What will new tech mean for crypto in 2019?
Ten years on from the emergence of Bitcoin, there is no doubt that crypto and blockchain technology have made a massive impact. However, many forward-thinking observers still believe that digital tokens and the processes behind them have a long way to go. New systems and ways of doing things are emerging all the time, and this year, there are plenty of developments on the cusp of debuting online. A greater public awareness and more widespread adoption is on the cards, with the world of established financial institutions continuing to make moves and government-level discussions about the future of crypto also taking place. With many insiders predicting a wide range of […]
International payment transfer provider FlashFX enhances additional customer on-boarding security
FlashFX is an international money payment service that can transfer to 35 countries across 18 currencies securely, quickly and with no transaction fees.
A guide to Ripple wallets
Ripple (XRP) is a decentralized real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), remittance network, and currency exchange. It was created as a distributed open source protocol by Ripple Labs Inc., a US-based technology firm. Ripple (XRP) was initially derived from RipplePay, back in 2004, a platform that had plans to grow into the current Ripple services, long before Bitcoin had emerged. It was rebranded and co-founded by Jed McCaleb, a prominent industry figure who later founded Stellar Lumens, another equally popular remittance platform based on blockchain technology. Its platform supports tokens representing cryptocurrency, fiat currency, commodities and even other units of value such as frequent flier miles and mobile minutes. Although XRP […]
Cryptocurrency is radical but who does the radicalism benefit?
“Free speech” is one of the battle cries of far-right activists who target democratic consensus and seek to divide the public. Alt-right agitators and trolls embrace the cry of “freedom” even as they take actions that fundamentally corrode Western unity, credibility and morale. Claiming “freedom” in fact makes it hard for defenders of the rules-based nations to identify the threat to public order posed by partisans on private-sector digital platforms. So it is somewhat alarming to see a similar dynamic – the cry of “freedom” – play out in another sphere, that of currency and payments. Right now, terminology being embraced in the world of cryptocurrency places the technology in […]
HSBC used blockchain to settle $250B worth of trades
HSBC has settled $250 billion worth of forex trades using blockchain in the last year, it said on Monday, suggesting the heavily hyped technology is gaining traction in a sector until now hesitant to embrace it. The bank has settled over three million forex trades and made over 150,000 payments since February using blockchain, it said in a statement. HSBC would not give data on forex trades settled by traditional processes, saying only that those settled by blockchain represented a “small” proportion. Still, the data marks a significant milestone in the use of blockchain by mainstream finance, which has until now been reluctant to start using the technology at any […]
Central banks say digital currency is definitely coming, crypto is maybe coming
Neither cash nor card looks like it will be king in the future. Uruguay, Sweden and emerging economies are among the countries most likely to implement digital currencies first. Most central banks don’t really know what’s going on with cryptocurrency usage in their countries, but believe it to be minimal. Central banks perceive more current and future use of cryptocurrency in cross-border payments than domestic payments. Most countries have given at least a passing glance at central bank digital currency (CBDC). This is exactly what it sounds like – a digital currency issued by a central bank. And many of them are now getting more hands on, according to a […]
XRP reaches Australia as FlashFX adopts Ripple’s cryptocurrency
In a move that has given a boost to the cryptocurrency market, FlashFX, a payment transfer platform, has announced the launch of its latest cross border payment solution using XRP that is targeted to improve the concept of foreign exchange in Australia. Nicolas Steiger, the Chief Executive Officer of FlashFX stated that: “We are excited to be part of the evolution in international payments processing. It’s about time that consumers and businesses saw a meaningful change in how money is sent across borders. The service provides an alternative for Australians who want to send a payment faster and cheaper than banks currently provide.” FlashFX has always worked with the mantra […]
Ten years of bitcoin is about more than boom, bubble and bust
This weekend will mark the 10th anniversary of the very first transaction involving bitcoin. A decade later the future of bitcoins and the host of the so-called cryptocurrencies that it spawned is still uncertain. On 12 January 2009, someone who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 bitcoins to a US software engineer, Hal Finney (they may, some believe, have been one and the same). The coins were virtually worthless and it took more than two years before the first exchange of bitcoins for goods – 10,000 bitcoin for two pizzas worth about $US30 ($42) – occurred. For most of their history cryptocurrencies have been a curiosity, a peer-to-peer anti-establishment version […]
