Category: Australia

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Australia Crypto News Europe Payments

Digital Payment Platform Azimo Launches In Australia

Azimo – a payment platform headquartered in Amsterdam – has recently launched in Australia.

 A country known for it’s thriving payment platform industry, Holland is well-known across Europe for its innovative banking solutions such as iDEAL or bunq.

A Cryptocurrency-Friendly Platform For Payments

Although not as well-known in the industry as the aforementioned platforms, Azimo has been operating in Europe for the past 8 years with little to no hitches – and bring something special to the market.

Azimo is a user of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity Solution (ODL).

Ripple’s ODL service uses the XRP cryptocurrency asset to provide instant payments in over 45 countries and can reduce liquidity costs by up to 60% when compared to old-school banking practices.

Dora Ziambra – the Chief Operations Officer of Azimo – stated that Azimo identified Australia and the APAC region in general as a more attractive market than the USA, likely owing to the fact that the Australian public and private sectors as a whole have proven far more interested in blockchain technology than their NA counterparts.

According to Richard Ambrose – the CEO of Azimo – the use of digital assets to reduce payment SLAs has interested them for quite some time.

“We’ve been interested for a long time in the potential of digital assets like XRP to make cross-border payments better for customers. Ripple’s ODL solution has significantly reduced the cost and delivery time for cross-border transfers, and our customers are seeing the benefits. As more banks and financial institutions use ODL, we believe it has the potential to replace current methods of foreign exchange trading and to reduce settlement time to close to zero.”

Boasting a money transfer SLA of under 24 hours, Azimo seems poised to be a competitive choice for Australians looking to send and receive quick payments worldwide. 

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Downer Group Trying Out Blockchain Improvements In The Construction Business

The Downer Group – a company offering a range of construction and engineering services  – is looking into the use of blockchain technology, hoping to improve their current modus operandi. Listed on the ASX and offering their services across Australia and New Zealand, the Downer Group is on the ASX 100 list and employs around 52,000 people.

Although blockchain has many uses in construction, the company has stated that they plan to use blockchain technology to keep a record of turnaround maintenance work – and to manage complex shutdowns.

Avoiding Mistakes And Misunderstandings

Over 130 shutdowns and turnarounds are performed by Downer every year, mostly in complex sites such as mines.

In industries where the slightest mistake can be fatal, there is no room for error – and blockchain can reduce those errors almost completely.

Blockchain has been used in Australian construction before – notably to create eco-friendly apartment complexes. However, the Downer Group states that this is the first use of blockchain in Australia for these specific areas of interest.

Pat Burke – the business executive general manager of Downer Group – stated that they are always looking for ways to improve customer experience. Among other innovative ideas, blockchain was singled out as a way to slice through previously opaque and confusing business practices, particularly those pertaining to unexpected costs and SLAs.

“A key factor in the successful management of large maintenance outages is having real-time information regarding asset condition, time, cost, and schedule that allows fully informed decision making during the actual execution of major and minor works.

“I believe blockchain technology will be used in many business-to-business transactions in the coming years.”

He added that by taking a leap of faith now, the Downer Group will be poised to offer innovative solutions to customers in a few years – while industry rivals play catch-up.

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Australia Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies E-commerce

RaleyPay Launches into $600b E-commerce Market for Aussie Retailers

RaleyPay is launching a payment solution by bridging the gap between traditional finance and cryptocurrency. The platform is launching into the $600b e-commerce market to make crypto available for Aussie retailers. 

The Australian platform will allow crypto transactions at global exchange rates. RaleyPay users can now pay their bills, buy in their favorite stores, cash out from an ATM, or transfer funds to any bank account nationwide — by converting their crypto to fiat at the time the payment is made, with a daily limit of $50,000.

Users put their bank or mobile details, select a cryptocurrency, choose a conversion rate and receive their funds — with no fees for crypto transfer to bank accounts.

Australia’s First Crypto-payment Solution

RaleyPay is implementing Australia’s first crypto-payment solution by allowing their clients to spend Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies the same way as fiat.

The core value of this is that now Australians can easily pay their Bills with ETH or Bitcoin, and make only shop integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce & Magento.

Their first merchants are the Australian companies BronID, which specializes in anti-money laundering — Piper Alderman, a company that provides legal advice on commerce, and Blueshyft, an iOS-based platform with 1,400 retailers nationwide.

