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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
CoinShares announces two new flagship funds
CoinShares Group, the group behind the first bitcoin and ether exchange traded notes (Issued by XBT Provider AB) and the team behind the world’s first regulated bitcoin strategy (GABI), is announcing two new flagship crypto investment funds. The two funds: CoinShares ‘Active’ Fund – a multi-coin, alpha-generating, active strategy; and CoinShares ‘Large Cap’ Fund – a passive, large-cap, basket fund; represent a natural evolution of market approaches based on the current trajectory of the crypto-asset economy. This announcement follows the group’s October launch of the first Ether Tracking, Exchange Traded Products on Nasdaq Stockholm. These ETPs now comprise more than $350M of assets less than 4 months post launch. “As […]
Fintech investment thriving in the UK
Financial technology, or fintech, is thriving in the UK, with many start-ups leading innovation across the country. With new advances in fintech it is increasingly easy to check your balance on the go, or to utilise contactless technology wherever you may be. It’s developing at such a rate that technologies such as paying with your phone or fingerprint technology at a checkout will soon become the norm. How much is it growing in the UK? A report from UK Fintech said that industry investment had increased by over 50% each year since 2008. To put things in perspective this is twice as much growth as in the Silicon Valley, which […]
Fintech: Why It Matters So Much to Your Investment
Fintech is a term that combines two words; Financial and Technology. It means emerging financial services that are fast expanding to include inventions in financial literacy, retail banking, education, investing, and cryptocurrencies. While fintech was initially only applied to conventional technologies that were applied to back-end established clients and financial institutions, the term now refers to how to people operate their enterprises ranging from double-entry accounting to currency invention. Notably, financial technology has grown explosively as mobile internet revolution advances. Facts about Fintech and their applications today In their latest report, Accenture established that international investment in fintech blast through the roof in just a couple of years. From $ […]
