Blockchain


What is the future of digital cash?

The recent World Economic Forum (WED) report “Sweden could stop using cash by 2023”, says that the country is moving towards favouring cards and mobile payment apps. Yet retailers are expected to accept cash for at least a couple of years afterwards.

Fintech Connect Live 2017: the unleashing of AI and ML

Fintech Connect Live 2017 is a gathering of some of the biggest players in the fintech. With the looming rise of open banking and the cryptocurrency surge, it’s the smaller start-ups and innovators of smart technologies in banking that are making headway with use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML).

Fintech funding round-up: 1 December 2017

Who doesn’t love a trilogy? Following on from the round-ups on Thursday (30 November) and Tuesday (28 November) here’s another slice of fintech funding action. Features Deposit Solutions, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia, and BNP Paribas Asset Management. Germany’s Deposit Solutions, an open banking platform for deposits, has closed an investment round of $20 million led by […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 30 November 2017

Coming straight after yesterday’s (29 November) fun and games, here’s another quick summary of the blockchain and Bitcoin action. Features the European Central Bank, Tieto, Coinsilium Group and StartupToken. Well, Bitcoin went past $11,000. And then dropped. As you read this it will have changed again. So, opinions are aplenty. And… banks should speed up […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 29 November 2017

Bitcoin high, Russian firsts, trade finance digitisation, US moves, and an interoperability alliance. Another day of action in the busy blockchain and Bitcoin world. Features Sberbank, IBM, Infosys Finacle, BitFlyer and the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance. Doubt you missed it, but Bitcoin has reached an all time high of $10,000. We were inundated with similar comments […]

AlphaPoint plans new public blockchain network

AlphaPoint has announced plans to build a new public blockchain network that will enable users to digitise real-world assets and monetise them across new markets, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The network, dubbed the AlphaPoint Public Network (APN), will be the first public blockchain built based on Intel SGX technology. AlphaPoint will fund […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 24 November 2017

That Friday feeling isn’t complete without another round of the latest blockchain and Bitcoin news! Following on from yesterday (23 November) our latest covers Globitex, Billion and Bitcoin Gold.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 23 November 2017

Following on from the action on Tuesday (21 November), our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up focuses on partnerships and future potential. Featuring BDA, Bitstamp, ModulTrade and Bank of Japan.

ING has a thing for data analytics

ING Wholesale Banking has set out its plans to increase investments in data analytics and put more resources into Asia and the Americas. It’s very early days as its ambitions and goals offer no real specifics. Stats and timelines are like good service in shops in the UK – i.e. almost nowhere to be seen. […]

Standard Chartered and Axis Bank launch cross-border payments via Ripple

Standard Chartered and Axis Bank have unveiled a real-time cross-border payment service for corporates using Ripple’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution. This offering is now commercially available between Standard Chartered (Singapore) and Axis Bank India, and, accessible through Standard Chartered’s corporate digital banking platform, Straight2Bank. Himadri Chatterjee, president, transaction banking, Axis Bank, says by using […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 21 November 2017

From major crimes to KYC times. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features Tether, Metal, Deutsche Bank and IBM. Digital currency firm Tether is feeling under the weather as it has reported that “funds were improperly removed from the Tether treasury wallet through malicious action by an external attacker”. The amount is a rather large […]

Coinbase goes into Custody to let investors store digital assets

Who knows how much more appreciation in the price of Bitcoin will be required to encourage notorious cryptocurrency skeptic and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to endorse investing in digital assets. But when he does, a new company launched by Coinbase called Coinbase Custody will be there to make sure he does it the right […]

What a Swell Sibos we had

One of the more entertaining aspects of this year’s Sibos in Toronto was the continuation of the rivalry between the event’s host, Swift, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm Ripple.

Wanted: US-based bank for crypto-friendly fun

It wasn’t spotted on Craigslist but here’s an unusual request. If you are the owner of a small or medium-sized bank in the US and are ready to sell it completely (or partially) – you have a buyer! Vladislav (aka Slava) Solodkiy, managing partner at venture capital (VC) firm Life.Sreda, is being refreshingly direct and […]

Veridium and Wala bring blockchain power to Africa’s unbanked

Biometrics firm Veridium has teamed with Wala, a blockchain-powered financial services platform, as they target the unbanked and underbanked population in Africa. The duo will collaborate on a pilot programme in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate their digital model offering “zero-fee banking”. This pilot is funded by a grant awarded to Veridium from the Digital Financial […]

All aboard the Amex blockchain payments express

American Express has launched blockchain-enabled, business-to-business cross-border payments with Santander using Ripple’s network. The Amex FX International Payments (FXIP) business is working with Ripple to make blockchain payments commercially available, “reducing the time and cost of settlement”. Santander UK is the selected partner to initiate this new transaction channel. Marc Gordon, EVP and CIO at […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 16 November 2017

Coming straight after yesterday’s (15 November) action, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Features Mastercard in a patent place, ING Bank opening up, and another warning from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Let’s start with yet another patent. Mastercard has jumped on the blockchain payments bandwagon by filing “Method and System for Instantaneous Payment […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 15 November 2017

Following on from yesterday’s (14 November) news, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Trustology, Accenture, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Association of Banks in Singapore, Square and London Block Exchange. Another day, another new firm. Trustology has emerged from stealth and revealed it is building a peer-to-peer network of smart contract compute services. Trusted […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 14 November 2017

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s (13 November) action, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Bitcoin Gold, OTC Exchange Network, Deloitte and Github. Bitcoin Gold (BTG), the newest fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, has officially gone live. It’s not the first to breakaway from Bitcoin, as previously in August, Bitcoin Cash (BCC) launched. […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 13 November 2017

Following Friday’s (10 November) feisty blockchain and Bitcoin action, here’s another round-up. Features CryptoCoinBits, European Commission, R3 and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. With increasing fears about Bitcoin ICOs and bubbles bursting, it was inevitable someone would see a gap in the market. Enter CryptoCoinBits, which has unleashed a Bitcoin trading platform and asks: “So how can […]

It’s time to pull the brake on Bitcoin

With ten years in fintech under my belt, I have seen the creation of the word itself. I have also seen the rise of various hypes, adoption of buzzwords, sky-high funding rounds, epic failures and a surprising knowledge gap in what is the world’s biggest industry.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 9 November 2017

Whether it’s AI to bridge cryptocurrencies or someone accidentally losing it, something is always going on, whether right or wrong in the world of blockchain and Bitcoin. Our latest round-up features Parity, AiX, R3 and SIA.

Payments round-up: 8 November 2017

Just yesterday (7 November) was a payments round-up, but here’s more action from the lively paytech place. Features Apple, Coinsilium Group, UMT United Mobility Technology, Visa and even the Olympic Winter Games. Apple, which is rarely out of the news, has set up Apple Pay Cash for person-to-person (P2P) payments in Messages. This feature is […]

Why blockchain won’t fix payments

There is a misconception about blockchain in the industry surrounding the belief that it is a solution to making faster and securer payments. There are some issues around the blockchain that explain why, in its present form, it isn’t an ideal replacement.

Implementing derivatives clearing on distributed ledger technology platforms

Clearing houses and central clearing counterparties (CCPs) play a pivotal role in managing collateral and counterparty risk, in increasing standardisation and transparency of financial markets, and in the credit enhancement process for clearing banks. For such systemically critical functions, how appropriate are innovative new technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT)?

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