Search results: technology

Investment in Chinese blockchain projects reached USD$367.7 million in the first half of 2019. Blockchain Global CEO Sam Lee says Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent have fueled a breadth of tech talent.

Alternative AI founder Eberhard Schoeneburg speaks with Forkast.News at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2019 about how artificial intelligence should adapt to quantum technology.

Despite prolonged social and political turmoil a slowing economy and record cash outflows, Hong Kong continues to serve as an important technology and financial hub, says Hong Kong Stock Exchange CEO Charles Li.

Building artificial intelligence is a game of “surveillance machine learning” that exploits common users’ data. But blockchain technology systems promise to help compensate users for it.

The PBOC’s new token could wipe out the need for remittance services like TransferWise. But if the eurozone is any foreshadowing, uniting several countries with a single currency is a complicated endeavor.

Public support in India is strong for cryptocurrency ownership. But regulators’ blanket ban may lead to a gray market, increasing the chances of fraud.

Traders use commodity trading adviser funds to reduce risk of custody or money laundering, says Jan Brzezek, founder of Crypto Finance AG.

Using blockchain to handle patients’ data can lay the groundwork for genetic tests, telemedicine and AI.

Digital Asset aims to provide a uniform developer experience, regardless of the technology you’re using.

From supply chain to finance, implementation of the technology is building trust, efficiency and new opportunities.

Ethereum has amassed a nearly unbeatable network effect, but regulatory compliance is still a major hurdle.

Mu Changchun, the Deputy Director at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), launched an online audio course about Libra and digital currency in a popular Chinese education app De Dao on August 4, 2019. It is not the first time Mu talked about Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra and digital currency. After Facebook announced Libra in June […]

“We want to keep at the forefront of the regulatory framework to make sure that what we’ve got is fit for purpose and works well for our stakeholders.”

Chinese blockchain companies received a substantial windfall following President Xi Jinping’s bullish support for the development of the technology, and Shanghai-based Neo was one such enterprise. Forkast.News Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau sits down with Da Hongfei, Co-Founder of Neo to find out about the technology and how it will affect various industries in China. Key Highlights […]

Over the past few decades, the internet boom has been helping fill the information gap in our society. Online businesses such as those in e-commerce and social media emerged to help the world share information more efficiently, allowing for the digital transformation of traditionally “offline” industries. Despite the many years of effort, however, this digital […]

Switzerland is positioning itself to become a crucial hub for the global blockchain industry as investment group Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CVVC) reports that the top 50 blockchain-related companies in the country are valued over US$40 billion in 2019. CVVC Founder and CEO Mathias Ruch told Forkast.News’ Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau that the country’s regulation and […]

Cloud-based messaging startup Symphony announced a partnership with Internet giant Tencent to integrate their services with WeChat, a massively popular messaging application in China. The California-based startup is aimed to serve professionals in the banking and investment industry, and is positioning itself to be a cheaper means of communication and information sharing than alternatives like […]

Speaking from the main stage of Hong Kong FinTech Week, Securities Futures Commission (“SFC”) CEO Ashley Alder said the SFC will publish a new regulatory framework that would allow it to regulate virtual asset trading platforms. In a highly anticipated keynote speech at Asia’s largest global financial technology conference, Alder noted the new regulations will […]

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has announced that they will issue licensed for digital trading platforms in the city, a move which is sure to shake up financial services in Asia. Forkast.News’ Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau had a brief behind-the-scenes interview with Ashley Alder, CEO of the regulator moments before he made the announcement at […]

Forkast.Insights, the research vertical of Forkast.News, will be releasing the “China Blockchain Report” in its new report series about blockchain technology in countries around the world. The report, which has been months-in-the-making, will be released off the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent endorsement of the need to accelerate the development of this technology […]

The increasing use of big data in the medical industry has left some concerned regarding their rights to privacy, though some companies are working on blockchain and cryptography applications to address the issues. California-based startup blockdoc is one such digital health and security company that is using advanced cryptography. Another is Blue Cross (Asia-Pacific) Insurance, […]

Cryptocurrencies have become a new target for investors shying away from politically volatile alternatives. As an on-going trade war between the United States and China and the U.K.’s exit from the European Union threatens the stability of conventional markets, more and more traditional investment entities have started experimenting with decentralized assets. Forkast.News’ Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau […]

While many other countries have been taking a back seat and waiting to decide how exactly they should approach blockchain technology, China has been proactively exploring its application in decentralized finance. This week China announced a certification system to regulate a broad range of fintech products. China is clearly priming itself to become a leader […]

Blockchain-related startups have dealt with a fair share of challenges and skepticism, especially throughout a tumultuous year where volatility in cryptocurrencies has shaken people’s confidence in the industry. However, investment in blockchain projects has seen continued growth, and incubators like LongHash have sought to harness that potential. Forkast.News Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau sits down with Emma […]

Startups are aiming to apply blockchain technology to help everyday consumers track the meat they buy at supermarkets back to the source.

