The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards – entries closing soon
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards May 11, 2017 in New York, is the premier event in Fintech, celebrating financial innovation from around the world. The Benzinga Awards is a competition to showcase the companies with the most impressive technology, who are paving the future in financial services and capital markets! Applications are still open, so apply now before the March 17 deadline. At the event, you’ll get a first look at groundbreaking technology, innovative platforms, and the chance to network freely with top industry professionals. Over 550 FinTech CEOs, C-suite executives of financial institutions, VCs, press, and others attended the 2016 Benzinga Fintech Awards. 45 exclusive exhibitor spots on the show floor […]
Law firms cosy up to UK fintech community
Top law firm Slaughter and May is to give five fintech startups free legal services worth tens of thousands of pounds. Meanwhile, another law firm, Simmons & Simmons, is launching a fintech and regtech student support programme with London’s Queen Mary University. Simmons & Simmons and Slaughter and May are both keen to woo members of London’s vibrant fintech scene, building relationships that could one day yield valuable business. Late last year Slaughter and May opened the doors to its first Fintech Fast Forward programme, inviting applications from startups in areas such as insurtech, regtech, datatech and distributed ledger technology. Over 25 firms applied, seeking £30,000 of value add services […]
Australian FinTech launches International FinTech platform
The team behind the highly successful AustralianFinTech.com.au, this week launch their International platform, ukfintech.internationalfintech.com, aimed at connecting the FinTech industry on a global scale. Founder and CEO, Cameron Dart, says International FinTech has been born on the back of the highly successful Australian FinTech platform and growing demand from the global community to have a dedicated online presence for their sector. “International FinTech mirrors the Australian FinTech platform, including a dedicated industry newsfeed and a comprehensive directory of FinTech companies globally. “The site also aims to educate users of new financial technologies such as peer to peer lending and cryptocurrency, all presented in simple terms with no financial jargon” says […]
An overview of digital currencies
By now you may have heard about cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin being used to trade and purchase goods and services, but here’s a fact you may not be aware of. As of 2016 the United Nations recognises 180 different currencies, everything from the Abkhazian Apsar to the US dollar, however does not recognise a single crypto-currency as legal tender. Despite not receiving official recognition as a currency, the various crypto-currencies are being used around the world in order to carry out trade for goods and services. The most popular of crypto-currencies, Bitcoin, has a market cap of over US$10 billion. Currently there are 654 crypto-currencies in circulation, a trend that […]
Banks to develop new digital cash unit for settlement
Four of the world’s biggest banks have teamed up to develop a new form of digital cash they believe will become an industry standard to clear and settle financial trades using blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin. UBS, the Swiss bank, pioneered the “utility settlement coin” and has now joined forces with Deutsche Bank, Santander and BNY Mellon – as well as the broker ICAP – to pitch the idea to central banks, aiming for its commercial launch by early 2018. The move is the first example of a group of leading banks coming together to co-operate on a specific blockchain technology to harness the power of decentralised computer networks and […]
Ethereum, rival to bitcoin, gains traction
With a rising market value and a roster of high-profile patrons, Ethereum in recent months has become the next hot thing in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is an open software platform, comprising a currency called ether, a public “blockchain” ledger for keeping track of transactions and tools for building so-called smart contracts that automatically make payments when their terms are fulfilled. Anyone can develop new applications that make use of its code. More ambitiously, the currency’s inventors and users are revolting against the growing centralisation of the internet under big companies like Google and Facebook by creating financial structures that can run themselves. Much like its older cousin bitcoin, however, ether is […]
Blockchain to revolutionise online transactions
IT’S only been around for eight years, and has started life with a reputation sullied by drug dealers and online vigilantes, but there’s a new technology on the rise which could revolutionise how we transact online. And whether it leaves a swath of destructive disruption among large, incumbent businesses — think banks and share registries — in its path is yet to be seen, although it has been widely predicted. Blockchain is the technological innovation which underpins the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. So far Bitcoin has proven to be unhackable and untraceable — a key benefit if you are, for example, running the world’s largest online drug marketplace, a la the Silk […]
Blockchain is useful for a lot more than just Bitcoin
Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology is not just useful for creating digital currencies such as Bitcoin or developing new financial technologies. Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology was popularised by the Bitcoin digital currency system. But, essentially, a blockchain is just a special kind of database. The Bitcoin blockchain stores cryptographically signed records of financial transfers, but blockchain systems can store any kind of data. […]
