Skip to main content

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...

Swiss banking giant UBS to reportedly offer rich clients crypto investments

Crypto investment offerings for wealthy clients will be limited to a small fraction of their portfolios, due to the volatility of the asset class, sources say.

UBS Group AG is exploring various ways to offer its wealthy clients the possibility of investing in digital assets, anonymous sources claim. A new report from BNN Bloomberg suggests that investment opportunities in crypto will remain limited to “a very small portion of the clients’ total wealth” due to concerns over the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets. 

Sources familiar with the Swiss firm's plans suggest that investments in digital assets via third-party investment vehicles could be one of the options open to clients. None of the sources have agreed to be identified due to the private nature of UBS' plans, which reportedly remain in their early stages. 

UBS' CEO Ralph Hamers, who replaced Sergio Ermotti in 2020 to the surprise of many, has a reputation for being strong on digitalization and automation. Hamers was CEO at ING Group from 2013–2020, where his record was mixed. 

Many lauded his modernization and profitability drive, yet also criticized his tenure after the bank was charged with allowing hundreds of millions of euros to be laundered via its accounts between 2010 and 2016. The bank's 775 million euro penalty in 2018 for compliance failures was the highest ever imposed on a company by the public prosecution service in the Netherlands.

Now tasked with axing costs and trying to galvanize UBS' revenues, he has this year stressed the need to meet “clients' digital expectations,” particularly in the immediate aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. A critic of central banks' loose monetary policies, Hamers is focusing on technology investments at UBS and has shifted to a quarterly allocation to technology projects as opposed to the firm's previous strategy of fixed funding on an annual basis. 

He has also been an advocate of using artificial intelligence to better understand clients' demands, and is prioritizing the digitization of execution platforms and services at UBS' investment bank and improving digital services more broadly.

Bloomberg's sources have alleged that UBS is concerned it will lose clients if it does not step up to offer them investment opportunities in digital assets. Prior to UBS, the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BNY Mellon all deepened their involvement in the digital assets sphere this year.

https://ift.tt/2SH4ocj

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blockchain Software Firm Consensys Acquires Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet

On February 1, the blockchain infrastructure firm Consensys has revealed it has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto and plans to merge the wallet into Metamask. The price Consensys paid for Mycrypto was not disclosed but the announcement notes that the acquisition will “further improve the security of all the products.” Consensys Obtains Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet, Plans to Merge With Metamask in the Future Consensys has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto for an undisclosed sum according to an announcement released on Tuesday. The deal aims to strengthen the company’s Ethereum wallet Metamask and “enhance Web3 experiences.” The eventual merger between the two Ethereum interfaces will “provide users with a heightened experience that is even more extensive and secure,” according to Consensys. Consensys is an Ethereum software company led by one of the Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin. The Web3 wallet Metamask, with 21 million monthly active users (MAUs) is owned by C...

The Congolese Mountain of Gold: Surprise Discovery in Africa Shows Metal’s Scarcity Is Hard to Prove

A myriad of gold bugs like to compliment the yellow precious metal for its ostensible scarcity, as estimates say only 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold is produced annually. While new gold discoveries have seemingly slowed, investigative studies also show that in some areas, gold is being smuggled into the economy by the ton, and often never accounted for as far as per annum issuance estimates. Recently, reports show a whole mountain of gold was discovered in the Congo, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo is well known for being a region that sees tons of smuggled gold filtered into the global financial system unreported. Surprise Gold Deposits Continue to Crack the Precious Metal’s Scarcity Proposition It has always been said that the precious metal gold (Au) is scarce, and some reports even say that gold mining on earth will end by the year 2050 . Additionally, estimates also show that there’s roughly 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold that is accounted for and enters into the fin...

Bitcoin Legal Tender in 3 Days but Survey Shows 7 Out of 10 Salvadorans Want Bitcoin Law Repealed

Bitcoin is becoming legal tender in El Salvador in three days. However, a nationwide survey conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) shows that seven out of 10 Salvadorans want the government to repeal the Bitcoin Law. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law Goes Into Effect in 3 Days The University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) in El Salvador conducted a study between Aug. 13 and Aug. 20 of how the public views the country’s upcoming Bitcoin Law. The institute is a research center of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA). El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law is set to go into effect on Sept. 7 , when BTC will be legal tender in the country alongside the U.S. dollar. A total of 1,281 respondents ages 18 and over participated in this national survey that “represents the entire adult population residing in the country,” according to the institute. Out of all the respondents, 62.4% said they were aware of the approval of the Bitcoin Law by the deputies of the ...