Venture capital 3.0: the initial coin offering explained
The venture capital community thrives on disruption. So what happens when the tables are turned and the medicine bottle has their name on it? There’s a new kid riding onto the financing block – riding roughshod across an unregulated landscape. Welcome to the world of the initial coin offering (ICO). An ICO is a hybrid: part crowdfunding, part software token, part speculation. In simple terms, an ICO is often described, somewhat inaccurately, as an IPO for cryptocurrencies. How it works – A tech start-up team creates an ICO using a blockchain-enabled software platform, usually open sourced. – The platform is powered by cryptography-based software tokens – called cryptocurrencies. – The […]
China giant Tencent funds Melbourne fintech start-up
Melbourne-based fintech start-up Airwallex has landed a $US13 million Series A funding round, becoming one of the first Australian companies to raise money from China’s biggest internet company, Tencent. Airwallex, which is building a new foreign exchange payment network, raised funding from the world’s fourth-biggest internet company, along with Sequoia Capital China and Mastercard. “We’ve built a digital banking layer and a digital compliance layer across traditional banking infrastructure,” co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang told The Australian. “You can think of us as a payment network; we’re offering a faster, cheaper way of making payments happen.” Airwallex lets businesses issue and pay invoices in their preferred currency at the mid-market […]
Banks may have to sell rivals’ products
Banks could be forced to sell financial products manufactured by competitors under new powers to be given to the corporate regulator. Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft said the move could break down the economics of cross-selling and force banks to sell their wealth operations. Foreshadowing the end of the vertically-integrated banking model, Mr Medcraft said new laws will give ASIC a mandate to police competition while “product intervention” powers could be used to ensure banks only sell products that are in the best interests of their customers – which might not necessarily be their own. Mr Medcraft said the regulator could use its new powers to limit […]
TorFX Awarded Best Value International Money Transfers
MOZO, one of Australia’s most established and accredited financial comparison websites has just announced TorFX as its Experts Choice Award for International Money Transfers 2017. This is the second year running that MOZO have awarded the title to TorFX; great recognition for a company who believe offer their customers the best value when making international payments to and from Australia. TorFX provide individuals and businesses with international payments as a cost saving alternative to the banks, by providing their clients with more competitive exchange rates than the more traditional means. TorFX clients can transfer money online 24/7 from anywhere in the world using their computer, tablet or smartphone. […]
Don’t write off bitcoin yet, despite blow to Winklevoss plan
It seems that bitcoin’s prophets of doom celebrated prematurely after the US Securities and Exchange Commission comprehensively knocked back the Winklevoss brothers’ bid to create an exchange-traded fund tied to the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The obituaries written over the weekend made much of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’s feud with Mark Zuckerberg over founder’s rights to Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking website. “They lost on Facebook; now they’ve lost on bitcoin,” the twins’ updated narrative said. Not so fast. Sure, the bitcoin price collapsed by 18 per cent after it had motored past the price for an ounce of gold in the week preceding the SEC’s […]
Banks need to contend with YOLO and FOMO for market share
The attitudes and expectations of Millennials are shaping up as a key hurdle for banks, as younger customers experiment with new financial service providers and defer major investment decisions such as property purchases. Consultants at KPMG say the results mean that banks will have to learn the meaning of YOLO (you only live once) and the importance of FOMO (fear of missing out) in order to adapt their strategies and capture this valuable demographic. The findings are contained in the consultant’s third annual survey of the banking habits of Generation Y titled “Banking on the Future” which surveyed 1400 professionals aged between 18 and 30 years old. In what amounts […]
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards – entries closing soon
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards May 11, 2017 in New York, is the premier event in Fintech, celebrating financial innovation from around the world. The Benzinga Awards is a competition to showcase the companies with the most impressive technology, who are paving the future in financial services and capital markets! Applications are still open, so apply now before the March 17 deadline. At the event, you’ll get a first look at groundbreaking technology, innovative platforms, and the chance to network freely with top industry professionals. Over 550 FinTech CEOs, C-suite executives of financial institutions, VCs, press, and others attended the 2016 Benzinga Fintech Awards. 45 exclusive exhibitor spots on the show floor […]
Bitcoin price plunges after SEC rejection
Regulator says no to first ETF to track the digital currency. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has denied a request to list what would have been the first US exchange-traded fund built to track Bitcoin, sending the price of the digital currency plunging. Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let them bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE’s Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF. In response to the rejection, the digital currency’s price fell as much as 18 percent in trading before rebounding slightly. It last traded down 7.8 percent to US$1098. Bitcoin had scaled […]
