Gazprombank Switzerland, a subsidiary of one of the largest banks in Russia, has piloted its Bitcoin (BTC) transaction service following regulatory approval by Swiss regulators. According to a Nov. 19 announcement, Gazprombank will provide its new cryptocurrency solution in collaboration with its long-running partners like fintech firm Avaloq and crypto custody provider Metaco. Gazprombank Switzerland CEO Roman Abdulin said that the new service intends to make crypto transactions “as easy as transactions with traditional assets,” stating: “Digital assets will become increasingly important for our clients and the global economy. We are pleased to work together with leading Swiss-based entities on …

Bitcoin (BTC) is just a few thousand dollars away from its all-time high near $20,000 U.S. dollars. However, while much of the crypto industry watch Bitcoin’s price action in U.S. dollar terms, BTC has already achieved all-time high prices relative to numerous other world currencies. In an Oct. 22 tweet, Alistair Milne mentioned seven countries in which Bitcoin had already reached its all-time high relative to those countries' native fiat currencies. In the same tweet, he said Colombia and Russia would soon join the list. Bitcoin recently surpassed its all-time high against the Russian ruble earlier this month. The asset …

Mark my words: Governments and central banks will never care about your wealth and your privacy as much as you do. That reality is exactly why central bank digital currencies are dead in the water already. They say if you can’t beat them, join them. That’s exactly what CBDCs are attempting to do. They want to join the party that is cryptocurrency without actually giving their citizens the privacy and democratic freedom a truly decentralized digital currency provides. In a recent article, I made the argument that regulation and law enforcement are a necessary part of crypto truly going mainstream. …

Belarusbank, the largest financial institution in Belarus, is reportedly launching a cryptocurrency exchange service. According to a Nov. 12 report by local news agency Prime Press, Belarusbank is rolling out a service allowing users to exchange cryptocurrency using a Visa payment card. As reported, the new service enables trading crypto against fiat currencies like the Belarusian ruble as well as the United States dollar and the euro. Belarusbank executives reportedly said that the launch of the new crypto service comes in line with the company’s digital transformation program that was announced a few years ago. The new service is reportedly …

Russia’s vast oversight of cryptocurrency transactions appears to have one crucial blindspot: There doesn’t seem to be any liability for criminals who use digital assets to conduct illegal transactions. On Thursday, Russia’s Ministry of Finance proposed new amendments to the country’s cryptocurrency laws that seek to clarify rules around tax evasion. Under the proposed guidelines, Russians can face up to three years in prison for failing to report transactions of 45 million rubles ($583,000) or more at least twice in three years An earlier ministry proposal recommended three-year prison sentences for anyone who fails to report transactions of over 1 …

Following two years of pilot testing, a blockchain trade and financing platform for global agricultural trading has seen its commercial rollout from Swiss developer Cerealia SA. The launch follows extensive prelaunch trial implementation with firms from Algeria, Brazil, Dubai, Japan and Ukraine. In November 2018, Cointelegraph reported on the platform’s early use to conduct a pilot transaction of Black Sea wheat from the Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Cerealia told reporters that it has sought to address the need for a fast trading platform in the global Russian wheat market and to combine this with a more reliable, transparent and …

The COVID-19 pandemic has served both as an x-ray onto existing vulnerabilities in the global financial system, and as an accelerator for destabilizing tendencies, including higher sovereign and consumer debt in emerging markets. At an online meeting of the Central Bank Governors' Club, hosted this week by Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, representatives were unanimous in their expectations of the far-reaching consequences of the current crisis. At the meeting, the 26 central bank representatives that convened from Central Asia, the Black Sea region, the Balkan countries and beyond, also noted the pandemic-induced expansion of e-commerce, as well as digital …

Amid the ongoing rally in cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin (BTC) has secured another milestone by hitting a new all-time high against Russia’s national currency, the ruble. According to data from major crypto tracking website CoinGecko, Bitcoin has broken another historic high against the ruble, crossing its previous ATH of around 1,157,000 rubles. According to the CoinGecko, Bitcoin was worth over 1,160,000 as of 16:00 UTC . Bitcoin’s new ATH comes amid a major rally in the crypto market, with Bitcoin crossing $14,700 for the first time since early January 2018 earlier today. The rally continues to gain momentum as Bitcoin is …

En+ Group, the world’s top producer of low-carbon aluminum and the largest private-sector generator of hydropower, has entered its first crypto mining joint venture. The new venture, called Bit+, will focus on creating facilities that support crypto mining with a low carbon footprint. En+ Group’s partner in Bit+ is the Russian company BitRiver, which provides hosting services and turnkey solutions for large-scale, institutional crypto mining operations. BitRiver currently operates the largest data center offering colocation services for Bitcoin (BTC) mining in the Russian Federation and offers similar services across the country and to CIS neighbors. The first result of the …

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 …

Major private-owned Russian bank Gazprombank has received regulatory approval to launch cryptocurrency custody services through its Swiss subsidiary. According to an official announcement on Oct. 29, the bank scored approval from the country's financial regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, to offer crypto custody and trading services to its institutional and corporate clients. Offerings will initially be restricted to a select group of customers with Bitcoin (BTC) as the only supported cryptocurrency. Gazprombank plans to gradually expand the offering to include additional cryptocurrencies as well as other related products and services. Gazprombank CEO Roman Abdulin said, “We expect digital …

The governor of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia signed a decree allowing for the construction of a 13.6 acre data center in Southeastern Siberia. The facility will become home to a number of hi-tech activities, including a Bitcoin (BTC) mining operation. The facility will be built by BitRiver and is expected to create up to 100 local jobs. It will be equipped with the latest generation of ASIC miners and will take about a year to complete. In addition to cryptocurrency mining, the facility will be used for Big Data and the Internet of Things. The required investment is estimated …