Novatti to become an AUD Utility Token Anchor on the Stellar Network
ASX-listed Novatti Group Limited announce that it will launch the Novatti AUD Utility Token, the first Australian Dollar-Backed Utility Token. As an Anchor for the Stellar Network, consumers and institutions will be able to use the Novatti platform to instantly accept and settle payments in AUD, as well as easily access foreign exchanges via a lightning-fast global network. The Novatti AUD Utility Token, a token on the Stellar Network is one-to-one backed by the Australian dollar (AUD). Held in trust by Novatti, one Novatti AUD Utility Token will always be equivalent to one Australian dollar. With the Novatti AUD Utility Token, consumers and institutions, once KYC’d, will be able to […]
OnDeck small business online lending tops US$10 Billion
OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK), has announced it has achieved a milestone in the Financial Technology (FinTech) industry, becoming the first non-bank online lender to surpass US$10 billion in total loans originated to small businesses. OnDeck, with operations in the United States, Canada and Australia, is the world’s largest non-bank online lender to small business by total loan volume. Founded in 2015, OnDeck Australia is a subsidiary of OnDeck (ONDK). The achievement by OnDeck, a pioneer of the FinTech lending industry, is the latest indication that small businesses increasingly prefer to seek financing online. According to the Small Business Credit Survey from the Federal Reserve, small business owners are turning to online […]
Thousands of self-managed super funds are now investing in cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies have caught the eye of Australian self-managed super funds (SMSFs), according to staff from domestic crypto exchanges. So along with traditional holdings such as residential property or blue chip shares, a small portion of SMSF investors are looking for something a little more high-risk. Adrian Przelozny, CEO at crypto exchange Independent Reserve, told Business Insider there’s been “significant activity in the space” from SMSFs. He said the number of SMSF customers who are registered with the exchange now number “around six or seven thousand“. That’s still a relatively small percentage of the more than 590,000 SMSFs in Australia, which hold combined assets of almost $700 billion. But it’s a […]
‘Walk rather than a run to cashlessness’ in Australia, says payments boss
Large-scale technology shifts like the introduction of the Reserve Bank’s New Payments Platform and the rise of tap-and-go are hastening the retreat of cash as a transaction mechanism. But don’t expect to see the RBA pushing the stop button on its dollar bill production just yet, said the chief executive of the Australian Payments Network, Leila Fourie. “Cash is traditionally used as a store of value and for transacting. As a store of value the use of cash is on the increase, as a transaction mechanism it is retreating and reducing,” she told a panel session at The Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit 2018 on Monday. “However, I don’t think […]
Bank of Queensland bans using home equity loans for crypto
Lenders are banning property buyers from using home equity to buy cryptocurrencies because of regulatory fears and increased risk from volatile trading conditions. Bank of Queensland is the latest to ban any drawdown or lines of credit from loans to be used for leveraged purchases, trading or other use of the largely unregulated global digital currency. Other lenders are discouraging borrowers and mortgage brokers, who act as intermediaries between lenders and borrowers, from using real estate to fund high-risk investments. Leveraged currency plays can magnify gains from a successful investment decision but worsen losses. Lenders are asking questions and monitoring borrowers’ accounts to alert them to crypto-trades, purchases, or offshore […]
RBA not suitable to regulate new payments technologies
The government is being urged to follow in the UK’s footsteps and create a new regulatory body for the payments industry that can regulate new forms of payments being made via blockchain and cryptocurrencies. A white paper commissioned by lobby group the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance and conducted by researchers from RMIT University found that existing bodies such as the Reserve Bank were not suited to regulating the rapidly changing digital payments sector, because it wasn’t flexible enough. Co-author of the report RMIT senior research fellow Christopher Berg told The Australian Financial Review having payments policy and monetary policy in one institution would not be workable with the introduction of cryptocurrencies. […]
Aussie cryptocurrency exchange to trial BPAY’s Osko
Cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets is trialling BPAY’s Osko service as a way to speed up conventional fiat deposits from customers. The company said it would support Osko, which runs as an overlay on Australia’s new payments platform (NPP), which went live in mid-February. The billion-dollar NPP allows banks to send payment messages in real time to each other via the Reserve Bank. In a brief statement, BTC Markets said it would trial Osko for deposits only, but that it expected the service to also support withdrawals within a few months. Osko presents an opportunity for cryptocurrency exchanges to support much faster deposits of fiat currency into their ecosystems, which can […]
Cryptocurrencies aren’t ‘currency’, says RBA
The Reserve Bank of Australia has reiterated its attack on cryptocurrencies, questioning their purpose and pointing to the lack of demand from the finance industry. Speaking in Sydney at the ASIC Annual Forum 2018, RBA assistant governor Michele Bullock said she “object[s] to the term ‘cryptocurrency’”. “It isn’t currency. They’re not currencies. You can’t use them, typically, to make payments,” she said. “They don’t store value, and they’re not a unit of account. The name’s a misnomer to begin with.” Ms Bullock pointed out the fact that the RBA did already have electronic Australian dollars, called eAUD or ‘exchange settlement accounts’, but that this was restricted to banks needing to […]
