From Industrialized Yield Farming to Hydroponics December 16, 2020 Over the course of 2020 the liquidity locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols has grown in rapid fashion with use cases such as crypto-backed lending, decentralized exchanges (DEX’s) and insurance bringing the Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi to its current peak ~$15 billion with the majority of this capital existing on the Ethereum blockchain. [...]
FTSE off to fast start as global markets rise on vaccine rollout December 16, 2020 The FTSE 100 surged upwards this morning as markets round the world hailed the rollout of coronavirus vaccines. The blue-chip index was up one per cent an hour after markets opened, with energy and housebuilder stocks leading the charge. Investors were also buoyed by hopes that the UK could still sign a free trade deal [...]
Revolut launches Plus account as it expands fee-paying services December 16, 2020 Revolut is set to revamp its paid plans while also launching its latest subscription option, Revolut Plus. Revolut’s new Plus service will cost £2.99 a-month and will include theft and accident coverage alongside purchase protection up to £1,000 for a year. Under new plans Premium customers will be protected up to £2,500 while Metal customers [...]
Lighting the flame December 15, 2020 Crypto interest opens The bullish camp gained further ground and the open interest (OI) surged back to within a touching distance of record highs, while the futures term structure was stretched even more in the wake of the broad-based risk on sentiment. As a result, Bitcoin traded briefly above the $19,500 level, before falling back [...]
Brokers, intermediaries and blockchain December 15, 2020 As a follow-on from my article on the top 7 things that people want to know about blockchain, I came up with another question: Does blockchain create value? Or to put it another way, “How does blockchain create value?” The short answer is: It doesn’t – in and of itself. Blockchain is infrastructure. Blockchain is [...]
The challenge of growing an SME abroad December 15, 2020 Entrepreneurship is central to the economic growth of most free market economies. Many global brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Mattel and Facebook began life as SME’s. Key to growing an SME business either within the sector or so it can become an enterprise business, is the ability to expand into new markets. While your own [...]
Unemployment rate rises less than expected but redundancies hit record high December 15, 2020 The UK’s unemployment rate rose to 4.9 per cent in the three months to October, a lower increase than had been expected. The rate was up 0.1 per cent from the three months to September, when it stood at 4.8 per cent, new ONS figures showed. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the jobless rate [...]
London FOIL appoints Weightman’s partner as new president December 14, 2020 London FOIL has just appointed Ling Ong as their new president to lead the organisation through 2021. London FOIL is an arm of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, concentrating on the global insurance and reinsurance markets. Ling Ong is also a partner at UK law firm, Weightmans. Ong has been appointed to replace the outgoing [...]
Bitcoin Maintains $19,000 Level As Corporate Adoption Keeps Growing December 14, 2020 This week CryptoCompare data shows the price of Bitcoin (BTC) moved from about $19,200 at the start of the week to a low slightly above $17,500 before recovering back to $19,100 at press time. The cryptocurrency has maintained this level despite a few pullbacks. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has similarly remained [...]
Morgan Stanley: UK bank shares could fall 20 per cent in no-deal Brexit December 11, 2020 Morgan Stanley has said UK bank shares could tumble 10 to 20 per cent in a no-deal Brexit, with the FTSE 250 dropping as much as 10 per cent. It comes as the UK and EU struggle to sign a free-trade agreement. Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday said a no-deal Brexit outcome was now a [...]