In many people’s minds, cryptocurrency started as a dream of decentralization; of an asset not subject to government manipulation or many of the negative regulations that exist to steer the market in specific directions. And, for better or worse, those dreams have to some extent been realized. Technology has caught up to the ambitions, but bad actors have repeatedly shown the … [Read more...] about A More Mature Dream: Building Authentication into Cryptocurrency
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Chicago FinTech News – Female Founders Lead
Survey to Study Financial Planning Behavior in a Pandemic Chicago wealth startup Genivity launched a behavior research survey, Financial Planning in a Pandemic-Driven Economy. The survey is designed to measure the consumer behavior and attitude towards long and short term financial planning in wake of the 2020 economic recession and a global pandemic. “This information will … [Read more...] about Chicago FinTech News – Female Founders Lead
Emerging Cannabis Market Presents Opportunities for Payments Trailblazers
In January 2020, Illinois joined 10 other states in the country (along with the District of Colombia) by legalizing recreational marijuana. While this has presented an immediate business opportunity that many have taken advantage of, the continued federal ban on the drug has led to unique challenges for both business owners seeking ways to process payments, as well as for … [Read more...] about Emerging Cannabis Market Presents Opportunities for Payments Trailblazers
New Bitcoin Offerings and Volatility Reflect Challenges and Promise For Cryptocurrency
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) launched its physically-settled bitcoin futures trading platform, Bakkt, on September 23. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has been doing futures trading in bitcoin for even longer -- since 2017 -- and is now making plans to expand that platform by early next year with a bitcoin options contract. It's a market with promise, but one … [Read more...] about New Bitcoin Offerings and Volatility Reflect Challenges and Promise For Cryptocurrency
New SEC Framework Charts a Narrow Way Forward for Token Developers
Are Initial Coin offerings (ICOs) legal? It's hard to know, with a number of vague hints - and enforcement actions - suggesting that the SEC largely views the answer to be no. And while the market is still well ahead of formal regulatory policy, some hints have finally been offered in a recently-issued "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets." What … [Read more...] about New SEC Framework Charts a Narrow Way Forward for Token Developers
Open Source Finance
The future of currency looks increasingly invisible—and branded. Bitcoin is going through something of an identity crisis. While much cryptofinance news over the past 18 months has focused on the fluctuating price of bitcoin (BTC) and the use of crypto-tokens to raise capital, the underlying blockchain technology was designed to account for payment transactions. The recent … [Read more...] about Open Source Finance