Australians can transact their Bitcoin or Ethereum in the following ways:

  • Buy crypto such as Bitcoin and Ethereum with AUD via PayID or bank transfer.
  • Sell crypto and withdraw AUD to any Australian bank.
  • Spend crypto on e-commerce websites.

Part of the reason cryptocurrencies have a negative stigma is the logistical nightmare of transacting with local and international exchanges due to the risk, painstakingly complex processes, and exorbitant fees. So we wanted to solve these two problems by removing the barriers to buying and using digital currencies at global market rates, while also opening up new revenue opportunities for retailers.

Stated RelayPay founder & CEO, Charlie Karaboga, for Australian Fintech.

RelayPay will launch soon crypto loans, a feature called Crypto Backed Lending: users can deposit Bitcoin or Ethereum as collateral to get an AUD loan for up to 50% of the value of the asset.

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Australia

Crypto Adoption Likely to Increase in Australia as NAB Closes Branches

Update 20/11/2020: NAB reported on Twitter that the branches were only shut down for a few hours on 18th Nov and the “advice from State and Federal police is that the physical threat is not credible and has been deemed a hoax”.

Millions of residents in Australia have been locked out from cashing their funds, as one of the biggest banks in the country, National Australia Bank (NAB), has reportedly closed all branches. There are chances that the development today can cause some customers to consider cryptocurrencies as another option for monetary transactions. A similar case was witnessed in Venezuela, where banks closed, causing the residents to increasingly adopt cryptos.

NAB Shuts Down Branches for Security Reasons

According to the bank’s notice on Wednesday, it had to temporarily close the branches due to a physical security threat against them. Hence, the decision to halt the banking operations comes as NAB considers its customers’ security as a top priority. While citing the Queensland Police, recent reports claimed that NAB actually received bomb threats across its branches in the country.

As the police have been informed and investigations are ongoing, the bank promised to keep the customers updated about the situation and, perhaps, the safety of their funds. At the moment, however, all the funds remain locked, given that the commercial offices are currently closed. Likewise, the ATMs located within branches are offline.

Does the NAB Situation Promote Crypto?

The NAB is reportedly one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia, with about 859 branches and 9 million customers. There are possibilities that some of the affected customers might eventually adopt cryptos, like Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) as another alternative to process payments or send funds abroad. For instance, the Venezuelan government closed down banks in the country during the severe times of the coronavirus pandemic in March. 

Peer-to-peer exchanges (P2P) like Localbitcoins witnessed a sudden spike in trading between Bitcoin and the country’s fiat currency. Transactions with digital currencies can be done peer-to-peer (P2P), which enables users to avoid certain banking fees. More so, international payments with crypto are cheaper compared to traditional methods.

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Australia Blockchain Investing

ASX Goes Down Temporarily, Raising Concerns Regarding Trading Tech

After opening for trade on Monday, the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) was forced to freeze trading for a full 20 minutes after a software issue affected the possibility of trading several securities – apparently all tied to a single order.

The issue prompted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to express concern over the technical capabilities of the ASX’s aging system – and led them to a possible investigation into the ASX’s ability to comply with its license obligations.

Blockchain Solutions Waiting In The Wings

Luckily for Aussie investors, there are not one, but two solutions lined up to fix the issues stemming from the ASX’s aging CHESS trading systems.

Following an unexpected spike in trading volumes back in March of 2020, the ASX was forced to delay the launch of its DLT (Distributed Ledger Trading) platform.

Dominic Stevens – the CEO of ASX – stated that the trading spike heralded a possible tripling of the volume the new ASX system would be required to carry, forcing the ASX to rethink parts of their projected replacement system.

“Some, including an important back-office systems provider for a substantial part of the market, expressed a preference for an extra six to nine months, which we are including in our deliberations. With the volume explosion we saw in March, we’re now looking at plans to ultimately double or triple that original volume target, which will increase go-live system capacity.”

However, the National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), have also been working hard to find a blockchain-based stock exchange solution – and at the beginning of October, they announced the creation of their new platform.

The Digital Exchange Subregister System (DESS) is yet another DLT trading system – developed in tandem with iSignthis – that is waiting for approval from the ASIC to help ease the load on the Australian stock market.

Whether the ASX adopts DESS or its own in-house solution, it is worth noting that both solutions are blockchain-based – hinting that the ASX, like many other Australian institutions, recognizes the viability of blockchain technology.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Brisbane Gold

Australian Largest Asset Exchange, BTC Markets, is Listing Meld Gold on Its Platform

The largest Australian trading platform, BTC Markets, announced today on Twitter the listing of Meld Gold (MCAU). A Brisbane-based company that delivers and facilitates gold ownership through digital gold certificates.

