The Bukele Effect: Unraveling the Consequences of a Presidential Resignation
Two months before El Salvador’s next presidential election, President Najib Bukele has relinquished his leadership. What does this mean for El Salvador?
El Salvador’s Volcano Bond approved for launch in Q1 2024: News Update
The long-awaited release of El Salvador’s Volcano Bond is finally set. It has received regulatory approval and will open for trading early next year.
Awakening the Argentine Lion: The Javier Milei Revolution
The Argentine public has made a bold move electing economic maverick Javier Milei into office. His term heralds hope a new era of radical economic reform.This article is written by Analysts at Volcan Capital. Volcán Capital, an avant-garde boutique fund and asset management firm nestled in the heart of El Salvador.
Is the Blockchain M&A Wave Starting?
Until recently, M&A activity has been rather limited in the cryptocurrency ecosystem — but recent developments suggest an M&A wave is about to hit the blockchain sector
Can blockchain solutions succeed without legislative support?
Blockchain technology has the potential to positively disrupt a wide array of sectors and industries. However, inaction or ignorance by lawmakers may have far greater potential to derail these initiatives than many care to admit
Should blockchain companies be worried about Europe’s GDPR rules?
To all appearances, the EU has been more proactive in dealing with blockchain technology than its US counterpart and it is also making a bigger effort to tackle "big tech" on data malpractices. But with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect on May 25, will it have an impact on blockchain innovation?
What’s next for blockchain?
Everyone got very excited a few years ago about blockchain technologies, the ledger system that was spawned by the arrival of bitcoin in 2009. It allows the recording of transactions to be automated and completely trusted, as the ledger system is tamperproof. The resulting excitement was that this could therefore replace many systems of contracts that are paper-based with smart, digital contracts.
Blockchain’s real estate disruption off to a slow start
There is undeniable potential for immense changes in the real estate sector, as a study published by Deloitte suggests. At the moment, however, there are few actual projects or applications of blockchain technology in the real estate industry. However, a serious approach can be seen in the area of evidence of ownership of land (the land register). In addition, there are also areas of application in the letting processes and other property management as well as real estate financing. The decisive driver for these innovations is above all the possible simplification and acceleration of management processes.
Blockchain Is Coming Everywhere, Ready or Not
The applications of blockchain technology will spread in 2018 far beyond bitcoin and, perhaps more surprisingly, way beyond financial services. Significant disruption and new business opportunities are on the menu. Four of the most-critical benefits from distributed-ledger technology can be encapsulated within trust, transparency, cost and speed. Where will the disruption occur?
Blockchain – Progression in Securities Markets?
Blockchain solutions for payments seem about a dime a dozen. But less is heard about bringing blockchain to the securities industry, even though current securities post-trade processing holds a large amount of inherent risk. Is blockchain technology a viable solution for the securities markets? Does the industry want to move forward with DLT and, if so, how will this progress from use case to business case? What are the challenges and opportunities? BNY Mellon’s Tom Casteleyn explains the latest blockchain and DLT trends impacting the securities industry.
Crypto projects to look forward to in 2018
2017 has been an important day for both Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. While hopefully not as tumultuous, 2018 is looking like it will bring us a lot of interesting innovation in the space. Here are some of the things I'm personally looking forward to seeing unfold in the new year.
What does the FCA think about blockchain?
In mid-December 2017, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a really interesting 32-page paper on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The timing wasn’t great as most of the City was out getting smashed at Christmas parties, so I thought it best to put it aside until the New Year hangovers were out of the way and share it with you now.
Blockchain’s Post-Trade Credibility Problem
There has been much talk of how blockchain technology can improve mainstream financial markets. That cuts both ways. In particular, blockchain purports to fix post-trade, yet the crypto market itself fails miserably at it.
Why Blockchain will revolutionize the banking industry
The banking industry, with all of the potential that blockchain technology offers for change, iteration, and development has been slow in its uptake of the new tech. That said, there’s no questioning whether blockchain technology will disrupt and revolutionize the banking industry. Leaders feel it coming. Some are ready. Most aren’t. But why and how is blockchain going to change banking over the next decade?
Can Bitcoin actually remove the middlemen from corporate finance?
If you’ve been involved with blockchain for a while, you may have picked up on a recurring theme in many recent news stories — something along the lines of ‘blockchain is the future,’ ‘it will only continue to grow in the coming years’, and ‘it will revolutionize corporate finance by de-centralizing lending and removing the need for middlemen.” Are they right? Currently, there are two dominant perspectives on that.
Blockchain forges ahead at Nasdaq
There have been many successful Blockchain proofs of concepts in financial services, and it’s exciting to see the beginnings of a shift from technology validation mode to commercialization. Here, Nasdaq provides insight into its Blockchain projects.
