This weekly summary from our 5 experts, brings you insights based on their experience as investors, entrepreneurs & executives.Ilias Hatzis started his first company, an internet search engine, during the dot-com era & now focusses on crypto.Efi Pylarinou worked for top tier Wall Street firms and is now a top global Fintech influencer.Jessica Ellerm is CEO of Zuper Superannuation & previously worked for a top Fintech startup, Tyro.
Patrick Kelahan is a CX, engineering & insurance professional, working with Insurers, Attorneys & Owners.Bernard Lunn is CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy .If you want to continue receiving This Week in Fintech, you can either become a paying Member for $143 per year (and receive all our content in addition to this weekly summary) by clicking here .If you just want to receive This Week in Fintech for free, you will need to fill in this form .
Or fill in the same sign up form at the bottom of this post .Your Editor is Bernard Lunn .
He is also the CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy .Monday Ilias Hatzis @iliashatzis our Greece-based crypto entrepreneur (Founder & CEO at Mercato Blockchain Corporation AG and Weekly Columnist at Daily Fintech) wrote Cryptocurrency religions: Will altcoins survive? Bitcoin was the first and every other cryptocurrency came from it.Will Bitcoin survive? Will altcoins survive? This has been a heated debate with one side predicting the demise of the other.Bitcoin maximalists claim that we are heading to Bitcoin dominance and that altcoins are dying, urging the people to sell their positions in other crypto assets to put it all in Bitcoin.In a tweet last year, Charlie Lee wrote: “Some self-proclaimed Bitcoin Maximalists, are actually Bitcoin Extremists.
Editor note: The distinction between Bitcoin Maximalists and Extremists was helpful to me as a self proclaimed Maximalist who would not want to be an Extremist.
– Tuesday Efi Pylarinou @efipm our Swiss-based Fintech Adviser, founder of Efi Pylarinou Advisory and a Fintech/Blockchain influencer – No.3 influencer in the finance sector by Refinitiv Global Social Media 2019 wrote Thin Applications, Smart Wallets, and Defi The Defi world is booming (on a relative scale) with an over 40% increase in the amount locked (in USD) in the month of January.The introduction of multi-collateral DAI (MCD) in late Fall last year, has clearly made a difference.
The USD amount locked up in #Defi jumped over 40% in January 2020, approaching $900mil Admittedly, the amounts involved are still very small; shyly approaching the $1billion mark in a cryptocurrency market with a total market capitalization of $260billion.My post today is inspired by Joel Monegro`s excellent review of the nearly 5yr old `Fat protocol` concept.Keep in mind that at the time Ethereum wasn’t around yet.In `Thin Applications` he looks to make sense of Web3, a work in progress with the dazzling choice of blockchains to choose from.Editor note: Fascinating peek into the Defi world, where non-custodial personal data sovereignty means that business model innovation beyond toll gate fees is required Note: Ilias and Efi swapped days this week to accommodate personal needs.- Wednesday Jessica Ellerm @jessicaellerm, our Australia-based Fintech entrepreneur and thought leader specializing in Small Business and the Gig Economy & CEO/Co-Founder of Zuper, a new superannuation startup in Australia wrote Buy Now Pay Later Player OpenPay Diversifies Revenue As Regulatory Headwinds Increase For Sector Recently listed Australian fintech, OpenPay, has announced it has secured a flagship deal with one of Australia’s largest retailers, grocery giant Woolworths.
The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform will use the Woolworth’s deal to push forward growth plans for its new Openpay for Business product, which will allow Woolworth’s suppliers to more seamlessly interact with the large corporate when it comes to managing their trade account, from signing up to invoicing.Editor note: BNPL could disrupt the Credit Card rails.I am always amazed in Switzerland when I am getting out my CC and a merchant says to the effect of “don’t worry we will send you a bill”.Scaling that to bigger less homogenous markets is not easy but the prize is a massive one.- Thursday Patrick Kelahan @insuranceeleph1, our US based Insurtech expert (a CX, engineering & insurance professional, working with Insurers, Attorneys & Owners who also serves the insurance and Fintech world as the ‘Insurance Elephant’) wrote Speaking of Blockchain, what of its place in insurance? https://dailyfintech.com/2020/02/06/speaking-of-blockchain-what-of-its-place-in-insurance/ I’ve felt as an orphan child within the Daily Fintech family, at the end of the common table but the uncomfortable ‘outsider’ because the content I produced for publication was not Fintech or Blockchain oriented.The Insurtech content has always been embraced as an integral part of the blog, but like the student who does not quite know how to affix the sash on the uniform I have been feeling a little insecure.
Editor note: Too much modesty from Pat.This is a very good overview of the Blockchain projects that are getting traction in Insurance and the hurdles to mainstream adoption.- Editor note: This weekly snapshot is the news that matters for busy senior people in the Security Token market.- To continue receiving ‘This Week in Fintech’, the weekly recap of our articles, you will need to fill this form to give us consent to send this to you.Please note that Daily Fintech requires your organizational email address (e.g.corporate, educational or government) and your LinkedIn URL.
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