Many businesses have been dragged kicking and screaming into the digital era, with some reluctant to accept that their future was always bound to be dictated by how they adapted to things like online payment systems. However, there are some sectors, such as online gaming, that have stayed ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting new fintech.

The rise of in-game payments

Online stores and websites offering services have always relied on some form of online payment system, yet only recently have new payment structures begun to be rolled out by savvy games and fintech developers alike.

A prime example of this is the online Battle Royale sensation Fortnite, which, despite being a free-to-play game both on mobile and PC/console, has found a way to integrate in-game purchases, with players spending big bucks on fancy avatars and skins for their weapons. Such purchases are also known as microtransactions.

Alongside this clever microtransactions business model, Epic Games also offers players a VIP pass of sorts, called BattlePass. This is a monthly subscription that keeps the game running at optimal levels for those who purchase it. There is even an in-game currency called V-bucks, batches of which can be bought in bulk, thus giving a discount to players who use them in the game.

Epic has raked in vast profits from these innovative approaches. So much so, in fact, that they are now doing battle with Apple and Google, as the app store giants vie for a bigger piece of the microtransaction pie. They are also looking to take Apple to court over their monopoly of the App Store, a real-life Battle Royale that should prove interesting to watch over the coming months.

Online casinos and Fintech

One online business that has long been well ahead of the curve when it comes to collaborating with Fintech firms is the online casino industry, with the sector’s competitors vying to provide their customers with fast and stress-free payment options which can be made at the drop of a hat. Players want to be able to keep their slot reels spinning or their blackjack hands flopping without having to constantly worry about whether their funds will be available.

This has meant that the top providers of online casino games work with multiple e-wallets and payment providers, ranging from established names such as PayPal, all the way through to new kids on the block such as Neosurf or MuchBetter, which enable players to easily fund their accounts and keep that hot streak going.

Cryptocurrencies: the new Fintech frontier

While regular currencies are traded and manipulated as they have been for many years, and gaming companies even develop their own in-game currencies, there is widespread agreement that crypto is where the future lies.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are decentralized digital currencies that use blockchain technology to essentially try and democratize the world of finance. Although the strength of their security protocols may not always be quite what they claim them to be, more and more people are now trading cryptocurrencies as well as using them to purchase goods and services.

Many gaming platforms and developers are already making contingencies so that they can harness this new type of currency, a move that will no doubt pay dividends down the line.

The post Online Gaming Innovating With Fintech appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Igor Pejic, speaker, banker, and author of Blockchain Babel

The hysteria about cryptocurrencies is ebbing. Their value is down by 85% from its peak and no end of the crypto-winter is in sight. And the public disappointment is rubbing off on the technology powering cryptocurrencies – the blockchain. The trend forecast of Gartner Inc., a steady weather vane in the tech world, is a case in point.

The blockchain has been invented a mere 10 years ago
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In the list of impactful technologies, the blockchain plunged to the bottom last month. Forrester, another research firm, came to a similar conclusion already one year earlier. So did companies implementing it. SWIFT, the network underpinning most of the world’s monetary transactions, said blockchain was not yet ready for mainstream use, despite a successful proof-of-concept test. The reason: operational challenges when scaling.

In Gartner's list of impactful technologies, the blockchain plunged to the bottom last month
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Media and tech vendors alike have fueled a frenzy that gorged on stories of early crypto-millionaires, overblown claims of disruption, and a deep anti-banking sentiment. This mania has been sustained by pernicious myths such as the equalization of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, or the belief the blockchain would rid the world of all institutions of trust. Research and consulting firms kept claiming the technology is closer to its break-out moment every day, while the big bang has stayed away. Is the blockchain just a placebo that made us feel better about the future of finance without actually offering a cure?

SWIFT, the network underpinning most of the world’s monetary transactions, said blockchain was not yet ready for mainstream use
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Innovation patterns, observable from historic example, are the best predictor of a technology’s trajectory. The first lesson is that benefits do not accrue overnight. Only thirty years after the electric motor made its debut in factories did productivity rise. It took a new generation of managers to fully grasp its potential and make not only changes to the machinery, but also to business processes. The blockchain has been invented a mere 10 years ago, as the mechanism enabling bitcoin. Years passed until the technology was isolated from the currency-idea.

