The Bank of International Settlement (BIS) has decided to expand its tentacles beyond the walls of central banks’ oversight and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) development. The Swizz-based Bank of Central Banks announced that it would launch a new project to monitor stablecoins in addition to its ongoing Central Bank Digital Currency research.  The BIS also noted that it would heighten its focus on Central Bank Digital Currencies in 2023 to bolster global payment systems and included Project Pyxtrial in its 2023 work schedule. Project Pyxtrial is a new experiment that the London bran

According to a press release published on Feb. 8, blockchain carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace has secured $45 million in an investment round from its nine founder banks with a combined $9 trillion in assets under management. The banks are BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS. The London-based fintech has also announced that it will become an independent entity, led by new CEO Scott Eaton. As told by Carbonplace, the company will use the investment to strengthen its platform and workforce, allowing it to scale i

DeFi’s use case in traditional finance could grow in the coming years as new protocols attempt to support the securitization of real-world assets, according to a new research report from credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings. The financing of real-world assets, or RWAs, will likely be a key focus area for DeFi protocols moving forward, S&P said in a report titled "DeFi Protocols For Securitization: A Credit Risk Perspective." Although the industry is still in its nascent stages, S&P highlighted several benefits DeFi could bring to securitization, including reducing transaction costs, improvi

Input Output Global (IOG), the organization behind the Cardano blockchain, has launched the public testnet of its proof-of-concept Ethereum virtual machine (EVM)-compatible sidechain.The launch follows an announcement last month about the release of a new toolkit for developers to deploy custom sidechains on the Cardano network.A Proof-of-Concept EVM SidechainAccording to an official tweet from IOG, the testnet will be available for a short period and regularly adjusted during its pilot phase.Users can test token transfers between test environments, connect their wallets, and deploy smart cont

As the adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Solana continues to expand, it has become the service provider’s responsibility to make the usage of crypto as seamless and efficient as possible. In the latest news, Brave and Solana have joined hands to push the adoption of crypto while making usage efficient.  Brave announced via a Twitter thread on Feb 7, disclosing that the browser has now added support for SOL dApss following its partnership with the network. Brave will enable a wallet whereby sending, receiving, storing, and purchasing SOL-based tokens can be possible on the browser.  Brave’s

In Dubai, the issuance of and all activities related to anonymity-enhancing cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and monero are prohibited under new laws published Tuesday. The jurisdiction in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) published its long-awaited crypto regulations, which sets licensing and authorization requirements for virtual asset companies and issuers looking to operate in Dubai. The new rules define anonymity-enhancing crypto as "a type of Virtual Asset which prevents the tracing of transactions or record of ownership through distributed public ledgers and for which the [Virtual Asset Se

Cryptocurrency data provider CoinGecko and 21.co, the parent firm of investment product provider 21Shares, are rolling out a classification system for crypto assets, the latest in a growing number of efforts to map the taxonomy of the industry and make it more accessible for participants in traditional finance (TradFi). The Global Crypto Classification Standard, announced Wednesday, categorizes digital assets according to three levels. It joins a classification system called datonomy, constructed by financial services behemoths Goldman Sachs (GS) and MSCI (MSCI) with data provider Coin Metric

The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) surged by 22% in the last seven days, outperforming the majority of the crypto market. And the positive news doesn’t stop before Shibarium is rumored to be scheduled to hit the market next week, February 14, Valentine’s Day. The Shiba Inu Burn Tracker recorded a 10,129% increase in SHIB destroyed in the last 24 hours. More than 20.97 million SHIB were burned in five transactions in the last 24 hours, with 19.40 million coming from a single transaction accounting for the majority of the burn. Since the previous day’s burn rate was very low at only 205,000 SHIB in

Cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) has reportedly begun to sell its holdings in crypto funds managed by its subsidiary Grayscale Investments as it looks to raise capital and preserve liquidity. According to a Feb. 7 Financial Times report citing seen United States securities filings, DCG sold around a quarter of its shares in Grayscale’s Ether (ETH)-based fund for around $8 per share, despite each share holding a claim to nearly double that amount in ETH. The market price per share (gray) vs holdings per share (green) of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE). Source: G

The publication of a consultation document outlining the proposed digital pound, which the public has dubbed “Britcoin,” has brought the United Kingdom one step closer to the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Bank of England (BoE) and the UK Treasury jointly issued the 116-page consultation document on February 7. A technology working paper that explores the technical and financial design factors was also published. The report claimed that CBDCs like the digital pound may co-exist in what they anticipate would be a “mixed payments economy,” notwithstanding the emerge