Weekly round-up of blockchain developments and crypto activities
Blockchain will disrupt US$867 trillion capital market
Stocks, bonds and commodities? Will they and other businesses in the capital markets be disrupted by blockchain technologies?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) thinks although it added that it won’t be anytime soon. In a new report released before last weekend, WEF said that substantial headwinds will limit adoption of distributed-ledger technology solutions. It suggested that resistance to change will arise from incumbent financial institutions and their overseers.
No timeline was given as to when tokenisation of stocks, bonds and commodities will take place. When it does, it will disrupt the traditional financial market of US$867 trillion which will include US$95 trillion equity market, US$560 trillion derivatives markets and the US$89 trillion asset management/fund administration business.
The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation. Tokenisation of the capital markets may not be too far behind. Financial institutions would be smart to draw up their strategies.
Cross-border blockchain remittance service between Vietnam and Cambodia
A new payments corridor between banks in Cambodia and Vietnam has been created with the introduction of a cross-border international remittance service based on blockchain. The service will be provided by SBI Ripple Asia which is a joint-venture between Japanese financial services group SBI Holdings and crypto firm Ripple.
Over the weekend, the National Bank of Cambodia approved Cambodia’s first blockchain-based international remittance service. Since SBI Ripple already has a similar payments agreement with TP Bank in Vietnam, a blockchain payments service between banks of the two countries is now possible.
The money-transfer service will use RippleNet, Ripple’s distributed ledger-based payments network. It will offer real time payments with low fees.
Alternative coins surging rapidly
Investors buoyed by the crypto rally are in the hunt for cheaper alternatives that could be the next to skyrocket. They are investing in the lesser known coins including Cardano, SafeMoon, Dogecoin, DigiByte and VeChain. As a result they are surgin in prices like Dogecoin which in the past 6 months has risen 25000%.
Amid, the upward trend expert investors advice caution. Retail investors looking at crypto investments to increase their life savings quickly, should have a focussed strategy and a good appreciation of the key drivers of a coin’s value including its business proposition, the maximum supply of coins that can be mined and price history.
Grace can be reached at grace.chng1@gmail.com
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