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Digital assets and currencies

Understand assets, networks and trading mechanics with sources you can check.

Trading basics

1973 oil crisis

In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a large-scale surprise attack in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the territories that they had lost to Israel

Trading basics

Al-Barakat

Al-Barakat, or Al-Barakaat (Arabic: البركات), which means "Blessings" in Arabic, is a group of companies established in 1987 in Somalia. The firm is involved in the modern form of hawala, an informal value transfer system and remittance method. By 2001, Al-Barakat had outlets in 40 countries, and was the country's largest private employer. It handled about 140 million US$ a year from the

Trading basics

Bahamian dollar

The dollar (sign: $; code: BSD) has been the currency of The Bahamas since 1966. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents.

Banking

Bank examiner

A bank examiner is a financial professional who has the task of making sure that banks and savings and loan associations are operating legally and safely, in accordance with the bank regulations imposed on these institutions by the chartering level of government. In the United States, they may conduct supervision on behalf of a U.S. government agency, the Federal Reserve System, a state

Finance

Bank for International Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by members' central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central banks. With its establishment in 1930 it is the oldest international financial institution. Its initial purpose was to oversee the settlement of W

Payments & settlement

Bills of credit

Bills of credit are documents similar to banknotes issued by a government that represent a government's indebtedness to the holder. They are typically designed to circulate as currency or currency substitutes. Bills of credit are mentioned in Article One, Section 10, Clause One (also known as the Contract Clause) of the United States Constitution, where their issuance by state governme

Trading basics

Brunei dollar

The Brunei dollar (Malay: Dolar Brunei, formerly Ringgit Brunei; sign: B$; currency code: BND), is the currency of Brunei Darussalam since 1967. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The currency is divided into 100 cents (sen) and is issued by the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.

Finance

China and the World Bank

China originally joined the World Bank Group (WBG) on December 27, 1945. However, after the Chinese Civil War, the World Bank recognized the Republic of China as its member, until the relationship ended in 1980, when the membership was replaced by the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) did not become involved with the World Bank group until 1980, when it fir

Fiat currencies

Chinese gold yuan

The Chinese gold yuan (also known as golden round, golden yuan, among others) was a legal tender currency of China between August 1948 and 1949. It was a method used by the Republic of China government to accumulate gold from its citizens to fund its war effort. It circulated in the country under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of China, which issued paper money o

Fiat currencies

Classical Monetary System of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay

The Classical Monetary System of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay includes the coins minted by the Oriental Republic of Uruguay between the years 1840 and 1855 in the national territory. These coins were minted entirely within the city of Montevideo, first at the "Taller y Armería Jouve" owned by a French artisan named Agustín Jouve and later at the Casa de Moneda de Montevideo (Montevid

Trading basics

Coin's Financial School

Coin's Financial School is an 1894 pamphlet written by lawyer, politician and resort founder William Hope Harvey (1851–1936). It advocated a return to bimetallism, where the value of a monetary unit is defined as a certain amount of two different kinds of metals, often gold and silver. In the book, Harvey charged that the demonetization of silver caused by the Coinage Act of 1873 led to

Trading basics

Dahabshiil

Dahabshiil (Somali: Dahabshiil, Arabic: دهب شيل) is a Somali funds transfer company, headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and is the largest money-transfer business in Africa. Formed in 2004, the firm operates from over 24,000 outlets and employs more than 2,000 people across 126 countries. It provides financial services to international organisations, as well as to both large and small business

Trading basics

Deposit insurance

Deposit insurance, deposit protection or deposit guarantee is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due. Deposit insurance or deposit guarantee systems are one component of a financial system safety net that promotes financial stability, and are typically integrated with bank

Trading basics

Djiboutian franc

The Djiboutian franc (Arabic: فرنك, French: Franc, Somali: Faranka, Afar: Faranki) is the currency of Djibouti. Its ISO 4217 currency code is DJF. Historically, it was subdivided into 100 centimes.

Trading basics

Economic stagnation

Economic stagnation is a prolonged period of slow economic growth, typically measured in GDP per capita growth or median income growth, which is usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, slow means significantly slower than potential growth as estimated by macroeconomists, even though the growth rate may be nominally higher than in other countries not experiencing

Fiat currencies

Edward Atkinson (activist)

Edward Atkinson (February 10, 1827 – December 11, 1905) was an economist, inventor, and a founder of the American Anti-Imperialist League.

Fiat currencies

Fiat money

Fiat money or fiat currency is a type of government-issued currency, generally created by a central bank, authorized by government regulation to be legal tender but not backed by a precious metal, such as gold or silver, nor by any other tangible asset or commodity. Since the end of the Bretton Woods system in 1976 by the Jamaica Accords, all the major government currencies in the world

Finance

Flag of convenience

Flag of convenience (FOC) refers to a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively, and although common, the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.

Trading basics

Foreign-exchange reserves of China

The foreign exchange reserves of China are the state of foreign exchange reserves held by the People's Republic of China, comprising cash, bank deposits, bonds, and other financial assets denominated in currencies other than China's national currency (the renminbi). As of August 2026, China's foreign exchange reserves totaled US$3.438 trillion, which is the highest foreign exchange reser

Banking

Free banking

Free banking is a monetary arrangement where banks are free to issue their own paper currency (banknotes) while also being subject to no special regulations beyond those applicable to most enterprises.

