Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin’s carbon footprint rises with prices – DNB research
Total carbon emissions produced by crypto assets rose by 25% in 2020, study finds
Bolivian authorities implement crypto ban
Central bank will enforce 2020 measure banishing virtual assets from payments system
Mexican government announces CBDC for 2024
Bank of Mexico has yet to comment publicly on the initiative
Crypto markets may centralise power – BIS bulletin
Need for centralisation is “inescapable” despite crypto boosters’ claims to the contrary – researchers
Book notes: Shades of sovereignty, by Paul Wilson
An essential and stimulating read for central bankers thinking about the monetary history of their state in relation to its historical perspective and broad international trends
Bank of Tanzania ‘working on CBDC’, governor says
Luoga says “cryptocurrencies are not safe” and president has urged work on CBDC
US agencies conduct ‘policy sprints’ to tackle crypto risks
Approach modelled around “tech sprints” aims to get results quickly
US regulators call for new stablecoin regulations
Working group wants issuers to be insured and regulated like banks
Nigeria launches ‘digital naira’ pilot
Central bank issues $1.2 million in retail CBDC after clampdown on private crypto
James Bullard on Fed policy, action and governance
St Louis president calls for tapering amid “exceptional” job market and risk of “more persistent” inflation, quantifies ‘big tent language’ for pioneering AIT move, and details Congress’s role in Fed ethics oversight
Covid-19, crypto and climate weigh on global economy – GFSR
Central banks face difficult “intertemporal trade-offs”; poorer nations unlikely to regain pre-Covid growth levels for “many, many years”, says IMF’s financial counsellor Tobias Adrian
China outlaws all crypto transactions and bans mining
PBoC, cyber watchdog and central economic planner act in a joint crackdown on crypto
Sustainability: a hallmark of cash
Tod Niedeck, corporate marketing director at Crane Currency makes the case for the sustainability benefits that are inherent in the production of paper banknotes, contrasting this with the environmental difficulties that face plastic banknotes at the end…
Bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador
Observers warn move could further destabilise the fragile Salvadoran economy
MAS grants first crypto exchange licence
Central banks taking divergent approaches to scrutiny of crypto firms
PBoC to support green finance with low-cost funding
Bank says it will extend its tougher regulation of crypto assets
Stablecoins neither stable nor coins – paper
Researchers argue stablecoins are not medium of exchange, and so are not money
South Africa’s new crypto framework: ‘neither hostile nor friendly’
Risk-based approach will bring crypto operations within South Africa’s regulatory perimeter
PBoC continues crypto trading crackdown
Chinese deputy governor says PBoC will widen tests of ‘digital yuan’ CBDC prototype
Mexico reminds banks crypto transactions are illegal
After El Salvador bitcoin law, authorities state virtual assets ‘not legal tender in Mexico’
PBoC tightens ban on crypto transactions
PBoC warns largest banks to verify customers’ identities and stop aiding bitcoin-related transactions
China abandons cryptocurrencies under the PBoC (this time it’s for real)
New data centres set to be established to compensate provinces for lost crypto mining revenues
El Salvador’s bitcoin currency experiment
Move by first nation to approve bitcoin as legal tender raises important issues
Basel Committee proposes strict treatment of crypto asset exposures
Crypto assets such as bitcoin will face risk weight of 1,250%