Cryptocurrency

Capital Calls: Amazon and consumers

29 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: People are spending more amid price hikes, while the e-commerce giant struggles with them.

Bitcoin flaws call for replacement, not repair

11 Apr 2022

Greenpeace and others want to change the cryptocurrency's mechanics to make it less wasteful of energy and computing power. It's a nice idea, but they are up against vested interests and engineering challenges. Rival digital coins, or a new alternative, are better solutions.

Coinbase’s first anniversary will be sober affair

5 Apr 2022

A year after the cryptocurrency exchange went public, its shares have fallen 40%. Relying on fees from retail investors has made for volatile cash flows. A planned NFT marketplace and launching derivatives trading could help, but in those areas Coinbase is already behind the pack.

China’s NFTs face long digital purgatory

1 Apr 2022

Blockchain-based assets are catching on with companies like Xtep, which just released metaverse sneakers. Beijing bans cryptocurrencies, however, meaning apps only accept yuan and curb reselling. Absent sanctioned secondary markets, collecting will be merely a token gesture.

Hackers turn crypto’s strength into Achilles heel

30 Mar 2022

Attackers stole $540 mln from a blockchain linked to an online game. Theft is growing as developers roll out untested new blockchain products with shaky security. So-called decentralised finance makes it easy to create new crypto services, but criminals are mopping up the spoils.

War crowdfunding is weapon that cuts two ways

14 Mar 2022

The $100 mln raised by Ukraine through cryptocurrencies and a central bank link puts a new spin on an old trend of outside funding for conflicts. Technology makes it easier and faster to supercharge the fight. The catch is that the tools have potential use for an aggressor too.

Russia crisis is Big Crypto’s coming-of-age moment

3 Mar 2022

Major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance are still open to Russians despite the risk of sanctions evasion. If they fail to spot illicit transactions, regulators will crush the life out of them. If they pass the test – and they might – it may be their ticket to the mainstream.

Bitcoin’s true colours shine in stampede to safety

23 Feb 2022

The cryptocurrency fell 5% as conflict in Ukraine flared, undermining the case for it to be a gold-like refuge. Even earlier, it moved too closely in synch with equities to be much use as a hedge. It comes into its own, however, as an amplifier of ups and downs in riskier assets.

Spending bitcoin is harder than stealing it

9 Feb 2022

Cryptocurrency crime is soaring. But the seizure by U.S. authorities of bitcoin worth $3.6 bln, six years after the theft, shows it’s difficult to turn stolen tokens into cash. Anonymous transactions leave a clear trail. Even if the boom fades, the pursuit of thieves will go on.

MicroStrategy is storing up bitcoin bother

1 Feb 2022

The $4 billion company’s digital currency holdings now account for almost all of its enterprise value. CEO Michael Saylor may be happy running what increasingly looks more like a crypto vehicle than an analytics and software business. But he is inviting more regulatory scrutiny.

Breakdown: Real profit and loss in the metaverse

28 Jan 2022

Mark Zuckerberg is on the case, and nascent virtual spaces like Decentraland could be the next social-networking hit. Breakingviews unpacks the metaverse, what it offers users and investors, and the risks.

Facebook’s crypto demise is a missed opportunity

27 Jan 2022

The social network’s digital asset group is winding down under regulatory pressure. Though Diem Association’s links with Facebook proved toxic, ex-member firms like Visa could have made cryptocurrencies respectable. Meanwhile, watchdogs have done little to rein in riskier coins.

Financial products we’d rather not see in 2022

4 Jan 2022

Breakingviews is readying a new metaverse-based buy-now-pay-later digital-asset trading platform. Here are a few of the shiny new opportunities that could pop up in the coming year, from a melding of SPACs with NFTs to a new crypto-churn account.

Macau watchdogs will double down on digital yuan

3 Jan 2022

As casino operators prepare bids for new licenses in the $37 bln gambling hub, investors fear regulators will tighten their grip on Sands, Wynn and MGM. One clever way to start would be by forcing them to adopt China’s new virtual currency.

Wall Street will find ways to satisfy crypto envy

3 Jan 2022

Banks have mostly been shut out of the $2 trln digital asset craze. Many want in, but they will have to deal with murky regulation, a 24/7 market and patchy legal protections. A fight for profit and customers may also obscure other risks in a market untested by the mainstream.

Capital Calls: Software AG logs onto buyout boom

26 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: A subdued valuation and eager bidders increase the 3 billion euro German company’s chances of a possible sale.

Chancellor: U.S. bull market can’t go on forever

24 Nov 2021

Stein’s Law dictates that “if something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” Timing is another matter. “Nowcasting” looks at macroeconomic and market indicators, and finds little cause for concern. But it’s just another model. And, as Box’s Law states: all models are wrong.

Bitcoin miner’s green patina is fool’s gold

17 Nov 2021

In a somewhat novel twist for the power-sucking cryptocurrency business, Iris Energy relies mainly on renewables. That probably helped boost its valuation in a $1.6 bln IPO, but it feels like style over substance. And the climate hype cannot mitigate some serious risk factors.

Gensler crypto crackdown would be gift in disguise

12 Nov 2021

The SEC chair’s push to add investor defenses to a $2.8 trln industry might dampen digital assets first, yet should over time make them more attractive. But Gensler’s to-do list is long, from SPACs to hedge fund fees. Getting overlooked is a risk for crypto, not an opportunity.

African telcos finally get their big fintech prize

8 Nov 2021

After years of delay, Nigeria’s central bank is letting phone firms offer basic banking via handsets. For the regulator, it’s a way of staying relevant as consumers dabble in cryptocurrencies. For operators like MTN and Airtel Africa, it’s a multibillion-dollar payday.