What is the best thing the cryptocurrency ecosystem could do to ensure its global success? Boost the dominance of stablecoins. Anyone who disagrees is free to debate with Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of Ava Labs, the company behind the succesful Avalanche protocol, who explained to Business Insider that stability must reign in the world of...Read More
Bloomberg launched a scathing attack on the stablecoin issuer in a BusinessWeek article on Oct. 7 titled “Anyone Seen Tether’s Billions?” In it, the financial news giant stated that the stablecoin is essentially a fraud because it does not have the assets to back it. At the time of writing, there were 69 billion USDT...Read More
On Sept. 30, Visa’s Global CBDC Product Lead, Catherine Gu, wrote that the company’s research and product teams are working on a new blockchain initiative called Universal Payment Channel (UPC). The cross-chain interoperability hub will connect different DLT networks to facilitate transfers of digital assets. Gu used the example of splitting a bill between friends...Read More
David Ignatius of the Washington Post interviewed SEC chair, Gary Gensler, on the cryptocurrency landscape, his thoughts on his approach to regulating the crypto space. Gensler expresses optimism for the possibilities crypto provides for enhancing finance, but also that he believes most of the space should fall under regulatory supervision – including stablecoins. At the...Read More
As regulatory pressure mounts in the U.S., policymakers are putting stablecoins at the top of their agendas. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg has reported that officials are crafting a policy framework set to be released in the coming weeks. Their primary concern is ensuring that investors can reliably move money in and out...Read More
Solana’s network saw explosive growth this year, but it appears that it’s not just NFTs that are driving it higher. The total amount of USDC that circulates on Solana is now up to $2.5 billion. Data from the Solana explorer reveals that the current supply of USDC on the network is just shy of $2.5...Read More
Centre, the issuer of popular stablecoin USDC, has revealed that it will convert the asset reserves back to cash and U.S. treasury bills only. In an official blog post on Monday, the Centre Consortium noted that it now intends to “hold the USDC reserve entirely in cash and short duration US Treasuries.” The organization said...Read More
Circle, the blockchain company behind one of the most popular stablecoins – USDC, plans to simplify user experience and USDC transfers in different apps and exchanges. To do so, the company has introduced usernames for wallets through a partnership with the domain name provider – Unstoppable Domains. Circle Introduces USDC Usernames In a press release...Read More
As cryptocurrency adoption enters a mainstream stage, traditional financial services platforms are trying to adapt to the changing financial ecosystem. To maintain their importance in this industry, payment processors like Mastercard and Visa intend to use their large client base and international reach to attract both government and private entities when they are testing their...Read More
Wyre, a blockchain payments provider, announced today that developers around the world are now able to provide USDC stablecoin to customers in the Polygon ecosystem. The feature was made possible through a partnership with Polygon. Wyre Integrates With Polygon Wyre said in a press release shared with CryptoPotato that the integration of its Checkout API...Read More
Circle, the blockchain company behind the second-most popular stablecoin USDC, has partnered with the US multinational financial services giant – Mastercard. Both parties aim to facilitate crypto-to-fiat conversions and test using USDC as a settlement option. The partnership, announced by Circle on July 20th, will result in launching a pilot program that will assist both...Read More
The Japanese government intends to put stablecoins under strict regulation as some authorities consider them a threat to the country’s financial stability. At the same time, the Bank of Japan aims to issue a digital yen that it sees as a safer alternative to private virtual currencies. Japan’s Next Crypto Move According to Reuters, three...Read More
Global fintech firm and developer of the USDC stablecoin, Circle, has revealed that it will be going public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) via a new business alliance. According to an official announcement today, Circle has partnered with Concord Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with more than $276...Read More
Fan Yifei – a deputy governor of China’s central bank – expressed concerns that digital currencies, particularly stablecoins, could negatively impact the global financial system. Furthermore, he described the assets as “speculation tools.” PBoC Is ‘Quite Worried’ In a recent interview, the ex-Chairman of Shanghai Bank and a current deputy governor of the People’s Bank...Read More
HSBC reaffirmed that it has no intentions to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk or offer Bitcoin as an investment option to its clients. According to the institution, the digital asset is too volatile and lacks transparency. ‘We Are Not into Bitcoin’ The current crypto market situation continues to be highly unstable, mainly fueled by China’s...Read More
