Paul Schulte, Advisor, Banking and Financial Services
August 22nd, 2019
Paul Schulte is the Founder and Managing Editor of Shulte Research based in Singapore. Paul's roles[...]
FaceCoin: Here’s What Facebook Could Build In Blockchain And Cryptocurrency
CB Insights | April 30, 2019
Could blockchain be an answer to scandal-plagued Facebook?
While a “Facecoin” might not lay the company’s many controversies to rest, it could potentially address everything from centralized single sign-on to cheaper payments processing. A variety of different signals point to Facebook getting serious about blockchain and digital currency.
For one, in January 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned cryptocurrency when disclosing his annual project for 2018:
“There are important counter-trends to [the rise of Big Tech] — like encryption and cryptocurrency… I’m interested to go deeper and study the positive and negative aspects.”
Since then, the company has created a formalized group dedicated to exploring blockchain.
However, using the CB Insights platform, we learned Facebook has been experimenting with digital currency tech for quite some time.
See: Facebook Is Developing a Cryptocurrency for WhatsApp Transfers, Sources Say
From a new org structure to patent trends, we used the CB Insights platform to highlight Facebook’s blockchain ambitions and the possibility of a Facebook cryptocurrency — FaceCoin.
Timeline of major events
- November 2017 — Early publicity about Russian election interference using Facebook
- Jan 2018 — Zuckerberg’s personal goal for “Fixing Facebook” mentions experimenting with cryptocurrency and encryption
- March 2018 — NYT and the Guardian publish coverage on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, working with Christopher Wylie
- May 2018 — Facebook announces its largest reorganization ever, creating the blockchain group run by former Messenger boss (and ex-PayPal president) David Marcus, while also moving Instagram VP of Product Kevin Weil to the project
- June 2018 — Facebook reverses ban on cryptocurrency ads
- August 2018 — David Marcus steps down from the Coinbase board, citing a conflict of interest
- December 2018 — Bloomberg reports that Facebook is developing a stablecoin, or a cryptocurrency pegged to a basket of currencies, for transfers within its WhatsApp service
- March 2019 — Facebook acqui-hires Chainspace, which focused on smart contracts and payments, in its first blockchain acquisition
- April 2019 — Sources say Facebook is meeting with VCs to raise as much as $1B for its cryptocurrency initiative, which could help present the project as more decentralized
See: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to Issue World’s First Blockchain-Based Digital Currency
What FB could build with blockchain and digital assets
As Facebook looks to redefine itself and expand its offerings, blockchain could be a significant lever to pull. Among many possibilities, tech commentators have theorized Facebook could build:
- Coin incentives for e-commerce
- Micropayments for services and content creators
- Banking apps
- Exchanges (competing with the likes of Coinbase)
- Identity tech
Continue to the full article --> here
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Wealth Professionals | David Kitai | May 21, 2020 CEO tells WP why the firm is rebranding and what new opportunities lie in the company's future Robo-advisor WealthBar is rebranding as CI Direct Investing with parent company CI financial increasing their ownership stake from 75 per cent to 100 per cent. Tea Nicola, founder and CEO of WealthBar, says that in terms of day to day operations nothing will change for their advisors and their clients. While she admits a bit of melancholy saying goodbye to the brand she built, she accepts that this is the logical next stage for her company and looks forward to the new challenges and opportunities she and her team will be taking on as CI Direct Investing. WealthBar will eventually be combined with Virtual Brokers, CI’s discount broker. See: Why Partnerships Are the Future for Fintech “We're currently not making any major changes aside from the rebrand itself,” Nicola says. “We're simply fully focused on supporting our customers, growing with the current demand we're seeing and launching this rebrand.” Nicola explained that the rebrand fits in a wider strategy on the part of CI financial, unifying their group of companies under a shared banner ...