Trading basics

Free silver

Free silver was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th century. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on demand, as opposed to strict adherence to the more carefully fixed money supply implicit in the gold standard. Free silver became increasingly associated with populism, unions, a

Banking

History of investment banking in the United States

Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke established the first modern American investment bank during the Civil War era. However, private banks had been providing investment banking functions since the beginning of the 19th century and many of these evolved into investment banks in the post-bellum era. However, the evolution of firms into investment banks did not follow a single trajectory. Fo

Trading basics

History of nicotine marketing

The history of nicotine marketing stretches back centuries. Nicotine marketing has continually developed new techniques in response to historical circumstances, societal and technological change, and regulation. Counter marketing has also changed, in both message and commonness, over the decades, often in response to pro-nicotine marketing.

Banking

History of pawnbroking

Pawnbroking, lending money on portable security, began in ancient history. The practice was widespread in many parts of the world, from ancient Greece to medieval China and medieval Europe.

Finance

History of the Federal Reserve System

The United States Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913.

Trading basics

Investment company

An investment company is a financial services company that specializes in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Investment companies invest money on behalf of their clients who, in return, share in the profits and losses.

Banking

J.P. Morgan & Co.

J.P. Morgan & Co. was an American financial institution specialized in investment banking, asset management and private banking founded by financier J. P. Morgan in 1871. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, the largest banking institution in the world by market capitalization. The company has been historically referred to as th

Payments & settlement

King's shilling

The King's shilling, sometimes called the Queen's shilling when the sovereign is female, is a historical slang term referring to the earnest payment of one shilling given to recruits to the armed forces of the United Kingdom in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, although the practice dates back to the end of the English Civil War. To "take the King's shilling" was to agree to serve as a

Trading basics

Lebanese pound

Lebanese pound or Lebanese lira is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (Arabic: قرش qirsh) but, because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), subunits were discontinued.

Fiat currencies

Legal tender

Legal tender is a form of money that the law recognises as valid for the discharge of a monetary debt in a jurisdiction. What constitutes legal tender varies between jurisdictions.

Trading basics

Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp.

Marquette Nat. Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp., 439 U.S. 299 (1978), is a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that state anti-usury laws regulating interest rates cannot be enforced against nationally chartered banks based in other states. Justice William Brennan wrote that it was clearly the intent of Congress when it passed the National Banking Act that na

Finance

Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)

The Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan (Dari: وزارت مالیه افغانستان, Pashto: د افغانستان د مالیې وزارت) is responsible for the implementation and execution of the budget, collection of taxes, organization, and control of public expenses in Afghanistan; it also controls the management of the Custom Affairs. It is located next to the Pashtunistan Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood

Finance

Ministry of Finance (Russia)

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство финансов Российской Федерации), also known as MinFin (Минфин России), is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for financial policy and general management in the field of finance.

Fiat currencies

Monetary reform

Monetary reform refers to proposals to change a country's monetary system, including how money is created, regulated, and distributed. Such reforms seek to address perceived problems with current monetary schemes, like financial instability, wealth inequality, or inflation. Monetary reform movements grow during economic crises, proposing alternatives to prevailing systems.

Trading basics

Pension

A pension (; from Latin pensiō 'payment') is a fund or pay-as-you-go scheme into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", where defined periodic payments are made in retirement and the contributions to the pension are ad

Trading basics

Silverite

The Silverites were members of a political movement in the United States in the late-19th century that advocated that silver should continue to be a monetary standard along with gold, as authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Silverite coalition's famous slogan was "16 to 1" – that is, the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver equal in value to one ounce of gold, a ratio similar to t

Finance

Stock market crashes in India

Since the beginning of the Bombay stock exchange, stock markets in India, particularly the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India have seen a number of booms as well as crashes.

Finance

Taxation in Algeria

In Algeria, the most important sources of government revenue have been oil and gas royalties.

Finance

Taxation in Colombia

See Government of Colombia for a broader perspective of Colombian government.

Finance

Taxation in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a long history of taxing its population. As of 2002, reforms have changed the way the tax system works in the nation; these reforms have aimed to centralize tax authority. Currently the nation's federal government lobbies many different types of taxes on its population; these taxes include income taxes on four main schedules, property taxes, and value added taxes (VAT).

Trading basics

Token coin

In numismatics, token coins or trade tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of token coins is part of exonumia and token coins are token money. Their denomination is shown or implied by size, color or shape. They are often made of cheaper metals like copper, pewter, aluminium, brass and tin, or non-metals like bakelite, leather and porcelain.

Finance

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages U.S. government debt, licenses and supervises banks and

Fiat currencies

United States dollar

The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States (U.S.) and several other countries. The U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 established the dollar as the base unit, with each dollar divided into 100 cents (symbol: ¢). U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green col

Finance

United States Senate Committee on Finance

The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery

Trading basics

William McKinley 1896 presidential campaign

In 1896, William McKinley was elected President of the United States. McKinley, a Republican and former Governor of Ohio, defeated the joint Democratic and Populist nominee, William Jennings Bryan, as well as minor-party candidates. McKinley's decisive victory in what is sometimes seen as a realigning election ended a period of close presidential contests, and ushered in an era of domina