The crypto embrace
The Hindu
The nascent industry offers a strong potential to develop new companies, jobs, and opportunities. It is also beset with a range of issues that plague fledgling businesses.
Cryptocurrencies, built on blockchain technology, have exploded in popularity in recent years. They are slowly becoming darlings of the developed world after testing waters in lower-income countries.
Last year, El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin as legal tender. Six months in, there are signs that the Central American country’s crypto dream is not shining as much. According to some estimates, adoption of digital assets remains patchy.
El Salvador’s experience has not deterred some high-income countries from testing the virtual currency, and its related innovations.
California, which would have the world's fifth-largest economy if it was a country, has become the first U.S. state to formally begin exploring how to adapt to cryptocurrency and its related technologies.
The state plans to experiment cryptocurrency in line with President Joe Biden’s regulations that came out in March. Biden's executive order in part asks the Federal Reserve to consider whether it should create its own digital currency.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Wednesday for state agencies to move in tandem with the federal government to craft regulations for digital currencies.
The order calls for officials to examine blockchain computer coding for government operations of the state where much of the world's technological innovation is born.
With a new government in place in Delhi, Singapore hopes to schedule the Ministerial Roundtable with India shortly, says Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. In an exclusive interview, he speaks about the impact of the elections on ties, the “missed opportunity” of RCEP and the new buzz around Andhra Pradesh’s capital Amaravati.