Latest news with #GrahamSteele
Politico
18-07-2025
- Business
- Politico
‘Put up or shut up': Big win in Congress to test crypto's viability
'I don't think you can create a regime and then things magically happen,' said Graham Steele, who served as assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions during the Biden administration. 'A lot of the challenges that crypto as an industry has had have been issues with the technology and the use cases themselves. … Just creating a regulatory framework is not going to make a lot of these other practical issues go away.' Stablecoins play a modest but critical role in the digital assets world, representing less than 10 percent of the nearly $4 trillion crypto market. While bitcoin, ether and the $TRUMP memecoin, among the thousands of other tokens, are well-known for their extreme price moves, stablecoins like Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, the two largest with a combined global value of more than $220 billion, are designed so their price keeps steady at $1. That has made them the go-to currency for traders when buying and selling other tokens. The products — often backed by a mound of cash, U.S. government debt or other safe assets — are sometimes referred to as digital dollars. But proponents say they are a marked upgrade from their fiat counterparts. For one, they help resolve transactions faster than the middleman-filled payments system of today where purchases need to work their way through a web of different banks and financial institutions. That could provide retailers a new way to avoid the hefty fees they pay whenever a customer uses a credit card. Others point to their ability to seamlessly send money overseas without the delays or expenses that come with, say, a wire transfer. 'Payment stablecoins, when regulated well, when structured well and when compliant, are so much more than a so-called poker chip in a crypto casino,' said Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy and operations for Circle, a leading stablecoin company. 'They're actually innovations that can go places where the brick-and-mortar banking system cannot.' The stablecoin market has exploded in popularity. There are now about $239 billion worth of the tokens, up from less than $10 billion five years ago, according to a recent report. The federal government's regulatory sign-off on such products could accelerate their growth. Indeed, executives at major banks like Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley said this week they are plotting their moves into the space. Retailers and other consumer-facing companies are, too. Uber is in a 'study phase' of using stablecoins, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said last month. Walmart and Amazon are looking into the products, too, according to The Wall Street Journal. And e-commerce company Shopify said it's introducing stablecoin payments on its platform for merchants and consumers.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Researchers reveal key obstacle slowing global technology rollout: 'Further progress is needed'
Very recently, America's move toward more sustainable energy and less pollution has stalled thanks to shifts in the political landscape. However, Europe and Asia are still on course to clean up their industries and may even see economic benefits, per a Sustainable Investment article translated from German and shared by Springer Professional. Sustainable Investment reported that America has made a sharp turn in its energy policy. Where the previous administration held back on liquefied natural gas out of concern for the environment, President Donald Trump is moving forward with LNG terminals, as well as doubling down on domestic oil. The Federal Reserve has left the Network for the Greening of the Financial System, and investors are withdrawing from other climate alliances. Graham Steele, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions with the U.S. Treasury, said the Federal Reserve's withdrawal was a "response to short-term political considerations," Sustainable Investment reported. By contrast, investors and governments in Europe and Asia are still heavily interested in reducing heat-trapping air pollution and other forms of environmental damage. Sustainable Investment cited fund manager Fidelity International's study, the "Professional Investor DNA Survey," which revealed that out of over 120 institutional investors, 63% listed the environment as their top priority — specifically the reduction of heat-trapping carbon pollution, energy system transformation, and the conservation of natural resources. "Our study shows that ESG is still on the minds of investors," said Jenn-Hui Tan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Fidelity International, per Sustainable Investment. "Even though ESG investments are now integrated into asset allocation, further progress is needed to reduce implementation barriers." Further research by the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin identified America's retreat on this issue as an opportunity for the German clean energy sector to step up and strengthen the domestic market, Sustainable Investment revealed. Other European and Asian countries could do the same, benefitting their economies and the world. Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
