Blockchain is useful for a lot more than just Bitcoin
Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology is not just useful for creating digital currencies such as Bitcoin or developing new financial technologies. Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology was popularised by the Bitcoin digital currency system. But, essentially, a blockchain is just a special kind of database. The Bitcoin blockchain stores cryptographically signed records of financial transfers, but blockchain systems can store any kind of data. […]
Craig Wright says he will prove he is bitcoin creator
One day after Australian businessman Craig S. Wright declared he created the virtual currency bitcoin, he says he plans to prove it. After many bitcoin experts expressed scepticism about Mr. Wright’s claims, the 45-year-old computer scientist and engineer wrote Tuesday on his blog that he’ll present more evidence in coming days to prove he is Satoshi Nakomoto, bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. “I will be posting a series of pieces that will lay the foundations for this extraordinary claim, which will include posting independently-verifiable documents and evidence,” Mr. Wright wrote. Specifically, Mr. Wright says he plans to move some bitcoin from an account that has been around since the early days of […]
Meet eight fintechs changing financial services
When you have just seven minutes to sell your idea as the next big thing to change banking and investment, every moment counts. Thirty of the country’s best fintechs are pitching to a room full of 160-plus bankers, brokers and venture capitalists at the Grand Hyatt ballroom in Melbourne, where their story, business plan and even looks are all being judged. From payments to wealth management, peer-to-peer lending and crowd funding, fintech start-ups are taking aim at the heart of the financial services industry and a pot of revenues that Goldman Sachs estimates at $4.7 trillion. The banks are all vying for a stake in these disrupters before they join […]
Budget 2016: Innovation surprises in budget papers
Entrepreneurs developing fintech companies will get a leg up from a new program in association with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which will allow ideas to be tested with a limited number of retail clients for up to six months. These road tests in a “regulatory sandbox” will have prescribed investment limits. Australia will be promoted as a fintech destination in a government funded marketing campaign costing $200,000 next financial year. The government has also called for feedback on the best way to ensure fintech start-up activities are eligible for the venture capital tax concessions. Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology, will be the subject of a review by Data61 […]
The CSIRO is exploring Bitcoin’s blockchain technology
Announced as part of the 2016 federal budget, the government will be encouraging its agencies as well as private companies to explore blockchain technology. The government’s downsized CSIRO research body Data61 will lead the country’s blockchain development. “The Government will encourage the exploration of Blockchain technology, including through a study and pilot testing by the CSIRO’s Data61,” it said in the budget. “The benefits of this technology could be profound — extending right across our economy. We are looking to position Australia as a leading global player in this exciting new area,” treasurer Scott Morrison added. New changes to the GST will also make sure that consumers are no longer […]
Blockchain technology – why all the hype?
As one of the most talked about emerging technologies, some say blockchain technology could revolutionize everything from stock exchange settlements and transport logistics to voting or welfare payments. So what is it and why is it relevant to financial advisers? Internationally, the benefits and wide range of possible uses for blockchain technology have been touted for a couple of years now. Within Australia, it’s gained some ground after a recent Australian Securities Exchange decision to examine its use for a new clearing and settlement system that’s faster and cheaper than the existing CHESS system. To enable this effort, the ASX bought a five per cent stake ($14.9 million) in Blythe […]
Blockchain technology to hit bank profits
Revolutionary blockchain technology threatens to slash the profits of banks and wipe out lenders which fail to quickly adopt the online record-keeping innovation, a high-powered panel of finance and technology experts warned. Jose Fernandez Da Ponte, global digital business executive at Spanish banking giant BBVA, said digital disruption to financial institutions by blockchain posed “extremely large” threats and opportunities. “Those institutions not up to that are likely to cease to exist,” he said at a conference in Washington. At a panel convened by the International Monetary Fund, financiers, technologists and regulators debated the ramifications of the evolving blockchain. IMF deputy managing director David Lipton said banks and regulators were grappling […]
Blockchain is not just for Bitcoin – it is a digital ledger of transactions
Blockchain sounds like a solution to a 19th-century railway problem, but lately it’s on the lips of every executive who wants to solve the problem of 21st-century digital transactions. As innovator Tim Lea, of Veredictum, says: “It’s a great space we’re in — but getting hotter by the day.” Lea is building a blockchain for identifying videos and he’s running hard to keep up with the express train. The evolution of blockchain is exponential. It may have begun as a system for dealing with (often dodgy) digital transactions six years ago and it may have captured the imagination and budgets of banks last year, but in the months since it […]
