The bitcoin cryptocurrency rollercoaster is roaring ahead as regulators come to grips with instruments based upon it, some trading venues advance instruments as other venues move into limbo, and the price of the virtual currency is under constant scrutiny. The only thing more erratic than bitcoin’s rise and fall and rise was the brinksmanship around… Read More >>
South Korea May Ban Bitcoin Trading as CFTC Gives Wary Approval
While U.S. and European regulators are mulling over what to do with bitcoin, the South Korean government, which is home to the world’s third largest cryptocurrency market, is planning to crack down on crypto currency trading. At a press conference, Park Sang-ki, justice minister for South Korea, said, “There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies… Read More >>
Integral Readies Market Data Support for Crypto Currency Pairs
Integral Also Launches iOS App Foreign exchange (FX) technology vendor Integral is now offering market data support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin via its trading platform, the Open Currency Exchange (OCX), officials say. The expanded market data coverage will include the top pairings of: BTC/USD; ETH/USD; BCH/USD; and LTC/USD. Over the coming weeks,… Read More >>
Cryptocurrency Transactions & Operations Start to Emerge
Malta-based Exante, an online foreign exchange, futures, and stocks retail brokerage, has added five cryptocurrency assets onto its terminal -– Litecoin, Ethereum, Monero, Zcash, and Ripple. They join its Bitcoin instruments, which were the first regulated cryptocurrency to make their debut four years ago. The global market for cryptocurrency-based instruments is rapidly gaining ground as… Read More >>
Cobalt DL Wants to Take Ops Out of the Dark Ages
Financial technology vendor Cobalt DL has kick started the beta testing on its distributed ledger network, which it hopes will streamline post-trade processes and create a singular database for foreign-exchange (FX) transactions. Spearheaded by former Citi and Deutsche Bank executive Andy Coyne, the platform, which is backed by eight of the world’s largest players in… Read More >>
Barclays Pushes to Keep its Blockchain/DLT Edge
Although there have been a host of reports questioning the viability of blockchain, banks are still forging ahead, reviewing different ways to deploy cutting-edge, systems that exploit distributed ledger technology (DLT), if the recent Smart Contract Templates Summit is anything to go by. Barclays, for example, is striking partnerships with start-ups and testing its own… Read More >>
ESMA Explores Blockchain’s Risks and Promise
It was only a matter of time before regulators wanted to lift the lid on blockchain and look deeper into the potential opportunities and challenges in the financial services sphere. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), an EU financial services watchdog, is throwing down the gauntlet with its recent discussion paper for public consultation… Read More >>
Blockchain Spawns Mysteries, Projects and Alliances
The Blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) phenomenon is forging ahead amid mysteries, major projects at financial services firms and new alliances among top industry providers. As for mysteries solved, major financial services players are delving into the DLT underpinnings, which stem from the Bitcoin cryptocurrency whose inventor has been shrouded in mystery. That is until Monday,… Read More >>
Regulators Could Halt Blockchain’s Progress
CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo is calling on U.S. and European regulators and policymakers to take a “do no harm approach” toward the oversight of emerging distributed ledger technology (DLT), popularized by the blockchain underpinnings for cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Otherwise, DLT’s growth is at “risk of being stymied by disparate and uncertain regulation,” says Giancarlo, who… Read More >>
DTCC & Digital Asset Launch Distributed Ledger Project for Repos
The DTCC, the industry post-trade utility and related services provider, and fintech startup Digital Asset Holdings are developing a solution based on distributed ledger technology, intended to help firms better manage the clearing and settlement of U.S. Treasury, agency, and agency mortgage-backed repurchase agreement (repo) transactions. The effort should yield a central counterparty process that… Read More >>