With Ethereum 2.0’s release just around the corner, co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been busy talking about what to expect from the new system and its use of proof-of-stake validation. Ethereum 2.0 is meant to address a number of issues that the current system has. It is billed as improving scaling, security, and other issues in […]

The innovation behind Tandem Bank involves using apps to help its users save money. The “neo-bank” provides all types of traditional services including personal banking, savings accounts, and credit cards. However, their use of emerging technology is what sets it apart from conventional banks, and helps attract users. “Last year we hit 500,000 customers when […]

Ron Tucker, Founder and Chair of the Australian Digital Commerce Association, describes his long-running involvement in the industry and the reasoning behind his faith in the technology. As the head of a crypto exchange, Tucker has been involved in navigating and advising the regulatory steps that institutions such as FATF are taking. Contrary to concern about these new policies stymying the growth of the industry, Tucker asserts that the regulation is necessary in providing a safe environment for cryptocurrency to grow.

It may be jarring to consider, but there are currently more slaves in the world now than at any other point in history. According to figures from the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, there were about 40.3 million people who can be considered modern slaves in 2016. That means […]

An estimated 40.3 million people in the world are being forced to work against their will, trapped in modern slavery. But instead of locks and chains holding these people captive, today they are being held by debts that are impossible to pay off, threats of violence and withholding of documents such as passports, visas and […]

As the Managing Director, Global Blockchain Lead at consulting firm Accenture, David Treat spends his days engaging with enterprise leaders across various industries about blockchain, from understanding the topic until implementation. Forkast.News spoke with Treat on the sidelines of OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum to find out how these conversations play out, and how Treat […]

There are a multitude of factors that influence the value of currencies –- from rising political tensions, wars, major economic policy announcements, civil upheaval, and foreign trade to confidence in government. One consideration which is often overlooked is the potential effect of natural disasters. Floods, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes, and hurricanes not only put a country’s […]

What is the world of cryptocurrency like in the Middle East? How does it differ from other markets, and what challenges and opportunities arise from dealing with the industry in that region? Forkast.News Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau sits down with Joseph Dallago, Co-Founder and CEO of Rain, the first Bahrain-based digital currency exchange, in order to […]

Catalonian Minister of Digital Technology and Policies Jordi Puigneró talks regulation, popular appeal, and what blockchain can do for a country. As a member of an elected public administration, Puigneró believes that he has the obligation to serve the people. In the case of blockchain, Puigneró expects that the technology will create a new class […]

As institutional interest in crypto grows, most investors are entering the digital asset space through OTC trading or investing in digital asset index funds. However, many institutional investors are seeking new ways of exposure to this nascent asset class that secure predictable returns without the extra steps and volatility that traditional digital assets investments involve. […]

On Sept. 13, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire gave a rousing speech about innovation and technology at the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum in Paris.  It was a robust defense of the role of government not only in regulating and taxing technology, but having a strong say in how it is developed. Among the […]

Incorruptible. Improved funds flow. Transparency and traceability. These are all promises of blockchain / digital technology to help the modern-day issues of cash-based economies. But should this responsibility be held by companies or governments? David Shrier, author of upcoming book from MIT Press in November 2019, “Trusted Data,” dives into the debate of a digital […]

What is the next big thing? As far as Joseph Lubin, Founder of Consensys, is concerned, we are already experiencing it as you read this. Lubin shares how blockchain is already a killer app, being used globally as a new database technology. He notes cryptocurrency is already enabling cross-border transactions that help facilitate trade and […]

For many people, cryptocurrencies remain an abstract idea removed from everyday life. Most people aren’t even aware of the technology. But one application that can push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream is payments. Making it easy and safe for consumers and businesses to pay bills, buy and sell stuff, and deposit and withdraw funds offer significant […]

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney recently called for a global digital currency, expressing a desire to move beyond the US dollar hegemony as the world’s reserve currency, but also avoid having another national currency, such as China’s renminbi (or their newly announced digital currency), replace it. While some might point to private sector initiatives such as Libra […]

