Bitcoin holds on to its Brexit boost June 28, 2016 The bitcoin price has traded higher since the UK voted to quit the European Union last Friday. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency was trading at $647 at London’s market close today, having fallen below $600 late on Thursday when it looked likely the UK would vote to remain to the EU. Bitcoin hit a high [...]
Bitcoin Ponzi scheme operator gets 18 months in prison July 22, 2016 An American was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday in the first federal securities fraud case involving a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. Trendon Shavers, a 33-year-old Texan, raised more than 764,000 bitcoins through his Bitcoin Savings and Trust investment fund from 2011 to 2012, which he operated from home. At the time, these were worth $4.5m (£3.4m). Read [...]
‘100% chance of recession’? … the risks of making investment forecasts November 29, 2017 The future is impossible to predict. Okay, there may be a certain irony here in that regular visitors to our blog, The Value Perspective, can be fairly certain they will read a line like that from us every month or so. Yet the only reason we keep saying it is because all sorts of experts [...]
Bank of England opens way to blockchain for payments but says it is not yet “mature” enough May 9, 2017 The Bank of England has rejected blockchain as the basis for a new payments system, but said it wants to leave the door open for other banks to use the technology to settle transactions. The new payments system will be designed to interface with separate payment platforms underpinned by the distributed ledger technology that underpins [...]
Deloitte installs bitcoin ATM open to the public at its Toronto office to teach employees the basics of blockchain technology September 8, 2016 Deloitte launched its first bitcoin ATM to the public yesterday at its office in Toronto, where its Rubix blockchain division is based, in a bid to take employees back to the basics of cryptocurrency technology. The Big Four accounting firm unveiled the terminal to employees on Tuesday, before opening its doors for public use on Wednesday. The bitcoin [...]
Fintech: How does Blockchain fit into the future of financial services? May 11, 2017 Blockchain is an often discussed, rarely understood topic. To get some perspective on the current thinking regarding blockchain, I had a discussion with Jennifer Qin, Deloitte’s lead partner for its investment management business in the Asia-Pacific region. Qin is a frequent speaker on blockchain technology. Larry Cao, CFA: What is blockchain all about? Jennifer Qin: [...]
Bitcoin price almost fully recovers from Hong Kong hack-driven losses August 7, 2016 The bitcoin price has recovered almost all of its losses since it plunged last week after hackers targeted the Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex. The price of a single bitcoin fell around 20 per cent to $483.10 after it emerged on 2 August that hackers had stolen more than $60m (£46m), or around 120,000 coins, from [...]
Goldman Sachs-backed fintech startup Circle wants to become the Alipay of Europe with social payment app expansion plans June 15, 2017 A fintech startup backed by Goldman Sachs has unveiled ambitious plans to make emoji friendly social payments as popular in Europe as they are in China, where nearly $3 trillion was sent via WeChat and Alipay last year. Circle lets users send payments to each other via its WhatsApp-style chat app and iMessage. It is [...]
The End of Cash? Beware sleepwalking into a world without hard currency November 23, 2017 As global wealth has accumulated over time, so the demand for hard cash has waned. A mere eight per cent of the world’s money is in notes and coins, according to estimates using World Bank data. Depending on where one looks, the days of physical currency seem numbered. In the UK, especially in London, cashless [...]
Lex Deak talks mums on Facebook, setting up a hotel in Marrakech, Dragons’ Den and bitcoin August 8, 2016 I never really considered working for someone else. At 12, I was buying electronics in bulk and selling them at school and via Loot.” This was the start of a fascination with business for serial entrepreneur Lex Deak. Most recently, the 33 year-old launched OFF3R, an aggregator for alternative finance deals. The year before that – [...]