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Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta has warned commercial banks to tokenise deposits to stay competitive as dollar stablecoins expand. He has said Europe risks dependence on U.S. payment firms, while the ECB has kept plans for a digital euro by 2029 and DLT settlement in 2026, as EU talks continue. The post Bank of Italy Chief Warns Banks Must Tokenize Money to Compete with Stablecoins appeared first on Cryptonews.

The Bank of Italy's Fabio Panetta said stablecoins can only play a complementary role in the monetary system, arguing that their stability depends on fiat currency pegs. Commercial bank money is likely to become fully digital in the future, alongside central bank money, according to Fabio Panetta, the governor of Italy’s central bank, Banca d’Italia. Panetta made the remarks on Wednesday while addressing the executive committee of Italy’s banking association. According to a report by Reuters, Panetta said both digital commercial bank money and central bank money would continue to anchor the monetary system, while stablecoins would only play a complementary role.  He added that the stability of stablecoins ultimately depends on their peg to traditional currencies, limiting their ability to function independently in the financial system. Panetta's comments came during a broader discussion on payments, financial infrastructure and geopolitical uncertainty.  Read more

Bitcoin could emerge as a long-term winner if global authorities confirm the existence of non-human intelligence, even if the immediate fallout triggers a severe financial shock. Over the weekend, reports emerged that Helen McCaw, a former senior analyst at the Bank of England, urged Governor Andrew Bailey to consider contingency planning for a scenario in […] The post Bitcoin could be your only liferaft as Bank of England experts brace for alien disclosure chaos appeared first on CryptoSlate.

In an earnings call transcript shared on X, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan pointed to studies suggesting yield-bearing stablecoins could draw trillions from the banking system. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned that interest-bearing stablecoins could pull as much as $6 trillion out of the US banking system, arguing that large-scale deposit migration would reduce lending capacity and push borrowing costs higher. The comments surfaced after a crypto investor shared a screenshot from Bank of America’s earnings call transcript on X. During the call, Moynihan pointed to Treasury-cited studies showing that a significant share of bank deposits could shift into stablecoins if issuers are allowed to pay interest. He said such products would function more like “a money market mutual fund concept,” with funds held in cash, central bank reserves or short-term Treasurys rather than deployed for lending. Read more

Retail crypto access will initially cover Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Cardano through participating cooperative banks. DZ Bank, one of Germany’s largest banking groups by assets, secured a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), clearing a key regulatory hurdle to operate crypto services within the jurisdiction.  DZ Bank announced Wednesday that it had received approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to operate its crypto platform, “meinKrypto,” which is designed to provide crypto trading infrastructure to banks within Germany’s cooperative banking network. The platform will be made available to participating local banks in the coming months.  Under the model, DZ Bank will act as the central operator of the platform, while individual cooperative banks will determine whether to offer the crypto services to their retail customers. Each participating bank must file a separate MiCA notification with BaFin before enabling crypto trading. Read ...

DZ Bank will "shortly" roll out a crypto trading platform for cooperative banks to offer to clients.

The Bank of Italy modeled the extreme scenario of Ether going to zero to show how market risk in Ethereum’s native token could turn into infrastructure and financial stability risks. The Bank of Italy modeled what would happen to Ethereum’s security and settlement capacity if the price of Ether fell to zero, treating the network as critical financial infrastructure rather than just a speculative crypto asset. In a new research paper titled “What if Ether Goes to Zero? How Market Risk Becomes Infrastructure Risk in Crypto,” Bank of Italy economist Claudia Biancotti examined how an extreme price shock in Ether (ETH) could affect Ethereum‑based financial services that rely on the network for transaction processing and settlement. Biancotti focused on the link between validators’ economic incentives and the stability of the underlying blockchain used by stablecoins and other tokenized assets. Read more

Bank of America said it recommended investors buy Coinbase's stock, pointing to its new products including weekday equities trading and prediction markets.

On Monday, January 5, something small on paper becomes huge in practice, the moment a mainstream American wealth adviser can finally say the quiet part out loud. Bank of America’s wealth platforms, Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Edge, are set to let advisers recommend crypto exchange-traded products, with an internal view that […] The post Bank of America advisers are finally recommending Bitcoin, but the “modest” allocation is the bigger shock appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bank of America will enable advisers across Merrill and its private bank to recommend four spot Bitcoin ETFs, expanding beyond client-led access. Bank of America is making crypto a more routine part of its US wealth business, allowing advisers across Merrill, the Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill Edge to proactively recommend spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Bank of America’s chief investment office (CIO) has approved four US-listed spot Bitcoin funds for coverage: Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). These four ETFs are among the largest and most liquid spot Bitcoin (BTC) products on the market, which makes them easier for the bank to underwrite from an operational and regulatory risk perspective than smaller, more complex or leveraged vehicles. Read more

Bank of Russia has outlined a plan to unify crypto rules by July 1, 2026, letting retail investors buy select liquid coins after testing and a 300,000-ruble cap, while qualified buyers face fewer limits. Illegal intermediaries would face liability from July 1, 2027. Chainalysis ranked Russia top 10. The post Bank of Russia Targets 2026 for Strict Crypto Regulation Framework and New Penalties appeared first on Cryptonews.

