2018-10-20

Tech Review | Future Finance: Smart Contracts on the Blockchain (video)

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Tech Review (TR 2018-10-20)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Future Finance: Smart Contracts on the Blockchain, 2) Bitcoin Detectives: Cracking the ​Blockchain, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: US, Europe, China, 4) ICYMI Tech News: Amazon AWS JEDI & HQ2, Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, Wirecard.

1) "Future Finance" Forum 2018: Smart Contracts on the Blockchain

A lively panel discussion on the divergence in the blockchain ecosystem between cryptocurrencies and other private permission systems and how smart contracts are evolving, moderated by Ray Chan, Senior Correspondent, FinanceAsia, with Panelists: Paul Sin, Consulting Partner, Deloitte, Angelina Kwan, Managing Director, Head of Regulatory Compliance, HKEX, Joshua Kroeker, Blockchain/DLT Lead, Global Commercial Banking, HSBC, Lawrence Ma, President, HK Blockchain Society, Douglas W. Arner, Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong. The session was filmed at the "Future Finance - Adapting to Disruption" Forum held at Island Shangri-La Hong Kong on Wednesday, 7th February 2018. Thomson Reuters video published Oct 5, 2018.
Blockchain graphic ©2018 DomainMondo.com
See also: From Farm to Blockchain: Walmart Tracks Its Lettuce | NYTimes.com Sep 24, 2018: The giant retailer will begin requiring lettuce and spinach suppliers to contribute to a blockchain database that can rapidly pinpoint contamination.

2) Bitcoin Detectives: Cracking the ​Blockchain

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has a problem as old as money itself​ -- theft​. And that's giving rise to a new profession: bitcoin detectives like Kim Nilsson, a victim of the massive Mt. Gox exchange hack.

3) Investing
graphic: "INVESTING"  ©2017 DomainMondo.com
The Week: NASDAQ Composite -0.6% | S&P 500 Index +0.02%  | DJIA +0.4%

Wall Street's Charging Bull
graphic of Charging Bull | DomainMondo.com
Investing Notes: US, Europe and China
  • US is the most competitive country in the world--regaining the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2008 in an index produced by the World Economic Forum--WSJ.com
  • Eurozone: ECB's "Bubble” Warning--WolfStreet.com: "After it Caused the Most Absurd Bond Bubble Ever." See also: Bavaria election (video) clear signal the center is moving to the fringes in Germany.
  • Brexit: How 4 Experts Think It'll Impact Business (video). Four scenarios (graphic).
  • EU: VC investment in European startups plunged 21% in Q3 2018--even with Brexit looming, startups in the United Kingdom were still number one, raising 43 percent ($2.3 billion) of the total capital in Q3, accounting for 32 percent (215) of the deals. France ranked a distant second in terms of venture capital raised, $679 million, and third in number of deals (78). Germany was third in amount raised, $631 million, and second in number of deals (83).--Dow Jones VentureSource Venture Capital Report - Europe Q3 2018 (pdf).
  • China: "Most surveyed companies are now experiencing unprecedented difficulties and have become increasingly pessimistic about business prospects for the next six months ... For most, business has never been worse."--Li Wei, economics professor at CKGSB. See also: China May Have $5.8 Trillion in Hidden Debt With ‘Titanic’ Risks--Bloomberg.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:
graphic: "ICYMI Tech News" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
• Amazon $AMZN: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is widely seen as front-runner in the race to win the US DOD $10 billion cloud-computing contract [JEDI]. Alphabet Inc. a/k/a Google withdrew last week, leaving AWS, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft vying for the contract. Amazon Chairman & CEO Jeff Bezos said Monday at the Wired 25 Summit in San Francisco:
"If U.S. tech companies turn their backs on the Department of Defense, this country is in trouble. This is a great country and it does need to be defended." 
[Editor's note: most likely outcome? AWS wins JEDI contract, and a suburban Washington, D.C., location (northern Virginia) is chosen for Amazon HQ2.]
  • Facebook $FB: Fb.gg online gaming hub expands to mobile with the launch of the beta version of a standalone Android app--techcrunch.com.
  • Google $GOOGL: Google's real-time translations now available on Android phones and all Assistant-optimized headphones, not just Google Pixel Buds--droid-life.com. See also Android is dirty word?  ‘Android’ wasn’t said a single time during the Google Pixel 3 event--9to5google.com.
  • Apple $AAPL reportedly cut Chinese iPhone repair fraud with hidden dyes and software.
  • Wirecard (WDIG.DE), German fintech company expects core profits to grow sixfold by the middle of the next decade thanks to a boom in e-commerce and digital payments--reuters.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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