440,000 transactions per second with Red Belly Blockchain
The University of Sydney has recently announced that it has developed a new Blockchain-based system that can perform more than 440,000 transactions per second. Researchers from the School of Information Technologies at the University of Sydney, who developed the new Blockchain, named this system after one of Australia’s most deadly snakes – Red Belly Blockchain, and claim that it has a game-changing potential for the financial transfers industry. Moreover, according to them, the Red Belly Blockchain allows for the exchange to occur in a peer-to-peer fashion, as well as in a commercial environment restricted to certain users, which makes it the first blockchain being built to work both in public […]
What Monopoly? Blockchain startup Setl sets sights beyond Australia
Setl founder Peter Randall isn’t waiting for permission to build the first competing platform in an Australian post-trade system long dominated by a monopoly. While the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) enjoys exclusive rights to clear and settle transactions for the nation’s financial institutions, Randall’s startup has already built a service he believes can process the load more quickly and at lower cost than ASX’s proprietary CHESS platform. Ironically, ASX’s exploration of distributed ledger tech with partner Digital Asset Holdings has boosted the blockchain industry in Australia, yet its monopoly means less competition in bringing solutions to market. Nevertheless, Randall isn’t waiting for the nation’s regulators to begin loosening older, monopolistic […]
Pitch@Palace – a chance for FinTech Startups
What is Pitch@Palace? The Duke of York founded Pitch@Palace in 2014 to provide a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of Entrepreneurs. In 2016, HRH founded Pitch@Palace Global to help Entrepreneurs build connectivity around the world. Pitch@Palace Global helps Entrepreneurs seek new markets and find partners and investors building prosperity and creating jobs. Developing this connectivity supports the growth of all Pitch@Palace Alumni. In 2016, Pitch@Palace Global events took place in Estonia, Malaysia and Mexico. In 2017, Pitch@Palace Global hosted Pitch@Palace Africa, in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Pitch@Palace China took place in May, 2017. Later this year further events will take place in Australia, the […]
The new crowdfunding? Ethereum ICOs raise close to $1 billion in June alone
In just 19 days, Ethereum initial coin offerings have raised close to $1 billion dollars, according to estimates, with speculations this could be the biggest decentralised venture funding event in history. Tech news site Trust Nodes has crunched the numbers and estimates $US642 million has been raised by prominent initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the first three weeks of June, with another estimated $US60 million raised from smaller events. An ICO involves investors buying a cryptocurrency, which has a value in relation to another currency like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Bancor raised $US150 million on June 13, making it the biggest crowdfunding in history, at least for a few days. Trust […]
Cross-border digital payments company InstaReM receives US$13m investment
The latest round of investment brings the total amount raised to over US$18M from a consortium of some of the largest funds in the region. InstaReM, one of the leading digital cross-border payments companies, has received a US$13 million investment led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund (SBI-FMO Fund), Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC). To date, InstaReM has raised over US$18 million in the last 18 months. InstaReM, who lists Australia as its biggest market, will use the investment to build its global payment infrastructure, which has grown eight times in volume since its March 2016 funding. The […]
Opportunities being lost as crowdfunding debate rumbles on
The ongoing debate regarding the introduction of crowd-sourced funding legislation appears to have lost sight of the essential point. Start-ups, investors and the economy continue to miss out on valuable opportunities while people argue. While other countries, including New Zealand and the US, already permit companies to raise capital under a crowd-sourced offer, the Australian legislation allowing public companies to do so has not yet come into effect. The government is now proposing to also allow proprietary companies to raise capital by means of a crowd-sourced offer, with draft legislation currently under consideration. Once implemented, these new measures will expand the scope of the legislation and allow more start-ups to […]
Prospa named as finalist in Telstra Business Awards for third year in a row
For the third year running, Prospa, Australia’s leading online lender to small business, is proud to have been named as a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards. Prospa is a finalist in the NSW Medium Business category, having grown significantly since 2015 when the company was first shortlisted for the Small Business Award. Over the past five years, Prospa has transformed the way small business owners experience finance, injecting more than $350m into the Australian small business economy through over 10,000 loans to small business owners. Alongside this growth, Prospa has maintained extremely high customer satisfaction of over 90%, as well as forming strategic partnerships with Westpac, Reckon and IAG, […]
Fortnum Financial Advisers partners with Moneysoft
Moneysoft will provide its digital money management solution to Fortnum Financial Advisers under a new partnership set to boost client engagement and provide greater insights across the advice process. Fortnum will provide the co-branded Moneysoft tool to advisers across its full network, enabling them to empower clients and bolster their financial wellbeing. Fortnum’s Practice Technology Manager, Cassandra Mackay, said Fortnum are excited to provide our Adviser Network with a tool to engage their clients in budgeting and cash flow.” “This is a great opportunity for an adviser to partner with their clients to achieve their financial goals.” Moneysoft Pro and Lite are both cloud-based digital solutions offered by the company, […]
