US Senator Says Cryptocurrencies Put Americans’ Hard-Earned Money at Risk

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown says cryptocurrencies are not real dollars and they “put Americans’ hard-earned money at risk.” Referring to decentralized finance (defi) as “a shady, diffuse network of online funny money,” he said, “if we want a solution to Americans’ legitimate fears about our banking system, shady start-ups are not the answer.” Senator Brown’s…

Digital Euro to Handle ‘Almost Unlimited’ Payments, Estonian Central Bank Says After Test

A blockchain-based digital euro would be highly scalable allowing it to process an almost unlimited number of payments, the central bank of Estonia has concluded following a recent experiment. Central banks from several euro area countries and the ECB participated in the test, which also professed to show the digital currency’s carbon footprint would be…

Nigerian Central Bank Stops Forex Sales to Bureaus de Change — Operators Accused of Feeding Black Market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced the abrupt end to sales and outsourcing of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators after accusing them of failing to stick to their core mandate. Instead of providing forex to retail users, BDCs are believed to be supplying the scarce resource to so-called “illegal” dealers.…

Iran Raises Alarm Over Potential Influx of Miners From China

With the government in Beijing cracking down on their operations, Chinese miners have been on the lookout for other jurisdictions. Providing low-cost energy, Iran has emerged as a prospective destination. However, the country’s state-owned power utility has expressed concerns over a possible influx of miners and illegal imports of mining hardware from China. Tavanir Warns…