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Early 2023 was an incredibly difficult time for regional Banks in the US — particularly Crypto Banks . Silicon Valley, First Republic, Signature, Silvergate, and Pacific Western Bank all either collapsed, closed down, or had their assets and liabilities purchased. As the year continued, no further bank runs or collapses occurred; it appeared as though the worst of the regional banking crisis had passed. Unfortunately, more regional Banks are teetering again, including a couple that r US hed in to purchase assets and liabilities from Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank — which serviced Crypto and tech companies. Yesterday, New York Community Bank’s shares fell sharply by almost 40%. The decline came after the bank announced that it was cutting dividends and charging off multiple real estate loans, according to American Banker. The bank, which purchased assets from Signature Bank in 2023, became a Category IV bank last year after crossing $100 billion in total cons...

Custodia Bank’s launch of Bitcoin custody follows a series of regulatory challenges the firm faced earlier this year. Custodia Bank, a cryptocurrency-friendly bank founded by Bitcoin (BTC) advocate Caitlin Long, has launch ed its Bitcoin custody platform . The firm took to X (formerly Twitter) on Nov. 7 to announce the launch of Custodia Bank’s Bitcoin custody service targeting businesses like fiduciaries, investment advisers, fund managers and corporate treasurers. The launch comes soon after Custodia Bank earned approval from the Wyoming Division of Banking to go live with its Bitcoin custody service, the announcement notes. Announcing the news, Custodia Bank emphasized that the platform is a non-lending bank built by Bitcoiners and offers segregated custody accounts on its “custom-built Bitcoin custody platform .” The statement said that Custodia Bank offers integrated Bitcoin custody and U.S. dollar services on one platform, which is designed to simplify user operations and re...

The fund is a part of a wider VCC umbrella that brings various real-world assets to the blockchain. Leading Swiss bank UBS has launched a live pilot of a tokenized version of its variable capital company (VCC) fund as part of Project Guardian, an initiative led by Singapore’s central bank.  In a press release, UBS Asset Management announced that the fund is part of a broader VCC umbrella designed to bring different types of real-world assets (RWA) to the blockchain. According to Thomas Kaegi, the head of UBS Asset Management for Singapore and Southeast Asia, the project is a milestone in understanding funds token ization. Kaegi said: “Through this exploratory initiative, we will work with traditional financial institutions and fintech providers to help understand how to improve market liquidity and market access for clients.” UBS Asset Management launched the controlled pilot of the tokenized money market fund through the company’s in-house token ization service called UBS Tokeni...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has been actively pursuing the exchange's expansion ambitions in the United Kingdom amid mounting legal issues in the U.S.. Brian Armstrong, CEO of major United States-based crypto currency exchange Coinbase, has condemned the decision of JPMorgan’s subsidiary Chase UK to restrict crypto -related transactions. Brian Armstrong took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 26 to slam Chase Bank for its “totally inappropriate” move to ban its customers in the United Kingdom from making any debit card or wire transfers related to crypto transactions. “U.K. crypto holders should close their accounts if this is how they're going to be treated,” Armstrong wrote. The CEO also urged U.K. officials — including U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and U.K. Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith — to check whether Chase UK’s actions respect the country’s policy goals. Armstrong expressed hope that Chase UK might change its decision after the officials look into the situation...

After the collapse of Terra, the digital assets sector needed a way to identify critical nodes in the global DeFi community. Kanis Saengchote, a researcher at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, recently developed a framework for identify ing and measuring systemic risk in decentralized finance (DeFi) institutions.  The new protocol is called the Global Systematically Important Protocol (G-SIP), and it’s based on a similar endeavor instituted in the traditional banking industry. After the global banking crisis of 2008, the traditional finance sector collaborated to come up with a protocol for identifying critical banking structures in order to implement strategies for the prevention of future collapses. Related: UBS Group agrees to $3.25B ‘emergency rescue’ of Credit Suisse What they came up with is a system to identify and measure “global systemically important banks ” (G-SIBs). This allowed the Bank for International Settlements to identify weaknesses and establish standard...

