Its infamous circular directing banks to cease servicing crypto firms may have been overturned in the courts but India's central bank is showing no signs of softening its stance towards cryptocurrencies. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated the institution's position in a recent press conference following a statement on monetary policy, stressing: “We have major concerns around cryptocurrency, which we have conveyed to the government.” The governor's comments come after the Reserve Bank of India had been prompted to clarify that banks should not continue to cite the Reserve Bank of India's now-defunct circular as grounds for refusing …

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. Could green miners get a pass? Last week’s column had a look at the recent crackdown on cryptocurrency miners as China heads towards a more carbon-neutral policy. This week, the Southwest province of China was humming a slightly different tune as the Sichuan Energy Regulatory Office organized a symposium on the topic. The province has a heavy mining concentration due to low cost energy generated from a developed …

Tinkoff, a major private bank in Russia, is struggling to offer cryptocurrency trading to its clients due to the central bank’s tough stance on digital assets. Tinkoff CEO Oliver Hughes said that the digital bank is willing to offer crypto trading services but is restrained by the Bank of Russia’s policies, CNBC reported. The executive announced the news at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday, stating: “There’s no mechanism for us to offer that product to them in Russia at the moment because the central bank has got this very tough position.” Hughes said that the bank has …

The European Central Bank has warned that a CBDC or digital euro may be required to head off the spectre of “artificial currencies” dominating cross-border payments. In ECB’s annual review of the euro dubbed “The international role of the euro”, economists Massimo Ferrari and Arnaud Mehl conveyed concerns over the rise of artificial currencies led by unnamed “foreign tech giants” — likely a veiled reference to Facebook’s Diem project: “One concern could be a situation in which domestic and cross-border payments are dominated by non-domestic providers, including foreign tech giants potentially offering artificial currencies in the future.” “Not only could …

The Chinese government is launching another digital yuan lottery to stimulate its ongoing digital currency trials, this time in the capital of Beijing. The Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration officially announced Tuesday that the government will distribute 40 million digital yuan ($6.2 million) to Beijing residents as part of a new digital currency pilot. Starting in June, the program features “red envelopes” — a traditional way of gifting money — with each providing a free online wallet containing 200 digital yuan ($31). These red envelopes will be distributed to 200,000 lottery winners, who must download an application to use …

Cryptocurrencies’ persistent growth and ever more mainstream adoption are keeping international monetary authorities on their toes. In fresh comments this week, Stefan Ingves, the governor of Riksbank — Sweden’s central bank — said that digital assets’ rising popularity raises the stakes for regulators, central bankers and lawmakers worldwide: “When something gets big enough, things like consumer interests and money laundering come into play. So there’s good reason to believe that [regulation] will happen.” Devising regulatory frameworks for an asset that was initially designed to circumvent the very architecture and rules of traditional finance is no easy task. In the United …

India’s central bank has issued an official notice regarding the fact that local banks are reportedly cautioning customers against using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Published Monday, the notice points out that the Reserve Bank of India is aware of media reports that certain banks have cautioned their customers against crypto by referring to the RBI’s quashed, three-year-old circular. “Such references to the above circular by banks/ regulated entities are not in order as this circular was set aside by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on March 4, 2020 in the matter of Writ Petition,” the notice reads, emphasizing that the circular …

Ireland’s central bank director general for financial conduct is the latest official to point out issues of Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency industry following a major market sell-off. The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is “of great concern,” the Central Bank of Ireland’s Derville Rowland warned recently. “Crypto assets are quite a speculative, unregulated investment,” and investors should be “really aware they could lose the whole of that investment.” Rowland stated after crypto markets shed nearly $1 trillion in a matter of days in one of the biggest historic crypto sell-offs. Rowland’s perspective on crypto is set to contribute …

Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, has joined the roll call of central bankers taking aim at Bitcoin (BTC) amid the current volatility. According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, Kuroda argued against the value proposition of the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, stating: “Most of the trading is speculative and volatility is extraordinarily high. It’s barely used as a means of settlement.” The BOJ governor’s criticism comes as Bitcoin experienced an over 50% drawdown from its $64,000 all-time-high price milestone achieved back in mid-April. Indeed, several central bankers have taken Bitcoin’s current price wobble as an …

At a 279th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele expressed confidence that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) will be legal in the country, Business Insider reported on Wednesday. Emefiele did not directly mention a decision to reverse the CBN’s February ban of institutions from buying and selling crypto but noted that the bank has been investigating the industry: “We are committed in the CBN, and I can assure everybody that digital currency will come to life even in Nigeria [...] Under cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, Nigeria comes 2nd, while on the global side …

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 …

Crypto trading volumes continue to increase, but several countries’ central banks are keen to ignore it, with Denmark being the latest to join the “crypto is negligible” narrative. Lars Rohde, governor of the country’s central bank doesn’t see the rise of crypto trading as a serious economic threat. “I could be tempted to ignore it,” he told Bloomberg. “I think the term currency is badly used here. Most currencies store value or are means of transactions. There is no stability, no guarantee about the value of cryptocurrencies.” Crypto is a speculative asset at best, he added. When asked about the …