Crypto corner

Recently, we took a bold step into the digital art realm by tokenizing the unique piece "Dreamstime" by Sarah Benslimane for our employees. This pioneering move marks a significant stride in the evolution of wealth management, underscoring our commitment to innovation. In this article, we delve into the visionary collaboration between Bank Syz and the talented artist Sarah Benslimane.

In a world where change is a constant, it’s important for businesses to embrace innovation, challenge the status quo and try out new ideas. This is something for which we’ve always stood by at Syz Group. And so, when a group of colleagues suggested tokenising a real asset – in this case a piece of art – it felt like a natural next step to our digital asset journey. In a pioneering move, we have successfully tokenised a piece of art and distributed these unique tokens amongst our employees. This bold initiative is not only a testament to our commitment to innovation but also a development that marks a significant stride in the evolution of wealth management, for the long-term benefits of our clients and the Syz Group.

Binance takes a large punch from the SEC, leaving them bruised, but alive Binance’s labyrinthine operational shady dealings have long been crypto’s ‘known unknown’. For that reason, news that the company has been landed with one of the largest corporate penalties in US history came as no surprise. The crypto industry has been aware its largest exchange has been operating illicitly for years. Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations for KYC / AML, enabling the potential for funds to flow to terrorists and other criminals through its platform. This Tuesday, the industry breathed a sigh of relief as Binance took their hit: $4.3bln fine, CZ the CEO stepping down, with an expectation of sentencing later. We are pleased action has finally been taken and believe Binance’s settlement with US regulators is a long-term positive development for a number of reasons.

FTX marked the end of the beginning. In the wake of its dramatic collapse, the cryptocurrency industry awoke to harsh realities. The fevered speculation of skyrocketing NFT prices has been replaced by sober debate around regulation, scrutiny over use cases, value, and environmental impact. While some purists may still harbour hopes that crypto will return to its fully decentralised roots, the truth is that the FTX saga was a seismic moment for digital assets. It has compelled the crypto world to mature and incorporate elements of the traditional financial sector to protect investors.

For the past few months, ChatGPT and artificial intelligence have been making the headlines. This trend obviously quickly made its way into the crypto world. Below, we attempt to define AI tokens and take a closer look at some of the most prominent ones.

Can the crypto industry recover from such a debacle? Unlike traditional finance, no central bank or government has stepped in to save FTX and limit the fall of cryptocurrencies.

The price of Ether (ETH) rebounded strongly in July. Renewed risk appetite certainly played a role, but some investors are looking positively at a major change in the way the blockchain Ethereum will operate, starting  19 September. 

The collapse of the LUNA token and de-peg of the UST stablecoin provide a number of lessons about investing in cryptocurrencies.

Among the hot topics discussed at the Bitcoin 2022 Summit in Miami was the Lightning Network, a blockchain overlay that allows off-blockchain transactions and which is expected to enable bitcoin to become a common form of payment.

The world's largest NFT exchange could go public in late 2023 or early 2024. In today’s Focus, we discuss OpenSea’s value proposition and business model, as well as some threats to its supremacy in a hyper-growth niche market.

Crypto traders have had to hold on to their seats lately, as they watched their investments dwindle. While NFT holders could have expected a similar fate in the first weeks of the year, their niche has actually continued to grow against odds and expectations. In our latest Focus, we look at how a world of punks and monkeys made its way into the mainstream to become more resilient than one would have thought.

According to an index provided by Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternatives Finance, Bitcoin mining requires twice the electricity consumed in Switzerland in 2020, or 129 TWh (source : Enerdata). Ethereum, for example, uses about 31 TWh per year.

An energy crisis and civil unrest threaten the viability of crypto mining in Kazakhstan, the world’s second-largest center for bitcoin mining after the United States.