FinTech

Jan
04

Coinspot rubbishes liquidity claims, says it is ‘getting closer’ to turning on Australian dollar deposits

Aussie cryptocurrency exchange Coinspot has described warnings of liquidity issues due to too many customers cashing out as “absolute rubbish and untrue”.

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Jan
04

Can a fintech lending firm disrupt the big four?

If Australian banking needs a fundamental shake-up, it may come from insiders-turned-outsiders, and few fit that bill better than Jason Yetton at SocietyOne. As CVs for Australian bankers go, Jason Yetton’s background doesn’t quite scream ‘disruptor’. High-flyer perhaps, certainly ambitious and across trends. But helming a startup? Yetton started out in 1992 as a graduate trainee in Sydney at Bankers Trust under its then boss, the dynamic Rob Ferguson. There was the obligatory stretch in Asia – in Kuala Lumpur with CIMB – and the polishing stint at Harvard Business School too. By 2008, Yetton had joined Gail Kelly at Westpac in Sydney in a variety of senior posts, rising […]

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Aussie crypto exchange turns attention to new laws

BTC Markets expects delays, fine-tuning. Australian cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has warned users to expect deposit and withdrawal delays as it “fine-tunes” transaction monitoring systems to meet new legal obligations. Last month, financial regulator AUSTRAC was handed the authority to monitor local digital currency exchanges under new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML-CTF) laws. It’s the first time Australia’s digital currency sector has been regulated, and BTC Markets is the first local exchange to detail what that might mean for its operations. The company said it already verified “the identity of our users, their source of funds, and the purpose of their transactions as they occur on our platform … […]

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Jan
03

Is bitcoin’s price tumble a warning bell for investors?

Seasoned investors will find it hard to resist a smug “I told you so” if the price of bitcoin continues the swoon which has seen it tumble from its December peak of nearly $US20,000, to around $US13,150 late on Tuesday. That’s because since its creation in 2008, most investors have tended to see bitcoin as a financial market sideshow, of interest to criminals and drug dealers perhaps, but scarcely an asset that could be ranked alongside shares or bonds. But bitcoin’s stunning price rise last year – the digital currency started 2017 at less than $US1000, which meant that it notched up a gain of around 2000 per cent for […]

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Jan
03

Fintech firms welcome regulatory pathway for new bank entrants

A group of over 180 fintech firms strongly believes the country’s financial regulator should pursue steps to ease licensing for new entrants to the banking industry. In a submission paper to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), FinTech Australia agreed that APRA should utilise a “phased approach” to help potential applicants navigate the licensing process, while at the same preserving entry standards. A discussion paper by APRA released last year initially suggested the phased approach idea to stoke further competition. “The phased approach is intended to support increased competition in the banking sector by reducing barriers for new entrants being authorised to conduct banking business, including those with innovative or […]

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Jan
03

Bitcoin futures trading company XBT Investments heads for the ASX

Investors who are unsure of how to buy or manage their own cryptocurrencies will have an easy way to be exposed to the volatile asset class, with the first bitcoin investment company readying to list on the ASX this quarter. The float of XBT Investments, which has a management agreement with BitFunds, will invest in bitcoin futures rather than own the cryptocurrency outright. This enables it to overcome the ASX’s listing rules which do not permit pure cryptocurrency investment companies. The listing comes as bitcoin starts the new year trading lower for the first time since 2015, having fallen from almost $18,000 to less than $17,300. The slide comes on […]

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Jan
02

First Growth Funds raises funds for blockchain

Investment company First Growth Funds (ASX:FGF) has announced it will raise $3.45 million to expand into the blockchain sector. The company has agreed to issue more than 282 million shares to Australian and international investors, representing just under 25 per cent of the issued share capital of the company. The placement is led by blockchain technology company Blockchain Global which will hold 10 per cent of the issued capital on completion of the placement. The partnership with Blockchain Global is expected to provide strategic deals for blockchain-related investment opportunities.   To read more, please click on the link below… Source: First Growth Funds raises funds for blockchain | Finance News […]

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Jan
02

Bitcoin stumbles out of 2018 starting blocks

Bitcoin is already having a bad year. For the first time since 2015, the cryptocurrency began a new year by tumbling, extending its slide from a record $US19,511 reached on December 18. The virtual coin traded at $US13,150 as of 12.58pm in New York, down 8.1 per cent from Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s also a fall from the $US14,156 it hit Sunday, according to coinmarketcap.com, which tracks daily prices. Bitcoin got off to a much stronger start last year, and then kept that momentum going, eventually creating a global frenzy for cryptocurrencies. In a sign of its phenomenal price gain in 2017, it rose 3.6 per cent […]

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