Increasing numbers of offshore cryptocurrency exchanges are embracing Brazil’s instant payments infrastructure, PIX. On May 28, OKEx announced a strategic partnership with local payments firm CuboPay, allowing it to facilitate Tether ($USDT) purchases in exchange for Brazilian real via PIX. The news follows similar moves from rival exchanges, including Crypto.com peer-to-peer platform Localbitcoins. The integrations come as the Central Bank of Brazil, or BCB, published preliminary guidelines for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, on May 25. The announcement emphasizes that the CBDC will operate “as an extension of the physical currency,” and is intended to improve the retail …

Among the many complications associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), a lack of knowledge and understanding of crypto is the biggest obstacle for wider adoption, according to a new survey. The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, released a new report called “Digimentality 2021.” The study was commissioned by major payment and cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com and contains a consumer survey of 3,053 people conducted from February to March 2021. According to survey results, 51% of respondents said a lack of knowledge is the main barrier to the adoption of open-source cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and …

The Bank of Canada does not see a strong reason for issuing a central bank digital currency at the moment. Timothy Lane, the Bank of Canada’s deputy governor and head of research at the bank’s fintech and crypto department, spoke on CBDC issues at a Wednesday panel, Reuters reports. According to the official, the Canadian central bank is now focused on CBDC implementations in more concrete terms, thinking about how it might work and look. However, the Bank of Canada has not found any solid case for issuing a CBDC. Lane said: “In terms of where we are with the …

The Bank of Indonesia is one of the latest global central banks to announce state digital currency plans amid a major spike in the country’s digital payments. Governor Perry Warjiyo said Tuesday that Indonesia’s central bank is planning to launch a digital rupiah currency as a legal payment instrument in Indonesia, Reuters reports. The official noted that the rupiah is the only legally accepted currency for payment in the country so far, and BI will be looking to regulate a digital rupiah the same way it regulates cash and card-based transactions. According to Warjiyo, BI is now studying potential benefits …

South Africa is the latest country to begin exploring the possibility of creating its own sovereign digital currency. According to a release issued on Tuesday, the South African Reserve Bank has begun preliminary feasibility studies about the “desirability and appropriateness” of a retail central bank digital currency. As part of its announcement, the SARB defined a retail CBDC as a cash-complimentary sovereign digital currency issued by the central bank suitable for electronic payments. “The objective of the feasibility study is to consider how the issuance of a general-purpose CBDC will feed into the SARB’s policy position and mandate,” South Africa’s …

The recent tumultuous price action for cryptocurrencies seems to be providing ample opportunity for popular anti-crypto bank HSBC to double down on its negative stance towards virtual currencies. Speaking to Reuters on Monday, HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said that the bank was not interested in running a crypto trading desk or offering cryptocurrency-related investment packages to its clients. Quinn identified volatility as a major reason for the bank’s decision despite the emerging trend of other major financial institutions announcing plans to open up crypto investment avenues for their clients. Earlier in May, investment banking giant Wells Fargo announced plans to …

The Fed’s governor has argued that The United States must be at the forefront of developing a central bank-issued digital currency, or CBDC, to bolster the role of the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency. In a May 24 announcement, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard asserted that leading CBDC projects could have a “significant effect” on the global financial system, urging the U.S. to ensure it plays a leading role in the burgeoning CBDC ecosystem: “Given the potential for CBDCs to gain prominence in cross-border payments and the reserve currency role of the dollar, it is vital for the …

South Korea’s central bank is moving forward with its national digital currency plans as it now looks for a technology supplier to design a pilot platform for the digital won. The Bank of Korea announced that it launched a bidding process to choose a tech partner for studying the practicalities of launching a central bank digital currency in a test environment, Reuters reported Monday. The BoK said that the latest move comes in response to fast changes in the global financial system, stating, “The share of cash transactions is decreasing significantly. The steps we are taking now are to prepare …

The dichotomy between centralization and decentralization in human history seems to be opposing forces gradually overcoming or being overcome by each other. And while one replaces the other, people are justifying both, finding philosophical or theoretical reasons for the existence of both of them. Centralization In the middle of the 17th century, British philosopher Thomas Hobbes published a book titled Leviathan (or, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil), where he formulates social contract theory. According to Hobbes, roughly simplified for this article, humans started from a summum malum — greatest evil — or a constant …

The founder and CEO of Avanti Financial, Caitlin Long says the “U.S. crypto regulatory crackdown” has begun, but emphasized it’s not a “Bitcoin ban.” She said she was optimistic that the forthcoming regulations would simply bring crypto laws into line with standard financial rules around taxes and compliance. 1/ IT'S CLEAR a US #crypto regulatory crackdown is starting but I'm optimistic bc most of the major players/agencies have spoken already & the policy is taking shape: it's "pay taxes, comply w/ laws & don't take shortcuts, & we'll enable the innovation." It's NOT a "#bitcoin ban" — Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) …

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the government body is moving forward with research to implement a central bank digital currency. In an announcement from the Fed today, Powell said the Federal Reserve Board would be issuing a discussion paper sometime this summer, calling for the U.S. public to comment “on issues related to payments, financial inclusion, data privacy, and information security.” While the Fed chair said crypto was not a “convenient way to make payments” given its volatility, he was seemingly more open to stablecoins and a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. “Our key focus is on whether …

Trust in state-backed digital currencies will be “immeasurably higher” than trust in public cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Russian former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev argued. Medvedev, the incumbent deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council, spoke on cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, at the Saint Petersburg International Legal Forum on Tuesday, local news agency TASS reported. The official pointed out the crucial role of digital transparency associated with emerging financial technologies like public cryptocurrencies. “It’s time to recognize their importance,” Medvedev noted, also stressing the role of new digital forms of money like central bank digital currencies. “It is …