BTC Markets will offer their investors AU$1 million of Meld Gold at spot prices. The trading officially starts at 11:00 AEDT on 17th November 2020.

Backed by Australian Gold

Meld is backed by recycled Australian gold, held in independent Australian vaults and refineries. The brand new company has partnered with retailers, industries, financial advisers, and several global brands to consolidate and connect their entire gold supply chain.

Meld allows businesses and investors can transact and sell their gold directly with bullion dealers — Including Brisbane-based Imperial Group, independent collective offering products and services specialising in precious metals.

Meld is also built on Algorand (ALGO), a technology that created the world’s first permissionless, point of sale (PoS) blockchain protocol and focuses on DeFi applications like Smart Contracts and Atomic Transfers.

In April, Meld announced its partnership with Algorand and Australian gold industries to add the supply chain of gold onto the blockchain technology. Usually, gold-backed tokens are supported by an amount of physical gold — under the issuer’s custody. 

However, in the Meld system, every token equals one gram of physical gold — not held by the issuer but the network companies, like Melbourne Mint. 

“Meld is developing an industry solution that interconnects the entire supply chain, creating efficiencies such as decreased costs, increased transaction speed, and greater liquidity.”

stated Michael Cotton, director of Meld Gold, for Decrypt.

“Meld is using blockchain technology to emulate and improve the actual gold market” stated Peter August, CEO of Melbourne Mint for Cointelegraph in April. August believes that Meld can shape the Australian gold industry with its new model.

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Australia Cryptocurrencies Swyftx

Swyftx Reminds Crypto Users Why Cold Storage Is Important

This week, Swyftx – an Australian cryptocurrency exchange used regularly by over 30 thousand traders – reminded crypto enthusiasts that cold storage is a great solution for those with a large stash that they aren’t intent on trading in the near future.

Cold wallets are devices that store crypto tokens far away from the reach of the internet – and as a result, impervious to attacks by cybercriminals. Think of cold wallets as the safes in blast-proof banking vaults – but for cryptocurrency.

Calls For Responsibility

Although Swyftx and other trusted crypto exchange platforms have top-notch security, they are not completely immune to previously undiscovered exploits. As a result, Swyftx encourages users to deposit large stashes they plan to hold on to in cold wallets.

Certain types of cold wallets are available for purchase right on the Swyftx platform, and Alex Harper – the founder and CEO of Swyftx – states that more platforms should speak out on the unique benefits cold wallets offer.

“Other exchanges are not stressing cold storage options hard enough. Don’t get me wrong, the technology of exchanges has advanced lightyears since the Mt. Gox era, or even where we were when we first started almost 3 years ago. However, it’s still hard if not impossible to beat offline crypto storage. Crypto exchanges need to come out and talk to their communities about this… big time.”        

In addition, Harper stressed that he is intent on maintaining the platform’s status as a well-respected, consumer-friendly crypto service provider. Arguing that trust built and maintained over time is far more important than short term profit, he encouraged other platforms to speak out about the issue as well.

Swyftx has also put together a quick guide on crypto asset storage, outlining the benefits of each kind.

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Australia Bitcoin Blockchain

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis Believes Bitcoin is a Haven Against Dollar Inflation

In a recent interview on the ABC News program GMA3, Wyoming’s elected Senator Cynthia Lummis alleged that Bitcoin can serve as a good store of value. The former State Treasurer said that she hopes to bring Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in general to the “national conversation” in the U. S.

“Our own currency inflates. Bitcoin does not. It’s 21 million Bitcoin will be mined, and that’s it. It is a finite supply. So I have confidence that this will be an important player in store of value for a long time to come.”

— Senator Cynthia Lummis

Lummis is the first Senator in the U.S. to currently own Bitcoin. She bought BTC in 2013 thanks to her son in law, Will Cole, Unchained Capital Chief Product Officer.

American and Aussie Politicians Highlighting Crypto

Senator Lummis is not the only politician who recently talked positively about the potentials of Bitcoin and crypto in general. Australian Senator Andrew Bragg spoke about the benefits and potential of blockchain technology during the online panel of the Future Of Financial Services 2020 conference. 

