Month: March 2021

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/11/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

I just updated my central bank digital currency (CBDC) explorer tabulation to include the latest out of Jamaica (see below).

Jamaican central bank digital currency to be launched by next year

Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke announced that the Bank of Jamaica will launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot in 2021 aiming for a full-scale launch in 2022. It will be issued to deposit-taking institutions and authorised payment providers in the same manner that it issues cash. The BoJ Act is to be amended, giving the central bank the sole authority to issue digital currency.  

Bank of Russia to start digital ruble trials in 2022

The Bank of Russia will reportedly complete what sounds like a digital ruble proof of concept by the end of 2021. According to the reports, deputy governor Alexey Zabotkin said that the prototype will not support “real transactions” but would rather serve as a starting point to build the ecosystem on. Based on this prototype, including refinement, the central bank will start rolling out trial rounds in 2022.  

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust suspends new investments on heels of buyback

Hours after announcing a stock buyback aimed at shoring up its price, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has suspended all new buy-ins. The digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments announced on March 10 that it plans to buy $250 million of its own GBTC shares, which have traded as much as 15% below the price of the Bitcoins it holds. 

New York grants Bakkt a BitLicense

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved the application of Bakkt Marketplace for virtual currency and money transmitter licenses. First granted to Paxos in 2015, the BitLicense is New York’s program for regulating virtual currency firms. With it, Bakkt will have new access to offer crypto trading in the financial center of the United States. Bakkt has ambitious plans that include enabling a wide ecosystem in which customers can spend Bitcoin in a variety of stores. 

South Korea Cracks Down on Crypto Money Laundering

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) introduced penalties for crypto-asset exchanges that don’t implement stringent anti-money laundering laws. Crypto exchanges and other companies that facilitate crypto transactions will face fines of between $26,000 to $52,000, or 30% and 60% of the maximum legal penalties. Companies will have to pay fines if they don’t report suspicious transactions, keep data on said transactions and maintain a log of customer transactions.  Smaller companies would have to pay smaller fines.  

A New ETF Named FOMO Targets Everything From SPACs to Volatility

A filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to create the FOMO (“fear of missing out”) exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will invest in “securities that reflect current or emerging trends.” The actively managed FOMO will target everything from stocks across both developed and emerging markets to Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), other ETFs, derivatives, volatility products and both leveraged and inverse funds. 

The fintech gender gap

Fintech promises to spur financial inclusion and close the gender gap in access to financial services. Using novel survey data for 28 countries, this BIS paper finds a large ‘fintech gender gap’: while 29% of men use fintech products and services, only 21% of women do. The gap is present in almost every country in our sample. The survey reveals that digitally active women worry more than men do about their privacy when dealing with companies online, being less willing to share their data with fintechs for better offers and being less willing to use fintechs for better or more innovative products. If the gap is explained by differences in preferences across genders, for example in risk aversion, the paper suggests that there is little role for policy. However, if the gap is explained by gender-based discrimination or by social norms and conditions that disadvantage women, then policy interventions may be necessary to enhance the inclusiveness of fintech services.

And here’s some back filling on the regulatory front, thanks to the Herbert, Smith Freehills Weekly Fintech Notes: 

  • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published guidance for applying a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) supervision. The guidance is intended to support supervisors in the transition from rules-based supervision to risk-based supervision. Among other things, it provides high-level guidance on risk-based supervision, which explains how supervisors should assess the risks their supervised sectors face and prioritise their activities. 
  • The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a consultation on the future oversight and governance of its Open Banking remedies. More specifically, it seeks to flesh out the funding and governance of a new body that is proposed to succeed the existing Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). The new body would take over OBIE’s functions, other than compliance monitoring, which the CMA will handle. 
  • The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its biennial Opinion and accompanying report on the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks affecting the EU’s financial sector. In terms of cross-sectoral risks, the opinion highlights risks around virtual currencies, fintech and crowdfunding platforms. 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/10/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

Wyoming Bill Granting Crypto DAOs Legality Nears Approval

A bill to recognize decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as companies has passed through the Senate Committee stage in Wyoming. The legislation would make it easier and cheaper to set up a DAO and give legitimacy to many crypto-asset projects. DAOs are entities that operate through smart contracts, with financial transactions and rules encoded on a blockchain, effectively removing the need for a central governing authority. The Wyoming DAO bill now goes to a vote in the Senate, and then the House. If all is well, it’s then signed into law.  

