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Digital assets and currencies
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2023 United States banking crisis
The 2023 United States banking crisis was a series of bank failures and bankruptcies that took place in early 2023, with the United States federal government ultimately intervening in several ways. Over the course of five days in March 2023, three small-to-mid size U.S. banks failed, triggering a sharp decline in global bank stock prices and swift response by regulators to prevent poten
FinanceAccounting liquidity
In accounting, liquidity (or accounting liquidity) is a measure of the ability of a debtor to pay their debts as and when they fall due. It is usually expressed as a ratio or a percentage of current liabilities. Liquidity is the ability to pay short-term obligations.
Securities & exchangesAsset classes
In finance, an asset class is a group of marketable financial assets that have similar financial characteristics and behave similarly in the marketplace. These instruments can be distinguished as either having to do with real assets or having to do with financial assets. Often, assets within the same asset class are subject to the same laws and regulations; however, this is not always
BankingBank failure
A bank failure occurs when a bank is unable to meet its obligations to its depositors or other creditors because it has become insolvent or too illiquid to meet its liabilities. Failing banks share commonalities: rising asset losses, deteriorating solvency, and an increasing reliance on expensive noncore funding.
BankingBank run
A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may fail in the near future. It may occur when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only keep a small proportion of their assets as cash), a large volume of customers seek to withdraw a greater amount of cash from deposit accounts with a financia
Fiat currenciesClassical dichotomy
In macroeconomics, the classical dichotomy is the idea, attributed to classical and pre-Keynesian economics, that real and nominal variables can be analyzed separately. To be precise, an economy exhibits the classical dichotomy if real variables such as output and real interest rates can be completely analyzed without considering what is happening to their nominal counterparts, the mone
FinanceClearing house (finance)
A clearing house, often written as clearinghouse, is a financial institution formed to facilitate the exchange (i.e., clearance) of payments, securities, or derivatives transactions. The clearing house stands between two clearing firms (also known as member firms or participants).
Payments & settlementColored Coins
Colored Coins is an open-source protocol that allows users to represent and manipulate immutable digital resources on top of Bitcoin transactions. They are a class of methods for representing and maintaining real-world assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, which may be used to establish asset ownership. Colored coins are bitcoins with a mark on them that specifies what they may be used for.
FinanceCommodity market
A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products. The primary sector includes agricultural products, energy products, and metals. Soft commodities may be perishable and harvested, while hard commodities are usually mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing in commodities. Commodity markets ca
Securities & exchangesConstant elasticity of variance model
In mathematical finance, the constant elasticity of variance model (CEV) is a stochastic volatility model, although technically it would be classed more precisely as a local volatility model, that attempts to capture stochastic volatility and the leverage effect. The model is widely used by practitioners in the financial industry, especially for modelling equities and commodities. It was
FinanceCryptocurrency bubble
A cryptocurrency bubble is a phenomenon where the market increasingly considers the going price of cryptocurrency assets to be inflated against their hypothetical value. The history of cryptocurrency has been marked by several speculative bubbles on a boom to bust cycle.
FinanceCurrency crisis
A currency crisis is a type of financial crisis, and is often associated with a real economic crisis. A currency crisis raises the probability of a banking crisis or a default crisis. During a currency crisis the value of foreign denominated debt will rise drastically relative to the declining value of the home currency. Generally doubt exists as to whether a country's central bank has s
Fiat currenciesDebasement
A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins, while continuing to circulate them at face value. A coin is said to be debased if the quantity of gold, silver, copper or nickel in the coin is reduced.
Fiat currenciesDeflation
In economics, deflation is an increase in the real value of the monetary unit of account, as reflected in a decrease in the general price level of goods and services exchanged, measurable by broad price indices.
NetworksEthereum
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-source software.
Fiat currenciesEverything bubble
The "everything bubble" refers to the impact on the values of asset prices, including equities, real estate, bonds, many commodities, and cryptocurrencies, due to quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan. The policy itself and the techniques of direct and indirect methods of quantitative easing used to execute it are sometimes referred to a
FinanceFinancial contagion
Financial contagion refers to "the spread of market disturbances—mostly on the downside—from one country to the other, a process observed through co-movements in exchange rates, stock prices, sovereign spreads, and capital flows". Financial contagion can be a potential risk for countries who are trying to integrate their financial system with international financial markets and instituti
Trading basicsFinancial market
A financial market is a marketplace where the pricing and trade of securities, commodities, currency, derivatives, or other financial products takes place. The term may refer to a specific stock or commodity exchange, or to the general process by which relevant economic activity is organized and carried out.
