Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Africa to Trial Cross-Border Digital Currency Payments

The central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Republic of South Africa have set out to test the use of state-issued digital currencies in cross-border payments. The trial, led by the Bank for International Settlements, aims to establish whether they can simplify transactions and make them cheaper. Reserve Bank of Australia Teams Up With … Read more

Swiss, French Central Banks to Trial Wholesale CBDC Settlements With BIS and Private Sector

The central banks of Switzerland and France are joining hands with the Bank for International Settlements to test wholesale central bank digital currencies in cross-border transactions. The experiment will be conducted with the help of a private sector consortium led by Accenture. European Central Banks to Collaborate on CBDC Project The Swiss National Bank (SNB), … Read more

Bitcoin Reacts to Fed’s 0% Rate Drop, Reserve Requirements Removed, $700B in Stimulus

On Sunday, the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed the benchmark short-term rate by 100 basis points bringing it to zero. In addition to the rate cut, the Fed promised $700 billion in bond purchases and eliminated all reserve requirements for smaller financial institutions. However, the Fed’s rate cut didn’t help financial markets as stock markets and … Read more

Back to Basics: What Is Money?

Our current economic system can be compared to a merry-go-round that has us consuming, trapped in debt and spending as quickly as we earn. What is fiat currency? Why do we use it and who controls it? And how does it compare to gold and bitcoin? It is worth going back to basics, to better understand … Read more

FINMA Seeks to Stem Exodus of Swiss Cryptocurrency Firms

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has met with representatives of the country’s banking sector in the hopes of stemming a nascent exodus among cryptocurrency companies from Switzerland. The companies’ departures have been attributed to two Swiss banks’ decisions to no longer provide financial services to businesses dealing with virtual currencies. Also Read: India Exchange … Read more

Banks Have Become Skeptical of Crypto: Swiss National Bank Executive

When cryptos became widely popular, central banks were seriously considering issuing their own digital currencies. However, the interest has slowly waned as central banks begin to seriously consider the implications such currencies would have on financial stability. This is according to an alternate member of the Swiss National Bank’s governing body, Thomas Moser. In his … Read more

“Private Digital Money” Better than State-Issued, Swiss Central Banker Says

Private digital currencies are better than any state-issued version, admitted a high-ranking representative of the Swiss National Bank. Cryptocurrencies are also less risky, according to Andrea Maechler, member of the central bank’s governing board. Her comments indicate that Switzerland has no intentions to emit a state-sponsored crypto.   Also read: Centralized Cryptoruble Not Possible, Minister … Read more