Widespread use of digital currencies will reshape the way liquidity is managed, but it will also force banks and corporates to move away from long-established practices.

The likely use of central bank digital currency for payments, in addition to stablecoins and altcoins, would suggest that reports of the demise of the correspondent banking model may be premature.

Other Latin American countries watch with interest as El Salvador’s bitcoin experiment gets off to a faltering start.

While big banks and institutional investors spent years trying to bend blockchain for use in traditional finance, they missed out on the boom in crypto prices and the income from decentralized finance. Now, alarmed by stretched valuations and zero yields in conventional markets, they just want in. The race is on to build a sturdy infrastructure to support the stream of old money into new digital assets that could become a flood.

High net-worth individuals once eschewed cryptocurrencies. When Covid hit, many learned to embrace them. They see the danger of endless QE and the returns to be generated in the world of decentralized finance.

DeFi is not a strategic asset allocation for mainstream investors yet, but big gains on cryptos and now high yields are drawing in the front runners.

With one of the earliest fintechs now offering bitcoin, it seems that established finance is taking over crypto. Or could it be the other way around?

Institutions need more than custody to invest in fast-changing digital assets. The new firm will build administration and risk management too.

The closer central banks come to hard design choices over retail central bank digital currencies, the less clear cut the case is to proceed with them.

The death of John McAfee in a Spanish prison cell ends a flamboyant and colourful life.

We are at the peak of the hype cycle for central bank digital currencies, now being touted as one of the most fundamental innovations in the history of central banking. It is time for central banks and governments to be honest with unenthused populations. CBDC can’t deliver all the many promised improvements. As we come to design choices, there will be trade-offs. We might get improved payments but less credit. We could see greater financial inclusion but will lose privacy. Are the few benefits really worth the risk of disrupting the financial system?

Holding digital assets on corporate balance sheets demands a clear strategy for securely managing these assets alongside traditional stores of value.

Investors in a faith-based asset look forward to higher highs and higher lows, even as regulators crack down once more.

Corporates looking to acquire digital assets for treasury purposes need to take care in their accounting treatment.

Fnality applies for a DLT-based sterling payment system pointing the way to faster and more resilient decentralized financial market infrastructure.

By listing on Nasdaq, Coinbase may undermine itself, giving investors an easy way to bet on bitcoin without paying its own high fees.

Bitcoin’s move into the mainstream is forcing crypto financiers to develop code switching skills to communicate with Wall Street without alienating online evangelists.

Bitcoin’s boom is dependent on ‘whales’ holding on to long positions, but trading techniques from older markets could create opportunities for whale hunters.

The dinosaurs of the banking world have recognised the threat from crypto. While there is no simple choice yet for fast and cheap cross-border payments, near instant domestic payments are the new reality.

More companies are preparing to accept payment in crypto as the number of customers with digital wallets swells. But a confusing proliferation of payment methods means that innovation has made collecting payments harder, not easier.

Crypto enthusiasts have hailed the electric car company’s announcement it will accept payment in bitcoin as a ringing endorsement – but not everyone is convinced.

The bubbles in crypto and small-caps look obvious, but most markets are over-inflated and it is a fantasy that banks are immune to the risks.

Bitcoin’s recent surge is accelerating integration with established capital markets, as Coinbase makes IPO plans and market-maker B2C2 is sold to Japanese financial services firm SBI.

The Singapore-based bank believes it is the first in the world to launch a fully-fledged exchange for digital assets, including tokenization, cryptocurrency exchange and custody.

The last-minute decision by a unit of China Construction Bank to cancel a trailblazing digital bond sale on a virtual exchange in a Malaysian island tax haven appears connected to a Chinese clampdown in the wake of the axing of Ant Group’s IPO.

A new Swiss-Singaporean enterprise styles itself as the world’s first digital asset bank. It is regulated, resembles the structure of a mainstream bank and has some high-visibility advisers and investors, among them Peter Wuffli. Will it work?

As the rest of the world’s central banks try to catch up with China, one can only wonder about the potential of programmable money.

Fear of Chinese advances with programmable money and Facebook’s Libra are pushing central banks to digital currencies, which may transform financial markets.

A pilot scheme taking place in Shenzhen this week offers a glimpse into China’s plans to build the world’s first national digital currency.

The cryptocurrency has surged in 2020, as investors worry that coronavirus-exposed equity and bond markets are set to crash.