A
little
over
a
year
after
the
collapse
of
the
crypto
banks
Silvergate
and
Signature,
financial
institutions
are
very
interested
in
crypto.
PayPal
has
used
its
proprietary
stablecoin
to
pay
auditors
Ernst
&
Young
LLP,
using
a
hub
provided
by
SAP.
Visa
“is
helping
to
bridge
existing
fiat
currencies
with
blockchains”
through
its
Visa
Tokenized
Asset
Platform
(VTAP).
A
lot
has
happened
since
those
bank
collapses,
huh?
We
have
a
Bitcoin
ETF,
we
have
crypto
bros
meddling
in
politics,
and
a
mini
boom-and-bust
cycle
on
Bitcoin
prices.
I
have
to
assume
PayPal
and
Visa
got
started
on
this
stuff
a
while
ago
in
order
to
get
it
popping
now,
but
I
do
think
it’s
curious
they
are
focused
on
stablecoins.
Kinda
seems
like
the
big
industry
players
are
banking
on
stablecoins
—
and
making
their
own
“VTAP
is
a
cutting-edge
solution
developed
by
Visa’s
in-house
blockchain
experts,”
Visa
tells
us
cheerily.
It’s
a
platform
for
banks
to
“mint,
burn
and
transfer
fiat-backed
tokens,
such
as
tokenized
deposits
and
stablecoins,
and
experiment
with
use
cases.”
It’s
supposed
to
go
live
in
2025,
and
BBVA
has
already
said
it
is
planning
to
use
the
platform
to
launch
a
stablecoin.
Kinda
seems
like
the
big
industry
players
are
banking
on
stablecoins
—
and
making
their
own,
rather
than
using
those
created
by,
say,
Tether
or
Circle.
Some
of
that
is
making
it
easier
for
payments
to
cross
borders;
PayPal’s
senior
vice
president
of
blockchain
has
said
as
much
to
Bloomberg.
JPMorgan
Chase
and
Citigroup
have
been
building
their
own
blockchain
capabilities.
Tokenized
money
market
funds
are
in
the
offing.
Meanwhile,
banks
will
be
using
the
Swift
messaging
network
to
try
out
digital
asset
transactions
next
year.
Many
of
these
experiments
have
been
taking
place
outside
the
US.
But
it
looks
like
crypto
is
edging
closer
to
the
banking
industry;
Bank
of
New
York
Mellon
is
closer
to
rolling
out
custody
services
for
Bitcoin
and
Ether
to
support
the
ETFs,
for
instance.
And
there
are
incentives
for
banks
to
get
involved
—
you
can
charge
as
much
as
10
times
more
for
safekeeping
crypto,
compared
to
normal
assets.
Crypto
is
a
kind
of
tidal
industry
— with
money
flooding
in
during
the
booms
and
draining
out
during
the
busts.
Looking
at
the
institutional
interest,
I
am
wondering
if
we
should
get
ready
for
another
boom.
But
the
closer
a
crypto
boom
comes
to
the
traditional
banking
industry,
the
closer
a
crypto
bust
comes
to
that
industry
as
well,
something
people
involved
with
Silvergate
and
Signature
can
tell
you
for
free.
(Originally posted by Elizabeth Lopatto)
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