Read More
Independent.ie | Adrian Weckler | May 21, 2020 A 20-year-old former BT Young Scientist winner has landed $16m (€14.6m) in new funding from some of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious US venture capital firms The famous former data security chief for Yahoo and Facebook, Alex Stamos, has come on as a new investor, as have Eventbrite CEO Kevin Hartz and (French firm) Datadog’s CEO Olivier Pomel. The heavy-hitting Silicon Valley firms backing the venture are led by Index Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins and assistance from Dublin-based venture firm Frontline. “We’re aiming to distill what GDPR did in 99 Articles down to a line of code,” said Mr Curran. Seven years ago, Sequioa invested in the payments firm created by another former Young Scientist winner, Patrick Collison and his brother John. Stripe has gone on to become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, valued at $35bn (€31.7bn). See: Cyber security world first as unique guide is launched Evervault hosts a network of hardware-secured data processing ‘enclaves’ which allows developers to deploy their applications in privacy ’cages’. These cages allow information to be processed securely with strictly controlled access but without changing the way that developers ...
Read More
Forbes | Christopher Helman | May 21, 2020 It’s everyone’s dream to get paid to do nothing. Bitcoin miner Layer1 is turning that dream into reality — having figured out how to make money even when its machines are turned off. Layer1 is a cryptocurrency startup backed by the likes of billionaire Peter Thiel. In recent months, out in the hardscrabble land of west Texas, the company has been busy erecting steel boxes (think shipping containers) stuffed chockablock with high-end processors submerged inside cooling baths of mineral oil. Why west Texas? Beause thanks to a glut of natural gas and a forest of wind turbines, power there is among the cheapest in the world — which is what you need for crypto. See: Bitcoin’s “halvening” is upon us “Mining Bitcoin is about converting electricity into money,” says Alex Liegl, CEO and co-founder. By this fall Layer1 will have dozens of these boxes churning around the clock to transform 100 megawatts into a stream of Bitcoin. Liegl says their average cost of production is about $1,000 per coin — equating to a 90% profit margin at current BTC price of $9,100. So it’s odd how excited Liegl is about the prospect ...
Read More
Guest Post | May 23, 2020 Over the years, the many forms of data storage and transfer devices have failed due to one reason or another. Floppy disks used to get spoiled too quickly, and CDs were an inconvenience when having to burn data on to them just to make it portable. However, after the introduction of USB flash drives to the market, numerous problems faced by almost anyone who had a job working with computers were solved. They are known by many names; flash drives, thumb drives, USB drives, pen drives etc. and come in many shapes and sizes but their main function is storage and transfer of digital data from one location to another. The biggest benefit of these devices is that they are USB (meaning they connect via universal serial bus terminals) and the fact that they are plug-and-play (meaning that they do not require any external software to be installed before use). However, as with anything on the market, certain precautions need to be taken while making a purchase for a USB drive as well as during its use. Some Things to Know When Purchasing a Flash Drive: Avoid buying a USB drive that requires any ...
Read More
Plaid blog | Niko Karvounis & Jesse Dhillon | May 20, 2020 The financial ecosystem is undergoing an unprecedented digital transformation due to new realities brought on by COVID-19. Consumers and businesses have turned to fintech to manage their finances in record numbers. Digital transformation that was expected to take years is now predicted to take place over a matter of months. Now, financial institutions everywhere must be prepared to meet their customers’ rising demand for digital connectivity. See: With Plaid Acquisition, Visa Makes a Big Play for the ‘Plumbing’ That Connects the Fintech World Today, Plaid is launching Plaid Exchange to accelerate consumer-permissioned data access strategies for financial institutions. As fintech adoption has grown, so have the needs of financial institutions that must now manage unprecedented customer connections across thousands of fintech apps. Plaid Exchange gives financial institutions, from banks to wealth management firms, an open finance platform that includes critical tools required to manage the secure and reliable data connectivity their customers’ financial lives demand, today and for years to come. At the heart of this platform is the ability for consumers to maintain control and transparency into where and how their financial information is permissioned and shared, ...
