Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

An investment banker formerly employed by Deutsche Bank has been charged with perpetrating a crypto-related fraud. The man from Brooklyn has been accused of misappropriating funds from victims whom he promised large returns on cryptocurrency investments in a Ponzi-like scheme. Ex-Deutsche Bank Investment Banker Arrested and Charged for Defrauding Crypto Investors Rashawn Russell, a 27-year-old investment banker and registered broker from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested on April 10 on criminal charges related to his alleged role in running a crypto investment fraud scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. Prosecutors claim that Russel defrauded multiple investors, luring them with promises of big and even guaranteed returns from cryptocurrency investment and trading. However, he used their money for his own benefit, to gamble and to repay other investors in order to keep the scheme going. The indictment alleges that the accused repeatedly failed to provide inv...

Economist Peter Schiff has cautioned that the present banking crisis is the cusp of a much worse financial crisis. “It’s going to get much much worse if you are going to try to dismiss it,” he stressed. Citing the Federal Reserve’s recession forecast, he warned: “Normally the Fed doesn’t forecast a recession. So if they can actually see this one coming, it likely means it will be massive.” Peter Schiff on Banking Crisis, Financial Crisis, and Recession Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff warned in a recent interview on Trader TV Live that the current banking crisis is not over and a much worse financial crisis will follow. Schiff explained that “Everybody has talked about a banking crisis” but “nobody wants to refer to it as a financial crisis.” He exclaimed: “No! This is a financial crisis. The 2008 financial crisis was also a banking crisis unless people forget it was the banks that were failing.” The economist stressed: This is the cusp of the crisis. It’s going to get much mu...

Economist Peter C. Earle says de-dollarization has begun, emphasizing that “It’s not just the conscription of the dollar in economic warfare, but increasingly error-fraught monetary policy regimes that are driving various interests away from the greenback.” He described: “By weaponizing dollar dominance and permitting expanding mandates to disorient U.S. monetary policy, the dollar’s fate as the lingua franca of world commerce over the long haul may already be sealed.” Rising De-Dollarization Trend Economist Peter C. Earle wrote an opinion piece, titled “De-dollarization Has Begun,” published by the American Institute of Economic Research last week. He explained that “The profound economic disruption experienced by Iran, and more recently Russia, after being evicted from dollar-based trading systems like SWIFT … have led many nations to consider imminent contingency plans,” elaborating: It’s not just the conscription of the dollar in economic warfare, but increasingly error-frau...

According to Mastercard, the payments giant has launched non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that grant access to the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program, designed to support emerging musicians. Developed in collaboration with Polygon, the NFT project highlights Mastercard’s intent to embrace Web3 technologies. Mastercard Launches Second NFT Offering In January, Mastercard announced its partnership with Polygon to support up-and-coming artists through the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program. During the NFT.NYC conference, the company unveiled NFTs that provide entry to this program. “Until the end of the month, music and Web3 enthusiasts can redeem Mastercard Music Pass NFT,” the company stated on Wednesday. When unveiling the music artist program, Mastercard did not reveal the participating musicians, as they had not been chosen yet. The selected artists are R&B soul singer Young Athena, Venezuelan vocalist Manu Manzu, Nigerian-based artist LeriQ, pop sensation Emily Vu, and West...

Tech entrepreneur, angel investor, and author of The Network State, Balaji Srinivasan, says a proverbial “giant robot” of supportive governing bodies and crypto proponents is needed to do battle with the “giant monster” of the U.S. federal government. The former CTO of Coinbase also said he will issue an update on his ongoing $1 million-dollar bitcoin bet “soon,” noting that “the reason I did that was to draw attention to this crisis.” Balaji Envisions Fall of Western Fiat, Promotes In-Person Meetups to Build Trust Speaking remotely at the first in-person ETHGlobal Pragma Tokyo Summit on April 13, tech entrepreneur, author, and bitcoin proponent Balaji Srinivasan emphasized to attendees that difficult economic and societal changes are coming, but he is also optimistic about the tools crypto and the larger community focused on “network states,” already provide to weather the storm. Asked by Bitcoin.com News what the next practical steps are on the road to setting up network states...

Montenegro intends to create and issue its own digital currency with help from U.S.-based crypto company Ripple. The Southeast European nation, which adopted the euro unilaterally, is moving to realize the plan despite the eurozone developing a digital version of the common currency. Monetary Authority of Montenegro to Cooperate With Ripple on ‘National Stablecoin’ Project The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has signed an agreement with blockchain solutions provider Ripple under which the two sides will collaborate to produce a strategy and pilot program to launch the country’s central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) The introduction of the “national stablecoin” will represent another step towards digitalizing financial services in the small Balkan country and providing greater financial accessibility for its citizens, Ripple emphasized in a press release. Over a hundred nations are currently exploring or already developing CBDCs with multiple use cases in mind, including widenin...

When inflation in advanced economies is tamed, real interest rates are likely to drop to pre-pandemic levels, the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) blog post has said. According to the authors of the blog post, the transition to a “cleaner economy in a budget-neutral way” could result in lower rates in the medium term. Recent Interest Rate Hikes Temporary Interest rates in advanced economies are likely to fall to pre-pandemic levels when authorities succeed in bringing inflation back under control, the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) blog post has suggested. The blog post added that the “recent increases in real interest rates are likely to be temporary.” The return of real interest rates to levels seen before the spread of Covid-19 will also coincide with the easing of the respective countries’ monetary policy regimes. As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, central banks from advanced economies have raised benchmark rates as they seek to tame inflation. The risi...