Etiqueta: T4

Link:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/03/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-crypto-trial-start

Date: THU, OCT 05 2023

Media: TheGuardian

• What happened?

Bankman-Fried, founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was charged with financial crimes. 

Through some reports, it came to light that FTX could not give customers their funds and forced the company to file for bankruptcy. In which the following month Bankman was arrested on conspiracy and fraud charges for diverting billions of dollars in investments, as well as money in risky operations and other illegal things.

He was also charged by the Manhattan attorney’s office, where he was responsible for using client funds to pay the bill for loan expenses at Alameda, as well as the purchase of high-priced real estate, and making extensive political donations.The FTX hedge fund was Alameda.

The Bankman-Fried financial downturn began in November 2022, in which it came to light that Alameda had billions in FTX-owned cryptocurrencies, and that it was also used as support for loans to FTT. When the CEO of FTX’s top competitor Finance said he was going to sell his $50 million in FTT. At that time all customers of both FTT and FTX took their money immediately, in which they feared they would see a total collapse throughout the industry. That’s when FTX went bankrupt.

• Whom and where it affects?

It mainly affects Sam Bankman who is the guy in charge for the fraud and all the customers of cryptocurrency that he had and that he made lose a lot of money. And this issue affects the area of cryptocurrencies making them lose a lot of value and also the banks that are working with such crypto coins. 

• What sort of public or private institutions are involved?

All the banks that work with the FTX crypto since they probably made a lot of people that invested in the coin  lose money, the lawyers buffet that are in court against Sam Bankman and also the company that Sam founded. 

• Why is it important for Banking and Finance?

Due to the collapse of FTX, many clients, lenders and investors lost millions of dollars, a possible burst of cryptocurrency bubble, hinting at the high level of volatility that cryptocurrencies can have. Therefore, many people, upon seeing this great drop, decided to transfer their funds from different types of cryptocurrency exchanges to banks or different entities that pose a lower risk.

• What do you think will be the consequences in the foreseeable future?

The consequences for Sam and its company are pretty clear, and they´ll be fraud and bankruptcy and probably a prison sentence for the accused; as for the banking activity, all the banks that worked with the crypto currency will have to rebuilt their financing since they lost a lot of money according to the crypto coin as well as the customers that had money invested on the FTX coin. As for the crypto world it could be seen as a warning of what could happen to them if they don’t do things right.

Keywords: FTX, Cryptocurrency Bubble, Sam Bankman, Exchange.

• What happened?

Walmart invested more than one billion dollars in renewable energies, sustainable buildings and circular economy.

Walmart announced the release of its first Green Bond Impact Report, indicating that the company has allocated $1.1 billion in green bond proceeds, with top investment areas including renewable energy, sustainable buildings, and waste reduction and circular economy initiatives.

• Whom and where it affects?

Eligible categories for investment under Walmart’s green bond framework include renewable energy, high-performance buildings, sustainable transport, zero waste, and circular economy, water stewardship, and habitat restoration and conservation.

• What sort of public or private institutions are involved?

The only institution that it is involved in this new is Walmart because all the finance  is destined to many different projects around the company.

• Why is it important for Banking and Finance?

Because with this kind of initiatives of green bonds like Walmart’s one, other companies that are not just banking or financial entities could entry in the financial market too offering this kind of sustainable products for investors who wants to be part of sustainable projects including circular economy ones. The better the results of these green bond initiatives, the more companies and banks institutions will begin to market them.

• What do you think will be the consequences in the foreseeable future?

The consequences in the future include achieving zero emissions across operations by 2040 without the use of carbon offsets, powering facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2035, and electrifying and zeroing out emissions from its full vehicle fleet by 2040.

SDG Number (Sustainable Development Goals): 7, affordable and clean energy.

Keywords: sustainable buildings, circular economy, allocate, green bond, framework, stewardship.

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/19/first-bitcoin-futures-etf-rises-2percent-in-trading-de but.html

Date: TUE, OCT 19 2021

Media: CNBC

What happened?

In EEUU was born the new bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) made more than 700 Millions of transactions in his first day. This notice shows the growth of the ETF industry today.

Whom and where it affects?

This would affect all investors, companies, the country to a certain extent, the stock exchange world and the crypto world, as the values of certain tokens may fluctuate after this event. We could even talk about other countries, which have among their future proposals the idea of incorporating cryptocurrencies in the legal course as if it were fiat money.

What sort of public or private institutions are involved?

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITO ), New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTM ).

Why is it important for Banking and Finance?

From the point of view of Banking and Finance, the strengthening of the cryptographic market with the launch of the ETF has positive effects especially on investors who want to excrete the benefits of Bitcoin.

Advantage of Bitcoin is that it is an asset with high liquidity. This is why investors want a physically backed bitcoin ETF in the future.

What do you think will be the consequences in the foreseeable future?

The acceptance of cryptocurrencies by a large part of the population, thanks to the fact that many investors have already embraced them and, with this fund, many more will have the confidence to trust them.

In the future, the value of Bitcoin will continue to rise, thanks in large part to the establishment of this ETF and new ETFs to come.

In addition, we believe that banks will lose power, due to the decentralisation necessary for the evolution of the crypto market.

Keywords: NYSE, BITO, ETF, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencys.

Above, PayPal payment with Bitcoin

Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency/paypal-to-allow-cryptocurrency-buying-selling-and-shopping-on-its-network-idINL1N2HB14U

Date: October 21st, 2020

Media: Reuters

What happened?

Paypal Holdings Inc. is joining the cryptocurrency market allowing its customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. So Paypal Holdings Inc is getting prepare for this new way of payment processing and encouraging its use. US account holders will be able to trade with crypto currencies in the next few weeks. 

Whom and where it affects?

The main affected group of people is the U.S. accounts holders of Paypal. For now only the U.S. customers will be able to trade with crypto currencies but Paypal plans to expand to Venmo (Company property of Paypal and dedicated to mobile payment services) and more countries in 2021.

What sort of public or private institutions are involved?

There are some institutions involved in this move done by Paypal. Obviously, Paypal Holdings Inc is the main institution here alongside some central banks because the firm wants to be involved with every digital currency they can. In another side there is another institution that played a big role and it is the New York State Department of Financial Services because they gave Paypal the first conditional cryptocurrency license.

There are some more important FinTechs companies, as RobinHood Markets Inc and Square Inc, that are joining this “crypto movement” but not in the same size as Paypal. 

Why is it important for Banking and Finance?

It is all about the payment processing. All Central Banks will have, eventually, their own crypto currency and this move done by Paypal is encouraging the use and development of all kind of digital currencies. 

What do you think will be the consequences in the foreseeable future?

In the foreseeable future we can predict that there will be an increase of the use of crypto currency as a payment method. Furthermore, there is going to be an increase of companies that join the movement and an increase of the amount of crypto currencies that we can work with. 

Key words

Cryptocurrency, PayPal, Payment method, Digital currency, Central Bank, Mobile payment, Bitcoin