Joe Biden is the new President of America! In other news, this week our experts brought you the following insights based on their experience as investors, entrepreneurs & executives.
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Your Editor is Bernard Lunn. He is also the CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy and occasional opinion columnist.
Monday Ilias Hatzis our Greece-based crypto entrepreneur (Founder & CEO at Kryptonio a “keyless” non-custodial bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallet, that lets users manage bitcoin and crypto, without private keys or passwords and Weekly Columnist at Daily Fintech) @iliashatzis wrote Bitcoin is the first true religion of the 21st century?
After hitting an all-time high of nearly $42,000, Bitcoin fell all the way to around $30,000 and now its back to around $35,000. The drastic shifts illustrate bitcoin’s volatility and suggest that investors should hold on tight for what could be a a turbulent ride. While it’s always hard to pinpoint the cause for bitcoin’s price moves, the cryptocurrency has gained more than 300% in 2020. Anyone I talk to, doesn’t think that is ever going to go back to $5,000 where it was a year ago. In March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, it was around $3,300. Its a rollercoaster, but then again what’s been better than bitcoin?
Editor note:are you a believer, atheist or agnostic?
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Tuesday Bernard Lunn, CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy wrote: Prepaid Revolution part 3: what this will do for bank stocks
TLDR: prepaid accounts and cards are not a good trend for incumbent banks, the kind of banks that make up a bank Index ETF such as KBE.
I Am Not A Financial Advisor (IANAFA), Do Your Own Diligence (DYOD). Many investors think bank stocks are good value today. I am wary of bank stocks for two reasons. One reason is that their balance sheet is difficult to understand due to derivatives. The other reason is the disruption threat from Fintech ventures.
Editor note: This post explains why I am a bear on bank stocks.
Wednesday Alan Scott Managing Director EMEA at 24 Exchange @Alan_SmartMoney wrote Stablecoin News for the week ending Wednesday 20 January 2021.
This weekly snapshot is the news that matters in the Stablecoin market.
Bernard Lunn, CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy wrote:What on earth is going on with Bitcoin?
As I get asked this question a lot I decided it was easier to post something that I can link to.
We are now (Jan 2021) in one of many bull markets since the first coin was mined in 2009. Each bull market has been driven by different types of people:
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- 2013 was the cypherpunks (deeply techie and anti authoritarian)
- 2017 was retail investors/speculators (hoping for a fast buck)
- 2020/21 is professional and rich investors (older, not digital native, more cautious)
Editor note: perspective of a sceptical older guy who loves Bitcoin
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Thursday
Rintu Patnaik, an Insurtech expert based in India, wrote: Regulators eye big data impact on ratemaking
In insurance, big data connotes unstructured and structured data that influences underwriting, rating, and pricing. Structured data gets stored as pre-defined fields and tables, while unstructured could be social media, recorded videos or documents. Using predictive technologies, insurers use big data to discern trends and forecast future events. According to SNS Telecom, carriers’ spend on big data technologies is expected to reach $3.6 billion this year.
Editor note: Read this to understand some of the nuances of using big data to set insurance premiums.
Christian Dreyer @x3er, the Swiss based CFA who focusses on how XBRL changes our world wrote:XBRL News from Russia, India and ISDA
Editor note: This weekly snapshot is the news that matters in the XBRL market.
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Friday Howard Tolman, a well-known banker, technologist and entrepreneur in London, wrote: Alt Lending for week ended22 January 2021.
Editor note: This weekly snapshot is the news that matters in the Alt Lending market.
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Source: https://dailyfintech.com/2021/01/22/this-week-in-fintech-ending-22-january-2021/