JPMorgan to Launch Investment “Basket” Tied to 11 Crypto-Focused Firms including MicroStrategy, Square, and Nvidia

JPMorgan has filed a request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a debt instrument linked to 11 firms that have all invested in Bitcoin and other crypto-assets. The debt instrument will enable investors to have direct exposure to a basket of cryptocurrency-focused firms. 68% of the “Basket” will be made up of MicroStrategy, Square, Riot Blockchain, and NVIDIA. Other companies that are included in the debt instrument are PayPal, Advanced Micro Devices, Taiwan Semiconductor Company, Intercontinental Exchange, CME Group, Overstock.com and Silvergate Capital. 

Barry Eichengreen Asks Who Needs a Digital Dollar?

The People’s Bank of China main motivation for issuing a digital renminbi is to create a government-controlled alternative to two very large and loosely regulated digital payment platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay. The ubiquity of Alipay and WeChat Pay raises the specter of the Chinese authorities losing control of payment flows through the economy. The American government has no analogous worries that justify the Fed issuing a digital dollar. 

Nigeria Is Now Rewarding Citizens for Using Licensed Money Senders, Not Crypto

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is incentivizing citizens to use licensed international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to send and receive money with its “Naira 4 Dollar Scheme”. In effect, a typical recipient of diaspora remittances will, at the point of collection, receive not only the USD sent from abroad but also the additional 5 naira per USD received.  

SAMA launched its “sarie” instant payment system

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has launched a new instant payment system dubbed “sarie” that will allow customers of the banking sector to send and receive low-value local transfers, 24 hours a day, at low fees not exceeding one riyal, in addition to other services and features provided by the system to beneficiaries such as using the mobile number as an alternative identifier for the IBAN number for transfers between banks, and the possibility of verifying the details of the account of the party receiving the transfer before the actual transfer. 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/09/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

Deutsche Borse’s platform Xetra to list its first Ether ETPs

Deutsche Borse’s electronic trading platform, Xetra launched its first Ethereum-based exchange-traded products (ETPs), ETC Group’s Ethereum exchange-traded commodity (ETC) product (ZETH) and 21Shares’ Ethereum ETP (AETH). Alongside AETH, Xetra will be also listing 21Shares’ Bitcoin Cash (BCH) ETP, after which 21Shares will have 4 ETPs centrally cleared on Xetra. The products are physically backed and listed on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and clearing will be handled by Eurex Clearing, Deutsche Börse Group’s central counterparty. 

A Third Bitcoin ETF in Canada Is Set to Launch

The CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF launched under the symbol BTCX on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The new ETF will join the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC) and Evolve Bitcoin ETF (EBIT), both of which launched in February. 

PayPal plans to acquire Curv, which provides security infrastructure for digital assets

Ripple and MoneyGram ended their partnership agreement

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/08/2021)*

~ kiffmeister ~ 2 Comments

Hosting a CBDC? Only one of Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP can do it, says report

A report commissioned by CPA Australia delves into the status of central bank digital currency (CBDC) development worldwide, while exploring viable blockchain candidates for hosting CBDCs in the coming years. The report offers up evaluations of the three most transacted cryptocurrencies in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, and analyses their suitability (or lack thereof) as CBDC platforms.  

However, nothing in the main body of this CoinTelegraph article supports the claim in its title that “only one of Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP can do it”! The actual CPA Australia report was merely using those three platforms as examples, along with stablecoins. From the paper: 

While it is not feasible to present a comprehensive discussion of all the cryptocurrencies, the following provides a review of the three most-transacted digital currencies – Bitcoin, Ether and XRP.

Bank of France, Likely to Prefer XRP over Bitcoin and Ethereum 

And this Finance Magnates article claims that “the Banque de France has reportedly discussed XRP and Ripple for the launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The central bank is planning to prefer XRP over Bitcoin and Ethereum.” This is presumably based on the CPA Australia’s report’s claim that “France’s central bank, Banque de France, has openly discussed Ripple/XRP as a possible platform for Europe’s central digital currency.” 

However, none of the Banque de France references in the paper support the claim that “the central bank is planning to prefer XRP.” This is the reference (from early 2020) to Ripple (and Ethereum) in the first-reference:

Since the attributes of a unit of the wholesale CBDC (file representing the currency unit, keys enabling use) may be integrated in a crypto-asset circulating on another blockchain, which is possible on Ethereum and Ripple, for example, it would then become possible to use the unit on this blockchain.

And there’s nothing about Ripple or XRP in this July 15, 2020 Banque de France press release: 

Following the examination of the applications received on 15 May in response to [its] call for applications to experiment the use of central bank digital currency for interbank settlements, the following 8 applications were selected (in alphabetical order): Accenture, Euroclear, HSBC, Iznes, LiquidShare, ProsperUS, Seba Bank, and Société Générale – Forge.

