BIS Boss Coins ‘Finternet’ Term, Touts Tokenization as Tool for Solving Today’s Financial System Shortcomings

BIS Head Agustin Carstens and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani have proposed the idea of the “Finternet,” an interconnected financial system led by tokenized assets that would help to overcome today’s shortcomings in transacting financial assets. The core of this system would rely on the possibility of smart contracts managing these assets programmatically. BIS Boss Highlights … Read more

BIS Announces Project Agorá: Central Banks Bet on Tokenization for Cross Border Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements, the central banks’ bank, announced the launch of Project Agorá, a joint private-public initiative seeking to examine the potential benefits of tokenization for improving cross-border settlements. Agorá includes the participation of seven central banks and private institutions to be convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF). BIS to Explore … Read more

BIS Releases Report On ‘Project Icebreaker’ — Develops Cross-Border Retail CBDC Payment Model

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a report summarizing the “Project Icebreaker” trial, which explored the potential advantages and difficulties of utilizing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in cross-border payments. The experiment was designed to test “the technical feasibility of conducting cross-border – cross-currency transactions between different [distrubuted ledger technology]-based CBDC … Read more

BIS General Manager Casts Doubt on Stablecoins, Claiming Tokens Do Not Benefit From Regulations or Central Planning

According to Agustin Carstens, the head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), cryptocurrencies have lost the “battle” against fiat currencies issued by the world’s central banks. While speaking at the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Wednesday, Carstens stressed that stablecoins are not reliable because they lack the “institutional arrangements and social conventions behind them.” … Read more

BIS Says Crypto Weaknesses Have Materialized Following Market Sell-Off

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the global body for central banks, claims the weaknesses in crypto that were pointed out before “have pretty much materialized.” BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens opined: “You just cannot defy gravity … At some point, you really have to face the music.” BIS on Crypto Weaknesses The Bank of … Read more

Bank of International Settlements Chief Says Cryptocurrencies Being Used to Evade Laws- Advocates for More Regulation

Agustin Carstens, the general manager at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), has claimed that cryptocurrencies are “used to evade laws and should therefore face more regulation.” Carstens, who has attacked bitcoin in the past, suggests that many crypto assets are “used to do some arbitrage, or to circumvent some regulations.” Carstens Repeats the Same … Read more

BIS Chief Banker Criticizes Bitcoin as Inherently Risky, Says BTC Vulnerable to 51% Attack

Bank for International Settlements (BIS) general manager Agustin Carstens has criticized bitcoin saying the asset was inherently risky and “increasingly vulnerable” to a 51% attack. A long time bitcoin (BTC) skeptic, Carstens stressed that only central banks should be issuing digital currencies. “Investors must be cognizant that bitcoin may well break down altogether,” he opined, … Read more

BIS GM Argues New Cryptos Are “the Alchemy of the Age of Innovation”

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), a transnational institution owned by and comprised of central banks that seeks to “fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks,” recently published its quarterly review of “International banking and financial market developments” for June 2018. The report includes an op-ed written by … Read more

World Central Banker to Central Banks: Bitcoin Is a Bubble, Ponzi, and Disaster

General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Agustín Carstens, gave a talk at Goethe University in its House of Finance, Tuesday, 6 February in Frankfurt. Titled Money in the Digital Age: What Role for Central Banks?, the talk saw Mr. Carstens acknowledge “We have seen a bit of a shift, to issues at … Read more