Artificial intelligence to become commonplace at instos
About 60% of Northern Trust’s Australian-based institutional investment clients believe meaningful adoption of artificial intelligence will occur within the respective businesses over the next two years. Local instos are more bullish on AI than Singapore and Hong Kong-based clients, the global custodian notes, saying the Asia Pacific counterparts anticipate adoption happening in two to five years. Half of Australian clients surveyed also noted high-level stakeholder engagement and counter-party co-operation as vital to financial services’ adoption of blockchain. The findings come from surveys conducted at Northern Trust client events in the first quarter of 2018. Northern Trust head of market advocacy and innovation research, Asia Pacific, Danielle Henderson said as the […]
These Aussies are flying the flag at the US’s biggest crypto and blockchain conference
Blockchain companies and cryptocurrency traders are in overdrive this week as the industry’s most hyped conference gets underway in New York. The CoinDesk Consensus 2018 conference has tripled in size from last year with 250 speakers. And it’s even sparked a boon for bitcoin holders — with the digital token’s price climbing up from a three-week low as soon as the lambos rolled in. At about $2000 a ticket, the conference brings together the industry’s best and brightest — including a contingent of Aussie companies on an Austrade tour. Austrade senior investment specialist Kevin Cryan points to major blockchain projects in Australia by the ASX, Australia Post and CommBank. “There […]
FinTech Australia announce finalist for The Finnies 2018
FinTech Australia and Jobs for NSW have come together for the second year to host the national fintech awards, The Finnies. The Finnies will culminate in a Gala Awards Night Wednesday 13 June 2018 in Sydney. For more information go here. Here is the full list of finalists for the 2018 Finnies: Best Workplace Diversity ● BRICKX ● FirstStep Investments ● Link4 ● Valiant Finance Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year ● Brad Delamare – CEO, Tank Stream Labs ● Louis Edwards – Head of Renewable Energy Finance, RateSetter Australia ● Nick Molnar – Co-Founder & CEO, Afterpay ● Jack O’Reilly – Director, funding.com.au ● Rebecca Schot-Guppy – Community Manager, […]
Morrison sharpens blockchain, AI agenda
Australia’s open banking, blockchain and emerging fintech sector received a funding boost in last night’s Budget, a move the Treasurer said will increase competition and create new jobs. Treasurer Scott Morrison said the funding boost will build on its Financial Technology Innovation initiatives first introduced in last year’s Budget. In his Budget speech, Morrison said the Government is “moving forward with our Open Banking Regime and Consumer Data Right, giving small businesses and households more control, more choice and better deals.” The Government will pour $45 million over four years to develop the Consumer Data Right, enabling consumers to share and use their data in a safer way. Data-driven competition […]
DTA to explore blockchain for government payments
The government has ringfenced $700,000 of the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) budget to explore the use of blockchain for ‘government payments’. The DTA – formerly known as the Digital Transformation Office – will “investigate areas where blockchain technology could offer the most value for Government services” the Treasury stated in its Budget papers. “The cost of this measure will be met from within the existing resources of the Digital Transformation Agency,” Budget documents say. Last year, CSIRO’s Data61 group released two reports on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. “Blockchains transactions can support services for payments, escrow, notarisation, voting, registration, and process coordination. These are key in the operation of government […]
Sydney blockchain integrator strikes virtual deal for virtual currency project
Australia’s IoT Group (ASX:IOT) has struck a “cornerstone” agreement with Royalti Blockchain Group to kit out its proposed Hunter Valley power plant cryptocurrency mining project with Bitfury servers, but the deal has a very long way to go before becoming a reality. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed IoT Group said on 7 May that its subsidiary IoT Blockchain had signed a conditional binding terms sheet with Royalti Blockchain Group, an authorised Australian integrator for blockchain technology company Bitfury. The idea behind the deal is that Royalti Blockchain Group will house Bitfury’s cryptocurrency mining servers in Australia at IoT Group’s proposed Blockchain Applications Complex in the Hunter Valley, NSW. The publicly-listed […]
Bank KYC/AML compliance is broken, and blockchain can fix it
Not only is decentralisation the best solution. It might be the only solution. One of the least-sustainable trends in existing financial services is hidden away in the background. Compliance costs, which refers to the cost of handling legal obligations such as KYC/AML, are a growing stone in the shoes of financial services. And it’s growing extremely quickly. According to Thomson Reuters, the number of compliance professionals increased 3.5 times from 2016 to 2017, while financial institutions are pouring billions into transaction-monitoring systems designed to target suspicious behaviour, like frequent large cash deposits. No one’s entirely sure where these investments will end. At a time when new technology is cutting costs […]
ASX details timeline, features for new blockchain-inspired system
ASX Limited, the operator of the Australian Securities Exchange, has released new details of the system inspired by Bitcoin’s blockchain technology that will replace CHESS: The ASX’s Clearing House Electronic Subregister System. CHESS provides clearing, settlement and other post-trade services for the exchange. ASX in early 2016 revealed that it had acquired a stake in New York-headquartered Digital Asset Holdings, which develops blockchain-inspired distributed ledger technology (DLT). The intention was to explore whether a DLT-based system could potentially replace CHESS, which was originally rolled out in 1994. Although the exchange operator has emphasised that CHESS is stable and continues to function effectively, ASX says that replacing it with a blockchain-style […]
