AliPay is coming, ready or not
There is a financial technology tsunami headed this way from China and our government, business and regulation leaders need to get ready to adapt. So says Grame Barty an experienced international trade envoy and China hand who previously led the Austrade international operations group where he helped set up a landing pad in Shanghai, as well as leading an innovation-centric delegation to China. He also has experience as a tech entrepreneur in his own right. Mr Barty has watched the phenomenal growth of Chinese electronic sales platform Alibaba and its subsidiary payments vehicle Alipay. Both Alibaba and Alipay are gearing up in Australia and other Western countries as well as […]
Westpac joins Swift blockchain test
Second Aussie bank after ANZ to take part. Westpac has become the second Australian bank to join a proof-of-concept by payment messaging service Swift that aims to test blockchain for facilitating cross-border payments. It is one of 22 global banks to join the PoC today, adding to the six foundational banking participants, one of which is ANZ Bank. It was always envisaged that a number of other banks would join the project to further validate the concept. The project aims to prove whether or not banks can reconcile their international nostro accounts in real-time using blockchain technology. Nostro accounts are those held by banks in other countries in the local […]
Beyond bitcoin: what emerging blockchain technology means for your organisation
Crypto currency Bitcoin is gaining increasing attention as an alternative to existing financial options. It offers a highly secure way for parties to exchange funds without the need for an intermediary such as a bank. Yet Bitcoin is only one application of the technology that underpins it. Dubbed blockchain, this technology has the potential to revolutionise everything from billing systems and contracts to supply chains and even electronic medical records. In reality, Bitcoin is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blockchain deployments. According to analyst reports, usage is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 61.5 per cent until 2021. This means […]
Bitcoin seen surging to $US50,000 in decade
Ronnie Moas, who for the past 13 years has made more than 900 stock recommendations via his one-man show at Standpoint Research, is now venturing into cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin will double to $US5000 next year, and reach $US25,000 to $US50,000 in the next decade, the Miami Beach, Florida-based Moas said in a note to clients overnight, where he also disclosed he bought “a little bit” of litecoin, bitcoin and ethereum in a Coinbase.com account. It’s a testament to the exuberance around bitcoin, ethereum and other blockchain assets that equity investors who hadn’t been involved in cryptocurrencies are now starting to analyse and make bets on the sector along with established bitcoin […]
440,000 transactions per second with Red Belly Blockchain
The University of Sydney has recently announced that it has developed a new Blockchain-based system that can perform more than 440,000 transactions per second. Researchers from the School of Information Technologies at the University of Sydney, who developed the new Blockchain, named this system after one of Australia’s most deadly snakes – Red Belly Blockchain, and claim that it has a game-changing potential for the financial transfers industry. Moreover, according to them, the Red Belly Blockchain allows for the exchange to occur in a peer-to-peer fashion, as well as in a commercial environment restricted to certain users, which makes it the first blockchain being built to work both in public […]
What Monopoly? Blockchain startup Setl sets sights beyond Australia
Setl founder Peter Randall isn’t waiting for permission to build the first competing platform in an Australian post-trade system long dominated by a monopoly. While the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) enjoys exclusive rights to clear and settle transactions for the nation’s financial institutions, Randall’s startup has already built a service he believes can process the load more quickly and at lower cost than ASX’s proprietary CHESS platform. Ironically, ASX’s exploration of distributed ledger tech with partner Digital Asset Holdings has boosted the blockchain industry in Australia, yet its monopoly means less competition in bringing solutions to market. Nevertheless, Randall isn’t waiting for the nation’s regulators to begin loosening older, monopolistic […]
The new crowdfunding? Ethereum ICOs raise close to $1 billion in June alone
In just 19 days, Ethereum initial coin offerings have raised close to $1 billion dollars, according to estimates, with speculations this could be the biggest decentralised venture funding event in history. Tech news site Trust Nodes has crunched the numbers and estimates $US642 million has been raised by prominent initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the first three weeks of June, with another estimated $US60 million raised from smaller events. An ICO involves investors buying a cryptocurrency, which has a value in relation to another currency like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Bancor raised $US150 million on June 13, making it the biggest crowdfunding in history, at least for a few days. Trust […]
Cross-border digital payments company InstaReM receives US$13m investment
The latest round of investment brings the total amount raised to over US$18M from a consortium of some of the largest funds in the region. InstaReM, one of the leading digital cross-border payments companies, has received a US$13 million investment led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund (SBI-FMO Fund), Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC). To date, InstaReM has raised over US$18 million in the last 18 months. InstaReM, who lists Australia as its biggest market, will use the investment to build its global payment infrastructure, which has grown eight times in volume since its March 2016 funding. The […]