A recent study by economists identified 186 Bank s at risk. These Bank s face issues similar to that which caused the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank . SIVB collapsed earlier this week due to the Bank ’s assets being diminished by increasing interest rates. This led to concerned customers withdrawing their uninsured deposits. During the Federal Reserve’s swift rate-hike campaign, the economists evaluated individual U.S. Bank s. They assessed asset books and market value losses. Assets such as Treasury notes and mortgage loans can decrease in value. This happens when new bonds offer higher rates. The economists also analyzed the Bank s’ funding percentages. They focused on funding derived from uninsured depositors, those with accounts holding over $250,000. Their findings suggest a potential problem. If half of these uninsured depositors were to withdraw funds rapidly from any of these 186 U.S. Bank s, even insured depositors might face impairments. This is due to insufficient assets...

Bitcoin and crypto react bullishly to news that the Fed is providing liquidity again in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank failing and Signature Bank being closed. Bitcoin (BTC) begins a new week with a bullish surge above $22,000 as the Federal Reserve injects liquidity into the United States economy. In a move which can rival any classic Bitcoin comeback, BTC/USD is up a full 15% off the two-month lows seen on March 10. The volatility — and at least temporary relief for bulls — is all due to events in the U.S. after the failure of one bank and the forced halting of another’s operations. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are the latest victims in a brutal year for financial institutions under the Fed’s rising interest rates — will the trend continue? Despite Signature being crypto focused and a major on-ramp from fiat, crypto markets have so far seen no reason to abandon optimism at the prospect of the Fed providing fresh money. Not everyone, however, believes that this constitutes...

The recent collapse of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate will likely increase regulatory scrutiny on the ties between the crypto industry and the banking sector in the U.S. The collapse of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate will likley have a significant impact on the crypto ecosystem and its ties with the banking sector in the U.S.  Earlier this week, the parent company of Silvergate Bank announced plans to wind down operations and liquidate the bank. The announcement came after the crypto -friendly bank had suffered 1$ billion worth of losses in the last quarter of 2022 as a direct consequence of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, one of Silvergate’s main clients. Silvergate was one of the very few regulated financial institutions providing Banking services to crypto companies and exchanges. Its downfall will likely reinforce U.S. regulators' arguments that crypto poses a threat to the traditional financial system. Earlier this year, the U.S. Banking regulators had already iss...

The blockchain-based national eKYC banking platform is aimed at strengthening anti-money laundering (AML) capabilities while countering terror financing. Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) — a group of 31 traditional banks operating in Pakistan — signed off on the development of a blockchain-based platform for Know Your Customer (KYC) initiatives.  On March 2, PBA signed the project contract for developing Pakistan’s first blockchain-based national eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) banking platform, reported Daily Times. The move was aimed at strengthening anti-money laundering (AML) capabilities while countering terror financing — an initiative led by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The member banks include international establishments such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Citi bank and Deutsche Bank. Moreover, the blockchain platform will improve operational efficiencies — primarily aimed at improving customer experience during the onboarding process. A momentous ...

The company’s latest initiative will allow users to open up a U.S. dollar checking account with only their name, email, and phone number. American fintech company ZELF has introduced an anonymous Visa debit card to be accepted at any of Visa’s 80 million locations worldwide.  ZELF’s latest initiative will allow users to open up a U.S. dollar checking account with only their name, email, and phone number, sparing them from having to provide documentation such as a social security number and proof of address. According to the fintech company, prospective clients can open a checking account and have an anonymous virtual debit card, which works with Apple and Google Pay, within 30 seconds.  ZELF is LIVE on @ProductHunt with the ultimate in payment #privacy — anonymous crypto reloadable debit card Over 150 countries supported Support us @ https://t.co/TkJWpAnS9t — ZELF (@zelfco) December 8, 2022 Holders of the Visa debit card will have the option of funding their accounts thro...

Russia’s largest lender is moving into DeFi and Web3 by integrating its blockchain platform with the Ethereum blockchain. Russia’s largest bank Sber — formerly known as Sberbank — continues developing its blockchain platform by integrating it with the Ethereum blockchain. On Nov. 30, Sber officially announced new opportunities for its proprietary blockchain platform, including compatibility with smart contracts and applications on the Ethereum network. This would allow developers to move smart contracts and entire projects between Sber’s blockchain and public blockchain networks, the bank said. Sber’s latest additions also bring an integration with major software cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, which is used to interact with the Ethereum blockchain . The integration allows users to make operations with tokens and smart contracts placed on Sber’s blockchain platform , the announcement notes. “Sber Blockchain Lab works closely with external developers and partner companies, and I am gl...