And by January 19, 2021, the Banque de France announced that: 

On December 17, 2020, the Banque de France successfully carried out an experiment on central bank digital currency (CBDC) with IZNES as part of the experimental programme launched in 1 March [2020]… The experiment was carried out in collaboration with IZNES, SETL, CACEIS, CITIGROUP, GROUPAMA AM, OFI AM and DXC.

Nothing about Ripple or XRP here either, so I don’t know where this impression that the Banque de France is favoring them in their CBDC thinking.

Is Ripple (and XRP) “toast” with the central banking community?

I got myself into some hot water with Twitter’s XRP community with my tweet claiming that Ripple and XRP are “toast” among central banks, thanks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit launched in December. (The lawsuit alleges that Ripple Labs and two of its executives, raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering of XRP.) But central banks are a very reputationally risk averse lot, something I know from 40+ years of experience working for and around them. 

I have no opinion on the lawsuit, and have nothing against XRP, but the there is something of a mob mentality among many of Twitter’s XRP aficionados. My interest in XRP relates to its role as a CBDC platform, and besides XRP there seem to be numerous other contenders, but it does seem like there’s a myopia among XRP fans, possibly related to trading profit motives, and that really bugs me. 

However, I was out of line when I said that Ripple had “weaseled” itself into the good graces of many central banks and official institutions, when it’s simply that they do a better job of marketing themselves than their competitors (Algorand, Celo, eCurrency, and Stellar to name a few) except for perhaps Ethereum.

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/05/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

Is 2021 the Year of SPACs in Asia? What You Need to Know

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) played a critical role in U.S. capital market growth in 2020. There were 248 SPACs launched, raising an aggregate of $83 billion in proceeds. The beginning of 2021 witnessed an acceleration of SPAC activity. In January and February alone, roughly $60 billion was raised by 189 SPACs. This article discusses what a SPAC is, how to raise a SPAC, and how de-SPAC transactions work. 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/04/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

China’s DCEP project launches biggest digital yuan test yet

The city of Chengdu launched China’s largest digital currency trial to date, following those already completed in Beijing, Suzhou and Shenzhen. Prior to Chengdu, there had been six trials of the “Digital Currency, Electronic Payment” (DCEP) project in China, with a total distribution of 120 million digital yuan. Chengdu’s trial, which will conclude March 19, is for an additional 40 million digital yuan. 

Ripple Pilots a Private Ledger for Central Banks Launching CBDCs

Ripple is piloting a private version of the public, open-source XRP Ledger that provides Central Banks a secure, controlled and flexible solution for the issuance and management of digital currencies. Moving money on the CBDC Private Ledger will be cost-effective, reliable and close to instantaneous. Transactions can also happen at volumes required by Central Banks. The CBDC Private Ledger will handle tens of thousands of transactions per second (TPS) initially with the potential to scale to hundreds of thousands TPSs over time. Transactions on the CBDC Private Ledger are verified by the same consensus protocol used by the XRP Ledger, which is far less energy intensive and less expensive than public blockchains that leverage proof-of-work. 

Aiming at PayPal, Bitfinex launches crypto payments platform

Bitfinex has launched a crypto-powered online-payments platform, Bitfinex Pay, that will provide online merchants with a means of receiving contactless and borderless digital token payments. The Bitfinex Pay widget can be integrated into websites, allowing small merchants to accept bitcoin, ether, Lightning Network BTC, and Tether’s own USDT stablecoin, with the crypto-assets sent directly to a Bitfinex wallet. 

State Street Launches Buy-Side Peer To Peer Repo Financing

State Street launched a new Peer-to-Peer Repo program for the buy-side that they say enables competitive financing costs across a broader range of collateral types and yield enhancement opportunities compared to traditional repo markets. State Street guarantees the payment obligations of cash borrowers to cash lenders within the program following a default, thus facilitating bilateral trading by counterparties with varying credit and capital strength. Program participants trade with one another pursuant to a common master repurchase agreement, negotiating trade terms with approved counterparties within the program’s broader requirements guidelines. 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/03/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

According to Messari’s Ryan Watkins, last week the total market capitalization of stablecoins surpassed $50 billion as users continue to demand stable means of storing and transferring value on public blockchains. 

Aon to to run crypto-insurance pilot

Aon, via insurtech platform Nayms that supports cryptocurrency investors in insuring crypto-risk, is conducting a pilot with Teller Finance, a decentralized lending protocol, to highlight the ability to scale cover efficiently by matching assets to liabilities when underwriting crypto-specific risk. The underwriter for the contract will be Relm Insurance Ltd, a Bermudian specialist insurer. The pilot will mark the first tokenised, or blockchain-enabled, placement of insurance ever conducted with regulated, professional insurance entities. 

