The world’s central banks are proving reticent to introduce digital currencies, despite mounting market pressures for them to do so, according to a new report from the Bank for International […]
Expectations that cryptocurrencies would grant their users complete anonymity have proved wide of the mark. But the debate over digital money and privacy may just be beginning. [This article is […]
One of the most obvious potential applications of distributed ledger technology is in financial record-keeping. Blockchains promise greater efficiency and higher resiliency, say the technology’s advocates, as well as cutting […]
Dystopian visions Bit by bit, the optimism of the early internet era has dissipated, replaced by widespread fear over a dystopian future. Valuable personal information is exposed unwittingly and carelessly […]
Global policymakers are struggling to achieve a consistent approach to defining and regulating cryptocurrencies. A new report from the UK government illustrates the problem in microcosm. On October 29 the […]
“‘Blockchain’ and ‘distributed ledger technology’ (DLT) have become almost meaningless buzzwords that are mainly used for marketing and PR purposes,” say the authors of a new Cambridge University study. Given […]
Although the world’s payment and financial settlement networks are rarely in the news, whoever controls them has enormous economic and political power. As an example, the fact that US dollar […]
Ten years after the failure of Lehman Brothers, the conventional narrative is that the bank failed because of the US real estate bubble and the collapse in the market for […]
Settlement of securities trades matters. The world’s market for shares and bonds is now worth $150trn, almost double the $90trn global money supply. The keeping of accurate accounts of securities […]
Bitcoin tracker funds threaten a clash by bringing together two fundamentally incompatible financial systems, says one former investment banker. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are still on the drawing board: as […]