Established Financial Companies are Adding Cryptocurrency Capabilities

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Shares of the Canadian online lender - Mogo Finance Technology Inc. - rose as much as 35 percent after the internet-based lender announced that it will be incorporating a digital wallet for cryptocurrencies into its platform. The move will provide its clients with the ability to hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in digital wallets.

Mogo, which is considered to be one of Canada's leading financial technology companies, offers Canadians a digital account that gives access to personal loans, prepaid Visa cards and mortgages through mobile apps or computer. Mogo’s Chief Financial Officer - Greg Feller - commented: “Mogo’s advantage over others offering such cryptocurrency wallets is that Mogo is an established brand with almost 500,000 customers and already offers multiple products under a single account.”

The company additionally announced that it would launch its own dedicated blockchain to provide an accelerated service that would allow its customers to purchase cryptos and store them in the their digital wallets.

In similar news, CME Group, the world's largest derivative exchange operator, declared publicly that it plans to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of this year, pending regulatory approvals. CME is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which would have to pre-approve the launch of any cryptocurrency futures contracts.

This development comes on the heels of similar announcement made recently by Goldman Sachs - intimating that the financial giant was considering setting up a new trading operation focused on bitcoin and other digital currencies.

These moves by both CME and Goldman Sachs are one of the clearest indications so far, that the financial industry is starting to warm up to cryptocurrency and could help digital currency gain legitimacy in the financial world as it represents a major step toward mainstream adoption.

As cryptocurrency permeates into the mainstream, gaining awareness and acceptance in society, the notion that digital tokens “have” to be decentralized is also being challenged. Central bankers around the globe are increasingly considering developing their own central bank-issued digital currencies, issued under their control.

In a recent example of this, an official for the Reserve Bank of India, has reaffirmed that while the RBI is not comfortable with the idea of officially adopting cryptocurrencies like bitcoin for any payments and settlements, that does not mean by that the RBI does not have a robust interest in blockchain based financial technology.

The official - Mr. Ganesh Kumar - made the above-mentioned remarks while speaking at a recent banking event, when he replied to a question about bitcoin, posed by a member of the audience. Mr. Kumar went on to elaborate that India’s central bank is interested in the idea of a “digital rupee”, a digitized alternative to India’s paper currency.

This interest would hardly be unique to Indian officials as Singapore, Uruguay, China, Canada, and Russia are among a just some notable examples of countries that have recently been mulling the idea of implementing their own digital currencies - issued and backed by their respective central banks.