Professor at the Central Party School: Cryptocurrencies are reshaping the international monetary system; proposes a "dual-engine" Chinese solution.

The post EUR/CHF slides as Euro struggles post-inflation data appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. EUR/CHF weakens for a second straight session as the euro struggles to recover post-Eurozone inflation data. Eurozone core inflation steady at 2.3%, headline CPI eases to 2.0% in August. SNB maintains a flexible policy outlook ahead of its September 25 decision, with no immediate need for easing. The Euro (EUR) trades under pressure against the Swiss Franc (CHF) on Wednesday, with EUR/CHF extending losses for the second straight session as the common currency struggles to gain traction following Eurozone inflation data. At the time of writing, the cross is trading around 0.9320 during the American session. The latest inflation data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone price growth remained broadly stable in August, reinforcing the European Central Bank’s (ECB) cautious stance on monetary policy. The Core Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, rose 2.3% YoY, in line with both forecasts and the previous month’s reading. On a monthly basis, core inflation increased by 0.3%, unchanged from July, highlighting persistent underlying price pressures in the bloc. Meanwhile, headline inflation eased to 2.0% YoY in August, down from 2.1% in July and slightly below expectations. On a monthly basis, prices rose just 0.1%, missing forecasts for a 0.2% increase and decelerating from July’s 0.2% rise. The inflation release follows last week’s ECB policy decision, where the central bank kept all three key interest rates unchanged and signaled that policy is likely at its terminal level. While officials acknowledged progress in bringing inflation down, they reiterated a cautious, data-dependent approach going forward, emphasizing the need to maintain restrictive conditions for an extended period to ensure price stability. On the Swiss side, disinflation appears to be deepening. The Producer and Import Price Index dropped 0.6% in August, marking a sharp 1.8% annual decline. Broader inflation remains…

The post UK crypto holders brace for FCA’s expanded regulatory reach appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. British crypto holders may soon face a very different landscape as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) moves to expand its regulatory reach in the industry. A new consultation paper outlines how the watchdog intends to apply its rulebook to crypto firms, shaping everything from asset safeguarding to trading platform operation. According to the financial regulator, these proposals would translate into clearer protections for retail investors and stricter oversight of crypto firms. UK FCA plans Until now, UK crypto users mostly encountered the FCA through rules on promotions and anti-money laundering checks. The consultation paper goes much further. It proposes direct oversight of stablecoin issuers, custodians, and crypto-asset trading platforms (CATPs). For investors, that means the wallets, exchanges, and coins they rely on could soon be subject to the same governance and resilience standards as traditional financial institutions. The regulator has also clarified that firms need official authorization before serving customers. This condition should, in theory, reduce the risk of sudden platform failures or unclear accountability. David Geale, the FCA’s executive director of payments and digital finance, said the proposals are designed to strike a balance between innovation and protection. He explained: “We want to develop a sustainable and competitive crypto sector – balancing innovation, market integrity and trust.” Geale noted that while the rules will not eliminate investment risks, they will create consistent standards, helping consumers understand what to expect from registered firms. Why does this matter for crypto holders? The UK regulatory framework shift would provide safer custody of assets, better disclosure of risks, and clearer recourse if something goes wrong. However, the regulator was also frank in its submission, arguing that no rulebook can eliminate the volatility or inherent risks of holding digital assets. Instead, the focus is on ensuring that when consumers choose to invest, they do…

The post Ethereum Joins the Race to Become the AI Economy’s Base Layer appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The Ethereum Foundation is looking to make DeFi’s top blockchain the settlement and coordination layer for autonomous AI agents. The Ethereum Foundation is formally entering the artificial intelligence race with the launch of a new unit, the “dAI Team,” that aims to make Ethereum the “preferred settlement and coordination layer” for AI agents and the machine economy. The move comes as other networks, like NEAR Protocol and Solana, push similar efforts to develop blockchain-based infrastructure for the AI economy. In an X post on Monday, Sept. 15, dAI Team lead Davide Crapis, previously a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, said that the initiative will focus in two directions: First, building tools that let AI agents and bots transact and follow rules without intermediaries; Second, developing a decentralized AI stack so that future AI development doesn’t depend on a small number of centralized companies. Part of the effort centers on ERC-8004, a new Ethereum standard and so-called “trust layer” in the works that’s meant to give AI agents something like an on-chain reputation score. “This standard extends the Agent‑to‑Agent (A2A) protocol with a trust layer that allows participants to discover, choose, and interact with agents across organizational boundaries without pre‑existing trust,” Crapis explained in a forum post describing the proposed standard. With ERC-8004, instead of blindly trusting a bot, users would be able to check an agent’s identity, see how it’s behaved in the past, and confirm whether it meets certain requirements through registries stored on Ethereum. As Crapis added in the post, the Ethereum Foundation will work closely with the Linux Foundation and A2A ecosystem stakeholders to “refine and improve the specifications of this extension.” Nick Johnson, lead developer at ENS, a protocol for blockchain-based domains, told The Defiant that the urgent challenge with AI is to develop “decentralised standards…