Media and tech vendors alike have fueled a frenzy that gorged on stories of early crypto-millionaires
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From there it was long way until the more efficient, centralized models – usually referred to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) – conquered the mainstream. While the public pressure for disruptive results is higher today than in the age of the electric motor, it does not change the fact that each new technology must pass all three stages – fluid, transitional, and specific. An intense phase of search for the right product design is incumbent before embarking on efficiency gains.

Is the blockchain just a placebo that made us feel better about the future of finance without actually offering a cure?
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Yet the introduction of the ATM offers the most striking parallel to blockchain’s path. Technologically, the 1960-ies resembled today’s world. Computers and online were the fuzzy buzz-words rather than blockchain, but the same talk about radical disruption had hijacked public debate, accompanied by the same lack of specificity. Citicorp pioneered the idea that machines for cash withdrawal would change banking.

The introduction of the ATM offers the most striking parallel to blockchain’s path
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The journey to implementation was long and fraught with difficulties. Tech-incumbents refused to cooperate, inertia suffocated in-house initiatives and setting up an independent company flopped. Eventually, Citicorp succeeded only when it partnered with a small IT-firm in Los Angeles. Once the on-line transaction processing network was built, the question was how to give customers access to this new magic machines. When they were eventually installed in the bank’s branches, skepticism did not abate. Managers found ATMs more expensive than human tellers; employees fretted they would be job-killers. Similar arguments echo around the blockchain.

The hysteria about cryptocurrencies is ebbing. Their value is down by 85% from its peak and no end of the crypto-winter is in sight
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It took Citicorp years to develop the first ATM and years to make it more efficient than the legacy system of withdrawing money. Yet, when it unfolded the competition did not draw level with Citicorp until the early 1980-ies. The bank’s market share skyrocketed from 4% to over 13%. In 1988 the customer base had tripled as compared to 1977. And the number of branch employees did not drop. On the contrary: In the 11 years it went from 7.100 to 8.400. Miniscule and repetitive tasks were replaced by customer-facing ones, thus making former tellers happier and more profitable.

Legacy systems might still be more efficient than their blockchain alternatives, but the future is a one-way street
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Blockchain is suffering from public fatigue, but it is already at the stage of working prototypes. The fluid exploration phase is drawing to a close as witnessed by the stark decline in ICOs, the crypto-equivalent of IPOs. The second indication is the avalanche of successful pilots led by incumbents and consortia. From Walmart to Wall Street – an impressive roster of the world’s largest companies have found real-life use cases. Legacy systems might still be more efficient than their blockchain alternatives, but the future is a one-way street. Even SWIFT is opening up again on the blockchain by embracing Corda, a blockchain-protocol preferred by most banks.

Blockchain is suffering from public fatigue, but it is already at the stage of working prototypes
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MIT anticipates that blockchain will become “boring” in 2019. It is a time of reckoning in which the forlorn initiatives die and the right ones are tweaked. Remittances, clearance, settlement – they are all use cases comparable to the cash machines in Citicorp’s branches. It is only a matter of time until they surpass legacy systems’ efficiency.

MIT anticipates that blockchain will become “boring” in 2019
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Blockchain Babel: The Crypto-Craze and the Challenge to Business is available now at £14.99

The post Don’t Quit the Blockchain Just Yet appeared first on Tech Trends.

If you ever wondered how a cryptocurrency wallet worked (it functions more like a key than a wallet) or what “hashing” means (it’s where original information is transformed into a code via mathematical scrambling with one-way cryptography) this book explains all of that, alongside the basic principles and workings of the Blockchain and the cryptos that run off it.

