Analysis
Are TradFi and DeFi converging, moving toward a middle ground that includes tokenized assets, interoperability and regulation?
Andrew Singer
Andrew has been a professional writer and editor for more than 30 years. He received an M.A. in statistics from Columbia University in 2017 and has since been working as a freelance writer with a specialty in machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and big data. He likes to swim, play tennis and hike in the Hudson Highlands.
Is payments giant SWIFT preparing for a blockchain-bound future? - Analysis
Does the Ethereum Merge offer a new destination for institutional investors? Pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors matter because they invest for the long term, helping solve crypto’s volatility problem.
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Crypto winter teaches tough lessons about custody and taking control Many agree that digital assets should be held in hard wallets, but recent actions in the EU and the U.S. may make that more difficult, not easier.
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Built to fall? As the CBDC sun rises, stablecoins may catch a shadow Will central banks allow stablecoins to survive? Can they peacefully co-exist with central bank digital currency as a financial instrument for the unbanked?
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Beyond the headlines: The real adoption of Bitcoin salaries Bitcoin wages are becoming more common globally, particularly among “borderless” remote workers and in certain regions like Latin America.
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Metaverse visionary Neal Stephenson is building a blockchain to uplift creators “I worry about things that are not directly related to blockchain and the Metaverse. I worry about climate change and about social fragmentation.”
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Will intellectual property issues sidetrack NFT adoption? In posting NFT artwork on social media, a new owner could be breaking intellectual property laws. A “wave of litigation has already begun.”
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Tether fortifies its reserves: Will it silence critics, mollify investors? USDT is under attack from short sellers. Would they go away if only the company hired a Big Four accounting firm to audit its balance sheet?
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Does the Metaverse need blockchain to ensure widespread adoption? While not absolutely necessary, omitting it would be misguided. “The Metaverse without blockchains would likely just advance the ball for Big Tech.”
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Uganda’s gold discovery: What it could mean for crypto Is gold becoming inflationary? Can Bitcoin replace it as a store of value due to its scarcity and reliability? Are Uganda’s numbers implausible? Questions arise.
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Crypto’s uses and misuses: Binance–Reuters quarrel raises questions Does the struggle between Binance and Reuters, both heavyweights in their respective industries, have broader implications for the crypto sector?
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Struggle for Web3’s soul: The future of blockchain-based identity What’s behind Buterin’s embrace of “soulbound tokens”? Ensuring Ethereum’s dominance? A backlash against NFTs? Creating a better world?
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Crypto’s youngest investors hold firm against headwinds — and headlines The market drawdown and UST/LUNA fiasco may discourage some retail newcomers, but younger investors remain captivated by crypto’s technology.
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UST aftermath: Is there any future for algorithmic stablecoins? The quest continues for the perfect “stand in” for the U.S. dollar, but UST’s crash suggests that algo stables may be “inherently fragile.”
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CBDC activity heats up, but few projects move beyond pilot stage Does government-issued digital money pose an existential threat to cryptocurrencies? Probably not, but stablecoin usage could narrow.
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Largest NFT mint ever: Making sense of Yuga Lab’s ‘virtual’ land bonanza BAYC creator Yuga’s Otherdeed launch was the largest NFT mint ever, but are metaverse communities turning into gated communities?
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Has New York state gone astray in its pursuit of crypto fraud? A new Senate bill strives to keep the “spirit of blockchain” while combating crime, but critics call it ill-conceived, redundant and unworkable.
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Quantum computing to run economic models on crypto adoption The industry may have 10 years or less to devise defenses against quantum computers capable of breaching its elliptic curve cryptography.
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Is asymmetric information driving crypto’s wild price swings? Will Coinbase’s latest efforts help to level the user playing field? Perhaps, but more adoption, liquidity and regulation will also be needed.
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Crypto seen as the ‘future of money’ in inflation-mired countries Citizens in countries with heavily devalued currencies “need to have crypto.” In the developed world, it’s often just “nice to have.”
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Skewed data: How could a new US law boost blockchain analysis? Infrastructure firms will now have to report within 24 hours if they make a ransomware payment. “This surely will be a game changer.”
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US e-cash: Bill proposes digital currency that replicates cash, bypasses the Fed A United States House bill proposes a Treasury-issued, hardware-secured and anonymous form of digital cash.
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EU vote on Bitcoin mining: What does it mean for the industry? A win in the European Parliament, but will mining rules have to change? “Eventually, only PoS will be adopted by blockchain applications.”
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Is the Ukraine war intensifying regulatory pressure on crypto firms? Every day, people are seeing “live” why sanctions matter. “Everyone is starting to rethink the importance of compliance and crypto.”
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Crypto offers Russia no way out from Western sanctions Crypto use is likely to grow among ordinary citizens of both nations — though it won’t help Russia’s elite dodge economic restrictions.
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Wyoming’s state stablecoin: Another brick in the wall? Stablecoins are another piece in the puzzle, like DAOs or digital identity. “And if we don’t have it just right at first, we’ll fix it.”
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Bitcoin at the barricades: Ottawa, Ukraine and beyond If Bitcoin is used for fundraising, is it inevitably tarred by the cause to which it’s been linked, like anti-vax truckers?
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Crypto secures a place in the African American saga With its special qualities that can turn users into owners and owners into users, crypto aligns with historic Black aspirations.
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Does the IMF have a hidden script for El Salvador’s Bitcoin play? What if El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment succeeds? Is that what the IMF really fears?
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Staying cool: Is crypto snowballing to 1 billion users this year? Demographics rule: “Younger people are more likely to embrace crypto than older generations.” Meanwhile, the Great Transfer of Wealth is coming.