The DAO: Australians buy into the virtual company of the future
Australian investors and organisations are among hundreds of backers of a new virtual organisation that only exists online, is run entirely by computer code, but which promises to change the nature of corporations worldwide. The DAO, or Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, represents the largest non-political crowdfunding project to ever hit the internet, closing a $US132 million ($184 million) fundraising round over the weekend, to create a corporation with no management, no board and essentially no legal rights in any jurisdiction. The Australian Financial Review has tracked down a number of Australians who have invested including Duncan Campbell, a 26-year-old early cryptocurrency adopter, Bitcoin company Bit Trade and smaller research organisations hoping […]
With Gyft.com Inaccessible Outside of the US, You Can Still Buy Gift Cards Using Bitcoins
In May 2013, one of the biggest news was that Gyft.com had chosen to accept Bitcoin. Purchasing almost everything using Bitcoins was now a reality. This is because Gift cards from over 200 retail brands are sold on the digital gift card platform. And that translates to close to hundreds of thousands of both online and brick and mortar stores where you could spend your bitcoins. But Gyft.com has never been quite accessible from anywhere on the globe. It still defines its geographical market as the United States. Even so, in the early days, you could still create an account from anywhere on the globe and purchase gift cards. It […]
Robo-adviser Six Park launches with Brian Watson, Lindsay Tanner and Paul Costello on Advisory Board
Australia’s pre-eminent financial experts have joined the next generation of automated financial advice providers with the launch of robo-adviser Six Park. Six Park’s team includes former Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, founding chief of the Future Fund Paul Costello and Six Park co-founder and former J.P. Morgan Australia Chairman Brian Watson on the company’s Advisory Board. Six Park has raised $1.4 million in seed funding pre-launch and combines the use of cutting edge technology with more than 100 years of investment expertise and wisdom led by co-founders Patrick Garrett (CEO) and Mr Watson (Chairman of Advisory Board). Independently-owned and operating in beta-mode for over a year to […]
Ripoll joins robo-advice board
Former Federal Labor MP, Bernie Ripoll has been appointed as a director of robo-advice focused group, Map My Plan. Ripoll, who was integral to a number of Parliamentary Committee inquiries into the financial planning industry, departed the Parliament this year and described his decision to become a director as reflecting his desire to continue to be involved in the advice sector. “FinTech is clearly having a transformative effect on financial services and the way the industry meets customer needs,” Ripoll said. Joining Map My Plan gives me the opportunity to help bring great advice to the majority of Australians currently missing out and to do something positive with my years […]
Stone & Chalk hopes interstate foray can spread innovation
In the intensely competitive world of fintech, it’s hard to overstate the benefit for Brand NSW from the ultra-low-cost Stone & Chalk hub, which aims to spread its tentacles to Melbourne before the end of the year. Sydney is already jostling for attention with global fintech destinations such as Silicon Valley, London, Tel Aviv, Singapore and Hong Kong — a status it’s achieved with the paltry investment of $2 million raised from the state government and industry. This column, however, has always advocated a national approach, which is why it’s so important that the rubber is starting to hit the road in Victoria. By the end of September, funding will […]
Banking faces massive disruption by fintech says IBM
A new study argues that as the traditional functions of banks become commoditised, value is moving from transactions to relationships. Unfortunately for banks, they face competition from small start-ups and enormous, cashed-up tech giants inserting themselves directly into the relationship with their customers. IBM’s Institute for Business Value has released a fintech report called “Banking at the Brink”, which identifies the finance industry as sitting square in the centre of a perfect disruptive storm. The Institute calls out three challenges. Banks are still struggling with sluggish profits in the aftermath of the Great Recession. A new type of customer, easily dissatisfied and disillusioned, has ever-growing expectations of engagement and improved […]
Big banks face big risk of losing customers
Australia’s big banks face a huge risk of losing their most valuable customers to their fintech rivals, new research has shown. According to an analysis conducted by Centre for Social Economics and Roy Morgan Research, the big bank customers most likely to churn, instead turning to tech-savvy fintech providers, are their “most valuable customers”. The fintech phenomenon, according to Roy Morgan, taps into a new consumer mindset – called the Desire Economy – where 64% would prefer never to go into a traditional bank branch. Ever again. Consumers in the Desire Economy are younger, well educated, tech-adopting, urban dwellers. Forty percent are early adopters of technology compared to only 5% […]
Craig Steven Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto – Maybe, the Leader of the Team
Have you already bought into the idea of Craig Steven Wright being Satoshi Nakamoto? There is a growing voice saying not so fast! Indeed, the shadow of doubt is growing every passing moment as members of the Bitcoin community pour over the evidence that he has put on the table. This can be witnessed on various Bitcoin forums, such as the Bitcoin subReddit, where some enthusiasts are expressing their disbelief. They could be wrong. They could right. Who knows at this point? Andreas M. Antonopoulos is one of those who have come out to question the validity of Craig Steven Wright’s claims. The author of Mastering Bitcoin, a Bitcoin security […]