In an announcement on April 23, Coinbase Pro stated that it had enabled trading for the Tether stablecoin. The move is huge news as previously the leading exchange would only support its own native stablecoin, USDC. The announcement added that support for USDT will generally be available in Coinbase’s supported jurisdictions, with the exception of...Read More
Speaking at a City and Financial Conference today, John Glen said authorities need to regulate stablecoins due to the threat it poses should a major firm dominate the sector. “There is the potential for some firms to swiftly achieve dominance and crowd out other players due to their ability to scale and plug into existing...Read More
The European Central Bank (ECB) has asked the parliament for veto powers in matters concerning Facebook’s Diem and other stablecoin projects. According to a Reuters report on Tuesday (Feb. 23, 2021), the ECB has asked European Union (EU) lawmakers for veto powers on stablecoin regulations in the Eurozone. An excerpt from the ECB’s formal opinion...Read More
The regulated stablecoin fully backed by the US dollar, Stably USD (USDS), will launch on the popular public blockchain – Tezos as a part of an ongoing collaboration between the two parties. The stablecoin issuer aims to target lower fees with the Tezos network, which recently went through an upgrade that decreased the costs by...Read More
A ratio that measures the amount of Bitcoin compared to stablecoins has fallen back to levels usually indicative of bullish buying momentum. On-chain analytics provider Glassnode noted the ratio in its latest report stating that the Bitcoin Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR) has been declining in 2021 as more stablecoins are minted. When the SSR is...Read More
Tether has dominated stablecoin markets for the past three years as the treasury has kept churning them out with a record level of almost 27 billion in USDT circulating now. The latest figures from CoinMetrics, however, indicate that its market share has dropped below 75% for the first time ever. More stablecoin options are good...Read More
Over the past few weeks, the rise of Bitcoin in the charts has overshadowed other developments in the industry. Between 26th November to press time, Bitcoin has grown by 123%. The particular importance of that timeline will be narrated later on as we move on to the topic of stablecoins. According to Coinmetrics, stablecoins have...Read More
The growth of stablecoins within the crypto industry has surged in the past year, with the total supply reaching $31.7 billion at the time of writing. Source: The Block Most of the growth has been driven by USDT and USDC, the two largest stablecoins by total supply, accounting for 75% and 14% of the stablecoin...Read More
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has published more crypto-friendly guidelines allowing greater participation by regulated financial institutions in the industry. US Banks Can Now Use Stablecoins and Blockchains for Settlement In a press release issued on Monday (Jan. 4, 2020), the OCC revealed its decision to allow Federally chartered banks...Read More
Visa, a global financial services company and credit card giant, has partnered with Circle Internet Financial, a leading crypto fintech startup, to integrate the latter’s stablecoin. Visa Taps USDC for Digital Payments According to Forbes, on Dec. 2, Visa will be adopting Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) into its credit card platforms. The collaboration between both...Read More
Now the United States can boast a new crypto bank: Welcome Avanti. Avanti Financial Group, a firm founded by the former managing director at Morgan Stanley, Caitlin Long, announced that it had been granted a license to offer banking services by the Wyoming State Banking Board. Avanti is The Second Crypto-bank Operating in the United...Read More
During his appearance on DC Fintech Week 2020, the Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks praised decentralized networks, highlighted the expanding role of cryptocurrencies and the necessary regulations, and hinted that central banks could actually become nodes to blockchain networks. Brooks On Crypto And Regulation In Brooks’ opinion, banks have treated cryptocurrency assets as...Read More
The combined stablecoin market recently topped a valuation figure of $20 billion. Apparently, this was the total market value of all cryptocurrencies in the pre-bull run month of February 2017. Also, stablecoins together are contributing to $26 billion worth of trading volume. The Crypto Stablecoin Market Is Booming As per the latest statistics, the total...Read More
The importance of this current week has been fairly downplayed. Years down the line, the global payments system might look back at this particular period and suggest that this is where it all started. Let’s jog our memories on what actually happened. In two ‘un-correlated’ announcements, the People’s Bank of China-controlled finance magazine stated the importance...Read More
Cuy Sheffield, senior director and head of crypto at Visa said in a report today that the global payment network, Visa, was advancing its work on its cryptocurrency payment technology and that it would incorporate blockchain tech into its operations. Although the Visa executive did not mention a specific timeline for the project, he added...Read More
