Craig Wright won’t prove he’s Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto May 5, 2016 The man who claimed to reveal himself as the secret inventor of Bitcoin has now backtracked on promises to prove he really is the person known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Craig Wright made headlines on Monday after outing himself as the unknown person behind the cryptocurrency, but many in the Bitcoin community have raised an eyebrow about the Australian's [...]
Carry on shopping: Alibaba defies China slowdown with fourth quarter revenue May 5, 2016 Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, has defied the country's economic slowdown, reporting expectation-busting revenue. The Amazon of China's sales rose 39 per cent in the fourth quarter to 24.2bn yuan (£2.55bn) smashing estimates of around 23bn yuan, while income came in at 5.3bn yuan, a rise of 81 per cent. "Whatever they are doing must be working, and [...]
London fintech star Azimo lands millions from Rakuten May 5, 2016 More money is pouring into London fintech as one of its star startups has landed new investment from Japan's biggest ecommerce firm Rakuten, among others. Digital money transfer firm Azimo has raised $15m (£10.3M) in a new round, bringing its total investment to $47m. The new cash will be used to fuel expansion in Asia. “We serve a growing community of hardworking migrants who are [...]
Uber just increased its policy firepower with former EU competition boss Neelie Kroes among new Global Policy Advisory Group members May 5, 2016 The former Brussels official in charge of competition in Europe for more than a decade is among several high-profile names joining Uber's new team of policy advisors. The transport startup which has faced regulatory hurdles in several cities across the globe, including London, has formed a new board of heavyweights to advise on the matter. The former EU [...]
Fearless future: Virtual reality could help cure paranoia May 5, 2016 Using a virtual reality (VR) headset could help cure people's paranoia, Oxford researchers have found. The technology was used in psychological treatment of patients suffering severe paranoia, which affects as much as two per cent of the population in Britain and can leave sufferers unable to leave the house. The research is a significant step [...]
Crowdfunding platforms beware: The banks – and others – are eating your lunch May 5, 2016 European crowdfunding platforms could be left fighting for their piece of the pie. Incumbent financial players, including asset managers and banks, not-for-profit organisations, and non-financial firms are entering the crowdfunding business in increasing numbers. Recent research that I conducted with Politecnico di Milano’s Massimiliano Guerini, Evila Piva and Cristina Rossi-Lamastrais analysed the proliferation of crowdfunding across [...]
Tesla executives Greg Reichow and Josh Ensign announce their departure ahead of Model 3 launch May 4, 2016 Electric car giant Tesla has announced two of its top motor executives will leave the company ahead of its widely-anticipated, mass-market Model 3 car. Tesla said its vice president of production, Greg Reichow, who had previously been pegged to lead the manufacturing of the Model 3 vehicle, would take a leave of absence after a [...]
Tesla Motors beats expectations in first quarter results and primes for the launch of its Model 3 vehicle May 4, 2016 Tesla Motors has beaten analyst expectations in its first quarter results and ramped up production as demand for its mass-produced Model 3 electric car has sky-rocketed. The figures Tesla posted revenue of $1.15bn (£793m) for the first quarter of 2016, a 22 per cent increase from the same period in 2015, while sales climbed 45 per cent year on [...]
TripAdvisor shares tank after it misses expectations May 4, 2016 Travel website TripAdvisor’s revenue has decreased to $352m, a drop of $11m or three per cent, during the first quarter of 2016. TripAdvisor reported earnings per share of $0.32 in the first quarter, $0.14 less than the analyst estimate of $0.46. Shares of the travel business fell 7.73 per cent to $58.25 in after-hours trading on Wednesday. [...]
Millions of Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft email accounts sold to Russian underworld May 4, 2016 Over 270m email accounts have been hacked and sold to Russian underworld, a security expert has claimed. While a majority of stolen usernames and passwords belonged to popular Russian email service Mail.ru, credentials for some of the world's biggest email providers were also compromised. Of the 272.3m stolen accounts, nearly 40m addresses belonged to Yahoo, [...]