Month: May 2018

The Swiss Federal Council has decided to request a report on the risks and feasibility of the Swiss government issuing its own digital currency, a so-called “e-franc.” The request still needs to be approved by the Swiss parliament, so nothing will necessarily be forthcoming. But more and more countries are beginning to look at the […]

The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into possible Bitcoin price manipulation. The investigation will look into allegations of both “spoofing” and “wash trading,” and will also examine potential price manipulation in Ethereum markets. It is unknown who the targets of the investigation are or whether the suspected or alleged price manipulation was […]

Payment services company PayPal was one of the first companies to allow merchants to start accepting Bitcoin payments back in 2014. But CFO John Rainey has said that the company is seeing far less demand from merchants today to accept Bitcoin payments. His explanation is that volatility is to blame, with many merchants feeling that […]

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s largest bank, intends to launch trials of its own cryptocurrency in 2019, according to recent reports. The initial trials could involve about 100,000 of Mitsubishi’s account holders. The currency would take the form of a token that users could use to make payments at restaurants, or use to transfer money […]

One of Bitcoin’s many benefits has been the ability to make easier payments across borders without having to rely on the banking system. While many people have taken advantage of that benefit in peer-to-peer transactions, for the first time a bank has used Bitcoin to enhance its ability to allow its customers to make cross-border […]

Without a doubt, the number one threat to the continued adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide is that of heavy-handed government regulation. Existing financial regulations are geared towards the conventional banking and financial sectors, and attempting to shoehorn cryptocurrency businesses into that regulatory framework could easily put many of them out of business. Many cryptocurrency businesses have […]

A new cryptocurrency exchange is set to begin operations next month, and it will be powered by the same technology that is used by the NASDAQ stock exchange. The new exchange, DX, will began its operations by allowing users to trade with six top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. DX plans not to charge […]

The European Union recently approved new legislation to subject cryptocurrency exchanges to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Once the new legislation takes effect, national legislatures within the EU will have 18 months to enact that legislation into their own national laws. The legislation was intended to combat anonymity both in the use of Bitcoin and other […]