Opinion

April 23, 2021 @ 4:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this year, Senator Pat Toomey, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued a call for policy proposals that could boost economic growth. Key policy moves designed to generate more jobs and improve prosperity are always needed – even more so on the… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Alonzo Llorens and Olivia Daly  |  

  In an effort to address an issue that has frustrated the business community for years, including startups, tech companies, and “finders,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a proposed conditional exemption for finders on October 7, 2020. Under the proposal, people (i.e.,… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

UK bank NatWest is saying no to crypto. According to a report, business users that accept crypto, like Bitcoin, may be refused access to the bank’s services. As reported by the Guardian, NatWest BoardMember Morten Friis, who is head of the Risk Committee, explained during… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 7:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

While attending a recently-held panel session for this year’s UK Fintech Week , moderator Kristy Duncan, CEO at Women in Payments, acknowledged that the United Kingdom and the European Union could potentially benefit from an updated regulatory framework that supports innovative projects and competition. As… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 10:10 am By Timothy Li  |  

Apple CEO, Tim Cook kicked off the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) “spring-loaded” event and announced the biggest head-scratcher that made no sense. Cook announced a new way to “build credit” for the rest of your family that’s called “Apple Card Family”. Cook said that Apple set out to… Read More

April 19, 2021 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Decentralized finance (DeFi) requires a more reliable credit scoring system, however, we need to be cautious, according to Ontology (ONT) Founder, Li Jun. Jun explains that credit scores have been “a cornerstone of risk evaluation in the global banking systems for decades.” He adds that… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 7:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase closed its inaugural trading week at a valuation of around $63 billion after opening higher than its reference price on the NASDAQ this past Wednesday. At one point, Coinbase was valued at over $100 billion. Of course, there has been a lot of commentary… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 7:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nitin Gaur, Founder and Director of IBM Digital Asset Labs, recently looked into how businesses may be able to absorb “disruptive” impact and start integrating new business models (NFTs) in existing and “new streams” of business opportunity. Gaur writes in a blog post that non-fungible… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Howard Marks  |  

On March 11th, Beeple became the third highest-paid living artist with a $69M sale of one of his works as an NFT, a non-fungible token on the blockchain. This sale is one of many at the front of NFTs, blockchain’s latest hype machine of digital… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 10:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase, perhaps the most anticipated public listing of 2021, commenced trading on the Nasdaq today following a direct listing that started with a reference per-share value of $250 and quickly went higher from there. Listed under the ticker symbol COIN, Coinbase traded as high as… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 10:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Manuel Silva Martinez, General Partner of Mouro Capital (formerly Santander InnoVentures), has distributed a note on Bitcoin and the environmental impact of the world’s most popular crypto. Martinez is criticizing BTC just as it rockets to new all time highs – currently trading at around… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 7:36 am By JD Alois  |  

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has posted an update to her Token Safe Habor proposal. Back in February 2020, Commissioner Peirce revealed her proposal in an effort to create a regulatory environment that supported Fintech innovation while acknowledging the unique characteristics of digital assets. Since the… Read More

April 13, 2021 @ 12:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

As the entire crypto-sphere knows, Coinbase will complete an initial public offering (IPO) this week (April 14) in a direct listing on Nasdaq. Trading under the ticker symbol of COIN, Coinbase’s share float is perhaps the most anticipated listing of 2021 representing the maturity of… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 9:56 pm By Lee Schneider  |  

A murder of crows.  A pride of lions. A school of fish.  A conundrum of NFTs.  At least that’s how it feels when faced with the ever-growing craze for non-fungible tokens.  Here are five things about NFTs that may surprise you. They’re just another type… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 8:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Melayna (Manning) Ingram, Director, Securities Product at Paxos, notes that regulation can “foster innovation,” and it’s simply a matter of perspective. Ingram writes in a blog post that many tech firms are established with the “general” thesis that “something is broken and new technology can… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 12:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Inal Kardanov, Co-founder and CTO of Billy, notes in a blog post published by the Waves Protocol developers that NFTs’ “second coming” is set to be even “more successful.” Kardanov, a software engineer focused on blockchain, AI, and machine learning, writes in a blog post… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 12:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month, Coinbase announced that its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list its shares on the Nasdaq, under ticker symbol COIN, had been approved. The public listing of Coinbase will thus represent a seminal event in the digital asset industry…. Read More

April 11, 2021 @ 3:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Several months ago, FinCEN submitted for publication in the Federal Register its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding certain transactions that involve virtual currency or digital assets. FinCEN or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that… Read More

April 9, 2021 @ 4:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mark Yusko, founder, CEO and CIO at Morgan Creek Capital Management, recently argued that soon it could be considered irresponsible to ignore Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency. In an interview with MarketWatch, Yusko said that he believes we’ll all be looking back 5 years from… Read More

April 6, 2021 @ 12:00 pm By Patrick Daugherty, John Lanza and Catherine Zhu  |  

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were minted and sold under the radar until a relatively obscure artist sold an NFT for an immense sum. That seminal event invigorated interest in NFTs by artists, sales platforms, and collectors. In this column, we undertake to identify and answer, in… Read More