Blockchain: Unfiltered: Recent Episodes
Binarystar Ventures
Blockchain unfiltered covers all things blockchain and crypto, the good, bad, and the ugly. From the latest news, trends, and opportunities to more in-depth insights into the ecosystem’s future and its impacts on the global economy. We take an unfiltered look at what’s happening in the dynamic world of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Latest news:
- Alibaba is spending more than $3 billion to dominate online groceries in China
- The US government sues Google for alleged anticompetitive abuses in search
Featured roundtable: Does COVID19 mark the beginning of the end for traditional education? What transformations will we see over the next decade
- Covid-19 could push some universities over the brink
- An economist explains how COVID-19 will impact universities
- Education may be forever changed for Gen Z after the coronavirus pandemic.
- VCs pour funding into edtech startups as COVID-19 shakes up the market
Learn more about our special guest Laurence Smith:
LinkedInTwitterTransformation Mindset
Latest news:
Politics in tech- Inside the BLM turmoil at Coinbase
https://www.wired.com/story/turmoil-black-lives-matter-political-speech-coinbase/
Technology becoming a cornerstone of global diplomacy?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-01/china-tech-to-face-even-closer-scrutiny-from-global-governments
The beginning of the breakup of bigtech?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-05/house-panel-to-recommend-breakup-of-tech-giants-republican-says
Featured Roundtable: What influence has COVID-19 had on technology adoption and digital transformation?
Which companies and industries will be the winners and losers?
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/digital-transformation/digital-transformation-COVID-19.html
Latest News:
Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin disclosed today a mega hack
https://www.zdnet.com/article/kucoin-cryptocurrency-exchange-hacked-for-150-million/
TikTok’s fate coming to a head
https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/tiktok-s-fate-coming-to-a-head-11601210526711.html
Featured Roundtable:
Asia encompasses a diverse mix of advanced and high-growth emerging economies undergoing immense demographic, economic and technological transformations. As such, the region’s growth and dynamism represent one of the world’s best long-term growth stories. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GadhFQAcxOmQjEWnGRC3tovr3icPl3DKFsnsbl5gDOc/edit
Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:
Indonesian fintech startup BukuWarung gets new funding to add financial services for small merchants
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/28/indonesian-fintech-startup-bukuwarung-gets-new-funding-to-add-financial-services-for-small-merchants/
Philippines payment processing startup PayMongo lands $12 million Series A led by Stripe
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/27/philippines-payment-processing-startup-paymongo-lands-12-million-series-a-led-by-stripe/
Latest news:https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/alibaba-3-207255/
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/17/tiktoks-chinese-rival-kuaishou-becomes-a-popular-online-bazaar/
Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:
https://www.techinasia.com/tiktoks-rival-kuaishou-aims-raise-5b-hk-ipo
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/21/wm-motor-1-47-billion-funding/
https://e27.co/kim-an-raises-series-a-to-connect-vietnams-financial-institutions-with-msmes-via-its-fintech-platform-20200911/
Featured roundtable:Asia's digital economy is developing rapidly, and at a faster pace than the West. Why is this so? 1. Asia's scale a digital advantage: Asia has around half of the global internet users, with China and India leading the way. 2. Emergence of Unicron innovators - Asia has around 40% of the global tech unicorns who are actively driving innovation. 3. Role of the government, in some cases, governments have remained on the sidelines, creating space for startups to experiment. In other cases, governments have taken an active role in promoting innovation eg Singapore. 4. In some emerging economies in the region, there is less legacy infrastructure standing in the way, enabling innovators to bring advanced solutions right to the public at speed. 5. Consumers’ openness to new technologies and the mobile Internet. 6. In many countries fundamental infrastructure is broken, and founders can leverage technology to fill those gaps. What does this all mean for investors and the wider global economy?
Latest News:
Global
Square Forms Group to Stop Patent Hoarding From Stifling Crypto Innovation
https://www.coindesk.com/square-alliance-patents-crypto
Binance introduces $100 Million Decentralized Finance or DeFi Fund for “High-Quality” Projects
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2020/09/166623-binance-introduces-100-million-decentralized-finance-or-defi-fund-for-high-quality-projects/
Asia
SBI, A Japanese Financial giant, is planning to launch a digital stock exchange based on blockchain technology.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbi-holdings-to-set-up-blockchain-based-digital-stock-exchange-in-osaka
China is serious about Blockchain and DLT, pumping out thousands of startups.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/beijing-pulls-ahead-of-shenzhen-as-chinas-top-blockchain-city
Featured roundtable:
Do financial institutions (the old guard) and crypto startups need to work together?
https://www.coindesk.com/an-open-letter-to-our-dear-bankers-be-brave
https://www.coindesk.com/visa-cred-fast-track
https://cointelegraph.com/news/payment-giants-drive-crypto-adoption-by-engaging-with-startups
Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/77555/crypto-to-fiat-gateway-xanpool-raises-4-3-million
Where is Blockchain gaining real-world traction?
Blockchain has seen much hype over the last decade, but where has the technology actually seen real-world traction and value add? Where should investors be looking? One area which we’ll cover this week is provenance and supply chain tracking. This area also happens to be of particular importance, given global trade uncertainties between the US and China and COVID-19. Provenance including traceability, data immutability, clarity on the origin of goods. Supply chain tracking with traceability, instant data reconciliation, transparency between players, real-time accurate information are all important topics we discussed on this week's episode.
A wide ranging discussion on blockchain and our thoughts on the latest news and trends in the space.
News articles discussed:
- Vitalik's view on de-fi
- https://decrypt.co/40318/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-defi-yield-farmers-central-banks
- Japans evolving view on blockchain
- https://decrypt.co/40220/japans-evolving-view-on-blockchain-regulation
Track and Trace and provenance in whisky, and Amazon's counterfeit problem
- https://decrypt.co/23384/blockchain-is-helping-weed-out-fake-japanese-sake
A wide ranging discussion on blockchain, what's really changed in the last two years, and our thoughts on what's happening today.
News articles discussed:
DEFI
DeFi Is Just Like the ICO Boom and Regulators Are Circling
Security
Uber’s Former Security Chief Charged With Trying to Conceal Hack Using Bitcoin
Huawei Builds Blockchain Platform to Help Beijing Government Manage People’s Data
Central banking and Regulation
Boston Fed looks into 30 Blockchain networks to support Digital Dollar
Story from News Brazil’s Central Bank Tasks Group With Laying Out Road Map to Digital Currency Issuance
PBoC Says Digital Yuan Tests Focus on Small Transactions After Rumored Property Sale
Venture and M&A
Polychain Capital’s Original Crypto Fund Raises an Additional $19.5M
ConsenSys Acquires JPMorgan’s Quorum Blockchain