Cryptocurrency

Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, Crypto data-miners

3 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: Rapid hiring in America has bad and worse consequences; blockchain analytics company Chainalysis is cutting staff, but those tracking crypto crimes, including governments, could use more of its services.

Crypto’s big unwind is far from over

2 Feb 2023

Investors piled into digital assets last month for the first time since the summer, and prices have recovered from FTX’s collapse. But issues – regulation, fraud, volatility – still threaten popular currencies, like bitcoin. Another big event will wipe out newfound confidence.

Capital Calls: Cryptocurrency, Chelsea FC

1 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: Britain delivers a blow to digital assets by aiming to regulate them the same way as traditional ones, while the UK soccer team’s new owner Todd Boehly splashes the cash.

Expansionist dreams threaten ECB digital euro plan

17 Jan 2023

As the European Central Bank develops its own online currency, politicians want a big say. Hostility from some rubs against the ECB’s cautious enthusiasm. Yet if political forces push a digital euro to be more global than the ECB is ready for, it may weaken financial stability.

Crypto bank run vindicates watchdogs’ vigilance

5 Jan 2023

Silvergate Capital, which takes deposits from digital-asset companies like FTX, had to raise funds and flog assets fast after customers pulled $8 bln. It’s a disaster for investors and the ambitions of CEO Alan Lane. For regulators who’ve kept crypto on a tight leash, it’s a win.

FTX sins don’t absolve its big-money enablers

13 Dec 2022

The SEC, CFTC and federal prosecutors said the crypto group’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried defrauded investors and users. But venture backers were gullible and regulators idle. Institutions can try to pin blame on just one bad actor. But they can’t ignore their own culpability.

Sam Bankman-Fried lacks cover of systemic risk

13 Dec 2022

The former boss of bankrupt crypto firm FTX has been arrested. That hasn’t happened to financial hall-of-shamers that are more mainstream. The decentralised nature of crypto makes isolating people easier. The more complex the institution or blow-up, the harder it is to pin blame.

SPACs and crypto are just the tip of the iceberg

6 Dec 2022

Low rates pushed investors into risky pools of money – blank, digital, illiquid or otherwise. A defunct deal involving stablecoin issuer Circle shows that the go-go days are over. But other, much bigger, problems may be lurking in the murkier worlds of buyouts and private credit.

Circle’s SPAC flop does the public market a favor

5 Dec 2022

The stablecoin that CEO Jeremy Allaire runs is meant to have a predictable, steady price. But the company, which scrapped a merger with a blank-check firm, defies valuation. That could change, but only if the crypto storm calms and Circle can remain profitable until then.

Flummoxed Congress dims faith in post-FTX fixes

1 Dec 2022

The first public hearing since the crypto exchange’s collapse laid bare Capitol Hill’s collective ignorance. A lack of new laws leaves agencies unfit to oversee digital currencies. It’s a steep learning curve to protect investors without the industry just writing its own rules.

Crypto winter highlights gold’s warming qualities

25 Nov 2022

The collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has institutional investors fleeing and regulators closing in. True believers argue their vision of decentralised digital money still holds. In a less dystopian world, the yellow metal may have more appeal, says Edward Chancellor.

FTX collapse consigns crypto to fringes of finance

24 Nov 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto exchange is a huge blow to the ailing sector. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how firewalls helped protect banks, how the saga will embolden regulators, and what the future looks like for digital currencies.

Stablecoins fall few cents short of respectability

23 Nov 2022

FTX’s collapse highlighted what happens when funds supposed to be in one place turn up in another, or nowhere at all. That will reignite the debate on how to regulate digital assets. Out in front are stablecoins, which have a way to go if they’re to live up to their name.

Hong Kong’s crypto push sets up race to bottom

22 Nov 2022

The Asian city reiterated its plan to allow retail access to regulated virtual assets, despite FTX’s blow-up and a sweeping ban in China. It’s not a big departure from what’s offered in the U.S. and Europe but a rivalry with Singapore to lure capital and talent could make things messy.

Coinbase’s problems more than contagion

21 Nov 2022

The crypto exchange’s boss Brian Armstrong wants to reassure investors that digital currencies are safe. That makes sense: Bitcoin and other coins are its lifeblood. But the industry collapse is only one problem. Coinbase took on debt before its business model had been proven.

FTX flop evokes history’s great financial swindles

18 Nov 2022

Investment bubbles are generally accompanied by fraud. The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange has elements of past scandals, from Dutch tulip mania to Bernie Madoff. Unusually, the 30-year-old seems to have previewed his own downfall, says Edward Chancellor.

FTX affords a turning point in venture governance

17 Nov 2022

New CEO John Ray uncovered patchy balance sheets and signs of looting at the bust crypto exchange. What he calls “a complete failure of corporate controls” means users may not get repaid. Formidable backers like Temasek and Sequoia would be crazy to make the same mistakes again.

Crypto watchdogs have a giant offshore problem

17 Nov 2022

FTX’s collapse should trigger tougher oversight of digital-asset groups in the Unites States and elsewhere. Yet big players, like Binance and the $40 bln decentralised-finance system, may stay out of reach. Clearer rules could bring more business onshore, but not all of it.

Crypto readies itself for a post-FTX hose-down

15 Nov 2022

The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire exposed the vulnerabilities of a vast, unregulated world of digital finance. Rivals like Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire hope to prove there’s a safer side of crypto worth saving. He presents his case in this episode of The Exchange podcast.

Sam Bankman-Fried did financial system a favour

14 Nov 2022

The curly-haired cryptocurrency kingpin pushed regulators and politicians to legitimise assets like bitcoin. A few more years and his now-bankrupt exchange FTX would have burrowed deeper into mainstream finance, amplifying the damage. His downfall sends the process into reverse.