Bitcoin risks declining toward $70,000 as the Bank of Japan prepares a 25-basis-point rate hike on December 19, with analysts citing historical patterns of 20%+ BTC drops following previous BOJ rate increases. The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Analysts Warn BTC Could Slide Toward $70K if Bank of Japan Hikes Rates on Dec. 19 appeared first on Cryptonews.

The Bank of Japan is preparing to raise its policy rate to 0.75% at its December meeting, marking the highest borrowing costs since 1995 and pressuring Bitcoin below $85,000 as crypto markets face over $637 million in long liquidations. The post Bank of Japan Eyes Rate Hike to Highest Level Since 1995 appeared first on Cryptonews.

Cross‑party MPs and members of the House of Lords have urged UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves to rein in the Bank of England’s proposed regime for systemic stablecoins. A cross-party group of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, including former Defense Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, shadow Science and Tech (AI) Minister Viscount Camrose and the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s chief whip, Lord Hart, have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to intervene over the Bank of England’s proposed regime for systemic stablecoins. In a joint open letter to the chancellor on Thursday, they warned that the Bank of England’s proposals for regulating stablecoins could drive innovation and capital offshore. The parliamentarians said the plans risk turning the UK into a “global outlier” by barring most wholesale use of stablecoins outside the Digital Securities Sandbox, prohibiting interest on reserves and imposing what they call “impractical and anti-innovation” holding caps that could pus...

Crypto majors are sharply higher, climbing 6–10% following Vanguard’s crypto debut and supportive commentary from Bank of America, with BTC up 6% to $92,900, ETH up 9% to $3,070, BNB up 7% to $899, and SOL up 10% to $142. Among top movers, SUI gained 24%, PENGU 19%, and LINK 18%. Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade is scheduled to launch today, aiming to improve mainnet ingestion of L2 data and reduce rollup costs to enhance scalability. Bank of America is now recommending a 1–4% crypto allocation for clients across Merrill Lynch and the Private Bank. On the corporate front, Kraken has agreed to acquire tokenization platform Backed Finance to accelerate the adoption of tokenized stocks, while Chainlink introduced its “LINK Everything” initiative, a comprehensive tokenization stack featuring CCIP, compliance tools, and expanded data and compute services. In the regulatory and leadership landscape, crypto-friendly Kevin Hassett is now an 85% favorite to become the next Federal Reserve Chair after Jerome Powell, Binance h...

The crypto market liked the news, with majors jumping 7-10% on the back of Bank of America's new guidance plus Vanguard's crypto ETF debut.

Bank of America has allowed 15,000 wealth advisers to recommend spot Bitcoin ETFs, joining peers such as BlackRock, Fidelity and JPMorgan that have expanded regulated crypto products, as the bank explores a potential stablecoin amid shifting client preferences. The post Bank of America Just Unleashed Bitcoin ETFs to 15,000+ Advisers – Here’s Why It Matters appeared first on Cryptonews.

Bank of America’s wealthiest clients will gain access to Bitcoin ETFs, while its network of over 15,000 wealth advisers can recommend crypto exposure for the first time, Yahoo reported. More big-name financial institutions are opening the door to Bitcoin exposure, signaling a growing institutional appetite for regulated digital asset products. Bank of America, the second-largest US bank, reportedly recommended a 1%–4% cryptocurrency allocation to its wealth management clients through the Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill Edge platforms, according to a statement shared with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday. “For investors with a strong interest in thematic innovation and comfort with elevated volatility, a modest allocation of 1% to 4% in digital assets could be appropriate,” said Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer at Bank of America Private Bank, in the statement shared with Yahoo. Read more

Central-bank guidance and rising yields have pressured crypto markets, with Bitcoin having dropped from about $125,000 to near $85,000, fear indices staying near extreme levels, and long liquidations and weak altcoin breadth having shaped December trading. The post Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan Indicators Hit Crypto, Market Losses Deepen appeared first on Cryptonews.

U.S. Bank joins the growing list of traditional banking institutions working on stablecoins, testing its own on the Stellar blockchain.