Comedian Robin Williams once called cocaine “God’s way of telling you you are making too much money”. This role may now have been overtaken by non-fungible tokens, the blockchain-based means to claim unique ownership of easily copied digital assets. The latest NFT mania involves fantastic amounts of money being paid for “Bored Apes”, 10,000 avatars… Read more »
Sydney digital asset manager TCM Capital has hitched its wagon to Singapore-based digitisation, tokenisation and provenance services firm Trovio to create the Trovio Group in a deal that values the merged cryptocurrency entity at $200 million. An oversubscribed raise as part of the merger, led by Ellerston Capital, Sun Hung Kai Strategic Capital and Amherst… Read more »
The CBA’s move into cryptocurrency could pay off handsomely for the Big 4 bank with a new study from Visa revealing that up to a third of Australian crypto-owners saying they are likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto products in the next 12 months. With around 20% of Australians… Read more »
The Australian Government is looking to embrace cryptocurrency and digital assets with federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg announcing plans to investigate the feasibility of a Central Bank digital currency, as well as the existential fintech terror of de-banking. Speaking at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Frydenberg said his plans “were most significant reforms to… Read more »
We are in the midst of a digital revolution. COVID has accelerated and changed the way Australians and businesses engage with digital technologies. And many new and innovative technologies are emerging throughout the economy, impacting every part of our lives. Nowhere is this digital disruption playing out faster than in the payments and crypto-asset sectors.… Read more »
Australian computer scientist and self-proclaimed inventor of bitcoin Craig Wright has survived a lawsuit that would have seen him hand over half of a 1.1 million Bitcoin fortune – today worth around $71 billion – to the family of former business partner David Kleiman. Wright was, however, ordered to pay US$100 million in damages to… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has backed US cryptocurrency exchange Gemini in a US$400 million (A$500m) capital raise. It was Gemini’s first outside financing, and values the business, founded in 2015 by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, at US$7.1 billion. The round was led by Morgan Creek Digital with CBA taking a minority stake alongside 10T,… Read more »
As it hits new highs, there is no shortage of bold predictions about Bitcoin reaching US$100,000 or more. Often these are based on not much more than extrapolations by people with vested interests: the price has gone up a lot so it will keep going up. If it gets above its previous high, it must… Read more »
Researchers are working to head off the collapse of cryptocurrency markets that, experts warn, could happen when quantum computers become strong enough to break the encryption underlying Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies – estimated to come by 2035. That timeline represents an existential threat for Bitcoin and its ilk, which rely on mathematical encryption so… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced last week that it will allow its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency through its app, in the first move of its kind by a major Australian bank. If Australia’s biggest bank is willing to offer unregulated products like crypto to their customers and take on board a high… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank is embracing cryptocurrencies, and will allow CommBank app customers to buy, sell and hold crypto assets. In the a game-changing move for the sector by the country’s biggest bank will see it partnered with crypto exchange Gemini – founded by the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame – and blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis.… Read more »
Corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is ramping up its oversight of the investment side of the local cryptocurrency market with licences for crypto-asset holders. The regulator has introduced a new “crypto-asset” section in its licensing applications and responsible entities seeking to hold them will need that an authorisation in relation to… Read more »
The NSW tourism hotspot of Byron Bay is set become home to the nation’s largest Bitcoin mining operation following a deal to power the data centre using renewable energy. Nasdaq-listed digital infrastructure provider Mawson Infrastructure Group’s Byron 20MW mine – that’s enough power for around 6500 homes – will begin operations this week its first… Read more »
Australia could be a leader in digital assets and global hub for cryptocurrencies according to a landmark new report by a Senate committee investigating the sector’s potential. The Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, chaired by Senator Andrew Bragg, is bullish on the possibilites, having investigated issues such as regulation… Read more »
In 2018 US Senator Orrin Hatch naively questioned how on earth Facebook could sustain a business model in which users don’t pay for a service… Before Mark Zuckerberg politely pointed out that they run advertisements. Just last month US Senator Ted Cruz’s speech went viral when he claimed less than 5% of his colleagues had… Read more »
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