Getting a better deal for the consumer? That’s music to my ears June 27, 2019 It’s hard to recall now how long we’ve been hearing that the music industry is changing: in flux, in transition, in crisis, most recently in the development of reliable music streaming; like any other industry, the music business is always on the lookout for the next big thing, the opportunity to get in at the [...]
The robots are coming – and they’re (potentially) after your job May 22, 2019 | City Talk By Ian Hall (City AM, for the CFA Institute) ‘You want your robot to be smarter than the other team’s robot’: advice that sounds like it belongs to a participant in combat competition TV show Robot Wars. But, actually, it’s the increasingly competitive and technology-affected situation that many investment professionals will face in the workplace [...]
Big cryptocurrencies bounce back, but smaller rivals lie in wait May 20, 2019 | City Talk For users and proponents of cryptocurrencies, the stamp of approval from online auction giant eBay set the seal on a powerful comeback during this year so far. Bitcoin and some other selected cryptocurrencies are to be accepted as a form of payment by eBay. This doesn’t only greatly expand the “network effect” by which a [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
Chinese state body floats ban on bitcoin mining April 10, 2019 A Chinese government body has proposed a ban on bitcoin mining. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Monday it was asking for public opinions on a list of industries it wants to encourage, restrict or eliminate. Read more: Bitcoin jumps back above $5,000 after hitting yearly high The list included cryptocurrency mining, [...]
Five fintech trends to watch in 2019 March 6, 2019 | City Talk There’s no shortage of stories on how tech breakthroughs will transform financial services, from changing the way we interact with our personal finances to threatening entire banking institutions with disruption. It can be difficult to predict exactly what this landscape will look like in the next few years, but most seem to agree that the [...]
Blockchain oil firm taps former JP Morgan director as new chief February 13, 2019 A firm that wants to reinvent commodities trading by using blockchain technology has hired a former energy trader from JP Morgan and Mercuria as its next chief executive. Vakt, which aims to eliminate paper-based trading and secure audit processes by putting it on the blockchain, has been backed by major oil firms such as Shell, Chevron [...]
Blockchain startup Chainalysis targets London with $30m raise from Accel February 12, 2019 Crypto compliance startup Chainalysis has raised $30m (£23.3m) from venture capital giant Accel to open an office in London's Soho. The US firm's series B round was supported by existing investor Benchmark, which upped its stake in the company after funding Chainalysis' $16m series A last year. Chainalysis said it will use the proceeds from the round to open [...]
What do you want to know about big data & AI in investment management? February 7, 2019 | City Talk A technological advance can impact — even transform — the global economy let alone a particular sector. The steam engine in the first industrial revolution, electricity in the second, and internet technology in the third fundamentally changed human history. Today, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have the same transformative potential. When it comes to [...]