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NEWS
deVere Group rides the Bitcoin hype as it announces new crypto app
T
he deVere Group is launching the deVere Crypto app as a result of the increasing popularity of digital coins. The cryptocurrency app represents the second big leap into
fintech by the group in the past year.
“2017 saw the true dawn of the financial technology era,” said the company’s CEO, Nigel Green. “Fintech is already fundamentally changing the way we access, manage and use money – and the changes are coming quicker than ever before due to improving technologies and growing demand.”
For Green, Bitcoin is at the peak of this technological change. In the past year, Bitcoin has gone from being a niche idea to the mainstream, and those investing have benefitted from the price increase.
App users will be able to trade in five major cryptocurrencies
The app, developed by blockchain and fintech experts for both Android and iOS, allows users to store, transfer and exchange five major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Green stated the need for cryptocurrencies in the current ecosystem, and cited three reasons that have allowed this major introduction.
First, he said, is technological advancement. “We are adopting more and more technology into our lives at an increasing rate,” he said. “It’s not just digitalisation or existing technology. From self-driving cars to intelligent robots, new technologies will impact every part of our lives. Our financial lives will be no exception. Tech is now in our DNA.”
The second reason is the political shifts that are steering people to lack of control by central banks and governments. Supporters believe that these digital currencies are part of the antidote to what they see as the ills caused by the traditional system. And lastly, Green quoted globalisation as an “immensely positive force for trade, commerce and prosperity across the world”.
“Traditionalists who declare cryptocurrencies ‘a fad’ are akin to King Canute trying to command the tides of the sea to go back,” Green said. “deVere Crypto is designed to meet the growing need and want to store and transfer cryptocurrencies. It’s meeting the evident demand.”
Bank of Israel blanks cryptocurrency I
srael’s central bank has said that it will not recognise cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as actual currency, due to the difficulty of regulating the risk associated with them.
Deputy governor Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg said the firm has received complaints about Israeli banks making it difficult for customers to transfer money from their accounts to buy Bitcoin.
“The Bank of Israel’s position is that [cryptocurrencies] should be viewed as a financial asset,” Baudot-Trajtenberg told a meeting of Israel’s parliamentary finance committee, according to Reuters.
“There is a real difficulty in issuing sweeping guidelines to the system regarding the proper way to estimate, manage and monitor the risks inherent in such activity,” she said. “Beyond the risks to the customer there are also compliance risks to the bank.”
Reuters reported that committee members at the meeting were heard to urge Israeli regulators to come up with some regulations as quickly as possible.
The worry over the inherent anonymity of Bitcoin, as well as its links to terrorism and crime, have held back development of a proper policy on the matter.
India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley has also poured water over the Bitcoin coals by stating that cryptocurrency would not be considered legal tender in the country.
Jaitley, according to local publication Zee Business, added that 11 exchanges had been identified in the country, but no action is going to be taken until an in-depth review into the industry has been finalised by India’s regulatory bodies.
www.ibsintelligence.com | © IBS Intelligence 2018
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