The truth about blockchains
Blockchain is the new ‘hotness’ in the innovation world, but like all new technologies, it is widely misunderstood. A blockchain is a set of difficult mathematical computations, based on cryptography. Participants in the chain provide transactions to it. Some participants perform the maths of encoding those transactions into the chain. This happens at a regular interval. Once encoded into the chain, each transaction is public and permanent. Bitcoin, which is the poster child for the technology, is a blockchain used as a currency. It relies on ‘miners’, or the participants who encode the transactions into the chain. These miners get rewarded with a newly created bitcoin each time they do […]
Winners of the 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017
Congratulations to the winners of the 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017. The 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards celebrate the achievements of the dynamic people and businesses comprising the FinTech sector. These Awards seek to recognise success in the FinTech sector in its many forms. The event was a fantastic evening of celebrating the best innovation, created by the best innovators and entrepreneurs that live and work in Australia. Here are the winners for the 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017: FinTech Innovation in payments ZipMoney FinTech Innovation in Wealth Management (Robo-Advice) Pocketbook FinTech Innovation in Lending Tyro Payments Best FinTech Communications Campaign BRICKX Best Research […]
Bitcoin looks a lot like an early Amazon
by Gordon Scott. You might as well get used to the Bitcoin headlines. They aren’t going away. And that’s because cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin aren’t going away. If history is any guide, this may only be the beginning. Bitcoin may be the most lucrative trading opportunity since internet stocks such as Amazon.com Inc. in the dot-com era. If that notion sounds as scary as it does exciting, it should. While it is true that trading digital currencies holds real risk, there is also a real opportunity for traders right now. Please note that I said traders here, not investors. Even if it were true that investors could multiply their money, they […]
Blockchain applications rolling out in financial markets
The blockchain gives investors transparency over loan-level data, asset provenance, payment history, loan terms and the quality of underlying security.
ASIC signs fintech agreement with Hong Kong
Regulators in Australia and Hong Kong are building bridges to assist financial technology companies expand abroad. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission signed a “co-operation agreement” on Tuesday that provides for facilitated introductions when a fintech company operating in one jurisdiction wants to better understand the rules in the other. ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said the agreement will help to “ease entry” for Australian fintech start-ups seeking to enter the Hong Kong market by creating a simple pathway for engaging with the securities regulator. The agreement also provides a framework for information sharing between the two regulators. It is understood both want to […]
What’s holding up the blockchain?
It’s not technology or regulation holding back the blockchain – software that stores and transfers value or data across the internet – we just haven’t figured out the next big use-case. Two reports released this week by the CSIRO’s Data61 not only inject some well-researched gravitas into the conversation, they also provide insight into why some of the major blockchain projects have stalled. Since 2015, banks, regulators, tech giants and startups all over the world have raised billions of dollars to explore the blockchain. But the only really successful, scaleable use of the blockchain remains cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoins currently trade at almost AU$4,000, with a total market equivalent to […]
Instant payment possible for grain growers
Any delays between delivering grain and being paid for it could become a thing of the past, but Australia will need to develop a digital currency to make this happen. That’s according to AgriDigital co-founder Bob Mckay. His company successfully completed a world-first last year by executing the settlement of an agricultural commodity on a blockchain, a public ledger of digital currency transactions. In December last year AgriDigital’s software used real-time data of a grain sale between a Dubbo grain grower who delivered wheat to meat processor Fletcher International, and executed this transaction on a blockchain. AgriDigital has computer software that connects buyers, growers and storage providers. Mr McKay, who […]
DigitalX secures new funding
DigitalX Ltd (Company or DCC) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional subscription agreement and converting loan agreement with Blockchain Global Limited, an Australian incorporated company operating in the Bitcoin and Blockchain space internationally, to invest approximately $4.35m at 2.7 cents per share to acquire an interest in approximately 40% of DigitalX on a fully diluted basis. The price of the investment represents a 28.5% premium to the VWAP of DigitalX’s shares over the last 5 days in which shares were traded prior to the date of this announcement. The investment is conditional upon the satisfaction of specific conditions precedent, which are outlined below. Under […]
