Cryptocurrency
Diego Labat on policy normalisation, capital flows and tech challenges
The Central Bank of Uruguay governor speaks with Christopher Jeffery and Ben Margulies about governance, financialisation, flexible rates versus capital controls, payment upgrades and CBDCs
FSB warns of rising crypto asset risks
Sector could harm global financial stability if it carries on growing at current rate, FSB says
RBI deputy makes case for crypto asset ban
Left alone, crypto products could “wreck the currency system”, says T Rabi Sankar
Boston Fed-MIT team hails successful CBDC test
The project’s two open-source systems were able to process large transaction volumes
Pilot CBDC outage due to expired certificate, ECCB says
Blockchain network requires update before digital currency can come back online
Indian government directs RBI to issue CBDC
Central bank told to prepare to issue the digital currency in 2022 and 2023
IMF warns El Salvador on crypto
Executive board recommends “removing bitcoin’s legal tender status”
Visa and ConsenSys launch plan to bridge CBDCs and traditional payments
Payments giant and fintech firm to develop “on-ramp” to link up existing and new systems
Bitcoin’s carbon footprint rises with prices – DNB research
Total carbon emissions produced by crypto assets rose by 25% in 2020, study finds
Bolivian authorities implement crypto ban
Central bank will enforce 2020 measure banishing virtual assets from payments system
Mexican government announces CBDC for 2024
Bank of Mexico has yet to comment publicly on the initiative
Crypto markets may centralise power – BIS bulletin
Need for centralisation is “inescapable” despite crypto boosters’ claims to the contrary – researchers
Book notes: Shades of sovereignty, by Paul Wilson
An essential and stimulating read for central bankers thinking about the monetary history of their state in relation to its historical perspective and broad international trends
Bank of Tanzania ‘working on CBDC’, governor says
Luoga says “cryptocurrencies are not safe” and president has urged work on CBDC
US agencies conduct ‘policy sprints’ to tackle crypto risks
Approach modelled around “tech sprints” aims to get results quickly
US regulators call for new stablecoin regulations
Working group wants issuers to be insured and regulated like banks
Nigeria launches ‘digital naira’ pilot
Central bank issues $1.2 million in retail CBDC after clampdown on private crypto
James Bullard on Fed policy, action and governance
St Louis president calls for tapering amid “exceptional” job market and risk of “more persistent” inflation, quantifies ‘big tent language’ for pioneering AIT move, and details Congress’s role in Fed ethics oversight
Covid-19, crypto and climate weigh on global economy – GFSR
Central banks face difficult “intertemporal trade-offs”; poorer nations unlikely to regain pre-Covid growth levels for “many, many years”, says IMF’s financial counsellor Tobias Adrian
China outlaws all crypto transactions and bans mining
PBoC, cyber watchdog and central economic planner act in a joint crackdown on crypto
Sustainability: a hallmark of cash
Tod Niedeck, corporate marketing director at Crane Currency makes the case for the sustainability benefits that are inherent in the production of paper banknotes, contrasting this with the environmental difficulties that face plastic banknotes at the end…
Bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador
Observers warn move could further destabilise the fragile Salvadoran economy
MAS grants first crypto exchange licence
Central banks taking divergent approaches to scrutiny of crypto firms
PBoC to support green finance with low-cost funding
Bank says it will extend its tougher regulation of crypto assets