Where next for Bitcoin? May 15, 2019 | City Talk Bitcoin is on the up again. The biggest crypto asset has rallied above $8,000, reaching its highest since last summer after more than doubling this year. It seems momentum is building for bulls and you cannot ignore that once Bitcoin builds up a head of steam, the mania can come back, and the momentum traders [...]
Cybersecurity: why you’re right to be cautious May 13, 2019 | City Talk By Ian Hall (CityAM, for the CFA Institute) The threat of cybersecurity and data-privacy attacks is under-estimated and growing, and organisations and individuals should proceed with extreme care in respect of digital information security, according to a Switzerland-based expert. David Basin, Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, used a seminar at the 72nd [...]
Blockchain technology promises to change the world, but so far it has delivered very little May 1, 2019 Last month, I attended a debate in the Houses of Parliament, not on the legalities of the ever so tedious withdrawal agreement, but on cryptocurrency and blockchain. At first, I was surprised that a discussion on these topics only lasted an hour and a half considering that, although blockchain technology powers cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, [...]
Crypto AM industry voices: Regulating blockchain and crypto April 30, 2019 | Sponsored The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and others are working to provide regulatory guidance frameworks and structures in the ever-changing landscape of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The views on these activities run the gamut from the Establishment (‘The sooner we get regulation, the sooner things will really take off’) to [...]
CryptoCompare market view: The alleged $850m ‘cover-up’ April 30, 2019 | Sponsored The Crypto world was rocked last week by the announcement from New York Attorney General Letitia James of a court order against the operators of the Bitfinex exchange and Tether – issuers of the stablecoin of the same name. The Attorney General alleges that the operators of Bitfinex and Tether engaged in fraud to hide [...]
Why FinTechs are barking up the wrong tree April 30, 2019 While fintechs wave the flag of disruption and chant ‘financial inclusion for all’, the knights that promise to save the masses from the vagaries of traditional financial services have a more pressing agenda – profit. Both nascent and established players in consumer-facing financial service industries are searching for the holy grail that delivers droves of [...]
£100K pot – who will benefit? April 30, 2019 | Sponsored Probably the best gift anyone in finance (and a wide range of other fields) could give themselves right now is a chance to start to get their head around the coming disruption from Blockchain/ distributed ledger technology (DLT). Then they can ride the wave – rather than be engulfed by it. But what if you [...]
Crypto AM shines its Spotlight on Nodal April 30, 2019 | Sponsored We all know the internet has created a space where we can claim to be the version of ourselves we had always imagined. And while social networks have enabled catfishing to the extremes, the world of recruitment isn't safe from these Walter Mitty’s either. So how do you know someone is who they say they [...]
Poker reveals high-stakes players April 16, 2019 | Sponsored When many of the people working in the blockchain space get together at meet-ups there are often discussions around alternate ways to bring the community together. Erica Stanford started the Crypto Curry lunches and built a strong community of people working on blockchain projects. This has now grown to other industries and cities other than [...]
Crypto users rally round WikiLeaks founder April 16, 2019 | Sponsored In a Crypto-themed twist to the news of the dramatic arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, cryptocurrency users rallied to donate Bitcoin (BTC) to his organisation. Currently, nearly six BTC, worth about US$30,000, have been donated. This week has seen consolidation across the cryptocurrency markets after what was possibly [...]