Yet another statement by a top Indian official suggests that regulatory uncertainty around the status of digital assets in the country will persist in the near term. Responding to the general discussion of the 2022-23 Union Budget at Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of India’s bicameral parliament, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that she was not going to “legalize or ban” cryptocurrency at this moment. The minister added that “Banning or not banning will come subsequently,” when the ministry reviews input from consultations. Sitharaman also mentioned that the state has “the sovereign right to tax” income that citizens derive from …

The European Commission has announced that a bill for a digital euro will be proposed in 2023. As first reported by Politico, EC finance chief Mairead McGuinness officially disclosed the EU’s formal consideration of digital euro legislation at a fintech conference on Wednesday. "Our goal is to table legislation in early 2023,” the Commissioner for Financial Service said. “A targeted legislative consultation in the coming weeks." The European Central Bank (ECB) is already experimenting with designs and systems for a digital euro, with a prototype expected sometime in late-2023. If a digital euro is to be implemented, it will require …

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, or Boston Fed, has selected economist Susan M. Collins, University of Michigan provost, to serve as its new president and chief executive officer. The seat has become vacant in September 2021, when the then-president Eric Rosengren expedited his retirement amid a controversy around his securities trading while in office. Collins, who is Jamaican-American, will become the first Black woman in the Fed’s history to lead a Federal Reserve Bank. She will assume office on July 1. The Boston Fed is one of 12 regional branches of the Federal Reserve. Along with the Fed’s Board …

Singapore has seen a tenfold increase in crypto-related investments last year worth $1.48 billion, up from $110 million in 2020, according to KPMG's Pulse of Fintech report. As per the study, the city-state has long been recognized as a center of cryptocurrency activity, with over $1.48 billion in investment completed last year alone. KPMG suggests that the increase is in part due to government efforts to stimulate the capital market, such as establishing a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listing framework to position the country as a choice location where fast-growing firms and unicorns can go public. This year, regulators are …

Theoretical research into a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the U.S. has found that distributed ledger architecture has “downsides.” The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Digital Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published their findings of their initial research into a CBDC on Feb 3. The research project, dubbed “Project Hamilton,” tested a “hypothetical general purpose CBDC” using two potential models. The first one processed transactions through “ordering server” distributed ledger technology (DLT), which organized the validated transactions into blocks to create an ordered transaction history. The researchers were able to use this architecture to …

A new report indicates that the blockchain industry is set for astronomical growth in the next decade, with the North American market leading the way. The report by Fortune Business Insights, titled “Blockchain Market Analysis Research Report, 2021-2028,” mentions that the global blockchain market size is expected to reach a whopping $104.19 billion by 2028, exhibiting at a CAGR of 55.8% across the forecast period. The presence of major industry players such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, AWS, Digital Asset Holdings and others in the North American market is expected to have a significant impact during the forecast period. For comparison, …

In a speech discussing the budget for 2022, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2022-23 as means to boost the country’s economic growth. Sitharaman highlighted the need for digital inclusion across numerous business verticals while announcing the fund allocation set in the Union Budget. Speaking about the launch of a digital rupee, she added that the introduction of a CBDC will provide a “big boost” to the digital economy. She also highlighted the possibility of a more efficient and cheaper currency management system made possible by digital currencies. “It is …

One of the most fascinating implications of the collision between traditional political institutions and the crypto space is how it can reveal the glaring lack of cohesion within power systems that otherwise look monolithic. Digital assets reside in a parallel policy dimension where neither a centralized consensus nor a clear rulebook exists, leading to a surprising variety of voices and opinions emerging in the absence of a politically coordinated course. Last week, a rare lively policy debate broke out in Russia in the aftermath of its central bank’s attempt to promote a hardline stance on crypto. One does not often …

On Friday, credit rating agency Fitch published a research piece about Russia's proposed ban on cryptocurrencies. Although the report agreed with the Central Bank of Russia's (CBR) position that the ban would limit its financial system's exposure to risks, it also cautioned that such proposal could "hold back the diffusion of technologies that could improve productivity." In addition, Fitch warned: Suppose this slows the spread of crypto-driven innovations that, for example, improve the speed and security of payments or asset liquidity via tokenization. In that case, it could over time weaken this aspect of the Russian banking sector's operational environment …

On Jan. 20, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) issued a report summarizing its position on digital assets and proposing a ban on any crypto trading and mining operations in the country. Although the CBR’s strict position on the matter was never a secret, such a bold statement triggered waves of fear, uncertainty, and doubt — otherwise known as FUD — across the board, given Russians’ high rates of involvement in the global digital assets market. Yet, there are reasons to doubt the ultimate effectiveness of the CBR’s hardline bidding, both in terms of its enforceability and its acceptance by …

In a new twist of the Russian crypto regulation saga, the country's Ministry of Finance has come forward with an initiative that stands in stark contrast with the Central Bank's hardline position. The Central Bank of Russia recently called for a ban on crypto trading and mining activities throughout the country. Citing volatility, environmental impact, and use in illegal activities, the central bank published a report calling regulators to implement a total ban and impose strict sanctions on violators. However, the proposal received opposition from the Russian Ministry of Finance. A few days after the central bank's call for a …

Russian president Vladmir Putin has given crypto enthusiasts a glimmer of hope for the future of digital assets in the country, which have been under threat from a recent push to ban cryptocurrencies and mining. The strongman leader opened a Jan 26 video conference with members of the Russian government by saying he would like to “start with an issue that is currently in the spotlight — the regulation of cryptocurrencies.” “Of course, we also have certain competitive advantages here, especially in the so-called mining. I mean the surplus of electricity and the well-trained personnel available in the country.” According …