News Topic: Cryptocurrencies

The explosion of interest in digital assets this year, and the multiplying of their market value, are making cryptocurrency debit cards newly attractive. Banks could partner with intermediaries or issue the cards directly, but obstacles remain before that ... Read full article

China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges raises questions about the future of digital asset innovation, a movement that some bankers view as a threat and others embrace as a boon to payments, P-to-P lending and other activities. ... Read full article

The legislation introduced by Reps. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and David Schweikert, R-Ariz., would allow cryptocurrency users to make transactions of up to $600 without paying taxes. ... Read full article

The Japanese exchange bitFlyer has processed $30 billion in bitcoin trades so far in 2017. Now it has its sights set on American crypto enthusiasts. ... Read full article

Society has accepted central banks’ monopoly over creating and controlling the flow of money, but history and current technological innovations point to alternative approaches. ... Read full article

A San Francisco startup working with Swift plans to launch a network that would tie self-executing contracts to independent data sources. ... Read full article

The agency’s new classification of “initial coin offerings” is yet another affront to the efforts by fledgling companies to raise funds. ... Read full article

Readers react to the CFPB’s final arbitration rule, a new potential hurdle for initial coin offerings, a housing finance reform proposal and more. ... Read full article

The bank forced hundreds of thousands of auto loan borrowers to take out insurance they didn't need, putting some into delinquency; a Russian man is arrested and charged in $4 billion money laundering scheme. ... Read full article

The federal agency's investigative report concludes that crowdsales of blockchain tokens known as initial coin offerings may need to comply with securities laws. ... Read full article

A new blockchain network that promises to compete with Ethereum is taking the token sale trend to the next level. ... Read full article

Though they face an array of competitive threats — from digital currencies to peer-to-peer payment apps — the vast majority of community banks do not have a payments strategy, according to a recent survey. ... Read full article

Cash machine makers are working to make them work with, not against, smartphones; prices of digital currencies crashed on Monday, possibly sparked by a hoax that an Ethereum co-founder had died. ... Read full article

The incident shows that cryptocurrencies may be vulnerable to market manipulation—and may not be ready for prime time. ... Read full article

Initial coin offerings seen causing bottleneck in the network; exchanges halt ethereum transactions. ... Read full article

Just as we call letters "snail mail," in the future people may consider bank transfers snail money. ... Read full article

Vinny Lingham, founder and CEO of Civic, discusses the froth in cryptocurrency markets, the mania for "initial coin offerings," the right way to do token sales, the future of digital identity and the banking system's security failings. ... Read full article

Readers chime in on the GSE conservatorships, bitcoin’s future, regulatory relief for regional banks, a recent Supreme Court ruling on debt collection, and more. ... Read full article