PayPal Bids $500 Million to Acquire Crypto Startup Curv: Report

PayPal is considering acquiring startup Curv, which offers secure storage for crypto-assets. The two-year-old startup promotes its multi-party computation (MPC) security technology, which includes hot and cold wallet deployment, and keyless security infrastructure backed by a team of cryptographers and cybersecurity experts. 

Canadian firm planning to convert its Bitcoin trust to an ETF

Less than two months after launching trading for shares of its Bitcoin trust, Canada-based investment manager Ninepoint Partners is planning to change its offering to an exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

New UK £100 contactless spending limit more than doubled

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced that he would be more than doubling the current contactless spending limit from £45 per transaction to £100. 

Card firms trampling all over US interchange reforms

Regulators around the world have saved merchants an estimated $82 billion a year by putting limits on interchange, the main fee charged when a card is used. But the estimated $9.4 billion a year saved when the Federal Reserve capped U.S. debit card fees in 2011 represents only 11.5 percent of the total even though the United States accounts for a quarter of global card transactions. Interchange for debit cards from the nation’s largest banks was cut roughly in half by the cap and is now limited to 21 cents per transaction plus 0.05 percent. But debit cards from banks with under $10 billion in assets were exempted, and interchange for those cards still averages around 50 cents per transaction. Credit card interchange was also exempted and currently averages 2.25 percent with no cap, making up 80 percent of total U.S. card processing fees. 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/02/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

Goldman Sachs restarts cryptocurrency desk amid bitcoin boom

Goldman Sachs restarted its crypto-asset trading desk and will begin dealing bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients from next week. The bank is also exploring the potential for a bitcoin exchange traded fund. The New York-based bank originally announced plans for a cryptocurrency trading desk in 2018 but then quietly shelved them because of Bitcoin’s price plunge witnessed that year.

Cardano Successfully Launches ‘Mary’ Hard Fork to Introduce Multi-Asset Features

Cardano (ADA) completed its “Mary hard fork” update via a managed hard fork combinator event. The upgrades will make Cardano a multi-asset chain, similar to Ethereum, allowing users to create and sell tokens that run natively on the blockchain. The new upgrades aim to enhance the development of tokens on its chain, bypassing the need to create a smart contract to govern ADA’s different tokens.  

February DEX volumes hit new high of nearly $73 billion

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) ended the month of February with the highest monthly volume on record, according to data gathered by The Block. February’s monthly volume hit a new high of approximately $72.89 billion, increasing by $12 billion from January. Uniswap continued to lead in the DEX space, making up most of the monthly volume with $36.6 billion. SushiSwap and Curve came in second, hitting $14.93 billion and $4.42 billion respectively. 

State Street to look after bitcoin, just don’t call it custody

State Street will reportedly announce later this year that it is offering safekeeping for digital assets in the United States and Europe. However, because bitcoin is not a financial instrument, legally speaking it cannot be held in custody, so the bank will call their offering “record-keeping services” even though it will also offer to look after customers’ digital keys. Northern Trust is also close to offering safekeeping for clients’ crypto-assets through a joint venture with Standard Chartered. 

Coinbase holds more than 10% of the total crypto cap

According to Messari, Coinbase controls 11% of the combined crypto-asset market capital. The exchange held assets worth around $90 billion by the end of last year, versus the total crypto-asset market cap of $780 billion at the time. The bulk of this flew in during Q4 of last year. Coinbase provides its users with custodial services for more than 90 different assets, although only about half of these can be traded by users. Bitcoin represented 70% of the assets held in the exchange and Ethereum 13%. 

CBOE filed to list Van Eck’s proposed Bitcoin ETF

The Chicago Board Options Exchange filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by asset manager, Van Eck. In January, Van Eck filed for SEC approval of a Bitcoin ETF. Van Eck had previously unsuccessfully filed for a Bitcoin ETF in 2017. The firm also teamed up with SolidX — to file for a jointly issued ETF in 2018. The joint application was withdrawn in September 2019. the SEC is yet to approve any crypto ETF product. 

P2P insurance platform – the first innovation tested in the Bank of Lithuania’s regulatory sandbox

Peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance platform Ooniq has completed a year-long of testing within the Bank of Lithuania’s regulatory sandbox. The platform allows its members to form groups of peers with similar interests and protect themselves against losses by pooling funds for this purpose. Group members make their own decisions on loss compensation. If funds are still available thereafter, they are returned to group members. A sense of community could encourage its members to jointly reduce risks and losses and thus protect themselves against risks in a cheaper way.  

