The recent high-profile failure of multiple US banks has highlighted counterparty risk as a major concern for businesses depositors. This article looks at how cryptocurrencies can offer an alternative for businesses when it comes to treasury management because of their decentralised structure that reduces counterparty risk and also that it offers faster transaction processing, lower transaction fees and greater transparency. However, businesses still need to weigh up the risks and benefits of using cryptocurrencies as part of their treasury management strategy and consider how insurance can help offset some of that risk.

The UK Treasury's proposals are making a concerted effort to bring crypto asset activities onshore, at least to the extent that firms wish to market directly to UK customers. The UK also remains committed to driving the international regulatory agenda by shaping a baseline of global regulatory standards to mitigate regulatory arbitrage opportunities and ensure that customers are not driven to unregulated platforms. Whether the UK will establish itself as a global crypto hub will ultimately depend on the details of the crypto legislation, but keeping a strong international dimension will help.

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A guide to Web3 architecture - there is an increasing consensus that blockchains should be built modularly. A core blockchain needs to be safe, decentralised enough, and have good throughput. Through second-layer protocols, side chains and other modules, it should be able to handle large volumes of data. Single parts should be maintained and updated without taking the whole blockchain down. Through advanced composability, private blockchains can fit specific needs much better.

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The rise of the inflation-resistant new model asset-based economy: central bank digital assets vs central bank digital currencies - have you ever considered inflation-resistant money? In an age of bank runs, are you nervous of your government plans for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the risk of expiring money? Or even how your social credit score might restrict your access to your own savings? This article highlights the real risks of CBDCs in the context of our times and economic history, exploring the alternative of a commercial-off-the-shelf offering of CBDAs (central bank digital assets) to all central banks, global financial institutions and ‘anyone with a mobile phone’ who has a desire to escape inflation and an economic cycle of bank runs.

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Treasury consultation underlines UK ambition to onshore crypto industry - the UK Treasury's proposals are making a concerted effort to bring crypto asset activities onshore, at least to the extent that firms wish to market directly to UK customers. The UK also remains committed to driving the international regulatory agenda by shaping a baseline of global regulatory standards to mitigate regulatory arbitrage opportunities and ensure that customers are not driven to unregulated platforms. Whether the UK will establish itself as a global crypto hub will ultimately depend on the details of the crypto legislation, but keeping a strong international dimension will help.

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- blockchain is a phenomenal technology, with the potential to transform the way in which assets are traded. So far, it has been used largely by deregulated actors - often via centralised exchanges. Currently, the pre-eminent use case for tokenisation is trading real world assets, but its reputation has been dragged through the mud.

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Are stablecoins safer than bank deposits? - stablecoins, whilst miss-named (as surely it would be better to call them ‘pegged’ coins), can offer a much lower risk for those who have large amounts of cash compared to leaving money in a bank. Stablecoins can provide greater transparency and security whereby removing the risk of depositors being exposed to bankers lending their cash to other people. The reality is that, once you give your cash to a bank, you become a creditor, and banks can use your money as they wish to generate returns for shareholders - not you.

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Censorship resistance in cryptocurrency - in crypto, “censorship resistance” means the freedom to transact, the freedom from seizure, and the inability to change a transaction. Bitcoin is widely seen as the digital asset with the most censorship resistance but, in reality, if you use a cryptocurrency to make a transaction you are leaving a fingerprint that others are able to track and trace. Unlike cash, which is often much harder to track, is this why governments are imposing limits on the amount of cash their citizens can use?

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How blockchain is impacting the healthcare market - the global health care market is huge and is set to dominate most economies even further as people live longer. Blockchain technology is being deployed in a variety of ways to reduce costs, deliver greater transparency and even enable individuals to monetise their own medical records.

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Why do we need real world assets on blockchain anyway? - blockchain is a phenomenal technology, with the potential to transform the way in which assets are traded. So far, it has been used largely by deregulated actors - often via centralised exchanges. Currently, the pre-eminent use case for tokenisation is trading real world assets, but its reputation has been dragged through the mud.

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with the many different types of blockchains available to launch a token, or to build decentralised applications (dApps) on, which one is the most popular? According to Electric Capital’s Developer Report, Ethereum is still the most popular. But there is an interesting mix of other blockchains making up the top 10 that should be considered, or at least explored, when venturing into the blockchain space. 

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How blockchain and AI can complement each other - the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been astronomical but it comes with challenges, such as copyright problems. Lawsuits are currently rocking top players in the AI art industry, but is there any way that blockchain could solve this problem? And, what are the intersections and points between AI and blockchain technology?

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DEX versus CEX - crypto trading is becoming increasingly popular because it allows traders to buy and sell different tokens that can later be used for many things. DEXs (decentralised exchanges) and CEXs (centralised exchanges) are the most popular platforms for trading cryptocurrency. This article gives details of the CEX vs. DEX argument and looks at each in depth.

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Changing a currency: the demonetisation in Nigeria - changing a country’s currency and demonetisation can have a huge negative impact on an economy. However, in 2016, India engaged in the policy, immediately causing a considerable amount of harm. Nigeria has recently changed its currency in an attempt to tackle its shadow economy and brought about untold misery on its citizens. As a result, will this force Nigeria to rethink its stance towards digital currencies?

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One “multichain” to bridge them all? - with the many different types of blockchains available to launch a token, or to build decentralised applications (dApps) on, which one is the most popular? According to Electric Capital’s Developer Report, Ethereum is still the most popular. But there is an interesting mix of other blockchains making up the top 10 that should be considered, or at least explored, when venturing into the blockchain space. 

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Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets.

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Fractional ownership of real estate - fractional ownership of real estate traces its roots back to the 1960s in the form of REITs and timeshares. Whilst the size of tokenised real estate is relatively small at $200billion - given that the global real estate market is over $326trillion - there is huge scope for growth of tokenised real estate. Since residential property sector accounts for 80% of the real estate market, tokenisation of peoples’ home offers a massive, broadly untapped opportunity.

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Crypto charity tokens: what exactly are they? - the majority of the burgeoning interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies is motivated by personal financial gain and financial innovation. Simultaneously, there is an intriguing trend toward using cryptocurrency for charitable causes. Not only do hundreds of organisations accept Bitcoin and other digital currency donations, but new institutions that use digital tokens - together with their underlying cryptography-based technology known as the blockchain - are developing in innovative ways. These daring projects have the potential to alter the charitable industry.

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Pros and cons of hardware wallets - hardware wallets store cryptocurrency offline, which means they are not connected to the internet; this is called “cold storage”. They are physical devices that look like USB sticks and work like simple, single-purpose computers. With a hardware wallet, your private key is used to digitally sign crypto transactions inside the device, which are then safely sent to the blockchain through a crypto bridge.

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Custody of digital assets: an inflection year in 2023? - imagine a counterbalance with four weights: north, south, east and west. On the north and south scales, you have financial institutions (Tradfi & DeFi) balanced with the regulator, and on the east and west scales, you have security balanced with speed. With this in mind, you will begin to understand the elements driving custody in the world of digital assets.

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Much has been written and discussed about the ‘crypto winter’ that has hit the cryptocurrency industry, so how can players set about speeding up the arrival of spring? It is vital to rebuild trust through governance, education and protection - including partnering with banks to explore ways of innovating and further protecting customers. Crypto-bank partnerships could be key to strengthening customer confidence and moving out of winter.

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