Blockchain is a platform with applications which relies on distributed ledger technology and is based on peer-to-peer technology
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The decisive battles on the Blockchain front will be fought on three main fronts: facilitating transactions, storing value and providing credit
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“Blockchain has the potential to force the finance industry through a change unseen for centuries.” The ability to move money and assets without a central authority is fundamentally disruptive, and the general consensus seems to be that Blockchain technology will change every industry from the ground up.

This is a list cited in the book of the eight major categories of blockchain applications identified so far:

• General applications
• Cryptocurrencies
• Financial transactions
• Public records
• Identification
• Attestation
• Physical asset keys
• Intangible assets

Yet as much as this broad-ranging disruption is acknowledged, Pejic also encourages us to take it all with a healthy pinch of salt.There is a tendency to apply blockchain as a panacea to every industry, and he writes, “Once you have a hammer in your hand, everything suddenly looks like a nail. Technological determinism assumes that one tool will in itself make the world a better place,” he cautions.

Amazon is one of the main contenders for the global payments market
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The fact is that Blockchain – due to issues such as scalability and energy consumption – might itself become obsolete. We have already in fact seen what the evolution from “Blockchain 1.0” to “Blockchain 2.0” might look like, with the deployment of smart contracts. Ethereum, one of the most Blockchains, is an example of a platform that uses these smart contracts.

There are also other issues that need to be addressed in order to make blockchain interfaces more user-friendly

“Could you tell off the cuff whether 0.2267 bitcoins for a bike is a good deal or not?” he asks “Bitcoin is denominated up to eight decimal points, so even the best mathematicians will need a calculator.”

The blockchain will always demand consensus, regardless of whether you limit or open the number of nodes. This is the very nature of a trust machine, it will render networks rigid and hamper the penetration.

The blockchain might just be the technology to unlock the showdown between two groups of goliaths: banks versus data behemoths
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It is not correct to call Blockchain the ‘internet of money’/ the network is open, but nodes can only act collectively. Even worse: they can only act as a whole. Nodes do not have the creative power they have in the internet, but solely the destructive role of denying or granting consensus. So the Blockchain is by design different to the internet. The implications for network designers are simple: make it as efficient as possible, not as open as possible. Only once companies grasp this, can they unlock Blockchain’s true potential.

With super-computers at hand, minting new bitcoins will be so easy that the entire system might collapse
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In 2014 European banks alone spent £40 billion on IT; a mere £7 billion (17.5 per cent) went into innovation. Fintechs are the ones driving product innovation and this embryonic stage of Blockchain. However, banks could still leverage the trust component of the blockchain to enter the authentication business

The technology will change every industry from the ground up
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At the end of the day, the book reminds us that money and credit are essentially material manifestations of trust – they are the belief that your virtual possessions will correspond to real ones. So the question really becomes whether we are ready to really trust tech as much as we trust traditional financial institutions. The answer so far has been “not quite.”

The hunt for the killer Blockchain application is in full swing
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Overall, however, Pejic strikes a surprisingly optimistic note for the future, saying that competition is always positive for customer service, driving up innovation and driving down prices. Ultimately, banks will have to learn to revolve around their customers rather than regulators and compliance officer. They will have to adapt all their processes – front-and-back-end – to fit their customers’ needs.

“One thing is for sure,” he concludes “you will be on the winning side as the competitive forces of the free market push down the cost of banking services. The more intense the battle gets, the more you will enjoy it.”

Quantum computing could easily break crypto-codes
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Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. You can follow @alicebonasio on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her Inside VR/AR Newletter for all the latest curated immersive news.

The post Review: Blockchain Babel appeared first on Tech Trends.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are here to stay, but we’re yet to develop the systems we need to make them work on a global scale.

Blockchain technology will have a world-changing impact, in the same way the Internet did thirty years ago
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Cryptocurrencies have caused a bit of a stir recently but are rapidly recovering from the well-publicised slump early this year. Despite scepticism and some pointed criticisms from central banks and traditional investors, cryptos are attracting serious interest from global financial institutions.

