Goldman Sachs considering expanding bitcoin operations further says chief operating officer David Solomon June 20, 2018 Goldman Sachs is exploring a possible expansion of its involvement in bitcoin beyond clearing derivatives for clients, according to its chief operating officer. David Solomon today said the bank was “cautious but exploring those activities”, in an interview with Bloomberg TV. In May the bank said it will launch a bitcoin trading desk, shortly after [...]
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey endorses bitcoin hoping it will become the internet’s ‘native currency’ May 18, 2018 Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey endorsed bitcoin at the cryptocurrency conference Consensus in New York saying that it should be the official currency of the internet. Dorsey, who is also chief executive of the mobile payment service Square, has now become a public supporter of cryptocurrencies saying he is a “huge fan” of the growing [...]
Bitcoin would ‘break the internet’ if used as the main retail payments network says Bank for International Settlements June 17, 2018 Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum are a “poor substitute” for state-backed currencies and would break the internet if used in their current form at a national scale, according to a report published today by a powerful central banking body. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said that the lack of a central institution backing cryptocurrencies [...]
Goldman Sachs to open bitcoin trading desk as it wades into crypto world May 3, 2018 Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is set to launch a bitcoin trading desk – a first for a major Wall Street bank. “In response to client interest in various digital products, we are exploring how best to serve them in the space,” a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said. Goldman will not initially buy or sell actual [...]
Crypto-phobia risks tarnishing blockchain with the bitcoin brush April 9, 2018 Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, has been associated with dark and unsavoury topics such as human trafficking, money laundering, and most recently indecent image transfer. As such, cryptocurrencies, and their foundational technology blockchain, have been negatively tainted in the public eye. While we cannot shy away from confronting this dark side of cryptocurrency, there remains [...]
Exchange-traded funds: why you need to ‘know what you own’ January 28, 2020 Do exchange-traded funds (ETFs) pose systemic risk? Or are such concerns exaggerated? It’s been more than 10 years since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, and the bull market (the longest ever) is in late-cycle territory. This combination of concern over the next downturn – what could set it off, spread it, or push [...]
Forget what you’ve heard, Facebook’s libra can help in the fight against money laundering September 3, 2019 The cost of anti-money laundering (AML) protocols and procedures for businesses is well-documented. Financial institutions sink billions each year into technology to identify suspicious activity and prevent their services being used for illegal transactions. Despite these efforts, money laundering remains big business, representing around five per cent of global GDP. That’s larger than the entire [...]
Sextortion and bomb threats fuel rise in email scams July 30, 2019 The number of email extortion scams has spiked in recent months as cyber criminals increasingly use fabricated bomb and sex threats to dupe victims into handing over money. In a report published today, cybersecurity firm Symantec said it blocked almost 300m extortion scam emails from the start of the year until the end of May. [...]
Commonwealth: Blockchain regulation multiplier? April 9, 2019 I first met Loretta Joseph at the CogX conference at Tobacco Dock in London’s Wapping last June. I recently caught up with her via a WhatsApp call when she was in Istanbul en route from Mauritius to Serbia. As a former banker, with 25 years of experience, she has advised international banks, hedge- and pension-funds [...]
Peter Gynt at the Olivier is a toe-curling, overlong adaptation of Ibsen’s mad epic July 11, 2019 Before the curtain rose for this reimagining of Ibsen’s allegorical play Peer Gynt, audience members were surreptitiously snapping pictures of the set, presumably to impress their Instagram followers. “I’m at the theatre! #culture”. How appropriate for a play (originally a poem but adapted soon after) that asks if a life can be fulfilled simply by winning the [...]