Cryptocurrencies aren’t ‘currency’, says RBA
The Reserve Bank of Australia has reiterated its attack on cryptocurrencies, questioning their purpose and pointing to the lack of demand from the finance industry. Speaking in Sydney at the ASIC Annual Forum 2018, RBA assistant governor Michele Bullock said she “object[s] to the term ‘cryptocurrency’”. “It isn’t currency. They’re not currencies. You can’t use them, typically, to make payments,” she said. “They don’t store value, and they’re not a unit of account. The name’s a misnomer to begin with.” Ms Bullock pointed out the fact that the RBA did already have electronic Australian dollars, called eAUD or ‘exchange settlement accounts’, but that this was restricted to banks needing to […]
New Visa scheme requires ‘aggressive changes’ to help early-stage startups: Slingshot’s CEO
Unveiled this week, the Global Talent Scheme represents a softening of the Government’s stance on skilled immigration. Dynamic Business spoke with a cohort of business leaders from across the tech, recruitment and startup sectors to gauge whether they believe the 457 Visa replacement scheme will satisfy the needs of SMBs for highly-skilled foreign workers. Skills transfer Tim Bos, co-founder of ShareRing described the Global Talent Scheme as a great opportunity for his blockchain-powered sharing economy startup to engage highly-skilled global talent and have them play a role in upskilling junior staff, fresh out of university. He added, “An issue we face is in finding people with a lot of experience […]
Aussie blockchain company Power Ledger is consulting with the ATO to shape how ICO proceeds are taxed
Australian crypto sector darling Power Ledger has revealed it’s in consultation with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to develop a proposition on how initial coin offerings (ICOs) should be treated in Australia. Power Ledger, which completed a $34 million ICO in October last year, has long been an advocate for heightened transparency and caution around operating a company in the notoriously unregulated cryptocurrency space. The startup’s efforts to deliberate with the ATO are a continuation of this, and co-founder Dave Martin hopes will get a clearer and better-defined outcome come tax time for not only Power Ledger, but both past and future Australian ICOs. “We’re trying to be as transparent […]
Moneycatcha uses blockchain to streamline mortgage applications
MoneyCatcha is using blockchain technology to make home loan applications quicker and cheaper. One of the most time consuming and costly processes banks go through is signing customers up to a mortgage. The full loan application process can take weeks and has a significant cost. Data is often captured and manually re-entered several times resulting in potential errors and a further waste of resources. As a highly competitive part of retail banking, and perhaps its most profitable activity, being able to differentiate from other banks is critical. Also, with increased scrutiny on loan documents as we’ve seen through the Royal Commission on banking, the need to be able prove the […]
DigitalX Ltd teams with MailGuard to develop blockchain based cybersecurity network
DigitalX was recently appointed as adviser for two major initial coin offerings. DigitalX Ltd (ASX:DCC) has been appointed corporate advisor to MailGuard, the world’s largest private Software as a Service (SaaS) email security company. DigitalX will advise MailGuard in the development of a blockchain cybersecurity ecosystem called GlobalGuard. Based out of Perth and New York, DigitalX provides initial coin offering (ICO) advisory services, blockchain consulting services and software development A new method to fight cybercrime In a world first, GlobalGuard will combine artificial intelligence (AI) and Blockchain technology to identify emerging email-borne cyber threats.Global spending on cybersecurity products and services is predicted to exceed $1 trillion by 2021. GlobalGuard is […]
Chinese blockchain delegation hunts Aussie opportunities
A high-powered delegation of Chinese technology executives is in Australia this week for discussions on blockchain, including how China plans to apply it to trading relationships. The companies are a who’s who of China’s fintech elite. Senior managers from Ant Financial, WeBank, JD.com, ZhongAn, Wanxiang and OnChain have made the trip south. They’re being led by Ming Li, director of the China Electronics Standardisation Institute, which has responsibility for setting blockchain industry standards under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Blockchain records and verifies transactions in synchronised databases providing transparency and security. The architecture will end up underpinning an “internet of value”, which proponents reckon will be as important […]
Blockchain technology is shaping the future of business
Since the dawn of the internet, businesses have faced the challenges of trying to integrate themselves into the digital world. Traditionally customer involvement was not present within large corporations where their opinions were considered law. Blockchain technology is shifting the market to promote more customer involvement. Blockchain refers to a decentralised platform where transactions are made via cryptocurrency and all of the records are recorded in a chronological order for the public to view. The major fact to note about blockchain is that anyone can view the economic transactions and form their opinion based around that. This could sprout a new era of customer involvement with companies and businesses if […]
Private wealth platform appoints ASX-listed corporate adviser
A blockchain-based private wealth platform that created China’s first robo-advice solution appointed an ASX-listed corporate advisory firm for its initial coin offering (ICO). Bankorus, which now advises more than 200,000 high-net-worth investors representing an aggregate US$30 billion in assets, will partner with DigitalX (ASX:DCC) to launch its ICO. DigitalX is based in Perth and New York and provides blockchain consulting, software solutions and ICO support. Bankorus allows HNW investors with multiple ways to access cryptocurrency using traditional assets. Investors can, for example, “tokenise” illiquid assets such as real estate holdings, and borrow cryptocurrencies against the value of any existing traditional asset. DigitalX noted that the global cryptocurrency market represents about […]