Read More
Cyber Management Alliance | Aditi Uberoi | May 21, 2020 Established in 2015, Cyber Management Alliance is one of the world’s leading cyber incident & crisis management service providers offering advisory, executive training and bespoke workshops in all aspects of cyber crisis management, incident planning, incident response testing and tabletop exercises. Cyber Management Alliance (CM-Alliance) is the creator of the internationally-acclaimed NCSC-Certified, Cyber Incident Planning and Response (CIPR) course. Previous attendees of the NCSC-Certified CIPR course and tabletop exercises include organisations including the United Nations, UK Ministry of Defence, several UK Police Forces, NHS Trusts, European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank, Microsoft, Ernst and Young, BNP Paribas and many others. See: Accenture: Fintech, Cybersecurity and Methods to Handle Threat Cyber security world first as unique guide is launched Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist Some areas of risk - note this is not a comprehensive list but a list to help you prepare for cybersecurity attacks: Cybersecurity Passwords Mobile Equipment Privileged Users Phishing Emails and Scams Policy and Illegal Activity Working remotely, Online Meetings & Calls Exceptions and Change Privacy Cyber Attack and Incident Response Backup Backup Backup HR and Mental and Occupational Health Video and Audio Conferences Helpdesk & Support Download ...
Read More
Digital | May 20, 2020 The huge e-commerce company also unveiled buy now, pay later and local delivery tools at its annual conference. Need to Know At Shopify’s annual conference, Unite, the e-commerce platform announced a number of new features. Shopify Balance Account is a “one-stop-shop” account for small business owners and a feature several employees are referring to as Shopify’s bank. The online platform also announced Shop Pay Installments, Fulfillment Network expansion, and Local Delivery products. The conference emphasized the importance of strong digital tools and local commerce in COVID-19 retail climate. See: Shopify displaces RBC to become Canada’s most valuable company Analysis E-commerce giant Shopify announced a number of new tools and programs at its online Reunite event on Wednesday, the biggest of which is Balance, a banking account tailored to the particular needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Balance, which will be made available to Shopify merchants in the US later this year, is a one-stop-shop within Shopify’s platform admin allowing sellers to track cash flow, pay bills, and monitor expenses. According to a press release from Shopify, 40% of merchants are currently using personal accounts for some business needs; Balance aims to provide tools that ...
Read More
Forbes | Susan Galer | May 19, 2020 Timelines for the emergence of quantum computers may be fuzzy, but the threat they pose to the vaunted security of blockchain technology is profoundly real. Originally popular as fail-safe security for bitcoin enthusiasts, blockchain is making inroads across numerous industries, most notably as a track and trace tool proving the provenance of goods across vast supply chains. Blockchain-based security may be even more valuable in managing supply and demand shocks during the pandemic and after. However, as blockchain services grow and quantum computers begin to emerge, now is the time to start thinking about quantum-resistant blockchain. “Once quantum computers can break the cryptography being used today, blockchain loses its immutability,” said Cedric Hebert, senior researcher at SAP Security Research. “We wouldn’t be able to trust new transactions on a blockchain that wasn’t meant to resist quantum-fueled attacks. Companies will need to adopt new protocols to resist quantum attacks.” See: The research frontier: where next for AI and collective intelligence? Right now, it’s difficult to go backwards on a blockchain’s immutable ledger and change original information in each block of the chain. This is especially the case as blocks are added with more ...
Read More
Forbes | Cory Johnson | May 19, 2020 XRP-powered Coil could put crypto transactions into the hands of tens of millions with WordPress deal. But will it take? The excitement over how much blockchain could do has always been outmatched by what little blockchain does do. But that may finally be changing. Today, the San Francisco-based blockchain startup Coil announced a new integration with WordPress, the dominant publishing engine on the Web. It means that website creators could get blockchain-metered payments, whether the content is free or behind a paywall. Better still, users, currently accustomed to giving up their private information to unknown cookies, will have that personal information protected. They could even enjoy WordPress-powered sites advertising free. See: How the Pandemic Is Pushing Blockchain Forward This is a big deal because, well, WordPress is big. According to an W3techs survey in April, over a third of the Web is published using WordPress software. Among those sites using content management systems, WordPress has 63.3% market share — number two Joomla has just 4.1%. WordPress version 5.4 has been downloaded 27 million times and counting. So yeah — it’s a huge opportunity. Coil’s technology notes when a user visits a Coil-enabled ...