In just one year’s time, it appears that global policymakers and regulators have woken up to blockchain in a serious way. Caroline Malcolm, new in her role as Head of OECD Blockchain Policy Center, shares key highlights from this second global blockchain policy forum held by OECD in Paris, Sept. 12-13, 2019. In this candid […]

In anticipation of China Telecom’s new blockchain SIM card project, Director of its Blockchain Research and Development Departments, David Wei Liang, peaks to Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief of Forkast.News, about the reasoning behind embarking on the project, the product’s uses and implications, and the timeline of its adoption. The time is ripe for telecom companies to […]

To celebrate the end of 2020, here is a Forkast.News editor favorite from our archives — a story that still rings fresh, true and — in a world now measured in nanoseconds — timeless. What is holding back mainstream adoption? What role do governments need or want to play? The Next Big Thing plenary panel […]

Distributed, Decentralized, Disintermediating While still in its infancy with regards to proven capabilities and real-life adoption, blockchain technology remains one of the looming threats for a lot of traditional business models. Its ability to directly connect third parties which can engage in exchanges of assets, data or sharing of resources, blockchain is seen as a […]

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire spoke at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Blockchain Policy Forum on September 12, 2019. He offered a spirited defense of French and European technology policies and spoke frankly about the deep difference in values over the regulation challenging French relations with the U.S. and China. In his […]

Key Highlights “[A central bank’s digital currency is] a huge database using the hash function, chain technology. There’s no distributed ledger portal.” “[The People’s Bank of China] have been working on CBDC for about four years now.” “One of the areas where I really think blockchain could help is on trade finance. When I say […]

What are the rules? For most blockchain companies and projects, the complex landscape of regulation and policy creates business risk, which impacts not only innovation but also ultimately, mainstream adoption.  But at OECD’s second Global Blockchain Policy Forum, regulators are increasingly becoming aware of the need for concerted efforts at every government and agency levels. […]

Why would tokenization of real estate be attractive? Fractional ownership will allow part of an asset to be made available by tokenization. This provides the asset owner with different choices on how to approach the market. For instance, an anchor investor could hold a 40% interest, 30% could be released to other key investors, and […]

Blockchain applications have been a highly debatable topic since the rise of Bitcoin and later Ethereum. Opinions vary from “blockchain will solve most of humanity’s problems” to “this technology works only for money” and even “it is useless”. I’ve been working in the industry since 2017 and have seen and analyzed many blockchain use cases. […]

NEO is a cross-platform, code-agnostic blockchain revolutionizing the sector starting with distributed storage. We sit down with Hongfei Da to chat about the technology and where it’s going.  In any sort enterprise deployment, or even in a software stack, different protocols and standards need to co-exist. One way to ensure this cross-compatibility is through APIs […]

Listen to the podcast Full Transcript Angie Lau: Welcome to Word on the Block, the series that takes a deeper dive into the topics we cover right here on Forkast.News. I’m Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau and today we dive into what many are seeing emerging in blockchain, that Asia could soon be taking the lead from […]

Listen to the podcast In its genesis, blockchain was designed with the intention of it being a decentralized peer-to-peer network. However, these networks can either require permission by a controlling entity (a private blockchain) or be truly permissionless and everyone can make modifications (a public blockchain). But when it comes to enterprises and businesses, which […]

In this last week, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney made waves in the crypto industry by espousing, as a pillar of traditional banking, an alternative to the very system he heads. At a speech in the U.S., Carney put forward the idea of a “synthetic hegemony currency” – in other words, a central bank-banked […]

2019 is proving to be a challenging year for central banks and financial institutions across the globe. Global economic growth is slowing and a whirlwind of macroeconomic factors like the US-China trade war, diminishing demand for commodities and global monetary easing are casting a shadow over the economic health of the global financial sector.  To […]

In this episode of Word on the Block, Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau sits down with Kevin Kelly of Delphi Digital to explore the recent trends in the market has seen for Bitcoin given monetary policy. Kelly recently published a piece, The Perfect Storm for Bitcoin. Is the global macroeconomic environment creating an opportune moment for cryptocurrency? […]

Key Highlights Digital currencies on the blockchain can only go global if transactions can be expedited Mass adoption could yield micro-economies, where millions of public businesses could theoretically take off Blockchain technologies are in their infancy, but are projected to yield a 17 trillion-dollar economy when combined with AI and the Internet of Things In […]

