If there’s one theory at the heart of Igor Pejic’s new book, “Blockchain Babel: The Crypto Craze and the Challenge to Business,” it is that when it comes to using blockchain technology to remake the banking business, neither the financial institutions looking to maintain their dominance nor the FinTech firms trying to topple them understand each other, or how much they need each other.
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Mastercard, Bank of America CEOs leery of blockchain
While still interested the distributed ledger technology, the finance leaders called blockchain’s use case unproven
The CEOs of Mastercard and Wells Fargo echoed skeptical comments on the utility of blockchain technology made earlier this week by Bank of America’s head of technology. Speaking to CNBC on March 28, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said that while ignoring blockchain would be a “bad idea,” the technology has been “way oversold.” Mastercard CEO Ajaypal Banga added that blockchain technology has “interesting possibilities,” but said that “the business model is not proven.”
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Bitfinex’ed tells (almost) all about Tether: The Modern Consensus interview
Anonymous critic of Tether and Bitfinex explains why bitcoin is headed to $15
As pressure mounts on Tether, its harshest critic—the anonymous “Bitfinex’ed”—does an interview with Modern Consensus. Reveals how he—or she—first started investigating Bitfinex and Tether. Claims 2016 hack of 120,000 bitcoins on Bitfinex was an inside job at the highest levels. Argues almost nothing backs up billions in outstanding Tether tokens; suspects recent reports were a “forgery.” Presents bleak view of cryptocurrency and blockchain’s future. Justifies a $10 to $15 price target for bitcoin (yes, you read that right). The vice is tightening on Tether and that could have devastating repercussions on the $200 billion cryptocurrency market. Though over $2 billion worth of the “stablecoin” is circulating, it has an…
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Fake Tethers under fake bitcoins. It's an illustration of what may be happening (Photo via Shutterstock).Tether’s bank said to be ‘desperate’ for cash
Noble may be looking for funding while Tether traders unsuccessfully try to unload large amounts of the coin
A Puerto Rico-based startup bank is said to be struggling to survive and that could have repercussions in the cryptocurrency markets. Noble Bank is trying to keep afloat and has been frantically searching for funding, according to two highly placed sources, including one at a large cryptocurrency exchange. The bank, with a large chunk of assets coming from Tether’s U.S. dollars, is said to have reached out to at least one large holder of the “stablecoin” in hopes of getting a cash lifeline, but the solicitation was rejected. The source would not elaborate on the size of the request. “If Noble doesn’t get cash soon, they will only have a…
