Bitcoin hits new record, bitcoin cash fades
Experts say the rally in bitcoin still has a long way to go, after the cryptocurrency reached a new all-time high of $US3525 this week. The latest price surge has been driven by the rise and fall of bitcoin cash – a secondary cryptocurrency – and an update in the underlying bitcoin software, which paves the way for an evolution of the bitcoin blockchain. The update – called SegWit – is the product of months of internal debate within the cryptocurrency community around how to handle the rapid increase in transaction demands. A byproduct of this debate was the creation of bitcoin cash, another coin, duplicated from the original, that […]
Locked out of property market? Five better places for Millennials to put money
By Clayton Howes – CEO of MoneyMe Life sucks for an aspiring property owner right now. You probably already know that the average price of a house in Australia ($656,800) is several (eight) times that of the average full-time yearly income ($78,832). You’ve probably already heard that in the past five years alone, wages have grown significantly slower (13 per cent) than house prices (41 per cent), especially if that house is in Sydney (70 per cent). It’s enough to make you want to drown your sorrows in the most expensive smashed avo and latte combo available! But honestly – enough, already. If you’re as bored as I am of […]
Sydney fintech Stake is starting its $0 brokerage US share trading service
Sydney startup Stake will launch its $0 brokerage US share trading service within the next few days, giving ordinary Australians a low-cost opportunity to invest in brands like Amazon, Facebook and Tesla. The fintech first revealed in June its plans for the new service but the details hadn’t been settled at the time. Now founders Dan Silver and Matt Leibowitz have revealed to Business Insider that the only user fee would be 70 basis points on the foreign exchange rate when loading up and withdrawing from the US dollar trading account. Stake had also previously flagged intentions to introduce paid services on top of the basic product, but Leibowitz now […]
Could Xinja be Australia’s first neobank?
Banking startup Xinja is built solely for mobile and will target tech-savvy consumers. Fintech startup Xinja is on track to becoming Australia’s first neobank, otherwise known as a challenger bank, and has already raised close to $3 million this year. The funding will help launch 5,000 prepaid debit cards to customers before expanding its product offering to bank accounts and mortgages. Xinja will provide a banking solution for tech-savvy customers who want to be able to operate completely via their mobile phone. It will enable customers to use new accounts instantly, to see transactions in real time and to follow their money using simple virtual tools. The government announced in […]
A Bitcoin for your thoughts?
By Naomi Christopher, Midwinter Financial Services, Senior Manager – Brand Those of us in the tech world can all agree that Bitcoin is genuinely starting to take off or at least cause a stir…. If by take-off you mean clamber $672 bucks one day and slide down $384 the next. But while some of us look on with wide eyed enthusiasm as the price of it continues to climb and fall and then climb and fall (but mostly climb at the moment!), much of the rest of the world continues to scratch their heads as they grapple to understand “what’s it all about?” And of course, whether it is in […]
Sniip to deliver real-time billing
Mobile shopping and payments app Sniip says it has landed a deal with Xero to bring real-time billing to small and medium sized businesses. Sniip co-founder and CEO Damien Vasta said his platform, which uses blockchain technology, would provide a central way for Xero’s customers to receive and pay bills. He said Sniip would be available to Xero’s customer network, allowing transactions to integrate with their accounting system. “Users can scan and pay their bills within seconds using Sniip’s trademarked circular QR code, eliminating the need to enter a long account or payment reference number or bank details or waste time paying over the phone,” Mr Vasta said. “Mobile payments […]
You could buy 100 boxes of avocados for the price of one bitcoin
Even with all the hand-wringing about bubbles in stock and bond markets, it’s hard to ignore what’s going on in the world of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. The value of the largest digital currency continues to soar to record highs after weathering a split last week. It has increased more than threefold this year, compared with a doubling in the value of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the best performer in the S&P 500 Index. At the record price of $US3,486.73 reached overnight, one bitcoin could probably fund a nice holiday. By comparison, one share of Vertex at $US154.82 would get you a fancy dinner. Here’s some other stuff you could buy for the […]
Fear and loathing from Silicon Valley
By Jacqui Henderson, Founder & CEO – Advice Intelligence An all-pervasive feature of modern life is the speed of technological change, and of our collective capacity to adapt to the multiple impacts of change. It is natural to question the benefits: does the constant challenge to keep up and adapt simplify my life or make it ever more complex? Would a fully-automated advice capability drive better service standards and outcomes for my advice business and my clients, or does it simply make my job redundant? Is all the talk of technological revolution that ricochets around the world out of Silicon Valley, the advent of artificial intelligence and robotics, and the […]