Cryptos are set to continue to be a major disrupting force in the global financial system
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Cryptos are set to continue to be a major disrupting force in the global financial system, so Tech Trends met up with Francisco Portillejo Hoyos for an insider perspective on what to expect next. Hoyos is the CEO of Cryptalgo, a Swiss algotrading and crypto brokerage company, and he helps us make sense of the confusing cryptocurrency landscape and what will be filling our wallets, digital or otherwise, in the future.

While the dollar value of Bitcoin and other coins have depreciated from the January peak, prices have basically returned to their end of 2017 levels. Governments and Regulators are still learning how to best protect investors’ interests and introduce the right trading tools that will breed confidence among traders. Many believe that the leading financial jurisdictions, including the US, UK, South Korea, Japan, and China, will introduce regulatory schemes and frameworks that will remove the uncertainty and will fuel the crypto markets’ growth. He explained.

CEO of Cryptalgo – Francisco Portillejo Hoyos

Elysium Technology Group and Cryptalgo promises a solution to the problems of a fractured crypto market
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A major announcement of a new partnership between leading US innovators in foreign exchange and futures trading solutions, Elysium Technology Group and Cryptalgo promises a solution to the problems of a fractured crypto market and offers a one-stop shop and safe, easy access point into this emerging new world of finance.

Cryptalgo provides financial institutions with a swift entry into cryptocurrencies without the need to invest capital in developing their own secure and efficient platforms. From real-time quotes and aggregated liquidity, to best trade execution and global arbitrage algotrading, we are introducing a best in class, highly secure global cryptocurrency trading platform. All built to the exacting requirements and standards of financial institutions.

The combination of this ecosystem and a regulated environment will turn cryptocurrencies into a mainstream and fast-growing asset class
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Chairman of Elysium Technology Group, Andrew Siciliano also believes now is the time to begin offering crypto investment solutions to their established client base;

“New trading platforms like this promote confidence in these disruptive new markets, he says. “Cryptalgo has the knowhow, experience, and execution platform complementing the Elysium offering. The partnership will deliver a comprehensive, high-end cryptocurrency trading solution for our clients.”

We are witnessing significant investments made by very credible funds and companies into blockchain and crypto companies
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“The combination of this ecosystem and a regulated environment will turn cryptocurrencies into a mainstream and fast-growing asset class,” added Hoyos. “We are witnessing significant investments made by very credible funds and companies into blockchain and crypto companies, and we’re delighted that Elysium, the market leader in FX post-trading platforms, has chosen to partner with Cryptalgo as it looks to extend its offering into cryptocurrency trading.”

Tech Trends predicts we will start seeing more of a trickle-down effect where cryptocurrencies become a more viable option for ordinary people. OK, anyone can technically already buy cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and spend them at thousands of outlets on the web and even some physical stores, but I don’t think it is rude to say that, right now, only super-geeks and tech enthusiasts have really bought into the system properly. That’s changing fast though, and soon you too might be filling up the tank on Ethereum and grocery shopping with Bitcoin!

Current estimations predict that the value of the entire cryptocurrency market will reach $1 trillion in 2018
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Image by MichaelWuensch from Pixabay

Current estimations predict that the value of the entire cryptocurrency market will reach $1 trillion in 2018, with crypto the fastest growing asset class to date. However, it is a still a bit Wild West out there as Hoyos explained;

Despite the crypto ecosystem evolving at a rapid pace, it is still in its infancy. This nascent market has deep inefficiencies. The market participants are spread across the globe, fragmented, disconnected and lack standardization. If one or more coins emerge both as a reliable store of value (immune to hacking) and an efficient means of exchange (capable of handling very large transaction volumes in a very short time), then the banking sector as we know it will be fundamentally transformed.

In response to that problem, Cryptalgo has developed the ‘Galaxy’, a highly secure global backbone that interconnects with multiple exchanges. It’s an institutional-grade global infrastructure that interconnects with crypto exchanges via a network of global servers that are placed in proximity to the exchanges around the world.

