We've all seen the ransomware headlines - not a day goes by that a threat actor group doesn't post a cryptocurrency ransom following successful deployment of malware to a business' networks.But is the currency finally now mainstream? Recently CBA in Australia, started accepting and managing cryptocurrency (it struck strategic commercial relationships with regulated crypto exchanges and custodians).Visa is working through its Circle partnership to offer the currency, and Paypal is now live with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.Could we see regulators move to tighten the use and flow of the currency further?https://economictimes.indiatimes.c
A few years in the making, now Australia's Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is live with Synfini - its distributed ledger technology (DLT) as-a-service platform.The premise is to offer multi-party services through the platform including automated consent management and data sovereignty with each party permissioned on the ledger according to specific security and privacy requirements.Could this regtech/ fintech innovation see more applications of distributed ledger technology and faster business workflows? Already KPMG is building onto the platform the NSW government building assurance solution (Broadridge)https://www.zdnet.com/article/asxs-blockchain-based-chess-replacement-pushed-to-april-2023/image credit : Hoyes
Aussie startup Tide aims to deliver zero trust technology to enable data sharing while protecting sensitive data. The startup, now a few years old, aims to give consumers complete control over their personal data. Using distributed ledger infrastructure, and multi-party cryptography, Tide enables consumers to manage their own encryption keys - the key will be ensuring the security protocols are consumer-friendly, scalable and provable for broader applications.https://tide.org/tideprotocolimage credit: mohamed hassan -Pixabay
The latest thoughts from leading Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) funds investing in innovation to decarbonize their respective industries.Whereas traditional venture capital funds are purely financially oriented, CVCs’ objectives often bifurcate into prioritizing strategic and financial returns. In a world of corporate net zero commitments, CVCs have bolstered their mandates to invest in accelerating climate technologies. Startups are considered to be bad at scaling, and corporates bad at innovating - so the upsurgence in CVCs’ investment into climate startups is exciting for their partnership potential to scale climate innovation. I'd love to see some Aussie success stories here.image credit: ClimatechVChttps://climatetechvc.substack.com/p/-corporate-climate-venturing
Google’s Jigsaw project collaborated with the digital rights NFP Access Now and the censorship measurement company Censored Planet, in a report that found Internet shutdowns are "growing “exponentially”: out of nearly 850 shutdowns documented over the last 10 years, 768 have happened since 2016"The report's results should give policy-advisors, governance and ethicists alike pause for thought. What can should we do to minimise this threat?https://jigsaw.google.com/the-current/shutdown/Image by Chaitawat Pawapoowadon from Pixabay