Key Highlights Digital currencies on the blockchain can only go global if transactions can be expedited Mass adoption could yield micro-economies, where millions of public businesses could theoretically take off Blockchain technologies are in their infancy, but are projected to yield a 17 trillion-dollar economy when combined with AI and the Internet of Things In […]

The question is not “Public OR private?”: Enterprise reality requires a flexible public AND private context. Old habits die hard. The enterprise sector has been traditionally used to closing themselves off, shielding every bit of information and focusing solely on achieving the organizational optimum. Some companies went to the extreme: Confectionery giant Mars Inc., for […]

Key Highlights “For the blockchain technology itself, there’s universal acceptance. I haven’t come across one government either in person or having read about any that are at all negative about the underlying technology. They are ambivalent about a key application, which is financial cryptocurrencies, because of certain things that have happened over the last two […]

Key Highlights “For the blockchain technology itself, there’s universal acceptance. I haven’t come across one government either in person or having read about any that are at all negative about the underlying technology. They are ambivalent about a key application, which is financial cryptocurrencies, because of certain things that have happened over the last two […]

Key Highlights “So, right now, I look at the state of blockchain very similar to Internet in ’96 and ’97… And so I think at this point, but much like Internet in ’96 and ’97, blockchain is a word you’ve heard. It’s something you know. Everyone’s talking about it in the context of the future, […]

Key Highlights The inherent differences in policy that result from country-specific priorities and demands lead to opportunities for arbitrage across borders. It is in the interest of all parties involved to prevent this from happening, even if that means compromising on certain rules. The input of drastically different nations on their experiences with regulating cryptocurrency […]

Key Highlights The inherent differences in policy that result from country-specific priorities and demands lead to opportunities for arbitrage across borders. It is in the interest of all parties involved to prevent this from happening, even if that means compromising on certain rules. The input of drastically different nations on their experiences with regulating cryptocurrency […]

Key Highlights From a regulatory standpoint, there is ample reason for governments and institutions to be interested in the cryptosphere. Giles Ward references how it stands to pose “investor protection and market integrity risks.” Marius Jurgilas, Board Member of the Bank of Lithuania, thinks about the potential for blockchain technology to be used in the […]

Listen to the podcast Key Highlights “Within the G7, within the G20, there’s a lot of concern among governments, and I think that some of the concerns are valid. I mean, some of the concerns have to do with control, of course, but they also have to do with money laundering, and I also think […]

Taiwan faces an existential threat. It is a nation that is dependent on exports, but like other developed nations, recognizes that in order to survive, it needs to champion high-technology industries as labor-intensive industries leave for nations with cheaper workforces like Vietnam or China. Could blockchain and cryptocurrency be part of the answer? Jason Hsu […]

Taiwan faces an existential threat. It is a nation that is dependent on exports, but like other developed nations, recognizes that in order to survive, it needs to champion high-technology industries as labor-intensive industries leave for nations with cheaper workforces like Vietnam or China. Could blockchain and cryptocurrency be part of the answer? Jason Hsu […]

What is blockchain? And why does it matter?  Simply put, blockchain (a form of distributed ledger technology) scales trust. If you were explaining why blockchain matters to your mother, you might tell her that she will no longer need to go through a bank to make a payment to the electric company. Or go to […]

Is Asia gaining ground in the technology race? Edith Yeung, advisor at 500 Startups, partner at Proof of Capital, and author of “China Internet Report” (link to new 2019 report below) shares why Asia is the place to be for blockchain adoption. For a VC who spends half her time in Silicon Valley, she recognizes […]

Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, is one of the most influential figures in cryptocurrency / blockchain circles. From flipping burgers at McDonald’s to getting his computer science degree at McGill University, to now Founder and CEO of Binance; CZ has built one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. In this unreserved 40-minute conversation, CZ […]

Ever since the discovery of blockchain technology, we’ve heard a lot about inefficient systems that it can fix. From the internet to advertising, healthcare, the voting system, and the supply chain; the list of things that aren’t working optimally is long and laden with overpromises. Blockchain is not a panacea for all the world’s ills, […]

The Libra, potentially a welcome addition to the financial system A consortium led by Facebook recently announced the introduction of a new cryptocurrency, the Libra. Compared to most existing cryptocurrencies the design of the Libra is relatively well supported economically One of the goals of the Libra is to connect the billions of people who […]