Russian Central Bank Attributes Recent Ruble Depreciation to Lower Forex Sales by Exporters

The Russian central bank has attributed the ruble’s latest plunge against the U.S. dollar to the temporary reduction “in sales of foreign currency earnings by exporters.” The central bank also revealed that the Chinese yuan accounted for 39% of the Russian forex market’s overall volumes. Temporary Reduction in Sale of Foreign Exchange The Russian central … Read more

Pheu Thai Candidate Promises Digital Currency Airdrop of $300 to Every Citizen in Thailand if Elected

A Pheu Thai candidate running for prime minister of Thailand position, Srettha Thavisin, has promised that every citizen in the country will receive 10,000 Thai baht ($300) in digital currency if he wins the general election in May. However, a minister within the prime minister’s office in Thailand is concerned and has explained that the … Read more

Hidden Treasure: Every Modern Copy of macOS Contains a Copy of Bitcoin’s White Paper

On April 5, 2023, the independent blogger Andy Baio published a post on his Waxy Blog that explained every version of macOS from Mojave 10.14.0 to the current version hosts a copy of Satoshi Nakamoto’s seminal Bitcoin white paper. Mac users can type a simple command in the terminal, and all nine pages describing Nakamoto’s … Read more

March Bitcoin Mining Stats Show Climbing Revenue and Hashrate Highs

According to statistics, 4,498 blocks have been mined in the last 30 days, creating 28,112 new bitcoins over the past month. Bitcoin’s network hashrate has been around 341 exahash per second (EH/s) during the last 2,016 blocks or the last two weeks. This month, the mining pools Foundry USA and Antpool dominated the pack, accounting … Read more

Law Firm’s White Paper Claims US Bank Regulators Are Waging a ‘Clandestine Financial War’ Against Crypto Businesses

According to a recent white paper published by four members of the law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, U.S. bank regulators are attempting to “drive crypto businesses out of the financial system.” The paper, titled “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” claims that after laying the groundwork by labeling lawful businesses as “reputationally risky,” federal bank regulators, with … Read more

Biden Administration’s Economic Report Deems Crypto Assets ‘Mostly Speculative Investment Vehicles’

On Monday, U.S. president Joe Biden published the administration’s economic report and addressed the subject of cryptocurrencies. The section titled “The Perceived Appeal of Crypto Assets” describes the currencies as “mostly speculative investment vehicles” that are “unbacked” and “traded without fundamental anchors.” The White House insists that crypto assets do not deliver on their promises … Read more

Several Major Central Banks Take Coordinated Action to Boost Liquidity Amidst Banking Crisis

On Sunday evening, March 19, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with several central banks including the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank, announced a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar … Read more

Bank of England Shuts Down Silicon Valley Bank’s UK Branch After US Regulators Close Parent Company

After U.S. regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday, the Bank of England has closed the company’s U.K.-based arm. The central bank explained that it intends to place the subsidiary into bank insolvency procedures. Fallout From SVB Failure Prompts BOE to Close U.K. Branch The ripple effect of the 16th largest bank in … Read more

US Treasury and White House to Hold Regular Meetings on CBDCs and Payment Innovations

On March 1, 2023, Nellie Liang, undersecretary for domestic finance at the U.S. Treasury, delivered a speech to the Atlantic Council in Washington concerning the subject of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Liang detailed during her speech that a CBDC is one of several options for “upgrading the legacy capabilities of central bank money,” and … Read more