Tencent to build virtual bank after Hong Kong regulator approves license
Chinese internet giant Tencent is set to open a blockchain-based virtual bank after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved a new license. Speaking at the World Blockchain Summit in Wuzhen, China on Friday, Tencent blockchain chief Yige Cai said the company’s virtual bank received the SFC’s green-light. Moving forward, the company will assemble a team to support the blockchain-based banking platform, according to Chinese media site Sina Finance. “Hong Kong’s new regulations and supervision on digital assets transactions validates the importance of blockchain technology and digital assets, which is good news for the whole industry,” Cai said in his speech at the summit. The SFC has granted […]
How this young entrepreneur turned her hobby into a fintech startup powered by blockchain
Making money is hard but managing it is not as tough, says 23-year-old Smriti Tomar, who started InvestoAsia, a fintech startup based on blockchain technology this year. Gurugram- and Hong Kong-based InvestoAsia aims to help retail investors to easily invest in international markets, especially in China and South Korea, which Smriti feels is currently a major difficulty. The Founder and CEO dubs the platform as a ‘financial lifestyle product’ that aims to redefine personal finance with the power of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and distributed ledger technology (blockchain), to eradicate the inequality amongst the unbanked, unaware, and financially illiterate. The startup, the Founder notes, provides opportunities that were […]
Jibrel wins Fintech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge
Jibrel, a multinational blockchain-based fintech company, won the 2019 Fintech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge. The award was given for the team’s work on Jibrel.com, a fully-regulated blockchain-powered private financing platform. Jibrel provides a vertically-integrated solution that connects startups and small-to-medium enterprises with investors of all genres to create capital formation. As an awardee, Jibrel will represent Abu Dhabi and the Mena region at the Global FinTech Hackcelerator in Singapore this month. Additionally, a panel of experts will help deploy Jibrel·com’s proof of concept in the UAE and beyond. Various other benefits of the award include a S$200,000 grant. Jibrel was one of two chosen from a pool of 14 startups. […]
University of Malta offers a Master’s degree in blockchain
The University of Malta now offers a master’s degree in blockchain. The “Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology” course, which accepted its first cohort this month, is a multi-disciplinary degree offered by the University’s Centre for Distributed Technologies. It costs 13,400 euros a year, and lasts three semesters. The master’s degree, which is offered on a full-time or part-time basis, will, according to a prospectus, arm people from different industries with a multi-disciplinary approach to crypto. “Programmers will require knowledge of regulatory and legal frameworks within which smart contracts are being proposed, and similarly lawyers would be required to understand obligations laid out within smart contracts,” reads the prospectus. To read […]
Venezuela launches its own cryptocurrency to escape hyperinflation
President Nicolas Maduro says Venezuela has received $US735 million in the first day of a pre-sale of the country’s “petro” cryptocurrency, aimed at pulling the country out of an economic tailspin. Maduro is hoping the petro will allow the ailing OPEC member to skirt US sanctions as the bolivar currency plunges to record lows and it struggles with hyperinflation and a collapsing socialist economy. Blockchain experts have warned the petro is unlikely to attract significant investment. Opposition leaders have said the sale constitutes an illegal debt issuance that circumvents Venezuela’s majority-opposition legislature, and the US Treasury Department has warned it may violate sanctions levied last year. Maduro did not give […]
India’s flourishing fintech sector is craving the finance minister’s attention
While most industries have long lists of demands from finance minister Arun Jaitley leading up to the budget on Feb. 01, India’s booming fintech sector primarily has just one wish—that its presence be acknowledged. While the Narendra Modi government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have already laid down regulations for certain segments, such as peer-to-peer lending, others like cryptocurrencies and online lending startups are yet to be regulated. Such regulation may mean stricter compliance, but the management at these firms believe it will lend legitimacy to the industry, which is expected to be worth $2.4 billion by 2020. That, in turn, will help them grow faster. “Given the […]
Hong Kong–based investment firm acquires pioneering Bitcoin exchange BTCC
BTCC is exiting the Chinese market to focus on making digital currencies accessible to everyone globally. This acquisition by a Hong Kong–based blockchain investment fund is a milestone for BTCC and will allow BTCC to focus on global digital currency adoption. BTCC, located in China and founded in 2011, was the world’s oldest bitcoin exchange until it closed in September 2017 under pressure from the Chinese government. It changed business focus to its international pool, wallet and exchange markets. “Today’s acquisition is an incredible milestone for BTCC that validates all of our hard work over the past few years,” said Bobby Lee, CEO and co-founder of BTCC, in a statement. […]
Australia gets its first dedicated platform for fintech jobs
By Elizabeth Barry, Editor, finder.com.au The site has been launched to fill a gap in the fintech market. The Australian fintech sector now has a dedicated platform through which to source local talent as well as apply for fintech jobs. The team behind Australian FinTech have this week launched the employment platform, Australian FinTech Jobs, to better service the sector when it comes to finding talent. Founder and CEO Cameron Dart, who was recently named as one of finder.com.au’s Top 25 Fintech Influencers, said the platform seeks to service all areas of employment. “When people think of ‘fintech’ in relation to employment, they might initially think of just ‘finance’ or just ‘technology’ jobs,” Dart […]
