New alliance launched in Hong Kong to help support local FinTech startups
FinTech was identified as one of the key areas to generate momentum for Hong Kong’s economic development, under ‘Smart Economy’ in the city’s Smart City Blueprint released last December. FinTech initiatives will also have an impact in the ‘Smart Living’ area of the Blueprint. On January 24, a new alliance was launched in Hong Kong to help support local start-ups in the financial technology (FinTech) sector. The CSI Alliance has Cyberport, the Smart City Consortium (SCC) and IBM China/Hong Kong Ltd as its core members. It aims to foster collaboration between technology, academic and commercial stakeholders to address issues faced by FinTech start-ups and help accelerate their growth. Cyberport is […]
Indonesia’s fintech lending boom exploits shortfall in bank loans
Fintech firms, offering loans of as little as a few hundred dollars, are seeing a spike in lending in Indonesia where tens of millions of people have little or no access to bank credit – helping alleviate a financing shortfall estimated at more than $73 billion. The emergence of these peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms has so far been welcomed by Indonesia’s financial regulators which see them as offering a much needed service to cash-strapped businesses and consumers at a time when Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been hobbled by sluggish bank lending. Wimboh Santoso, head of Indonesia’s financial regulator (OJK), said while the trend was still a drop in 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. […]
Startup Robinhood to launch commission-free cryptocurrency trading
Online brokerage startup Robinhood plans to launch commission-free cryptocurrency trading, the company said on Thursday, riding a wave of interest from retail investors for the new asset class. Starting in February, Robinhood customers will be able to buy bitcoin and ether, the two most popular virtual coins. The Palo-Alto based startup plans to add more cryptocurrencies in the coming months. Robinhood is launching the service in response to a groundswell of customer demand, Vlad Tenev, co-CEO and co-founder of Robinhood, said in an interview.” For some individuals we see cryptos are the first foray into financial services,” he said. Cryptocurrencies are digital coins whose values are not backed by central […]
India leads world in Fintech investment returns
India is a dominant force in the financial technology sector globally with 29 per cent annual returns on investments, a report released by the City of London Corporation said. The Corporation — the municipal governing body of the British capital — released the report as part of its launch of a new “Asia Next Decade” campaign. The ‘Asia as a financial services partner for London’ report also found that the “demonetisation wave” in India led to a 1,000 per cent increase in demand for digital transaction technologies last year after the government banned the high- value bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. “Annual returns on FinTech investment in […]
Fintech start-ups continue to disrupt the established order
Fintech start-ups are developing innovative new solutions to shake-up the financial services sector; established banks are having to decide whether to collaborate or compete. Banks have been the dominant force in the financial sector for decades, but it is very possible that this is about to change. Emerging financial technology start-ups are challenging this authority, demonstrating levels of commitment to innovation and agility that long-established financial institutions cannot compete with. According to a recent report by PwC, more than 80 percent of existing fintech firms believe they are losing revenue to more innovative rivals. Much of the fintech-related discussion concerns how banks can compete with the new kids on the […]
Weiss has issued its first cryptocurrency ratings, ranking Ethereum above bitcoin
The securities ratings firm is the first to give a rating to cryptocurrencies. Weiss Ratings has ranked Ethereum as “better” than bitcoin, as well as the EOS coin in its first cryptocurrency ratings. Bitcoin received a C+ rating from the firm, due to the fact that its network has some serious bottlenecks which have resulted in long transaction delays and fees. Weiss acknowledged bitcoin’s core developers were looking to address these issues, with the likes of the Lightning network, however it noted that there is no immediate mechanism for promptly. Ethereum’s B rating was received due tot he fact it benefits from more readily upgradeable technology, with a development team […]
Data shows Fintech market growth
According to data provided by KPMG, the global fintech funding continues to remain strong with US$8.2 billion invested in the third quarter of 2017. This is after more than doubling to US$9.3 billion in the second quarter. Even though deal volume declined slightly in the third quarter this year, investments in Fintech were still way above the US$6.3 billion raised in third quarter of 2016. The United States has led the in global fintech investments. Data shows that in the 3rd quarter of 2017 US$5 billion deployed across 142 deals. A major portion of the fintech industry is the blockchain market. Data by Research and Markets projects that the global […]
