‘Better than blockchain’ new asset trading system unveiled
The chief scientist of the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre, Michael Aitken, has demonstrated a new asset trading system – known as digi.cash – which he says will allow a broad range of financial assets to be traded at virtually no cost with immediate settlement, potentially disruptive to existing markets like the Australian Securities Exchange. Digi.cash works via a system of “tokenisation”, where a digital representation is made of a physical asset. When the “token” is sent from one person to another, settlement is instant. The receiver can then “withdraw” the real asset. In a presentation to the Financial Review Innovation Summit, Professor Aitken, who received the Prime Minister’s innovation […]
Australian fintechs well placed as incumbents hook up with one-time raiders
On any given day, the collaboration model increasingly embraced by incumbent institutions and fintech companies means that a major bank will be working with 10-20 fintechs to remove clunky processes that are poison to customers. The narrative five years ago was that banks would crumble in the face of marauding fintech invaders, but trust (yes, it’s still there) and stability have proved to be confoundingly difficult adversaries. Business, though, is nothing if not pragmatic, so it’s no surprise that the battlelines in financial services have been redrawn by the ominous appearance of Google, Apple and Amazon on the horizon. The hope is that incumbency, spiced with a bit of fintech […]
ASIC poised to release ICO guidelines: What this means for startups
Startups enticed by the growing popularity of initial coin offerings (ICO) as a fundraising method may soon be subject to more regulation, as the corporate watchdog prepares step up its oversight of the blockchain-based funding practice to weed out any scams. However, one local startup founder who’s in the midst of his own ICO says more regulation is needed to ensure startups don’t expose themselves to unnecessary risk. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is poised to release a guiding statement on ICOs, reports Innovation Aus, which will likely see Australia follow the lead of the US by including the fundraising method within its existing regulations governing initial public offerings […]
FlashFX first off the block to use blockchain for international money transfers and launch into Asia
Foreign exchange digital currency provider, FlashFX, announces it is the first Australian company to receive an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) from Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to transfer money internationally using blockchain technology. The FlashFX infrastructure is built on the Ripple distributed ledger technology using their real time currency settlement and payment network. “FlashFX is designed to revolutionise the way everyone makes international money transfers,” says Chief Enabling Officer, Nicolas Steiger. “We purpose built the platform to move money overseas securely, quickly, cheaply and with more control for consumers. “Blockchain offers a cryptographically secure end-to-end payment flow and records all transacted information. Being regulated by ASIC adds that […]
Fintech future lies in a winning ecosystem: Reinventure
The Australian fintech sector must hone its focus to developing a specific ecosystem or risk losing out to a highly competitive global marketplace, according to Reinventure Group. Speaking at the Australia’s Asian Future Summit on Friday, Reinventure Group managing director Simon Cant spoke to the need for Australia to find its own fintech niche to attract global customers. He cited the success of Israel’s rapidly-expanding and globally dominant cyber security ecosystem, referred to by many as the ‘epicentre’ for security innovation. “Israel has developed a very strong reputation globally in relation to cyber security, and now people if they’ve got cyber security ventures it’s all about I need to get […]
Chinese online retail giant JD.com seeks Australian AI experts
China’s second-biggest online retailer, JD.com, is planning to recruit at least 100 Australian data scientists to supercharge its rollout of artificial intelligence technologies across its multi-billion-dollar empire. Paul Yan, who oversees JD’s digital advertising and marketing business, said JD.com was in talks with a number of Australian universities to develop a range of AI technologies. “My goal with my team is to try to recruit AI talent to JD. We have lots of AI projects happening at JD and we really need a lot of talent. We are trying to hire as much talent as possible,’’ Mr Yan told The Australian during a brief visit to Australia. “JD really likes […]
PowerLedger’s Bitcoin IPO powers towards $30m
Perth energy trading platform PowerLedger has raised $17 million in the first two stages of its Australia-first virtual currency IPO and looks set to raise more than $30 million by the time its public offer closes. Demand has exceeded Powerledger’s initial expectations and the success of the “initial coin offering” or “ICO” shows there can be a strong appetite for fundraising offers from Australian firms using this novel form of fundraising and virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Chair Jemma Green said the $17 million came from a discounted private presale of 90 million Powerledger tokens or POWRs to members of the company’s community, and a public presale of 100 […]
Cryptocurrencies are new barbarians at the gate of central banks
When the cryptocurrency Exio Coin starts a round of fundraising on September 7, its founders say the unit will come with a unique distinction: the first to be endorsed by a sovereign nation. The identity of the government backer won’t be revealed until October, and Bloomberg News has no way of verifying the claim of support. According to co-founder Sunny Johnson though, the supporter is one of “the world’s richest countries” on a per capita basis. The claim of official approval highlights how the boom in cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology is becoming too big for central banks, long the guardian of official money, to ignore. From speculative betting to […]
