PANews reported on January 15th, citing Cryptopolitan, that Neal Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, expressed drastically different views on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence during a virtual event. He stated that cryptocurrency is "basically useless" for ordinary people, arguing that it lacks practical application for the average consumer; while he held a positive view of artificial intelligence, claiming it has practical value, although most companies are currently still in the testing phase.
Kashkari expressed optimism about the U.S. economic outlook, predicting continued growth and inflation trending in the right direction, noting particularly signs of cooling housing prices. Regarding monetary policy, he refuted the view that the recent expansion of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet equates to a new round of quantitative easing, emphasizing the crucial importance of central bank independence. Regarding tariffs, he stated that their impact has not been as severe as expected, but their long-term effects remain to be seen.

BitGo’s move creates further competition in a burgeoning European crypto market that is expected to generate $26 billion revenue this year, according to one estimate. BitGo, a digital asset infrastructure company with more than $100 billion in assets under custody, has received an extension of its license from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), enabling it to offer crypto services to European investors. The company said its local subsidiary, BitGo Europe, can now provide custody, staking, transfer, and trading services. Institutional clients will also have access to an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk and multiple liquidity venues.The extension builds on BitGo’s previous Markets-in-Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license, also issued by BaFIN, and adds trading to the existing custody, transfer and staking services. BitGo acquired its initial MiCA license in May 2025, which allowed it to offer certain services to traditional institutions and crypto native companies in the European Union.Read more

