

As part of our Women in Tech campaign, we’d like to highlight the female leaders in the industry who are changing the game and also the world. This article includes three mentions coming from our UK office, but feel free to head over to our US, Australian and Swedish editions to read more stories from women of different backgrounds! Anna Boden (source: Anne Boden/Starling Bank via https://www.altfi.com/article/8487_starling-is-not-for-sale-says-anne-boden-in-new-chapter-of-her-book) Founder of Starling,…

Why The UK Treasury Is Pushing for the Digital Pound
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are on the rise across many developing and developed economies of the world. The UK government is considering following suit with its own “digital pound” stablecoin. But why?

The Female Lead: The Women Behind Swedish Tech
To end our Swedish Design Series on a high, we thought we’d champion some of the most successful women working in the Swedish tech industry. Not all women mentioned are Swedish-born, but they are helping Sweden become a world-leader in tech. Though not all are design-based, we appreciate that all women mentioned in this list are business-minded, innovation-led and tech-driven, which would explain why they’re all excelling in their field.…

The Magic of a Unicorn: How Sweden’s Fintech Industry is Taking Over the World
Sweden is one of the world’s leading forces in the fintech industry. Due to their quick adaption of the new financial technologies, it might soon become the first cashless economy in the world! The capital city of Stockholm is known for the various Unicorns that have been built up within the city borders. A Unicorn, in this context, is a start-up that went through scale-up and eventually grew into a…

Volatility, Bugs and Politics: The Challenges Facing El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment
President Bukele’s El Salvador has become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender—but the Salvadorans aren’t ready to lead the crypto reform just yet.

Google Contactless Card
Google are upgrading their Google Pay feature to introduce an NFC payment card.

TreeCard’s Recyclable Wooden Debit Cards
TreeCard have produced a debit card made completely of wood that could make a huge impact for the environment.

PayPal Opens Wallet for Cryptocurrency
American fintech giant will allow its customers to hold and spend cryptocurrency in its online wallet

The problem with your crypto might actually be your private key
Arguably, what made cryptos so successful in the first place is the possibility of having a recognised valuable asset without the hassle of complying with banking and legal regulations.

The first state crypto currency could happen soon….in a place you’ve probably never heard of
Every crypto enthusiast knows well that big nations such as the USA or Japan are trying to regulate the cryptomarket. But they are also keeping a certain distance from fully implementing cryptos in national or global finance.

Blockchain Legislation in Nevada
Blockchain tech companies and cryptocurrency exchange are not the niche reality we have learned to know in the past years.

Coincheck NEM hack – New sources link to Russian hackers
Recent investigations led experts to think that the one of the greatest heist in history – the theft of around US$534 million worth of New Economic Movement (NEM) cryptocoins – might be linked to Russian hackers, instead of North Korean ones as previously suspected.

Egypt lifts ban on cryptos following new Sharia-compliant technologies
Egypt has loosened its grip on cryptocurrencies. A ban issued in January 2018 by the current Grand Mufti, Shawki Allam, has now been lifted.

Facebook’s Libra could thrive. But it’s all about the user experience.
On May 2, the Wall Street Journal reported that social media giant Facebook had recruited financial firms and merchants to build its own cryptocurrency. On the same day, Libra Networks was registered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Amazon-owned Whole Foods now accepts Stablecoins for daily groceries
If there’s one only thing that discourage companies and retailers to implement crypto-based payments for their products is the extreme volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.

A Beginner’s Guide To Bitcoin and Blockchain
Earlier this year, we highlighted cryptocurrency as something to keep an eye on in 2018, but what exactly is Bitcoin?

What is Fintech?
Connor James Ibbetson, Journalist You’ve heard the term tossed around recently in the media, but what is FinTech? FinTech is in your phone, on your laptop, in your wallet. FinTech is the budding industry aiming to take the banking world head on to change the game for both consumer and corporate. FinTech simply means Financial Technology, and is being pioneered by small firms around the world, who are able to…

Fintech start-ups + tech giants: which should banks be wary of?
While fintech start-ups continue to revolutionise the financial sector, banks face further competition from tech giants according to a new report.

What have challenger banks got over their traditional competitors?
Despite frequent crashes and bugs associated with challenger banks, they’re still growing at a remarkable rate. But why?