The Daily: Bittrex Invades Europe and Blockchain Gets Raunchy

From the sublime to the smutty, today’s Bitcoin in Brief runs the full gamut of emotions and stories. These include Bittrex’s new foray into Europe, EOS’ quest to offload its billion-dollar warchest and Jackson Palmer’s viral new project, 50 Shades of Blockchain. Also read: Switzerland Considers Granting Crypto Businesses Access to Banking Services Bittrex Teams Up … Read more

South Korea Thinks Real-Name System is Working – Stepping Up Crypto Monitoring

South Korea’s top financial regulator recently told 23 other countries’ regulators that the kimchi premium has fizzled since the anonymous trading of cryptocurrencies was banned in the country. Now, the government is introducing a new guideline to prevent local crypto exchanges from buying cryptocurrencies at foreign exchanges. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto … Read more

Retail Adoption of Crypto Would “Bring the Internet to a Halt” – BIS Report

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has leased a chapter from its forthcoming annual report that delivers a critical appraisal of bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The report attacks virtual currencies from several main standpoints: claiming that cryptocurrencies do not effectively perform monetary functions due to price volatility, that the retail adoption of blockchain-based payment mechanisms would … 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

Big Sister Watching: IMF’s Lagarde Warns of Crypto’s Dark Side

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde released a blog post Tuesday, March 13, Addressing the Dark Side of the Crypto World. In it, she argues increasing fascination with cryptocurrencies has brought along grave costs: money laundering, terrorism, and economic instability. Also read: Québec Premier: We’re Not Really Interested in Bitcoin Mining IMF Managing Director … Read more

World’s Central Bank: Crypto Could Risk Bank Runs

How many central banks are actually considering their own version of cryptocurrency is unclear, Russia and Venezuela being the most infamous examples. To perhaps ward off serious consideration from more established economies, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the world’s central bank to central bankers, is suggesting state-backed crypto might destabilize commercial banks’ customer deposits, … Read more

South Korea Urges 23 Countries, EU, and IMF to Collaborate on Curbing Crypto Trading

The South Korean government has called for financial regulators and central bankers of 23 other countries as well as 12 organizations, including the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, to collaborate on curbing cryptocurrency trading. Also read: Russian Regulators Draft Law to Restrict Crypto Mining, Payments, and Token Sales Other Regulators Urged to Take Action … Read more