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A proposed governance shakeup would greatly reduce the amount of voting power accumulated by core contributors, investors and other insiders.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex will shut down its U.S. platform on April 30 after nine years of operation, the company announced on Friday.

The recent banking crisis shows how bank runs have evolved, and any further accidents could prove pivotal for bitcoin, according to Bernstein analysts.

“Welcome to the new world of hyper-speed information flows and hyper-speed bank runs,” Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said, referring to the fervor on social media that heightened tensions around the time of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The week ending March 15 saw close to $120 billion in deposits leave regional banks, with over half heading for large banks. That crisis eventually made its way to Europe, culminating with UBS acquiring long-term rival Credit Suisse for a fraction of its value on March 19. 

Banks are dealing with a new risk, Chhugani said, which they “never fathomed previously.”

‘Hyper-bitcoinization’

Hyper-fast outflows aren’t available yet but will soon be enabled by instant payment systems like the FedNow platform launching later this year by the Federal Reserve that will provide real-time, 24/7 access to payments for financial institutions of any size.

The new era of hyper-speed deposit outflows brings unknown counter-party risks for customers, and crypto might actually help alleviate some of those risks, Bernstein said.

“The simplicity of crypto as digital bearer assets solves for the immediate counter-party risks that bank customers are dealing with, but customers also require stability of value,” Chhugani wrote.

Bitcoin might not appeal to customers who view stability in U.S. dollar terms right now, but that could change.

“As we head towards another pivotal moment in monetary history, savers would also watch for not just stability in nominal value, but if any further accidents force the Fed to breach the ‘real value’ of the government currency again,” he said.

This would be the scenario some staunch bitcoin believers have suggested as the “final path to hyper-bitcoinization.”

Old meets new

The benefits of smart contract-based decentralized financial systems would suddenly appear as “built for this world,” the investment bank argued.

DeFi, in Bernstein’s view, could facilitate a sort of new-age do-it-yourself banking system. 

“Instant liquidation of positions without any lag, do-it-yourself risk vaults on the blockchain, deposit stablecoins for revenue-based yields from financial protocols” is what the bank’s analysts envision.

Banking would be more customized, intelligent and work in real-time — leading to more financial independence for the users of tomorrow, they said.

“The future of banking has no banks, we might make this our meme!” Chhugani and his colleagues wrote.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The European arm had only been in operation for about 8 months prior to the collapse of parent FTX.

Synthetix generated more than $730K in fees on March 30 ahead of the start of its allocation of 200,000 OP tokens to traders.

In the absence of formal crypto rules from U.S. government agencies, the National Futures Association (NFA) is setting up standards for its members that deal in digital assets commodities.

Don’t blink, or you’ll miss the bitcoin whitepaper speeding down a Formula 1 racetrack in Melbourne this weekend.

Kraken, which earlier this week announced that it was partnering with Williams Racing to become its first-ever official crypto and web3 partner, is placing the opening excerpt of the nine-page document on the team’s cars that will be competing at the Australian Grand Prix. 

“Who said #Bitcoin isn’t fast!?” the crypto exchange said on Twitter. 

The document, which begins by outlining a “purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online
payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution,” will be featured on the nose cone of the car. Kraken said in an email that it wants to raise the profile of the crypto ecosystem in a sport draws 1.6 billion viewers over a race schedule that takes it through 20 countries a year.

“Featuring the bitcoin whitepaper on the Williams car is a symbol of our belief and commitment to crypto’s mission,” Kraken Chief Marketing Officer Mayur Gupta said. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the original document that brought this entire movement to life through a sport that’s watched and loved by hundreds of millions of fans worldwide.”

The crypto exchange is also planning give selected Kraken NFT holders a chance to see their digital collectibles displayed on the rear wing the Williams Racing car.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Expecting centralized money services to halt crime only helps politicize money and disempower users.

Assets under management for digital-asset products climbed to $13.4 billion in March, up 60% from their 2022 low in November, according to CryptoCompare.