United Kingdom babanks HSBC Holdings and Nationwide Building Society are banning cryptocurrency purchases via credit cards for retail customers. They join a growing list of banks in the country to tighten restrictions on digital assets. A Bloomberg report on March 2 claims the step back is a response to warnings by UK regulators and scandals surrounding the crypto industry. Nationwide is reportedly applying daily limits of £5,000 ($5,965) on debit-card purchases of crypto assets, while credit cards will no longer be available for crypto transactions. Customers of HSBC were barred from making crypto purchases with their credit cards last month. …

HSBC, the British multinational bank which manages the largest amount of assets in Europe, doubles down its interest in digital currencies. The bank is looking for a top executive to work with asset tokenization. On Jan. 30, HSBC opened the GPBW Product Director of Tokenisation position with a hiring process scheduled to end by Feb. 13. According to the job description, the "tokenization director would be responsible for “designing and implementing” a global tokenization proposition and representing the bank in front of regulators and digital assets ecosystem. The candidate should possess knowledge of digital assets, especially around asset tokenization and …

Global banking giant HSBC Holdings has rolled out its metaverse investment product for wealthy clients in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to multiple media reports. Called Metaverse Discretionary Strategy portfolio, the new product is managed by HSBC’s asset management arm, HSBC Asset Management. The fund aims to provide high net worth professional investors and accredited investor clients with exposure to new investment opportunities in the metaverse industry. According to a Wednesday report by Reuters, HSBC’s metaverse fund will focus on investment within five major segments in the metaverse ecosystem, including infrastructure, computing, virtualization, experience and interface. “We see many exciting …

HSBC, one of the largest European banks with total assets of $2.4 trillion, announced its intention to buy a virtual plot of LAND within The Sandbox for an undisclosed amount. The new partners will develop opportunities for users to engage with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts, according to the statement by The Sandbox. Delighted to announce we’ve partnered with @HSBC, one of the world’s largest international banking & financial services providers! Bringing a host of opportunities to engage with global financial services & sports communities in The Sandbox Metaverse.https://t.co/GmQ3lrVmnB — The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) March 16, 2022 The banking giant will …

On Thursday, HSBC and IBM announced the successful test of an advanced token and digital wallet settlement between two central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, in a cloud environment. The experiment consisted of transactions between CBDCs, eBonds, and forex. IBM's Hyperledger Fabric and enterprise technology provider R3's Corda served as the basis of the distributed ledger facilitating the transactions. The project was overseen by central bank Banque de France as part of a series of tranche projects to implement a digital Euro. Previously the French and Swiss central banks reported positive results on a pilot run of the digital Swiss …

Wells Fargo has partnered with HSBC to use its blockchain tools for the settlement of bilateral foreign exchange (FX) transactions. Wells Fargo would use the HSBC-developed FX Everywhere platform for interbank FX transactions. Developed by HSBC in 2018, the blockchain settlement platform is primarily used to settle transactions between banks within the HSBC group. The latest partnership would be the first use case outside the HSBC group. The partnership would make way for settlement in U.S. dollar (USD), Canadian dollar (CAD), British pound sterling (GBP) and Euro (EUR) transactions. The official press release said that the platform would expand to …

HSBC, the largest European bank with total assets of $3 trillion, maintains a skeptical stance on cryptocurrency while promoting the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn penned an article titled “New forms of digital money could spur growth,” in which he outlined the firm’s commitment to supporting the concept of a CBDC, as it provides transparent legal tender designed to avoid “many risks” associated with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Released on Tuesday, the piece argues that global CBDC efforts like the Chinese digital yuan are the “new form of digital money,” while private money itself, …

Banks in the United Kingdom continue to crack down on Binance cryptocurrency exchange, with banking giant HSBC becoming the latest bank to cut payment channels to the platform. A series of HSBC clients reported on Twitter this Monday that HSBC UK had suspended credit card payments to Binance. According to an announcement on the service suspension, HSBC UK made the decision “due to concerns about possible risks” to its customers. “We take our duty as a responsible lender seriously and want to do everything we can to protect you. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let you know if …

Global banking giant HSBC has announced that it has been successfully onboarded to the regional Know-Your-Customer (KYC)-focused private blockchain backed by Dubai’s government. HSBC is the first overseas, and fourth founding member, to go live on the “UAE KYC Blockchain Platform,” which was developed by the Dubai-based Department of Economic Development, dubbed “Dubai Economy.” The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform is a national ecosystem for the exchange of verified know-your-customer data between licensing authorities and financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates. According to the Gulf News, HSBC’s addition to the platform provides investors with the option of digitally opening an …

MicroStrategy’s continuous Bitcoin acquisition has drawn the ire of investment banking giant HSBC. Despite being one of the largest business intelligence firms in the world, HSBC has stated that MicroStrategy is now a “virtual currency product,” a designation akin to the pseudo-Bitcoin exchange-traded fund status attached to the company on account of its sizable Bitcoin (BTC) balance sheet. Since August 2020, MicroStrategy has embarked on a Bitcoin acquisition spree and now holds more than $5 billion worth of BTC. Michael Saylor, the company’s CEO, has also become an outspoken Bitcoin proponent. Saylor’s Bitcoin evangelism has included attempts to encourage other …

Buying MicroStrategy stock is reportedly no longer possible for HSBC customers on the bank’s online trading platform — HSBC InvestDirect, or HIDC. According to a supposed message from the bank to its customers, HSBC has directed users that already own MicroStrategy stock not to buy additional shares. Twitter user Camiam claimed to have received such a message from the banking giant on March 29: Hey @michael_saylor , you may want to ask your legal team if what @HSBC_CA is doing here is legal. It sure does not sound like it is! They wont allow us to buy @MicroStrategy . They …

Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia, has joined a blockchain trade finance network backed by HSBC. According to an official announcement on Nov. 3, Alfa-Bank is the first Russian bank to become a member of Contour — a blockchain platform connecting the world’s major financial institutions like HSBC, ING and Citi. The network allows bank customers to track the processing and modification of trade finance transactions and cut operational costs. Evgenia Fomina, head of the Alfa-Bank lending directorate, said that Contour-based pilots in the Russian market intend to improve the quality of cross-border transactions, stating: “The …