FinanceFinancial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Economic turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and severe impacts upon financial markets, including stock, bond, and commodity (including crude oil and gold) markets. Major events included a described Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war, which after failing to reach an OPEC+ agreement resulted in a collapse of crude oil prices and a stock market crash in March
Payments & settlementFinancial market infrastructure
Financial market infrastructure refers to systems and entities involved in clearing, settlement, and the recording of payments, securities, derivatives, and other financial transactions. Depending on context, financial market infrastructure may refer to the category in general, or to individual companies or entities (thus also used in plural: financial market infrastructures).
FinanceFinancial Revolution
The Financial Revolution was a set of economic and financial reforms in Great Britain after the Glorious Revolution in 1688 when William III invaded England. The reforms were based in part on Dutch economic and financial innovations that were brought to England by William III. New institutions were created: a public debt (first government bonds were issued in 1693) and the Bank of Englan
FinanceFlash crash
In modern finance, a flash crash is a very rapid, deep, and volatile fall in security prices occurring within a very short time period followed by a quick recovery. Flash crashes are frequently blamed by media on trades executed by black-box trading, combined with high-frequency trading, whose speed and interconnectedness can result in the loss and recovery of billions of dollars in a ma
FinanceFloor trader
A floor trader is a member of a stock or commodities exchange who trades on the floor of that exchange for their own account. The floor trader must abide by trading rules similar to those of the exchange specialists who trade on behalf of others. The term should not be confused with floor broker.
FinanceFood speculation
Food speculation refers to the buying and selling of futures contracts or other commodity derivatives by traders with the aim of profiting from changes in food prices. Food speculation can be both positive and negative for food producers and buyers. It is betting on food prices in financial markets.
Fiat currenciesForeign exchange reserves
Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve cur
BankingFunding liquidity
Funding liquidity is the availability of credit to finance the purchase of financial assets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines funding liquidity as "the ability of a solvent institution to make agreed-upon payments in a timely fashion". In practice, funding liquidity refers to whether a bank or financial institution can meet its payment obligations at a given point in time.
FinanceGreenSky
GreenSky, LLC is an American financial technology company. Founded in 2006 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it provides technology to banks and merchants to provide loans in the home improvement, solar, and healthcare sectors.
Securities & exchangesJay Clayton
Walter Joseph "Jay" Clayton III (born July 11, 1966) is an American attorney who has served as the 9th director of national intelligence since August 2026. Clayton has additionally served as the White House AI czar since October 2026. He served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2025 to 2026 and as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commissi
Securities & exchangesJon Ruggles
Jon Paul Ruggles (born November 28, 1973) is an American executive known for founding Monroe Energy and creating an internal trading house for Delta Air Lines that earned $420 million in trading profits in its first year. According to CNBC, Delta hired Ruggles as vice-president of fuel in 2011 to help right a fuel-hedge book that had been losing the airline money. He managed to generate
FinanceLeverage cycle
Leverage is defined as the ratio of the asset value to the cash needed to purchase it. The leverage cycle can be defined as the procyclical expansion and contraction of leverage over the course of the business cycle. The existence of procyclical leverage amplifies the effect on asset prices over the business cycle.
FinanceMargin at risk
The Margin-at-Risk (MaR) is a quantity used to manage short-term liquidity risks due to variation of margin requirements, i.e. it is a financial risk occurring when trading commodities. It is similar to the Value-at-Risk (VaR), but instead of simulating EBIT it returns a quantile of the (expected) cash flow distribution.
FinanceMarket liquidity
In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a market's feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price. Liquidity involves the trade-off between the price at which an asset can be sold, and how quickly it can be sold. In a liquid market, the trade-off is mild: one can sell quickly without havi
FinanceMarket trend
A market trend is a perceived tendency of the financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as secular for long time-frames, primary for medium time-frames, and secondary for short time-frames. Traders attempt to identify market trends using technical analysis, a framework which characterizes market trends as predictable price tendencies wi
FinanceMIDAS technical analysis
In finance, MIDAS (an acronym for Market Interpretation/Data Analysis System) is an approach to technical analysis initiated in 1995 by the physicist and technical analyst Paul Levine, PhD, and subsequently developed by Andrew Coles, PhD, and David Hawkins in a series of articles and the book MIDAS Technical Analysis: A VWAP Approach to Trading and Investing in Today's Markets. Latterly,
FinanceMinistry of Finance (Chile)
The Ministry of Finance (Spanish: Ministerio de Hacienda) is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of managing the financial affairs, fiscal policy, and capital markets of Chile; planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing all financial policies formulated by the President of Chile.
