Autor Cointelegraph By Arnold Kirimi

Visa announces new crypto consulting service for merchants and banks

Payments giants Visa is launching new consulting and advisory services in a move to help its clients navigate the world of cryptocurrencies. The firm said on Dec. 8 that its crypto advisory practice, housed within its consulting and analytics division, will offer advice to financial institutions, retailers and other firms on everything from rolling out crypto features and exploring nonfungible tokens, to developing wallets for central bank digital currencies.According to Visa, part of banks’ interest in cryptocurrencies is in remaining competitive. Citing a recent in-house study, Visa said that “40% of crypto owners surveyed report they would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto-related products in the next 12 months.”Per Reuters, American financial services company UMB is a client of Visa’s crypto advisory services. “We came to Visa to learn more about crypto and stablecoins and the use cases that are most relevant for our retail and commercial business lines,” said Uma Wilson, executive vice president at UMB Bank.Related: Mastercard is preparing its infrastructure for the deployment of CBDCsThe move marks Visa’s latest attempt to push deeper into the cryptocurrency industry, with the firm having filed for numerous blockchain-related patents in the past. Visa’s research team is also working on a “Universal Payment Channel” project, which is a blockchain interoperability hub connecting multiple blockchain networks and allowing digital assets to move from various protocols and wallets.Visa is one of the many payment processors that has entered the cryptocurrency business in recent years. Its rival Mastercard recently rolled-out crypto-linked payment cards throughout the Asia-Pacific region, while online payment giants PayPal launched a new consumer app for crypto, savings and direct deposits earlier this year.

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Fidelity and Nexo are entering institutional lending market

Fidelity Digital Assets — the crypto wing of Fidelity Investments — and crypto borrowing and exchange platform Nexo have announced a partnership to offer crypto custodial services, products and lending services for institutional investors. The two firms will create a comprehensive product line and legal infrastructure for institutional investors looking to get exposure to cryptocurrencies.The partnership with Fidelity Digital Assets will allow Nexo to extend its asset portfolio and add a second custody level to its security architecture, according to an announcement. It also enables Fidelity Digital Assets institutional investors access to Nexo’s services as well as crypto prime brokerage.Kalin Metodiev, co-founder and managing partner at Nexo, commented on the development saying:“Working with Fidelity Digital Assets is the latest milestone in our quest to offer a complete institutional platform and to onboard traditional finance companies into the digital asset ecosystem. Our client base will now have full use of our industry-leading credit and trading products with reliance on Fidelity Digital Assets’ bespoke custody and security solutions.”Related: Institutional investors bought the dip as China FUD brokeChristopher Tyrer, head of Fidelity Digital Assets in Europe, said that the firm has seen significant growth in institutional investor interest on the continent, and has expanded its partnerships in order to meet that demand.Fidelity Investments has been ambitious in its plans for the institutional cryptocurrency market, making a number of strategic hires in the space. The company appears to be taking a more holistic approach to cryptocurrency, as the asset manager seeks to provide more institutional access points. 

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Nasdaq Stockholm lists Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes

Nasdaq Stockholm has announced that 21Shares has listed its first two physically backed exchange-traded notes (ETN) on the Swedish trading platform. The two instruments listed, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as underlying assets, represent a new segment for ETNs — a type of unsecured debt security that tracks an underlying index of equities and trades on a major exchange. According to the announcement, the new ETNs will provide investors access to investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Helena Wedin, European head of exchange-traded products at Nasdaq, said that exchange-traded notes allow one to invest in non-traditional assets while maintaining the transparency of a regulated market. She added, “We are happy to launch this new segment at Nasdaq Stockholm with 21Shares as the first issuer.” According to the press release, most traditional banks and brokers allow investors to trade all ETNs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. This is a first that opens up new possibilities to investors interested in investing in cryptocurrencies but who are uncomfortable doing so on unregulated exchanges.Related: ETN vs. ETF: Which Is the Investor’s Dream?The cryptocurrency market has experienced a steep rise in valuation throughout the previous year. Despite some recent price dips, interest in cryptocurrencies continues to be high.One reason for this sustained interest may be the possibility of increased institutional investment in the market. As institutional investment in cryptocurrencies increases, we’ll likely see more products such as ETNs being listed on regulated exchanges. As reported by Cointelegraph in September, VanEck introduced Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT) ETNs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra.