The liberal Senator alleged that Australia needs to innovate and look further into blockchain technology to stay relevant in the financial realm. Bragg believes that blockchain can solve several critical regulatory problems in Australia, as well as globally.

“The future is blockchain technology. Instant cross-border transactions powered by blockchain may well be the solution for one-touch government with real-time international transactions.”

— Andrew Bragg

Bragg’s statements came shortly after S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of Communications, urged all countries around the world to use a free flow of data across borders — highlighting the quick expansion and digitization of businesses and economies globally.

“It’s imperative we stay open and connected digitally. We should facilitate the free flow of data so international trade can continue to flourish and our people can remain connected to the global commons.”

— S. Iswaran.

A Weaker Dollar

Economists and investors are agreeing on something: the future of the USD is uncertain. Now that Joe Biden was announced president by the media, fear bases around the tensions between a Republican Senate and a Democrat president. A technical analyst from Token Metrics, Bill Noble, believes that this could especially devalue the dollar — and most investors would look to empty their weakling fiat into crypto.

U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), taken from Trading Economics

As more politicians and institutions highlight the potential of digitized economies, traders and investors see Bitcoin and other crypto-assets and their backbone technology — the blockchain, as a haven against a seemingly weaker dollar.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Payments Ripple

Ripple Launches New Trademark Following PayID Debacle

This August, Ripple was the subject of a lawsuit served up by NPPA, a payment platform serving countless users across Australia. 

The dispute started over the use of the “PayID” name in Australia —  which the NPPA was already using. 

The NPPA claimed that Ripple’s actions constituted deceptive conduct — in breach of both the Australian Security and Investments Act and Australian Consumer Law.

In a statement, the NPPA claimed that Australian investors — as well as regular users of their PayID platform — were at risk, as they could have been liable to confusion arising from the shared name.

PayID — the payment platform run by the NPPA — has served more than 68 million bank accounts ever since it’s launch 2 years ago.

“The aim of this action is to protect Australian consumers and businesses from potential losses or scams that could arise as a result of confusion created from a payments service using the same name.”

Ripple Rebrands 

Back in August, Neil Murray SC —  a counselor for Ripple Labs — stated that they would look for options, wishing to resolve the issue amicably if possible.

Last week, Ripple Labs filed a trademark for their rebranded platform with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

Named Paystring, the new trademark has not been explained by Ripple — nevertheless, it is worth noting that the logo used has remained the same except for the name, as well as the trademark description itself. 

“[The]…trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of electronic financial services, namely, monetary services for receiving and disbursing remittances and monetary gifts in fiat currencies and virtual currencies over a computer network and for exchanging fiat currencies and virtual currencies over a computer network.”

Taking into consideration these similarities, it is quite probable that this trademark will be used to relaunch the service in Australia, free of legal issues.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies

Blockchain Technology Now Supported By Aussie Politicians On Both Sides

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has been an ardent supporter of Blockchain technology for a while – with his latest show of support at the Future Of Financial Services 2020 conference calling for more measures to promote the use of blockchain to attract international investors.

However, it turns out he is not the only Australian political figure to support blockchain technology.

Conservative Support Of Cryptocurrency

On the 10th of November, noted conservative Cory Bernardi came out in support of Bitcoin.

Cory Bernardi – who has served as senator from 2006 to 2020 – stated his support for cryptocurrency after becoming more acquainted with the concept over the years.

He stated that despite having risks, so does any other asset – but the demand is getting stronger. He then went on to compare the digital asset to gold – which was the non-monetary asset preferred by private investors belonging to prior generations.

Kraken – a cryptocurrency exchange based in the USA – also stated earlier this year that if millennials would invest 5% of their inheritance in Bitcoin – with no other influences involved – the asset would get such a boost that a price of $350,000 per BTC could be reached.

Indeed, young adults have been far keener on adopting cryptocurrency than other demographics, in part due to its volatility – something projects like Qoin are trying to remedy.

Data published by RMIT  this summer showed that during the earlier months of lockdown, home trading volumes increased by  50% globally – and by 66% in Australia.

“Interest in DeFi – which is the beginnings of a new global digital financial system – is driving this current cryptocurrency price surge.”

Jason Potts – RMIT

Whatever the reason for this surge of interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency from all sectors – public and private, business and personal – the fact that personalities on both sides seem to espouse favorable views towards blockchain technology means that the rise of legislative barriers for even more crypto adoption seems quite unlikely.