Russia’s love affair with cryptocurrency is being consummated in Switzerland. Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is planning to use Swiss arm Sberbank Switzerland AG to open a formal exchange for trading cryptocurrency. Despite having no cryptocurrency legislation at present, Russia’s regulatory environment is so far extremely favorable. There is a proposed framework in place for how the country might regulate cryptocurrency trading. But it’s got nothing on Switzerland, notorious for its history of banking secrecy. Where Russia merely hasn’t outlawed crypto, Switzerland has formally legalized it. By operating its exchange in Switzerland, Sberbank gets more money privileges to flex for its soon-to-be crypto-customers. “We wish to serve our customers’…
Sweden is edging toward issuing a national cryptocurrency
One of the first European countries to print paper money may also be first to phase it out. According to an HSBC analyst report, Sweden is the next nation to emerge as straight-up pro-cryptocurrency. Cash is dying there, with most Swedish residents perpetuating the well-established culture of paying for things via card or app. In 2015, bills and coins represented just 2% of Sweden’s economy. In 2016, the country’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, announced it was investigating issuing a formal Swedish cryptocurrency called the e-krona. A lot of pieces fit in the hypothetical jigsaw puzzle of Sweden-as-cryptocurrency-haven. The Swedish population already has a lot of experience with financial technology, thanks…
BeHODL the light! Sun shines on crypto market after a stormy week
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are regaining value after a brutal week that otherwise had the cryptocurrency world begging for mercy. A major market crash slammed these currencies and the rest of the crypto market. As these big three bounce back today, relieved investors are surely interpreting it as a sign that all is well and all will be well. Within the past 24 hours, Bitcoin climbed from nearly $9,000 to more than $12,000, Ethereum is up 6.8%, and Ripple came screaming back a 30% gain. So come on in, the water’s fine. The crash has been attributed to all kinds of perceived causes, but the markets got kneecapped by three…
Happy birthday, bitcoin!
Today marks the ninth anniversary of the day bitcoin was unleashed upon the world, thus ushering cryptocurrency revolution. Well, sorta. It took a while for it to pick up but look at it now! Commemorate it by reading Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper (pdf). The very first block in the bitcoin blockchain (the “genesis block”) contained a simple proof of its creation: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”. That was the headline from a front page article in the Times of London as the global banking and monetary system was on the verge of collapsing. Nakamoto’s choice for that as the first block may have been…