Read More
Finextra | Leon Gauhman | May 20, 2020 When COVID-19 is finally brought under control, several key sectors will be remembered for the way they stepped up and took responsibility during the crisis. Healthcare is the most obvious, but supermarkets, corner shops, logistics companies and postal delivery networks have also played a critical role in preventing the country sliding into meltdown. By contrast, British banks have done little to merit a spontaneous round of rainbows and applause. Branches up and down the country have been closed and banks were slow and seemingly reluctant to process SME loan applications under the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme (CBILS). It’s a brutal indictment of the sector that the government has had to intervene with its 100% ‘bounce back’ loan guarantees to try and salvage the UK economy. The key question now is whether traditional banks can learn lessons from Covid-19 that will help them establish any kind of status as a part of the SME life support system. In my opinion, they can – but only if they take their lead from the increasingly influential fintech sector. Here are four areas of digital innovation I believe banks should embrace in the post-pandemic ...
Read More
Wealth Professionals | David Kitai | May 21, 2020 CEO tells WP why the firm is rebranding and what new opportunities lie in the company's future Robo-advisor WealthBar is rebranding as CI Direct Investing with parent company CI financial increasing their ownership stake from 75 per cent to 100 per cent. Tea Nicola, founder and CEO of WealthBar, says that in terms of day to day operations nothing will change for their advisors and their clients. While she admits a bit of melancholy saying goodbye to the brand she built, she accepts that this is the logical next stage for her company and looks forward to the new challenges and opportunities she and her team will be taking on as CI Direct Investing. WealthBar will eventually be combined with Virtual Brokers, CI’s discount broker. See: Why Partnerships Are the Future for Fintech “We're currently not making any major changes aside from the rebrand itself,” Nicola says. “We're simply fully focused on supporting our customers, growing with the current demand we're seeing and launching this rebrand.” Nicola explained that the rebrand fits in a wider strategy on the part of CI financial, unifying their group of companies under a shared banner ...
Read More
Read More
Independent.ie | Adrian Weckler | May 21, 2020 A 20-year-old former BT Young Scientist winner has landed $16m (€14.6m) in new funding from some of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious US venture capital firms The famous former data security chief for Yahoo and Facebook, Alex Stamos, has come on as a new investor, as have Eventbrite CEO Kevin Hartz and (French firm) Datadog’s CEO Olivier Pomel. The heavy-hitting Silicon Valley firms backing the venture are led by Index Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins and assistance from Dublin-based venture firm Frontline. “We’re aiming to distill what GDPR did in 99 Articles down to a line of code,” said Mr Curran. Seven years ago, Sequioa invested in the payments firm created by another former Young Scientist winner, Patrick Collison and his brother John. Stripe has gone on to become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, valued at $35bn (€31.7bn). See: Cyber security world first as unique guide is launched Evervault hosts a network of hardware-secured data processing ‘enclaves’ which allows developers to deploy their applications in privacy ’cages’. These cages allow information to be processed securely with strictly controlled access but without changing the way that developers ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Christopher Helman | May 21, 2020 It’s everyone’s dream to get paid to do nothing. Bitcoin miner Layer1 is turning that dream into reality — having figured out how to make money even when its machines are turned off. Layer1 is a cryptocurrency startup backed by the likes of billionaire Peter Thiel. In recent months, out in the hardscrabble land of west Texas, the company has been busy erecting steel boxes (think shipping containers) stuffed chockablock with high-end processors submerged inside cooling baths of mineral oil. Why west Texas? Beause thanks to a glut of natural gas and a forest of wind turbines, power there is among the cheapest in the world — which is what you need for crypto. See: Bitcoin’s “halvening” is upon us “Mining Bitcoin is about converting electricity into money,” says Alex Liegl, CEO and co-founder. By this fall Layer1 will have dozens of these boxes churning around the clock to transform 100 megawatts into a stream of Bitcoin. Liegl says their average cost of production is about $1,000 per coin — equating to a 90% profit margin at current BTC price of $9,100. So it’s odd how excited Liegl is about the prospect ...
