President Biden called last week for an urgent, government-wide focus from the U.S. into the research of a potential Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in an Executive Order. It’s a move that’s been a long time coming—American efforts in the space have lagged far behind some other countries, including China, which has already launched a pilot for its own digital … [Read more...] about Could a Central Bank Digital Currency be in the Cards for the U.S.?
Technology
The Future of Digital Assets: Not a Zero-Sum Game
Blockchain technology and digital assets rose to new heights in 2021; with a record $30 billion in investments, interest in this sector of FinTech has never been stronger. But what's happening with all that money? That was the subject of 1871's recent Tech Talk: Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency: A Breakout Year, with experts weighing in on where developments in digital assets … [Read more...] about The Future of Digital Assets: Not a Zero-Sum Game
November FinTech in Review: FinTech Questions
Developments in faster payments, digital assets, and technical interfaces raise questions. Businesses wonder about how to adopt them and at what cost. Investors wonder how to profit from them. And regulators wonder how to keep them safe and conder control. We covered some of those competing agendas this month in the articles linked below. For a consumer-oriented view and … [Read more...] about November FinTech in Review: FinTech Questions
Stablecoin: A Faster Future?
Could stablecoin be an idea whose time has arrived? The industry remains niche in terms of overall value, but as more competitors test the ground to enter the field - including large central banks in some countries like Sweden - the conversation has rapidly developed into what could be suggested to be an inevitability. Stablecoins - in this case, cryptocurrency tied directly … [Read more...] about Stablecoin: A Faster Future?
ESG and the Investment Narrative
ESG continues to be an increasingly important to investors. What it emphasizes can mean a lot of different things to different people, but at its core it’s about investment that looks beyond the bottom line to put money to work on causes near and dear to an investor’s heart. But finding good ESG data to meet increasingly sophisticated client needs is difficult – reporting … [Read more...] about ESG and the Investment Narrative
Institutional DeFi 101
During a week that featured a dramatic battle over crypto taxation in the U.S. Senate, a major recovery in the price of bitcoin and ether, and the most bizarre crypto hack and recovery ever, the steady interest in decentralized finance by institutional investors continued. The evidence: a steady stream of comprehensive DeFi research for institutional investors. The … [Read more...] about Institutional DeFi 101