Ignore bitcoin at your peril, naysayers warned
It’s taken three weeks for bitcoin to erase the losses it suffered when JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon dismissed the digital currency as a fraud.
Bitcoin ‘more than just a fad,’ Morgan Stanley CEO says
Not every Wall Street bank chief is bearish on bitcoin. Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer James Gorman takes a more measured view on the cryptocurrency than crosstown rival Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase & Co. head who earlier this month called it “a fraud” that’s in a speculative bubble worse than tulip bulbs. Bitcoin is “certainly something more than just a fad,” Gorman said Wednesday at an event held by the Wall Street Journal. “The concept of anonymous currency is a very interesting concept — interesting for the privacy protections it gives people, interesting because what it says to the central banking system about controlling that.” The digital currency has […]
The world’s first blockchain smartphone is in development
Sirin Labs, the company behind the US$14,000 Solarin smartphone, is now developing an open-source model that runs on a fee-less blockchain. The Finney — named in honor of bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney — will be the only smartphone in the world that’s fully secure and safe enough to hold cryptographic coins. Or so says the company, which is launching a crowdsale event this October (date to be confirmed) to support the phone’s development. According to Sirin, all Finney devices (there’s an all-in-one PC coming, too) will form an independent blockchain network powered by IOTA’s Tangle technology. The network will operate without centralized backbones or mining centers cluttering up the transaction […]
Want to learn more about Ethereum? Ethereum Co-Founder explains his cryptocurrency
Etherum co-founder Vitalik Buterin was one of the key speakers at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt, which was held last week in San Francisco. Asked to explain what Ethereum is to the average user, Buterin defined a blockchain from the perspective of those who understand its current most popular use — in cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin. Buterin said that a blockchain can keep track of how much money a person has at any given time — or what he calls “cryptoeconomics.” But, while that’s the initial use of a blockchain, Buterin and his colleagues have found that such a decentralized system of keeping tabs on transaction records can extend to a far […]
Why China’s ban on Bitcoin may be temporary
China’s ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may be temporary, to appease international agencies and hardcore communist members ahead of the upcoming Communist Party convention. China’s big government and banks cannot tolerate Bitcoin. It threatens their very existence, as it was previously written in a piece here. That’s in the long term, though, when Bitcoin has the potential to replace the yuan in everyday transactions, and as a monetary asset. At present and in the immediate future, however, the size of the Bitcoin economy is far too small to be a real threat to the Beijing government and the banking system it owns and manages. That’s why something else must […]
A Central Bank blockchain could make other banks obsolete
Will banks like ANZ and Westpac go the way of the record store? Professor David Yermack from NYU Stern School of Business thinks so. He argues it’s only a matter of time before Central Banks withdraw banknotes from circulation and put the national currency into an electronic blockchain rending other banks “unnecessary”. The distributed ledger technology promises to give Central Banks much greater control over national currencies and could put an end to money laundering and tax evasion, argues Yermack, who counts bitcoin and cryptocurrencies among his areas of expertise. “It’s not a question of if but when a country will do this. And my expectation is that the benefits […]
IDC names top 10 fastest growing fintech companies in A/NZ
IDC Financial Insights has unveiled a list of 10 fast-growing fintechs in Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) as part of the broader FinTech 101 list for Asia/Pacific. “IDC’s FinTech Fast 101” refers to the fast-growing fintech players in Asia/Pacific based on extensive on-ground analysis of the dominant fintech players within the region. 10 Fastest Growing FinTechs in Australia and New Zealand Afterpay Touch Group Airwallex CoinJar Data Republic Harmoney HashChing identitii Prospa SocietyOne Xero Note: List is arranged alphabetically, Source IDC, 2017 IDC’s fintech list makes a reference to the Financial Insights’ Triple U framework — ubiquity, utility, and usability. This is a framework that evaluates fintech data across key metrics such as addressable […]
Regulated Bitcoin banking will disrupt Aussie finance sector says DigitalX
The launch of regulated, global bank trading in digital currencies such as Bitcoin will be a disruptive game-changer, says Australian digital currency consultancy, DigitalX. DigitalX (ASX:DCC) was the corporate advisor to Europe-based Bankera, which recently closed an “initial coin offering” after raising €25 million ($37 million). An initial coin offering is an unregulated means of crowdfunding using digital currency. Bankera expects to have a banking licence within the next two years and will operate as a global, regulated bank offering traditional banking and investment services to the blockchain marketplace, including payments, loans, deposits and investments. Blockchain is a technology that provides a public ledger of digital currency transactions. Each “block” […]