Read More
Read More
Guest Post | May 23, 2020 Over the years, the many forms of data storage and transfer devices have failed due to one reason or another. Floppy disks used to get spoiled too quickly, and CDs were an inconvenience when having to burn data on to them just to make it portable. However, after the introduction of USB flash drives to the market, numerous problems faced by almost anyone who had a job working with computers were solved. They are known by many names; flash drives, thumb drives, USB drives, pen drives etc. and come in many shapes and sizes but their main function is storage and transfer of digital data from one location to another. The biggest benefit of these devices is that they are USB (meaning they connect via universal serial bus terminals) and the fact that they are plug-and-play (meaning that they do not require any external software to be installed before use). However, as with anything on the market, certain precautions need to be taken while making a purchase for a USB drive as well as during its use. Some Things to Know When Purchasing a Flash Drive: Avoid buying a USB drive that requires any ...
Read More
Read More
Plaid blog | Niko Karvounis & Jesse Dhillon | May 20, 2020 The financial ecosystem is undergoing an unprecedented digital transformation due to new realities brought on by COVID-19. Consumers and businesses have turned to fintech to manage their finances in record numbers. Digital transformation that was expected to take years is now predicted to take place over a matter of months. Now, financial institutions everywhere must be prepared to meet their customers’ rising demand for digital connectivity. See: With Plaid Acquisition, Visa Makes a Big Play for the ‘Plumbing’ That Connects the Fintech World Today, Plaid is launching Plaid Exchange to accelerate consumer-permissioned data access strategies for financial institutions. As fintech adoption has grown, so have the needs of financial institutions that must now manage unprecedented customer connections across thousands of fintech apps. Plaid Exchange gives financial institutions, from banks to wealth management firms, an open finance platform that includes critical tools required to manage the secure and reliable data connectivity their customers’ financial lives demand, today and for years to come. At the heart of this platform is the ability for consumers to maintain control and transparency into where and how their financial information is permissioned and shared, ...
Read More
Read More
Cyber Management Alliance | Aditi Uberoi | May 21, 2020 Established in 2015, Cyber Management Alliance is one of the world’s leading cyber incident & crisis management service providers offering advisory, executive training and bespoke workshops in all aspects of cyber crisis management, incident planning, incident response testing and tabletop exercises. Cyber Management Alliance (CM-Alliance) is the creator of the internationally-acclaimed NCSC-Certified, Cyber Incident Planning and Response (CIPR) course. Previous attendees of the NCSC-Certified CIPR course and tabletop exercises include organisations including the United Nations, UK Ministry of Defence, several UK Police Forces, NHS Trusts, European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank, Microsoft, Ernst and Young, BNP Paribas and many others. See: Accenture: Fintech, Cybersecurity and Methods to Handle Threat Cyber security world first as unique guide is launched Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist Some areas of risk - note this is not a comprehensive list but a list to help you prepare for cybersecurity attacks: Cybersecurity Passwords Mobile Equipment Privileged Users Phishing Emails and Scams Policy and Illegal Activity Working remotely, Online Meetings & Calls Exceptions and Change Privacy Cyber Attack and Incident Response Backup Backup Backup HR and Mental and Occupational Health Video and Audio Conferences Helpdesk & Support Download ...
