Forbes Fintech 50 call for nominations
For two years, Forbes has published our Fintech 50 list, showcasing the top companies shaping “the future of your money.” (See the 2015 and 2016 lists.) These innovative startups are making it easier for suppliers in emerging economies to get paid, for low-mileage drivers to save hundreds of dollars a year, for your financial advisor to create a tailored-for-you portfolio, and enabling even more technological advances that benefit many of us daily, unbeknownst to us. If the Great Recession shook trust in global finance, these are the firms that are building it back up. We’re about to begin updating the list for the third year — a multi-month process which […]
The future will be fuelled by data
The digital disruption rippling through business and government today is merely a curtain raiser for what comes next. The combination of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technologies and quantum computing will usher in new operating models, new industries, new possibilities. The future will be fuelled by data and technologies that harvest, protect, analyse and take action based on that information. Professor Mary-Anne Williams, director of the innovation and enterprise research lab at the University of Technology, Sydney, believes that cognitive computing is already a game-changer. “Cognitive computing is able to convert vast volumes of complex data into decision-making models that can be used take action autonomously without human oversight or intervention. […]
Australia aims to regulate Bitcoin exchanges
While the bitcoin rate is climbing new heights nearly every week, it becomes more and more obvious that a regulatory environment around the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has to evolve as well. Until now there has been two Asian countries, China and Japan, that have announced its desire to regulate their local bitcoin exchanges. This week these countries were joined by Australia, another major market. Let’s quickly analyse the pros and cons of such practices. Bitcoin Use Cases Today the bitcoin is used for nearly all possible kinds of transactions. It is possible to buy a cup of coffee, pay a tuition fee in some universities or simply settle down […]
Blockchain in race to remake one of the world’s oldest markets
The blockchain revolution is gunning for the gold market. Public online ledgers that emerged from the explosive markets for bitcoin, a virtual currency, already have drawn the attention of businesses from banks to retailers who see blockchain systems as a revolutionary way to verify and record transactions. Now, companies including exchange owner CME Group, IEX Group spinoff TradeWind Markets and financial technology firm Paxos are rolling out similar platforms to bring gold into the digital age. About $US27 billion ($34.1 billion) of gold changes hands every day in over-the-counter markets where settlements can sometimes takes days, leaving price risk for buyers and sellers. Using blockchain promises more transparency, security and […]
Australian FinTech Launches Australia’s Only Dedicated FinTech Jobs Platform – Australian FinTech Jobs
The team behind the highly successful Australian FinTech website have soft-launched their FinTech employment marketplace platform, Australian FinTech Jobs. Founder and CEO, Cameron Dart, says AustralianFinTechJobs.com.au has been born on the back of the highly successful Australian FinTech website and growing demand from the local FinTech community to have a dedicated employment platform for the sector. AustralianFinTechJobs.com.au is Australia’s only dedicated platform for FinTech companies and Recruiters to promote FinTech, financial technology, financial services, banking, legal and IT employment opportunities in Australia. “Australian FinTech have built a new jobs startup for fintechs and startups about startups, fintechs and jobs” “When people think of ‘FinTech’ in relation to employment, they might […]
Perth’s Power Ledger readies first Australia’s first Bitcoin IPO
Power Ledger, the Perth-based peer-to-peer energy trading company, is preparing to launch Australia’s first virtual currency IPO – an “initial coin offering” or ICO. The company, which is trialling community trading of solar energy over a custom private blockchain platform in Western Australia and New Zealand, aims to host a “token generation event” in early September. The amount they are seeking is uncapped and will be determined by demand for Power Ledger’s “POWRS” tokens. Chief executive Dave Martin said that, while they would be satisfied with $5 million, they could raise $10 million or $20 million if demand is strong. POWRs will be tradable on the Ethereum public blockchain platform […]
Blockchain solutions provider DigitalX seeks to slash costs via Minority Holder Sale
Through the minority holder sale, DigitalX hopes to cut the administrative costs associated with maintaining a large number of very small holdings. Australian Blockchain technology company DigitalX Ltd (ASX:DCC) is seeking to reduce costs stemming from maintaining a grand number of small shareholdings. In a filing with the ASX, the company has unveiled its plans to conduct a minority holder share sale of parcels of shares with a market value of less than $500. Let’s note that a “marketable parcel” is a parcel of shares with a market value of not less than $500. DigitalX notes that it “values all its shareholders, however it incurs significant administration costs maintaining such […]
Microsoft to release open source blockchain framework
Coco Framework promises confidentiality, scalability, and governance.Microsoft has launched the open source Coco Framework for blockchain networks, promising to address key drawbacks for enterprise use of the distributed transaction ledger technology. Blockchain was originally part of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency and was designed for public use with anonymous, untrusted actors and full transaction transparency. This means every participant in the blockchain network would execute all transactions added to it, making them visible to everyone with no confidentiality and unsuitable for enterprise use. Existing blockchain protocols also employ computationally intensive consensus algorithms, leading to poor scalability, with performance as slow as 10 to 20 transactions per second. Microsoft said the Coco Framework […]
