Altcoin News by Thebittimes.Com

Barclays, Lloyds, and Citi banks experimenting with tokenised deposits. The trial aims to explore digital banking potential amidst the uncertain future of ‘Britcoin’. BIS’s Agora project and UK government support reflect the global push for advanced financial systems. In a bid to explore innovative financial technologies, three major British banks — Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, and Citi — have commenced a trial to test tokenised deposits. The trial, which began in February and involves collaboration with global payment giants Mastercard and Visa, aims to delve into the potential of digital banking solutions. The future of UK’s Britcoin remains uncertain The tokenized deposit trial comes at a time when the future of the digital pound, colloquially known as ‘Britcoin,’ remains uncertain despite initial explorations by the Bank of England in 2021. In January, 2024, the UK Treasury and the Bank of England (BOE...

In what is certainly a concerning development, New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) has been halted for volatility after falling more than 60% this year. Subsequently, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the bank to junk yesterday. Thereafter, it dropped another 8% in premarket trading today. Last year saw a significant banking crisis lead to a plethora of closures. Indeed, Banks like Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank had all encountered rapidly deteriorating stock prices. Ultimately, each of these Banks would fail in 2023. Source: Bloomberg Also Read: Circle Announces Partnership With New York Community Bancorp NYCB Halted Amid Rapid Stock Price Drop, Moody Downgrade IN 2023, the United States economy was enveloped in a burgeoning crisis for its banking sector. Indeed, a situation that began with plummeting stock prices led to the closure of several prominent financial institutions in the country. Now, one concerning development has many fea...

During a panel at the Australian Blockchain Week, executives from Australia’s major banks explained why they added restrictions on payments to local crypto exchanges. Australia’s cryptocurrency industry banking woes will likely continue, with the government and major banks signaling no intention to back down against scams that “touch” crypto. During a panel at the Australian Blockchain Week on June 26, Sophie Gilder, managing director of blockchain and digital assets at Commonwealth Bank (CBA) shed light on the bank's restrictions on crypto exchange payments, noting it was put in place after seeing an alarming rate of scams that ended up involving cryptocurrency. “One in three of the dollars that are scammed from Australians touch crypto, one in three. So it's the single largest lever that we have to reduce this impact on our customers,” she said. Commonwealth Bank's Sophie Gilder speaking in a panel during Australian Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph Nigel Dobson, ba...

Will DeFi and crypto overthrow traditional banks, or is there a middle ground? Over the years, the financial industry has undergone significant transformation as challenger banks and crypto institutions have emerged to challenge the traditional banking system (TradFi). According to data acquired by Finbold, downloads for selected six European mobile-only bank apps peaked at 26.3 million in 2022 for Android and iOS operating systems, representing year-over-year (YoY) growth of 54.09% from 2021’s figure of 17.06 million. Number of European Mobile-only Bank App Downloads in 2022 Source: Finbold Similarly, the global crypto currency market cap has grown significantly over the past year, reaching a total market value of over $2.5 trillion in early 2022. As digital Banking and crypto adoption gain more traction, the competition to shape the future of Finance is intensifying. Thus, which will come out on top? Challenger Banks Challenger banks represent financial institutions that ‘challeng...

Bitcoin price is gearing up for a key monthly close that could see it dump its 2022 bear market for good. Bitcoin (BTC) enters the last week of March in uncertain territory as a strong weekly close still keeps $30,000 out of reach. The largest cryptocurrency has sealed seven days of practically flat performance despite some volatility in between as the market seeks fresh direction. Where could it go next? In what was a week of more surprises from the macro economy, BTC/USD spent much time reacting to decisions from the United States Federal Reserve and associated commentary. Next up, however, is a period of relative calm, followed by a key monthly close, which analysis says could see the start of a new bullish trend. Bitcoin is currently up 20% for March so far, meaning that the coming days will decide the strength of the ongoing recovery from multi-year lows. Cointelegraph takes a look at five key topics to bear in mind during the final week of a what has been a volatile month. Count...

Australia’s prudential regulator has reportedly told banks to improve reporting on crypto assets and provide daily updates. Australia’s prudential regulator has reportedly asked local banks to report on cryptocurrency transactions amid the ongoing contagion of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has started requesting banks to declare their exposures to startups and crypto-related companies, the Australian Financial Review reported on March 21. The regulator has ordered Banks to improve their report ing on crypto assets and provide daily updates to the APRA, the report notes, citing three people familiar with the matter. The agency is aiming to obtain more information and insight into banking exposures into crypto as well as associated risks, the sources said. The new measures are reported ly part of the APRA’s increased supervision of the banking sector in the aftermath of recent massive collapses in the global banking system...

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, in a conversation with Vox admitted to using Alameda’s banking facilities for FTX user deposits. The FTX contagion saga sees new revelations around its misconduct every other day, and the latest one solidifies the collusion between the failed crypto exchange and its sister company Alameda Research from the very beginning. FTX like many other crypto exchanges found it difficult to get a banking partner to process fiat transactions- as banks have been hesitant to tie up with crypto exchanges due to a lack of regulatory oversight. FTX overcame this problem by using its sister company’s banking accounts to process transactions for the crypto exchange. Former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed in a conversation with Vox that the exchange was using Alameda’s bank accounts to wire customer deposits. Some customers were reportedly asked to wire their deposits through Alameda, which had a banking partnership with fintech bank Silvergate Capital. The colli...