Read More
Read More
Digital | May 20, 2020 The huge e-commerce company also unveiled buy now, pay later and local delivery tools at its annual conference. Need to Know At Shopify’s annual conference, Unite, the e-commerce platform announced a number of new features. Shopify Balance Account is a “one-stop-shop” account for small business owners and a feature several employees are referring to as Shopify’s bank. The online platform also announced Shop Pay Installments, Fulfillment Network expansion, and Local Delivery products. The conference emphasized the importance of strong digital tools and local commerce in COVID-19 retail climate. See: Shopify displaces RBC to become Canada’s most valuable company Analysis E-commerce giant Shopify announced a number of new tools and programs at its online Reunite event on Wednesday, the biggest of which is Balance, a banking account tailored to the particular needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Balance, which will be made available to Shopify merchants in the US later this year, is a one-stop-shop within Shopify’s platform admin allowing sellers to track cash flow, pay bills, and monitor expenses. According to a press release from Shopify, 40% of merchants are currently using personal accounts for some business needs; Balance aims to provide tools that ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Susan Galer | May 19, 2020 Timelines for the emergence of quantum computers may be fuzzy, but the threat they pose to the vaunted security of blockchain technology is profoundly real. Originally popular as fail-safe security for bitcoin enthusiasts, blockchain is making inroads across numerous industries, most notably as a track and trace tool proving the provenance of goods across vast supply chains. Blockchain-based security may be even more valuable in managing supply and demand shocks during the pandemic and after. However, as blockchain services grow and quantum computers begin to emerge, now is the time to start thinking about quantum-resistant blockchain. “Once quantum computers can break the cryptography being used today, blockchain loses its immutability,” said Cedric Hebert, senior researcher at SAP Security Research. “We wouldn’t be able to trust new transactions on a blockchain that wasn’t meant to resist quantum-fueled attacks. Companies will need to adopt new protocols to resist quantum attacks.” See: The research frontier: where next for AI and collective intelligence? Right now, it’s difficult to go backwards on a blockchain’s immutable ledger and change original information in each block of the chain. This is especially the case as blocks are added with more ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Cory Johnson | May 19, 2020 XRP-powered Coil could put crypto transactions into the hands of tens of millions with WordPress deal. But will it take? The excitement over how much blockchain could do has always been outmatched by what little blockchain does do. But that may finally be changing. Today, the San Francisco-based blockchain startup Coil announced a new integration with WordPress, the dominant publishing engine on the Web. It means that website creators could get blockchain-metered payments, whether the content is free or behind a paywall. Better still, users, currently accustomed to giving up their private information to unknown cookies, will have that personal information protected. They could even enjoy WordPress-powered sites advertising free. See: How the Pandemic Is Pushing Blockchain Forward This is a big deal because, well, WordPress is big. According to an W3techs survey in April, over a third of the Web is published using WordPress software. Among those sites using content management systems, WordPress has 63.3% market share — number two Joomla has just 4.1%. WordPress version 5.4 has been downloaded 27 million times and counting. So yeah — it’s a huge opportunity. Coil’s technology notes when a user visits a Coil-enabled ...
Read More
Read More
Finextra | Leon Gauhman | May 20, 2020 When COVID-19 is finally brought under control, several key sectors will be remembered for the way they stepped up and took responsibility during the crisis. Healthcare is the most obvious, but supermarkets, corner shops, logistics companies and postal delivery networks have also played a critical role in preventing the country sliding into meltdown. By contrast, British banks have done little to merit a spontaneous round of rainbows and applause. Branches up and down the country have been closed and banks were slow and seemingly reluctant to process SME loan applications under the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme (CBILS). It’s a brutal indictment of the sector that the government has had to intervene with its 100% ‘bounce back’ loan guarantees to try and salvage the UK economy. The key question now is whether traditional banks can learn lessons from Covid-19 that will help them establish any kind of status as a part of the SME life support system. In my opinion, they can – but only if they take their lead from the increasingly influential fintech sector. Here are four areas of digital innovation I believe banks should embrace in the post-pandemic ...
Read More
Read More
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