Thailand Regulator Withdraws Proposal of Harsh Crypto Investment Rules

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly scrapped its new crypto regulations draft after it received backlash from the local community for setting a high bar for investors. The proposal’s 1 million baht ($33,000) minimum annual income requirement received quick public backlash.  

Technological innovation is fueling the resurgence of community currencies

Just as community currencies boomed during the Great Depression, their digital versions are expanding amid the COVID-19 recession. Complex experiments are combining mobile payments with blockchain. In Turkey, Good4Trust, a virtual bazaar for socially and environmentally conscious producers and consumers, is preparing to launch a community currency using blockchain powered by Celo. Brixton, a London neighborhood, has announced the release of a digital version of its Brixton Pound community currency using blockchain from Algorand. According to Celo’s Ezechiel Copic, “there’s a lot of focus on central bank digital currency [but] local currencies can provide a testing ground for these initiatives.” 

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (03/01/2021)*

~ kiffmeister

The February Global Fintech Monthly Monitor is now out, covering all of February’s crypto and fintech news that’s fit to print! 

Tether hit with 500 Bitcoin ransom demand — but says it won’t pay

Hackers have threatened to release sensitive company documents supposedly belonging to USDT stablecoin issuer Tether unless the firm sends a 500 Bitcoin (BTC) ransom to a specified address. Hackers purportedly threatened to leak documents that would “harm the Bitcoin ecosystem” if their ransom demands are not met. Tether has already stated that it will not pay the ransom. Some of the purportedly leaked documents seem to show that Tether was in cahoots with their banker (Deltec Bank) to hide the purported fact that USTD was not backed by US dollar cash equivalents but by a mix of Bitcoin and equity stakes in exchanges.  

Bitcoin could become the “currency of choice for international trade”, says Citi

Citi’s researchers believe bitcoin could evolve into an international trade currency, helping to simplify global trade. But a number of issues – including concerns over scalability and potential regulatory backlashes – stand in the way. The report, entitled “Bitcoin: At the Tipping Point”, charts the evolution of bitcoin from a form of payment to its current status as a store of value. The authors forecast that bitcoin’s core properties combined with its global reach and neutrality could see it morph into the “currency of choice” for international trade in around seven years.  

Online Retail Giant Rakuten Allows People to Load Payment App With Cryptocurrencies

Rakuten customers can now load up Rakuten Pay accounts with crypto-assets. In order to commemorate the latest crypto service, Rakuten is also offering bonus points to people leveraging “Rakuten Cash” via crypto assets. Users exchange their crypto holdings for Rakuten Cash, the firm’s own virtual currency, directly on the Rakuten Wallet app, which, in turn, can be used to make purchases on the platform, and there’s no fee for swapping crypto to Rakuten Cash. 

Klarna Secures $1 Billion Through Latest Equity Funding Round 

Payment processing and global retail banking platform  Klarna secured $1 billion through its equity funding round to accelerate international expansion and further capture global retail growth. The company’s valuation is now $31 billion and it is claiming to be the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and second-highest worldwide. Klarna offers point-of-sale loans for online and in-store purchases through its mobile app. These loans allow customers to buy now and pay later at popular retailers.

The Kalifa Review of UK FinTech

The UK government-commissioned Kalifa Review outlined a strategy to support the growth and adoption of fintech across the United Kingdom. It called for a bespoke regime for crypto-assets should adopt a functional and technology-neutral approach, in line with the principles of the current regulatory framework, as well as the concept of “same risk, same regulation”, while being tailored to the risks arising from crypto-asset-related activities. It should also be flexible enough to deal with future challenges such as decentralised finance (DeFi). It also recommended the implementation of a “scalebox” that would enhance the existing regulatory sandbox and support partnerships between incumbents and fintech or regtech firms. It also recommended the creation of unified data standards, a national digital ID infrastructure and a move toward open finance.

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.

Kiffmeister’s Global Fintech Monthly Monitor (February 2021)*

~ kiffmeister

In February the crypto-asset bull run continued, with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high ($58,332) before settling back to close the month at $46,526 (+35.4%). The main driver continued to be increasing institutional investor interest, with some help from a few random Elon Musk tweets and the Tesla announcement that it had bought $1.5 billion of Bitcoin. Ethereum and other altcoins had a strong month on continuing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi). Bitfinex and Tether reached a $18.5 million settlement with the New York Attorney General over allegations that they hid the loss of commingled client and corporate funds and lied about Tether’s USDT reserves. India will reportedly go ahead with a complete ban on investment in crypto-assets, and the Central Bank of Nigeria banned all regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto exchanges in the country.

For the complete story head over to the Global Fintech Intelligencer!

* The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board or its management.