The University of Basel’s Center for Innovative Finance (CIF) decided to make its introductory “Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptoassets” bachelor’s course open access. Some of its courses have been around for years and enjoyed decent popularity among students. The University of Basel (UniBas) has been offering Blockchain courses since 2017. From courses on Bitcoin and Public […]
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is continuing its experiments in the field of central bank currencies (CBDCs). “Project Jura” is investigating cross-border payment processing in cooperation with the central bank of France. The G20 has prioritised the improvement of cross-border and has submitted a multi-year timeline to coordinate efforts in this regard. The current experiment contributes to […]
Thailand has recently imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency trading. The South-east Asian nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented a ban on various types of blockchain currencies such as meme tokens and NFTs. According to the Thai SEC, the new rules aim to protect traders and users from cryptocurrencies that have “no clear target or substance” and […]
The Federal Reserve Bank will publish a report on the potential transition to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the summer of 2021. The advanced projects of several countries, first and foremost China, as well as the increasing digitalization have intensified the discussion. The U.S. Federal Reserve did not reveal any specific plans for […]
A week ago, eBay announced that payments with cryptocurrencies were under consideration. Now, the operator of one of the largest online marketplaces has decided to enable the buying and selling of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Will the technology make the leap into the mainstream? The U.S. company eBay recently enabled the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) […]
A monthly review of what’s happening in the crypto markets enriched with institutional research on the most important topics in the industry in cooperation with the Swiss digital asset specialist, 21Shares AG. The market-driving news of the month of April was Coinbase’s pivotal direct listing which saw the company initially go public at more than a $100B […]
The US investment bank JPMorgan, Singapore’s largest bank (DBS) and the state-owned investment firm Temasek have jointly launched a new blockchain company focused on global payments and cross-border transactions between banks. The new company called Partior seeks to digitize commercial banks’ money using the blockchain technology. It aims to reduce the existing friction in cross-border payments, transactions and foreign […]
The blockchain technology has various use cases. Some of the largest fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Prada are now implementing blockchain solutions to authenticate their products in a more transparent way and prevent counterfeiting. The consortium plans to make their blockchain tool available to other luxury brands. The solution will provide their customers greater […]
Tokenization has been a hot topic lately, with a lot of new projects getting launched. Especially in Switzerland, the so-called “Crypto Valley”, this aspect of the blockchain technology has gained traction. A conversation with Tokentrust CEO Marco Grossi on the tokenization of commodities. In short, tokenization is the representation of an asset on the blockchain. For trading […]
Parachains are sovereign blockchains running in parallel within the Polkadot and Kusama networks. Polkadot and its canary network Kusama are built with the same design, consisting of a central Relay Chain that coordinates the system and provides security for up to 100 parachains. Parachains can be custom built to serve any use case. Conceived by […]
