Senate inquiry proposes laws to make Australia a leading digital economy
The Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Center detailed 12 recommendations in its third and final report – among them is a clear plan to encourage Australia to stand alongside Singapore and the UK as a…
Pinnacle backs OpenInvest’s “homegrown” technology platform with $3 million
Pinnacle Investment Management has invested $3 million to become the lead investor in the $5.5 million fundraising round just completed by Melbourne-based financial technology OpenInvest. Pinnacle’s interest in OpenInvest was sparked by the latter’s new “in-house” technology platform, which allows…
CBA crypto trading is expected to lift all boats in the local sector
Australia’s crypto sector is celebrating after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) made history earlier this week as the first of Australia’s major banks to move into the crypto asset trading space. Kraken Australia director Jonathan Miller said anything that…
Aussie fintech is relieved by the sane report, but cautious about political realities
The Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Hub has delivered its report on how regulators should approach cryptocurrencies and blockchain, but local fintech companies are cautiously optimistic about what this means in the future. Speaking to…
Square’s third-quarter profit jumped from bitcoin transactions
Square’s gross profit rose to $1.13 billion in the third quarter from $794 million a year earlier, thanks to the strong performance of payments service Cash App, up 33 percent, which saw gross profit rise to $512 million dollar. Cash…
The federal government will invest $500 million in low-emission technologies
The federal government is looking to accelerate investment and innovation for low-emission technologies through a new $1 billion low-emissions technology commercialization fund. Prime Minister Scott Morrison framed the plan as a natural extension of the government’s newly announced path to…
Chinese crackdown paves way for crypto mining migration
After years of repression by the Chinese government, many of the world’s biggest bitcoin miners have moved elsewhere. According to the latest Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), the United States now holds a leading share of the global Bitcoin…
The Melbourne-based fintech estimates the valuation to swell to US$5.5 billion
On Thursday, Airwallex announced it had raised an additional US$100 million in a Series E1 funding round, raising its valuation to US$5.5 billion just two months after the company announced an oversubscribed Series E round. This latest round brings Airwallex’s…
Longo acknowledges “extraordinary” crypto demand
Speaking at the AFR Super and Wealth Summit, Mr Longo touched on crypto and the pace of change in the market, which has been accelerated by the pandemic and lockdowns, and urged users to be cautious. “In my opinion, consumers…
Stablecoin could be a rising giant in global finance
Perhaps because they avoid the volatility seen elsewhere, stablecoins like Tether aren’t necessarily seen as radical or transformative in the same way that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are. When it comes to crypto assets, headliners like Ethereum take much of the…