Andrew expanded; Moneymaking opportunities come and go very quickly. We believe this will be the same in cryptocurrency trading. Institutions need trading solutions that they are familiar with; that feature “Best prices” and “Best Execution”. This cannot be achieved without speedy access to the entire global crypto market. Institutions not only need to get the best pricing on very large orders, but they also need methods for preventing market shifts when placing such orders. This means they cannot rely on a quote from a single crypto exchange or an execution of a trade transaction. They require strong compliance standards, stringent cyber-security measures and other high-end tools – all of which Cryptalgo is developing.

Institutions not only need to get the best pricing on very large orders, but methods for preventing market shifts when placing such orders
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Should you consider cryptocurrency as an investment vehicle?

Although there is no certainty about their future prices, cryptocurrencies are a new type of asset. The question is whether you should consider it for inclusion in your investment portfolio.

There are many reasons why Bitcoin may be a good investment. One of them is its deflationary model. Take the US dollar as an example; Its supply increases more and more every year. And although the same might be true of Bitcoin at the moment, there will be less of the cryptocurrency mined every 4 years, and its supply is actually finite – meaning that after all the Bitcoins are mined, the supply will remain fixed forever after.

There are many potential disadvantages to investing in cryptocurrency, the most important one being its volatility. Therefore, if you're looking to dip your toes in, make sure to start small.
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Stabilising and expanding the high-end of the crypto trading should hopefully provide increased stability for the currencies and global markets, nurturing and growing their potential while making them more secure for those using them day-to-day. Hoyos sees huge potential in decentralised crypto and a future where national currencies might disappear altogether.

It is possible that in twenty years’ time, bank accounts will have disappeared because we will be able to store our money in private wallets on the blockchain. Blockchain technology will have a world-changing impact, in the same way the Internet did thirty years ago. We believe that cryptocurrencies will be fully regulated and mainstream. They will be offered by all the financial institutions using their institutional-grade trading and investment tools, featuring tens of thousands of coins and with an aggregated market cap of trillions of dollars.

It is possible that in twenty years’ time, bank accounts will have disappeared because we will be able to store our money in private wallets on the blockchain
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Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post A Crypto Future appeared first on Tech Trends.

Crypto currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to soar and interest in blockchain is at an all-time high, but can we regulate this brave new world?

By Alex Larsen CFIRM, Institute of Risk Management (IRM)

According to Reuters: “Japan’s financial regulator said on Friday it had ordered all cyrptocurrency exchanges to submit a report on their system risk management, following the hacking of over half a billion dollars of digital money from Coincheck.”

Crypto currency has been a booming market with increases in some major coins in the high 1000’s of percent over the last year
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Whilst the whole premise of blockchain technology and crypto currencies revolves around it being essentially unhackable, the exchanges that trade these currencies are vulnerable. The introduction of system risk management (which we assume to be risk management of the software/operating systems and servers) checks is a step forward for the cryptocurrency space although it only covers one area of exposure linked to the cryptocurrency market.

History of incidents

Crypto currency has been a booming market with increases in some major coins in the high 1000’s of percent over the last year. This rise, coupled with a lack of regulation, has seen the crypto currency world being hit with a number of negative incidents from Ponzi schemes to fraud, scams and hacking incidents.

Bitconnect, which as of writing of this article, is trading at roughly $8.60, a huge fall from its height of over $300 a month ago, is an example of a potential major Ponzi scheme which has lost $2.4 billion worth of value over 10 days.

Most banks and stock exchanges are required to hold a certain amount in reserves in order to survive any major downturn or crash. This should be the case for crypto currency exchanges too
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The subpoena by US regulators of crypto exchange Bitfinex and its relationship with Tether is another concern to the crypto currency market with many claiming Tether to be a scam. Tethers are tokens backed by US dollar deposits, with each tether always worth one dollar. These tokens should be backed by dollars but thus far the company has yet to provide evidence of its holdings to the public and has not had any successful audits as of yet.

There have also been a large number of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s), used to raise money for startups by issuing tokens/coins, which have raised vast sums of money only for the owners to disappear with all the money, whilst others have been less deliberate but have been just as devastating to investors. A cryptocurrency called Tezos, raised $232 million last year, but suffered internal power struggles which has left the project in disarray.

