Meta expressed interest in the metaverse and the potential integration of crypto-assets and blockchain technology within its virtual reality platform. The company has been exploring the concept of a blockchainbased digital currency called "Facebook Diem" (previously known as Libra). Twitter has integrated bitcoin tipping features. It allows users to send and receive bitcoin tips to content creators and other users on the platform. 30. See PYMTS (2023), Circle Says Lack of Direct EMI Access to EU Central Bank Accounts Stifles Payments Innovation. 31. Circle’s USD 31 billion USDC stablecoin maintains around USD 25 billion of its reserves in short-term US Treasury bills in the exclusive Circle Reserve Fund, managed by BlackRock. The fund is registered as a “2a-7” government money market fund. Circle’s objective for the fund was to secure access to the Federal Reserve’s reverse repurchasing facility through BlackRock, allowing the company to move USDC’s remaining cash reserves from partner banks to the fund under a Federal Reserve account. 32. Reserve assets are the assets against which the stablecoins are valued and redeemed. 33. In contrast, the substitutability between central bank money and bank deposits is limited by the fact that, on bank balance sheets, deposits are matched against risky assets (bank loans). 34. See Panetta, F. (2020), “From the payments revolution to the reinvention of money”, speech at the Deutsche Bundesbank conference on the “Future of Payments in Europe”, 27 November. 35. See Chipolina, S. and Asgari, N. (2023), “Binance slams US crypto crackdown and makes bid for UK oversight”, Financial Times, 10 May.

The repercussions of this event rippled through the crypto ecosystem, causing cascading liquidations[25] that underscored the interconnectedness and opacity of crypto markets. Ultimately, it showcased how swiftly confidence in the industry could deteriorate. Similarities to the FTX case can be seen in the recent civil charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the biggest remaining crypto exchange: Binance. These civil charges allege that Binance’s CEO and Binance entities were involved in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure and calculated evasion of the law. [26] Should these allegations be proven, this would be yet another example of the fundamental shortcomings of the crypto ecosystem. The recent crypto failures also show that risk, in itself, is technology-neutral. In financial services, it does not matter if a business ledger is kept on paper as it was for hundreds of years, in a centralised system as we have now or on a blockchain as in the crypto asset ecosystem. In the end, whether a firm remains in business or fails depends on how it manages credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk and leverage. Crypto enthusiasts would do well to remember that new technology does not make financial risk disappear. The financial risk either remains or transforms into a different type. It is like pressing a balloon on one side: it will change in shape until it pops on the other side. And if the balloon is full of hot air, it may rise for a while but will burst in the end.