Fiat currenciesMonetae cudendae ratio
"Monetae cudendae ratio" (also spelled "Monetæ cudendæ ratio"; English: "On the Minting of Coin" or "On the Striking of Coin"; sometimes, "Treatise on Money") is a paper on coinage by Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik). It was written in 1526 at the request of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland, and presented to the Prussian Diet.
Fiat currenciesNeutrality of money
Neutrality of money is the idea that a change in the money supply affects only nominal variables in the economy such as prices, wages, and exchange rates, with no effect on real variables, like employment, real GDP, and real consumption. Neutrality of money is an important idea in classical economics and is related to the classical dichotomy. It implies that the central bank does not aff
Fiat currenciesNominal rigidity
In economics, nominal rigidity, also referred to as price stickiness or wage stickiness, describes a situation in which a nominal price is slow to adjust or resistant to change. Complete nominal rigidity occurs when a price remains fixed in nominal terms for a relevant period of time. For example, the price of a good may be contractually set at $10 per unit for an entire year, regardles
Fiat currenciesNon-deliverable forward
In finance, a non-deliverable forward (NDF) is an outright forward contract or futures contract in which counterparties settle the difference between the contracted NDF price or rate and the prevailing spot price or rate on an agreed notional amount. It is used in various markets such as foreign exchange and commodities. NDFs are also known as forward contracts for differences (FCD).
Securities & exchangesPanic of 1792
The Panic of 1792 was a financial credit crisis that occurred during the months of March and April 1792, precipitated by the expansion of credit by the newly formed Bank of the United States as well as by rampant speculation on the part of William Duer, Alexander Macomb, and other prominent bankers. Duer, Macomb, and their colleagues attempted to drive up prices of United States (U.S) de
Fiat currenciesPrice level
The general price level is a hypothetical measure of overall prices for some set of goods and services (the consumer basket), in an economy or monetary union during a given interval (generally one day), normalized relative to some base set. Typically, the general price level is approximated with a daily price index, normally the Daily CPI. The general price level can change more than on
FinanceProprietary trading
Proprietary trading (also known as prop trading) occurs when a trader trades stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, their derivatives, or other financial instruments with the firm's own money (instead of using customer funds) to make a profit for itself.
FinanceRoyalty fund
A royalty fund (also known as royalty funding) is a category of private equity fund that specializes in purchasing consistent revenue streams deriving from the payment of royalties. Royalties are a usage-based payment from one individual or entity to another individual or entity, giving the right to use an asset, product, service or idea.
Securities & exchangesSecurities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information. The setups are generally made to result in monetary gain for the deceivers, and generally result in unfair monetary losses for the investors. They are generally violating
Fiat currenciesSpecial drawing rights
Special drawing rights (SDRs, code XDR) are a supplementary foreign exchange reserve asset defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are the units of account for the IMF, and not a currency; rather, SDR value is based on a basket of currencies, the specific composition of which is reviewed every five years. SDRs represent a claim to currency held by IMF member
FinanceSpeculation
In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that that asset will become more valuable in a brief amount of time.
Fiat currenciesSpot market
The spot market or cash market is a public financial market in which financial instruments or commodities are traded for immediate delivery. It contrasts with a futures market, in which delivery is due at a later date. In a spot market, settlement normally happens in T+2 working days, i.e., delivery of cash and commodity must be done after two working days of the trade date. A spot mar
FinanceStock market
A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called as shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies that are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Invest
NetworksTerra (blockchain)
Terra is a blockchain protocol and payment platform used for algorithmic stablecoins. The project was created in 2018 by Terraform Labs, a startup co-founded by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin. It is best known for its Terra algorithmic stablecoin and the associated LUNA reserve asset cryptocurrency.
Fiat currenciesThe Great Debasement
The Great Debasement (1544–1551) was a currency debasement policy introduced in 1544 England under the order of Henry VIII which saw the amount of precious metal in gold and silver coins reduced and in some cases replaced entirely with cheaper base metals such as copper. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland are cited
Payments & settlementTruck wages
Truck wages are wages paid not in conventional money but instead in the form of payment in kind (i.e. commodities, including goods and/or services); credit with retailers; or a money substitute, such as scrip, chits, vouchers or tokens. Truck wages are a characteristic of a truck system, and are banned by the labour legislation of many countries.
Fiat currenciesVelocity of money
The velocity of money measures how many times one unit of currency is used to purchase goods and services within a given time period. In other words, it represents how many times per period money changes hands, or circulates to other owners in return for valuable goods and services. The concept relates the size of economic activity to a given money supply. The velocity of money is one of