China is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market: around 80% of Bitcoin transactions take place in yuan. The government’s recent crackdown on several Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency exchanges suggests it sees them as a major threat to financial stability. It also shows that the Chinese government is determined to cement its place as a leading power-broker in the area of cryptocurrency transactions and exchange. Andrew Godwin explains.

And while it’s clear that alternative forms of online money are going to dominate payments in the next decade, the response of regulators and central banks is still up in the air, writes Nafis Alam.

In his first speech before the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, called Venezuela “a dangerous mess,” and criticised the Iranian nuclear deal – all while asserting that America remains a model for the rest of the world. Rogue states, Simon Reich suggests, are back in fashion.

Bootlegs, the unofficial recordings of music, have been around for more than a century. Adam de Paor-Evans says that the market for bootlegged products - whether vinyl, cassette or CD – have become particularly buoyant over the last 40 years. Although their popularity faded with the arrival of digital downloads and a focus on data pirating in the noughties, the physical bootleg has more recently seen something of a renaissance.