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 […]
Digital currency exchange opens Australia’s first OTC desk for institutions
Independent Reserve, the Australian Digital Currency exchange, has opened Australia’s first over-the-counter trading desk for institutions wanting to make large digital currency trades. CEO Adrian Przelozny said the lack of block trading venues had been a barrier for institutions to participate in digital currency investment. “Digital currency markets are just like any other asset class, in that when the market sees a big trade coming through it will move the price against whoever is making that trade,” he said. “In equity markets they solve that problem with dark pools and sales trading desks, but there is no digital currency equivalent in Australia as yet. By establishing an OTC desk with […]
Why parents are worried about children’s digital money habits
OUR rapid transformation to a cashless society is concerning many parents and increasing the need for new ways to pay children pocket money. Mums and dads are worried about their children’s understanding of digital money, yet four out of five parents still pay kids using physical cash. As digital spending surges with apps, tap-and-go technology and other cashless methods, 39 per cent of parents say they are concerned their kids don’t know enough about it, according to new research from financial technology and education business Spriggy. However, 78 per cent pay cash pocket money, which Spriggy co-founder Mario Hasanakos describes as “such a disconnect”, given that Reserve Bank data shows […]
Bipartisan push for the Reserve Bank to back Australian bitcoin
Labor and Coalition senators have crossed the political divide to call on the Reserve Bank to embrace bitcoins as an official form of currency or risk the future competitiveness of Australia’s $145 billion a year financial services industry. The push from Labor senator Sam Dastyari and Liberal senator Jane Hume comes after the digital currency soared to an all time high of $4070 per bitcoin on Monday, up from less than 10¢ per coin in 2010. Senator Dastyari said when he first raised bitcoin in the Senate, one of his colleagues came to him and said: ‘I don’t get what the issue is, don’t they just melt all the coin […]
digi.cash launches digital Australian dollar
digi.cash, a spin-off company of the Capital Markets CRC, today officially launched the digital Australian dollar. The electronic version of the currency is digitally ‘minted’ as electronically signed coins and banknotes. These can be held on smartphones, computers or storage media. Just like cash, online users can transfer coins and notes between each other via free, instant transactions. The encryption technology used means that the electronic banknotes can securely circulate over public communication networks, without the risk of theft or counterfeiting. Digi.cash founder Andreas Furche, along with Chairman David Skellern and Director Peter Clare, said the launch represented a fulcrum moment for Australian FinTech. “Unlike other digital money products, digi.cash […]
New blockchain platform MezFi launches to democratise mezzanine finance for everyday investors
MezFi is set to shake up the Australian investment landscape with a groundbreaking platform set to democratise access to mezzanine finance in the property sector.
What does a Trump President mean for banking, fintech and crypto?
What does a Trump Presidency hold for financial services post 2025?
