City London Financial News

Nomura has hired a senior Goldman Sachs banker to lead its equity solutions business in Europe, the latest senior change at the Japanese bank's dealmaking team in London.

Linklaters has hired infrastructure partner John Guccione from US law firm Latham & Watkins in London.

Linklaters has hired infrastructure partner John Guccione from US law firm Latham & Watkins in London.

Independent game developer CCP Games, known for its multiplayer online game Eve Online, has announced that it has secured $40 million in financing from external partners to develop a new AAA title set in the Eve universe. 

Sidley Austin has hired a two-partner infrastructure team from rival US law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges in London.

Russians are using “several” Moscow crypto exchanges to send Tether (USDT) to people based in the UK, a new report has claimed.

Major crypto platform Blockchain.com is closing its London-based crypto asset management arm less than a year after its launch.

Cryptocurrency financial services company Blockchain.com will suspend operations of its asset management subsidiary, according to a Bloomberg report published March 9. The service had existed less than a year and appears to be the latest casualty of the crypto winter.

Linklaters has hired private equity partner Genna Marten from City law firm Travers Smith.

The founder of the collapsed private equity company Abraaj Group has lost an appeal to the UK’s High Court to challenge his extradition from the UK to the US where he is wanted to face fraud charges.

One of Bank of America's top equity capital markets bankers in London is leaving the bank after nearly 11 years.

Ordinals are here to stay. Ordinals, or the ability to permanently ink the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain with data, typically in the format of a picture or jpeg, are a controversial topic among some members of the Bitcoin and wider crypto community. Not so for the builders and the CEOs of Bitcoin-focused companies who were present at the Bitcoin conference, Advancing Bitcoin in London. 

The world of Web3 has offered users the opportunity to recreate their digital identity, along with offering new avenues of creative expression and individuality. This is more so the case as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) become more dynamic and personalizable.

A Shearman & Sterling partner has resigned to join US legal rival Paul Hastings in London.

Bitcoin dropped to the lowest level in about two weeks, part of a wider retreat in crypto markets as investors digested the unravelling of a key industry payments network. The largest token sank as much as 6% before paring some of the slide to trade 4.4% lower at $22,380 as of 8:30 a.m. Friday in London. Smaller coins such as Ether, Avalanche and the meme token Dogecoin also suffered declines. The digital-asset industry is absorbing the fallout of the troubles at crypto-friendly US bank Silvergate Capital Corp., which has said that it's reviewing whether it can remain viable. The bank offers a widely used payments network that facilitates the real-time transfer of funds between crypto firms. But many digital-asset exchanges, stablecoin issuers and trading desks are no longer accepting or initiating payments through Silvergate. «Silvergate is one of the main US dollar banking providers for the crypto industry,» said John Toro, head of trading at digital-asset exchange Independent Reserve. «Any liquidity concerns will have a direct impact on market conditions and may affect the access and availability of some client funds.»

A Shearman & Sterling partner has resigned to join US legal rival Paul Hastings in London.

On Episode 10 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, Celo president Rene Reinsberg joins Elisha Owusu Akyaw (GhCryptoGuy) to discuss the regenerative finance (ReFi) movement, which focuses on the building blocks of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the principles of regenerative economics. Reinsberg also explains how Celo intends to stay relevant in the multichain world of layer-1 blockchains and layer-2 networks. 

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has warned that a hostile regulatory approach by the Securities and Exchange Commission could drive the crypto industry outside of the United States. 

Bitcoin's subsiding two-month rally contains a warning for investors if history is any guide. The February jump in the largest digital token has withered to about 2% and pales compared to January's 39% surge, data compiled by Bloomberg show. There have been five similar instances since the pandemic low in 2020 when Bitcoin climbed over two straight months but with a smaller gain in the second stanza. It retreated in the third month in four of those cases, posting an average loss of 5.8%. The only exception was a period through February 2021, when the token was in the midst of a powerful bull run. Bitcoin ended in the red Sunday for the third week in four, hurt by the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates to damp inflation. A regulatory clampdown in the US after the collapse of the FTX exchange is also squeezing the sector.

The UK government lobbied the Competition and Markets Authority to move out of London and take up new offices in the North instead, Financial News can reveal, as the regulator takes on greater responsibilities in the wake of Brexit.

Universities in the United Kingdom have started offering cutting-edge research programs, courses and practical experience in various aspects of blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, privacy, security and scalability. Students who graduate from these programs will be well-equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to become leaders in the field of blockchain technology and drive innovation and adoption in various industries.