Indonesia’s central bank governor, Perry Warjiyo, is mobilizing official supervisors to enforce the country’s ban on financial institutions using crypto assets as a means of payment. During a virtual seminar on Tuesday, June 15, Warjiyo reiterated that local financial firms and payment provided are prohibited from facilitating the use of cryptocurrency to settle payments or as an instrument used in other financial services. The central bank governor emphasized that crypto assets are “not legitimate payment instruments under the constitution, Bank Indonesia Law, and Currency Law,” noting that field supervisors will be sent out to ensure that local financial institutions adhere …

Bitcoin (BTC) price has retreated by more than 40% after topping out near $65,000 in mid-April. But that is not enough to derail the flagship cryptocurrency's long-term bull trend, especially as global markets grapple with declining national currencies and the prospect of a commodity market crash. So believes Mike McGlone, the senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, who said Wednesday that diversifying into store-of-value assets is a wise strategy against gloomy currency and commodity market outlooks. "There's little risk of the dollar dropping in value vs. similarly depreciating currencies, which means that diversification into store-of-value assets like gold and Bitcoin …

A Russian State Duma member has blasted the central bank’s tough stance on the cryptocurrency industry for ignoring the growing demand for crypto in the country. Fedot Tumusov, a member of the “A Just Russia” party representing the Siberian region of Yakutsk, has criticized the Bank of Russia’s approach to regulating the crypto industry following a Tuesday plenary meeting of the State Duma. In a Tuesday Telegram post, Tumusov outlined the growing need to create an ecosystem that allows Russian residents to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) amid increasing demand. The official argued that despite Russia enforcing crypto legislation earlier …

China is progressing with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) tests, debuting blockchain-enabled salary payments in the digital yuan. According to the official website of the Xiong’an New Area, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has successfully completed the nation’s first on-chain wage payouts in the digital yuan. Announcing the news on Saturday, Xiong’an authorities said that the pilot involved guidance and support from the Shijiazhuang-based PBoC branch, the Bank of China Hebei Xiong’an branch, as well as the National Development and Reform Commission. The new CBDC pilot used a blockchain-based payment platform to distribute salaries to workers on spring …

Tanzania appears to be the latest emerging economy poised to embrace Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto assets. On Monday, Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan urged the country’s central bank to begin exploring crypto assets. Hassan emphasized the increasing impact of digital assets on global finance, stating, “We have witnessed the emergence of a new journey through the internet.” She highlighted the lack of crypto adoption and development in the East African region, stating, “Throughout the region, including Tanzania, they have not accepted or started using these routes.” “My call to the Central Bank is that you should start working on that …

Rakiya Mohammed, an IT specialist at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the apex bank is making efforts to float a central bank digital currency in the country. According to a report by People’s Gazette, Mohammed made this known after the Bankers Committee meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, telling reporters: “Before the end of the year, the Central Bank will be making a special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace.” Back in May, CBN governor Godwin Emefiele had stated that digital …

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), a global committee of banking supervisors and central banks, has proposed new requirements for banks that want to hold cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC). In a consultation paper published Thursday, the committee provided preliminary proposals for the prudential treatment of crypto exposure by banks. The paper built on the contents of the committee’s 2019 discussion paper and responses received from various stakeholders and international industry figures. Crypto’s perceived volatility and potential for illicit use led the BCBS to assign a 1,250% risk weight to Bitcoin. This essentially means that banks must hold $1 …

The Bank of France and the Swiss National Bank are teaming up with the Bank for International Settlements’ Innovation Hub to test a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) system dubbed “Project Jura.” According to a release by the Bank of France on Thursday, the Project Jura pilot study will also draw participation from a private consortium led by global service company Accenture. Other establishments in the private consortium include Credit Suisse, UBS, SIX Digital Exchange and R3. The experiment will reportedly use two wholesale CBDCs — one pegged to the euro and the other pegged to the Swiss franc. …

There has been much commotion about stablecoins among central bankers, regulators and lawmakers in recent years, most notably in the furor surrounding Facebook’s repeated attempts to launch variously designed stablecoins that would be native to its multiple social media platforms. Not everyone in the financial world is that perturbed though. A new speech for the Westminster eForum Policy Conference by Christina Segal-Knowles, executive director of the Bank of England's Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate, is titled “What’s Old is New Again” and aims to tone down some of the excitement and agitation surrounding the issue. Restricting her focus to stablecoins that …

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has published its “Fintech 2025” strategy with central bank digital currencies (CBDC), both retail and wholesale, included in the digital finance innovation package. Unveiling the fintech strategy via a release issued on Tuesday, CBDCs will reportedly play a part in the city administration’s goal of promoting comprehensive digital finance adoption by 2025. Concerning its plans for central bank digital currencies, the HKMA revealed that it would increase its research efforts to ensure Hong Kong’s readiness to float both retail and wholesale CBDCs. According to the announcement, the HKMA is collaborating with the Bank for …

The Bank of England is continuing to devote significant resources to researching digital money in both private and public forms. With an eye on both the domestic and international context, the central bank’s latest discussion paper, published June 7, outlines the role and possible developments of both in the ongoing evolution of money. Commenting on the paper’s publication, BoE governor Andrew Bailey said that “the prospect of stablecoins as a means of payment and the emerging propositions of CBDC have generated a host of issues that central banks, governments, and society as a whole, need to carefully consider and address. …

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is reportedly moving towards the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment. Speaking during a news conference in Ghana’s capital, Accra, on Monday, Ernest Addison, governor of the country’s central bank revealed that the BoG was in the advanced stages of creating a CBDC. As part of his address, Addison said that the planned e-cedi will pass through developmental and evaluation phases before a decision will be made on a national rollout. According to the BoG governor, the final stage will involve a pilot study to finalize issues concerning feasibility before the CBDC …