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'We want to be the AWS of crypto,' says Coinbase exec

With Amazon Web Services (AWS) being one of the most popular cloud service providers on the planet, it’s no surprise that Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, is attempting to capitalize on its success by developing its own cloud infrastructure solution, Coinbase Cloud.”We want to be the AWS of crypto,” said Coinbase chief product officer Surojit Chatterjee in an exclusive interview with Forbes. “We are building this whole Coinbase Cloud suite of products that you can think of as crypto computing services to help developers build their applications faster.” Before becoming Coinbase Cloud, the service was named Bison Trails, a cloud-based staking infrastructure solution that Coinbase bought earlier this year for an undisclosed amount that was rumored to be above $80 million. According to Coinbase, Bison Trails is a non-custodial platform, which means it does not manage clients’ staked assets.Amazon Web Services (AWS) was once a secondary consideration for Amazon in Seattle, overshadowed by Amazon. Nevertheless, the Amazon subsidiary that debuted almost 20 years ago is the firm’s major profit engine today. AWS earned $13.5 billion in annual operating earnings in 2020 on a revenue base of $45.3 billion, or 63 percent of its parent company’s total.Related: NFTs could be ‘as big or bigger’ than all crypto on Coinbase, CEO saysCoinbase officials have suggested that they need to become the “Amazon of cryptocurrencies” as soon as possible. or Because the majority of its accolades are for not just being the first major digital currency business to go public but also for doing so by achieving the greatest direct listing in history, its income stream is overly reliant on transaction fees.This is often the case with line items that are dominated by a single category’s revenue concentration. Facebook, for example, and Google are almost entirely reliant on advertising to make money, therefore their line items generally have this degree of revenue concentration.However, due to their significant dependence on the market and overall trading volumes, Coinbase and other exchanges may be highly vulnerable. Because trading volumes are closely linked with price swings, such dependence can be a major drawback for crypto platforms like Coinbase or any other exchange.Coinbase is seeking to boost trading income by providing subscription services that are more resistant to market swings to mitigate this risk. For example, it provides institutional custody services, staking possibilities, a learning portal that gives users crypto as a reward, an e-commerce checkout system, and the ability to issue Visa debit cards to clients. It’s also trying out a subscription plan that would give customers a monthly trading allowance for a set price.The acquisition of Bison Trails, according to Chatterjee, was a critical step in Coinbase’s transition to a more mature financial system. The platform supports crypto custodians, funds, decentralized apps, and token holders. Some of its customers are Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), New York-based fintech firm Current, and Turner Sports.As of November 2021, Coinbase Cloud has $30 billion in crypto assets staked on its platform. Coinbase, one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms, has more than 73 million genuine customers, 10,000 organizations, and 185,000 ecosystem partners in more than 100 countries. According to Coinbase, since its founding, it has handled transactions worth over $700 billion.

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Digital dollar needs broad consensus among authorities, says US Treasury Secretary

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has given her opinions on the potential of a digital dollar but is hesitant to come to any conclusions at this stage in proceedings. Yellen said on Thursday that she had not formed a view on whether the Federal Reserve should create a digital version of the dollar, but such a move would require broad consensus among Congress, the U.S. central bank and the White House. This follows the recent reports that the Federal Reserve is currently researching whether an electronic version of the greenback would be beneficial or not. Yellen said that she sees both pros and cons to the digital dollar. Although she does have thoughts on its implementation, she feels more research needs to be done before coming up with any definite answers.According to Yellen, the advantages of a central bank digital currency need further study, including its effects on banking institutions.In contrast, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard, whom President Biden has chosen for vice-chair of the US central bank, has called for urgency in establishing a digital dollar. She suggested that she can’t fathom not having one when China and other nations are developing their own central bank digital currencies, which she considers a race to the top.Related: It’s now or never — The US has to prepare itself for digital currencyAccording to the Fed secretary, a consensus is required before moving forward. Yellen said that the Federal Reserve was working on a study on the issue and that it would be available soon, and they are cognizant that broad agreement among authorities would need to take place before they could move forward.”This is a decision that’s important and needs to command consensus. There are some benefits, but there are also meaningful costs.”As Cointelegraph reported in September, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that there was no need for the central bank to hurry their digital currency development plans. Despite several central banks creating their own CBDCs, Powell said the Fed was not rushing to embrace the movement.

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