US Banks to Have 0% Reserve Requirement Due to Coronavirus
The US Federal Reserve recently announced drastic and controversial measures allowing commercial Banks under its jurisdiction to operate without any reserve with the Federal Reserve.
Usually, commercial banks are required by law to deposit a certain amount of money with the Federal Reserve prior to the issuance of a legal operational licence. The reserve acts as the financial insurance to customers who entrusted their deposits with the bank. But now the Federal Reserve eased the financial regulation to enable more Americans to have access to loans during the Coronavirus lockdowns.
The entire global financial system is changing to adapt to worldwide quarantine. This makes banks and other financial institutions take drastic actions aimed at halting the COVID-19 outbreak. For instance, China and Hungary have tried to quarantine cash as it could become a potential source of contamination.
Coinidol.com, a world blockchain news outlet, has reported that Italian bank Banca Sella launched a bitcoin trading platform, which is now accessible to around 1.2 million users. That indicates an obvious increase of interest in cryptocurrency, as in current conditions it seems safer than cash.