Cryptofinance technology gains increasingly serious attention while regulatory agencies try to wrap their collective brains around bitcoin, as banks rush to catch up with mobile payments.
I’m also glad to say that my home city of Chicago saw two FinTech events last Tuesday, one hosted my me. Chuck Mackie attended both events and gives anoverview of the trends my group discussed and the FinTech plans and progress at the CME Group exchange. Also in Chicago, the CEOs of CME Group and investment research firm Morningstar mull a FinTech hub in the city, reports Lynne Marek of Crain’s Chicago Business.
Blockchain continues to raise questions
The growth of blockchain technology has raised several questions about its use, one of the most important one being: should this currency control the money supply rather than a central bank under the watchful eye of the government? At the same time, the hype machine is on full throttle, and David Birch wisely pleads for “some rationality in the reporting and discussion of the technology.” The technology is exciting but complex. Diving deeply into intricacies behind blockchain, such as explaining why proof of stake matters, proves to be difficult even for those well versed on the subject.
CFTC appoints bitcoin expert, first 2016 meeting will have blockchain focus
Financial regulatory agencies around the world have begun paying attention to bitcoin, and now the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the U.S. is getting with the program, beginning with officially declaring it as a currency in late 2015, Bitcoin Magazine reports. The agency starts to turn its regulatory eye toward the technology.
As more pay by smartphone, banks scramble to keep up
When a technology makes the front page of a metro newspaper, especially a national one, interest and adoption are starting to run hot. The millennial-led shift toward mobile payments has banks rushing to keep up with the trend that threatens to turn consumer banking upside down. A front-page New York Times piece breaks down the banks’ attempt to stay in touch with mobile banking trends just as they’ve recovered from the financial crisis.
What’s the point of InsurTech (and what are the incumbents doing about it)?
The insurance industry is plagued with the mentality that “this is how we’ve always done things,” but at a recent TechUK meeting revealed the growing interest in FinTech firms entering the insurance technology sector, Daily FinTech explains.