 61% and 57% losses, respectively. The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points on June 15, and Federal …

The rapid surge in share of stablecoins like Tether (USDT) in the cryptocurrency market may point to an upcoming crypto upside, according to analysts at the American investment bank JPMorgan Chase. The percentage of stablecoins in the total crypto market value has been on the rise, reaching new historical highs in mid-June, JPMorgan strategists believe. Led by JPMorgan crypto market analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the analysts provided their industry insights in the bank's new investor note shared with Cointelegraph. Released on June 15, the investor note reads that the share of all stablecoins rose to above 14%, or a “new historical …

The past week in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem saw many new developments, including the rebirth of the Terra 2.0 blockchain. Meanwhile, Binance’s incubation platform Binance Labs launched a $500 million fund to support and promote Web3 adoption. Singapore’s central bank partnered with JP Morgan to explore DeFi applications in wholesale funding markets by establishing tokenized bonds. KuCoin launched its very decentralized wallet with DeFi and nonfungible token support. The top-100 DeFi tokens showed signs of a breakout from a month-long bearish trend, with most of the tokens showing overall gains in the past seven days. Maker founder proposes MetaDAOs …

On May 30, the total crypto market capitalization gained 4% and currently is within reach of a $1.3 trillion market capitalization. The move was enough to erase the losses from the previous seven days and was driven mainly by Bitcoin's (BTC) 4.9% gain during that time frame. Apart from Bitcoin, Cardano (ADA) was the only large-cap cryptocurrency that managed to close the week with a positive 4.5% performance. Meanwhile, Ether (ETH), BNB, Ripple (XRP) and Solana (SOL) failed to present weekly gains. Bitcoin’s turn-around happened after the United States stock market presented gains for the first time after seven consecutive …