Airwallex in the money with $108m raise
Melbourne-based fintech start-up Airwallex has closed the second-largest fundraising round in Australian start-up history, taking in $US80 million ($108 million) for a Series B round led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings, alongside Sequoia Capital China and Melbourne’s Square Peg Capital. The company, which was founded by five Chinese-Australian 30-somethings, has built a system to enable cross-border payments by combining payments and foreign exchange transfers into a single transaction. In 2017 it raised $US19 million ($26 million) from the same investors, but it has now also added two more backers from China’s booming venture capital scene in Hillhouse Capital and Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures, as well as Indonesia’s Central Capital Ventura. […]
What the HODL? Your guide to cryptocurrency slang
Cryptocurrency slang can seem a little bit mystifying to those on the outside, so here’s a useful guide to some of the words you might encounter. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and countless others have barely left the news cycle in the last year or so. Bitcoin, arguably the most popular cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high in December 2017 as more and more members of the public jumped on the bandwagon. Digital dictionary What many people don’t know is that there is a rich vocabulary in the world of digital currencies. Forums and subreddits are littered with terminology that can often seem bewildering to outsiders. What are ‘whales’ if […]
One of the world’s largest crypto-exchanges Huobi Global is coming to Australia
Huobi Global, one of the world’s biggest crypto-exchanges, is preparing to launch in Australia, and Adrian Harrison, chief of the local operation, says the forward-thinking regulatory landscape here puts the country at the forefront of the crypto-movement. Domiciled in Singapore, Huobi provides exchange trading for cryptocurrencies, with 150 coin pairings available. According to Harrison, the exchange is “consistently in the top three in the world, in terms of volumes”. In February, Huobi raised $US300 million ($406.7 million) through the launch of its own Huobi Token, which allows exchange users to benefit from discounts in fees. It launches in Australia on July 5, and will start by listing Australian dollars against […]
What you need to know about cryptocurrency and tax
The rapid rise of cryptocurrency means many Australians now either invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies or use them as a convenient way to pay for goods and services. But what happens on the tax front when your cryptocurrency portfolio suddenly pays big digital dividends? CoinJar co-founder and CEO Asher Tan explains the key things you need to know. Cryptocurrency use has grown exponentially in the last two years and Australians have embraced cryptocurrencies as a way to spend, send and trade money from anywhere in the world. Today Australia is the world’s 11th biggest market for bitcoin volume. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that governments around the world […]
Digital cash not on RBA agenda
The Reserve Bank has poured cold water on the idea of a digital Australian dollar, with head of payments policy Tony Richards declaring the demand isn’t there. A group of Australian fintech start-ups through industry body FinTech Australia last year wrote a letter to the RBA calling for a new digital currency, known as the ‘DAD’ or Digital Australian Dollar. “A centrally issued Digital Australian Dollar, backed by fiat [physical] currency, would enable payments to be made between participants in real time and 24/7 along the supply chain,” AgriDigital co-founder Emma Weston said last year. Meanwhile Othera CEO John Pellew said in the letter a ‘DAD’ would help his company […]
How real is the competition to Bitcoin?
Cryptocurrencies continue to take the world by storm, with values increasing and new products entering the market all the time. While Bitcoin is still the world’s biggest digital currency, it faces serious competition from Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple just to name a few. The rise of cryptocurrencies has been called the biggest evolution of the financial system in history, as decentralised exchanges and blockchain technology continue to change how the world views money. While no-one knows exactly what’s in store for the crypto market for the remainder of 2018, the trending markets seen in 2017 seem to be consolidating into trading ranges across time scales. The entire cryptocurrency market […]
The crypto community isn’t happy with a negative report by the ‘bank for central banks’
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has weighed in on the crypto debate, and it was less than positive. The aim of the BIS is to foster global financial stability, and it’s owned by 60 central banks across the world. In that sense, the BIS also describes itself as the bank for central banks. Given that one of the stated aims of crypto is to disrupt the status quo of centrally controlled currencies, it’s perhaps not surprising that the BIS was critical. The report said crypto networks get less efficient the bigger they get. Along with scaling issues, they’re also volatile and subject to stability threats due to forks. […]
Bitcoin futures could be hurting bitcoin’s price
A Wall Street analyst known for his bullish stance on bitcoin has flagged the possibility that bitcoin futures contracts could be hurting the cryptocurrency’s price. Bloomberg reports that Tom Lee, the cofounder of the research firm Fundstrat, said in a note last week that bitcoin futures contracts could be behind bitcoin’s recent “gut-wrenching” price declines. Lee said in his report that there was “significant volatility” in bitcoin’s price around the expiration date of CME Group and Cboe futures contracts. Both CME Group and Cboe launched bitcoin futures products in December, when bitcoin was trading close to record highs of about $US20,000. Bitcoin has tumbled since then. Bitcoin was down 0.35% […]
