U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a forum on digital payments hosted by the International Monetary Fund that it’s more important for the U.S. to get a central bank-backed digital currency right than to be the first country rolling it out.
Read MoreChinese media reported this week that the country’s central bank is working with e-commerce behemoth JD.com on mobile apps that will support a digital yuan.
Read MoreCryptocurrency exchange Kraken is the first crypto company to acquire a banking license in the U.S.
Read MorePayments company Square this month created a nonprofit called the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA). Its goal is to promote open-source frameworks that encourage innovation.
Read MoreMastercard inked a partnership with London-based crypto platform Wirex that will allow the company to issue cards on Mastercard’s network. Wirex already offers crypto-friendly Visa cards.
Read MoreA settlement with the SEC marks the end of encrypted messaging app Telegram’s “Gram” digital currency project, which the company said last year would operate on a decentralized framework reminiscent of bitcoin. As part of the settlement, Telegram and subsidiary TON Issuer this week agreed to pay a $18.5M civil penalty and return around $1.2B to investors.
Read MoreState Street took another dip into the world of crypto and blockchain as it announced a partnership with Gemini Trust, the cryptocurrency exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss twins.
Read MoreChina this week took the next step in creating its long-discussed national digital currency.
Read MoreOne of the major benefits of cryptocurrency, many of its proponents say, is that it is not linked to any fiat currency or controlled by any central bank. Facebook’s Libra was meant to function in much the same spirit, but the proposed cryptocurrency is walking back a bit on some of its original intent.
Read MoreFacebook’s proposed new digital cryptocurrency, Libra, made quite a splash when it was first announced earlier this year. But now it seems to be falling apart at the seams.
Read MoreThe NYSE’s crypto trading marketplace is off to a slow start.
Read MoreA Canadian firm has launched insurance against theft and collusion for digital assets in custody.
Read MoreFacebook’s proposed digital currency Libra caused quite a stir — most of it negative — when it was first announced earlier this year. It’s clear that regulators and central banks have a keen interest in what Libra is, or may become, which is why Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg was in Basel, Switzerland earlier this week.
Read MoreFrance’s financial regulator is poised to approve several crypto-related companies and bring them into the regulated financial system, one of the first instances among major world economies. Somehow, we think the battle over regulating cryptocurrencies in the U.S. will be a tad more contentious.
Read MoreThe Financial Revolutionist is weekly newsletter and blog focused on the torrid pace of financial innovation. Today, thanks to the exponential rate of technological change, explosion in global trade and new regulations ushered in by the Great Financial Crisis, a new financial revolution is under way. In this battle, virtually every aspect of the greater financial services sector is subject to rigorous challenge. With the Financial Revolutionist, we are aspiring to create a boots-on-the-ground and highly opinionated assessment of important financial innovation developments in the past week.
