Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

McKinsey: Firms should prepare for the ‘inevitable changes’ of CBDC

McKinsey’s annual Global Payments Report released on day one of Sibos 2021, outlines a positive, albeit unbalanced, return to growth across the sector after Covid-19, underscoring the action firms should take in anticipation of widespread digital currency adoption.

11 October 2021

News/crypto

Banco Hipotecario and Open Bank Project bid to facilitate bitcoin adoption in El Salvador

In the wake of El Salvador's embrace of bitcoin, one of the country's leading banks has enlisted the company behind the Open Bank Project to help facilitate adoption of the cryptocurrency.

07 October 2021

News/crypto

MoneyGram and Stellar team on instant crypto-to-cash transfers

Having tipped its nose at Ripple, MoneyGram has formed a partnership with rival blockchain network Stellar to support instant money transfers using the USDC stablecoin.

07 October 2021

News/markets

Deutsche Börse bids to reinvent post-trade with DLT-based D7 project

Deutsche Börse is preparing for the phased launch of a new cloud-backed and DLT-ready platform, D7, paving the way for same-day-issuance and paperless, automated straight-through processing for the entire value chain of issuance, custody, settlement, payment and asset servicing for digital securities.

06 October 2021

News/crypto

SBI, Sygnum and Azimut launch $75 million digital asset venture fund

SBI Group, Sygnum and Azimut Group have created a $75 million venture capital fund to invest in start-up companies in the digital asset sector.

01 October 2021

News/crypto

Visa bids to make digital currencies interoperable

Visa is working on a 'universal payment channel' (UPC) that enables interoperability between different digital currencies such as CBDCs and private stablecoins.

30 September 2021

News/crypto

Ripple launches $250 million 'Creator Fund' for NFT projects

Ripple is creating a $250 million fund to provide financial and technical support to developers looking to craft premium NFT projects issued on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

30 September 2021

News/crypto

BIS: CBDC and DLT combo outperforms correspondent banking system

A prototype of multiple central bank digital currencies (mCBDCs) developed by the Bank for International Settlements and four central banks has demonstrated the potential of using digital currencies and distributed ledger technology (DLT) for cheaper and safer cross-border payments and settlements.

28 September 2021

News/devops

DBS hunts for top tech talent via hack2Hire programme

DBS is to recruit 150 of Singapore’s top technology talent to bolster its AI and blockchain capabilities via its hack2Hire programme.

28 September 2021

News/markets

Big banks join post-trade DLT joint venture Marketnode

A host of big banks have joined Marketnode, a digital asset joint venture from Singapore Exchange and Temasek focused on capital markets workflows through smart contracts, ledger and tokenisation technologies.

27 September 2021

News/payments

Singapore and Malaysia link faster payment systems

Fresh from a faster payments link-up with India, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has announced plans to commence a phased linkage of the country's PayNow plumbing with Malaysia’s DuitNow real-time payment systems.

27 September 2021

News/crypto

Bhutan to pilot digital currency with Ripple tech

The central bank of Bhutan is to use Ripple's CBDC Private Ledger to pilot a central bank digital currency.

23 September 2021

News/regulation

FCA to use blockchain to speed up regulatory reporting

The Financial Conduct Authority is working with the Bank of England on a blockchain-based digital regulatory reporting initiative to tackle the growing costs of compliance checks.

23 September 2021

News/payments

Money 20/20 EU: Will Europe prevail in the new dawn of payments?

Amsterdam: Finextra is on the ground at Money 20/20 Europe, attending a host of sessions to provide you with key highlights from the most popular sessions throughout the conference.

21 September 2021

News/crypto

Crypto regtech Coinfirm raises $8m; appoints Mircea Mihaescu CEO

Coinfirm, a regtech targeting digital currencies and blockchain-based finance, has raised $8 million in funding and appointed industry veteran Mircea Mihaescu as CEO.

17 September 2021

News/crypto

Citi leads $15 million round in digital assets data firm Amberdata

Citi has led a $15 million round in digital assets data company Amberdata, reflecting growing institutional interest in crypto markets

16 September 2021

News/markets

DTCC to begin development of DLT-based settlement system

The Depository Turst and Clearing Corporation is to move into the development phase of a protytpe settlement platform based on distributed ledger technology that could act as the precursor to a US move to a same day settlement cycle

15 September 2021

News/crypto

Ripple vets unveil global micropayments network for Web 3.0

A pair of ex-Ripple executives have brought their latest venture out of stealth, unveiling plans for a global micropayment network backed by blockchain technology.

13 September 2021

News/crypto

Mastercard buys crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace

Mastercard continues to strengthen its digital asset capabilities, buying cryptocurrency intelligence outfit CipherTrace. Financial terms were not disclosed.

09 September 2021

News/sustainable

Hedera Hashgraph beats DLT competitors on energy consumption

A research report by University College London (UCL) has examined the varying environmental impacts of six different distributed ledger technologies (DLT), finding that Hedera Hashgraph boasts the lowest overall energy consumption of the group.

08 September 2021