Day: October 29, 2017

Based on the new monetary law issued by Vietnam’s central bank, Bitcoin and other virtual cryptocurrencies are already considered as illegal and their use will be prohibited in the country.

At the opening ceremony of the 7th Corporate Social Responsibility Lebanon Forum in late October 2017, Lebanese central bank Governor told that the bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies across Lebanon due to their resemblance of commodities.

Famous Wall Street investor Bill Miller has revealed that he invested 30 percent of his funds assets into Bitcoin in early 2016 and has posted 72 percent gains in 2017.

Wouldl you believe that people in mainland China could trade and exchange Bitcoin again?

Find out which eight businesses are being launched by Japanese SBI Group.

Over the years, the Merkle has covered the launches of countless initial coin offerings. In this article, we will cover three tips that you should keep in mind to make sure that the first ICO you run is a success.

So you have a great idea for the blockchain sector, you’ve got a plan to make it happen, yet you lack the financial resources to do so. Startups often face this predicament, yet with the rise of ICOs, raising money through crowdfunding is no longer difficult. After all, the first half of 2017 saw US$1.5 billion worth of investment in ICOs, compared to just over US$200 million in all of 2016.

1. Take your security seriously

Holding an ICO means that you likely have access to capital resources. This instantly makes you a target for hackers and extortionists in the marketplace. To be safe, make sure to use random and secure passwords for all your accounts, and only share them with trustworthy employees who use the very best security practices. It is often recommended that you avoid keeping your raised funds in an online wallet, as these are much easier to breach than other types. Ideally, invest in a hardware wallet, which you can use to access your current wallets and/or store your funds.

2. Clearly explain the benefits of purchasing tokens

The ICO market is very different from Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where users often back projects without expecting anything in return. ICOs are investments for token buyers. Therefore, to ensure that you raise enough capital, make sure to clearly and thoroughly explain all the benefits associated with purchasing tokens. List all rewards, and be transparent as to what the purpose of the tokens will be. It’s also smart to be as transparent as possible in stating how the raised funds will be used to power up your project.

3. Invest in smart marketing

The beauty of ICOs is that they have begun to attract more and more investors from outside the cryptocurrency space. Therefore, avoid listing your ICO strictly on digital currency forums and niche websites. Rather, attempt to market your ICO to broader segments of the investor market. However, when you do this, make sure to effectively target your campaign. You can’t expect to use technical terms and have someone who never used a blockchain network understand what you’re trying to say. Therefore, use different words for different audiences.

The above tips are likely to give your initial coin offering a little boost, thereby ensuring a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Emerging markets are outpacing the development of standard ones significantly according to experts. This article will look at two of the major trends. The first is mobile and the second is the internet.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

The Golden Age of Smartphones

The first trend corresponds with buyers entering the emerging market by passing PC, laptops, and tablets for smartphones in countries that are traditionally well banked. With buyers choosing smartphones over computers, growth in the mobile market has progressed exponentially. This trend applies even more to nations with a high unbanked population. Furthermore with smartphone prices of $30 to $50, Asian markets maintain a robust mobile market. 76% of Taiwan is connected to mobile, and 70% of Myanmar is connected. With the capabilities of smartphone processors comparable to PC processors, the smartphone is likely to continue this trend.

The Internet is Contrary to All the Rules

The second trend accounts for access to internet among very low income peoples. Emerging markets show that they usually have a high percentage of the unbanked and underbanked with a large amount of them having access to the internet as well.

Experts estimate Asia as the region to become the fastest growing Internet region by 2020. And while their internet industry is flourishing, only 27% of Southeast Asians have a bank account. In 2017, China has 731 million internet users. That is only 53.1% of the population. China represents internet development at a fast pace, but it still has 21% unbanked. Internet traffic growth in Myanmar is at 58%, yet Myanmar is one of the lowest banking rates in Asia with over 70% of adults (aged 15+ years) unbanked.

The Battle Between Traditional Banks and Alternative Fintech

These trends strongly impact various industries. For example, financial markets are leading emerging market consumers to skip traditional banking altogether. By having access to online wallets, payday loan cards, P2P credits, and mobile loan applications a whole new market has found it easier to bank without paper applications.

Kenya’s M-Pesa allows users to transfer money with simple text messages. In China, usage of the apps WeChat and Alipay account for approximately seven times greater the use of traditional top five banking apps. Alternative mobile banking services are rapidly growing because they are proving the rules of the traditional banking space futile.

By having access to a user’s smartphone data, blockchain company MicroMoney has developed a mobile scoring system based on neural network technologies that estimates creditworthiness. MicroMoney’s clients don’t collect papers or wait for approval. Instead of collecting a credit history, MicroMoney’s mobile scoring system collects 12,000 different parameters of data (e.g. SMS, contacts, social accounts data, searches, purchases, and even music a user likes) within several minutes and approves or disapproves of a loan. If approved, a MicroMoney loan is instant.

With the aforementioned trends, it’s obvious that banking will never be the same. By banking the unbanked we create a market growth in rates that were previously unthought of.

Wrapping up thoughts on #Money2020, the Vegas show is by far the biggest of this monster event organising company. I’m guessing there were around 15,000 folks there this year, and everything but everything was being covered: AI, machine learning, mobile wallets, core banking, distributed ledger, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and just about every other aspect of making and taking payments.Usually the keynotes on the plenary stage don’t impress me much, as they’re just product pitches, but a few did stand out this year. I was particularly impressed by the content of Oliver Jenkyn’s presentation. Oliver is EVP & Group Executive, North America for Visa and I usually hate Visa’s content. But Oliver began by talking about a messaging conversation he had with his ten-year-old daughter that finished with her asking:

During the audit of Bank of Korea by the National Assembly, its governor claimed that digital currencies like Bitcoin cannot be regarded as money based on the definition of the Bank of International Settlements. Find out more.

The number of crypto hedge funds continues to explode, with more than 120 dedicated hedge funds now active, seeking to catch the wave of growth.