Tethers are tokens backed by US dollar deposits, with each tether always worth one dollar
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This brings us to the current concern in Japan of cyber attacks of exchange platforms. Cyber attacks and hacking attempts of exchanges have been frequent with Bitfinex, coinbase and kraken amongst others having been closed down for days at a time during 2017 due to a number of hacking attempts. It is the successful hacking incidents which are the most worrying however, with successful hacks such as MT Gox, which cost almost 350 million and two attacks on Youbit which led to it’s bankruptcy. The most recent coincheck hacking was worth 500 million, a record, and it is this which has caused Japan to act.

Cyber attacks and hacking attempts of exchanges have been frequent with Bitfinex, coinbase and kraken amongst others having been closed down for days at a time during 2017
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Regulation

Last year, China took a definitive stand on regulation on crypto currencies which sent shockwaves through the market. Some feel it was perhaps heavy handed with ICO’s being banned, bank accounts being frozen, bitcoin miners being kicked out and nationwide banning on the internet of cryptocurrency trading related sites. Others however believe that it has been a positive step, and has encouraged other governments to take regulation seriously and hopefully take a more balanced approach. It certainly isn’t in the interest of governments to stop ICO’s, which provide many positives including innovation, but they should certainly regulate them from a consumer protection, taxation and organised crime standpoint.

Last year, China took a definitive stand on regulation on crypto currencies which sent shockwaves through the market
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Implementing regulation also removes uncertainty for investors as well as the companies who are involved in ICO’s. Uncertainty is the source of many risks and often a negative certainty is better than uncertainty as it allows a focus within set parameters.

It’s important to remember that too little regulation doesn’t offer protection and too much stifles innovation.

How to regulate

There are a number of ways to regulate cryptocurrencies and the following are just some examples:

1)     Framework for ICOs

New ICO’s are currently not subject to much in terms of regulation globally. One of the problems is determining how they should be treated with some being considered securities. As a fund raising vehicle, there could certainly be a framework that lays out key requirements of an ICO such as a company needing to be registered in order to issue a token, transparency in terms of individual members of the registered company as well as perhaps introducing a few requirements that regular IPO’s require such as implementing risk management. Currently in USA, ICOs are expected to adhere to Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Know Your Customer (KYC) practices.

2)     Regulate exchanges

Exchanges, which is where much of the transactions take place in terms of trading coins, is a logical area of focus when it comes to regulations

South Korea’s financial services commission for example, has stated that trading of cryptocurrencies can only occur from real-name bank accounts. This ensures KYC and AML compliance. According to the FSC, the measures outlined were intended to “reduce room for cryptocurrency transactions to be exploited for illegal activities, such as crimes, money laundering and tax evasion,”

Regulators should focus on regulation that encourages transparency and minimises anonymity
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1)     Tax Laws

Clarity needs to be brought into the tax laws in terms of when investors should pay capital gains. The USA has been quite quick to ensure that crypto-to-crypto transactions are now taxable and not just crypto to Fiat currency transactions. This is not the case in the UK however, where things are less clear and will become even more so, once crypto currencies start to introduce dividend like behaviour.

2)     Reserve requirements of exchanges

Most banks and stock exchanges are required to hold a certain amount in reserves in order to survive any major downturn or crash. This should most certainly be the case for crypto currency exchanges too especially considering the volatility which sees crashes of 60% several times a year with some crypto currencies falling 90% before recovering. This is also known in part as systemic risk which could be what the Japanese financial regulator defines as system risk.

3)     System risk management

As we have seen from this Japan story, one way of ensuring more protection and reliability is by ensuring there is regulation around system risk management on exchanges. There should be minimum requirements protecting against hacking, phishing and other cyber related attacks. The requirements could be scaled against value of the exchange, number of users or number of daily transactions.

There are a number of ways to regulate cryptocurrencies
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It’s important to note that much is being done to reduce the risks of hacking incidents such as the concept of a decentralised exchange. This would essentially be a crypto currency exchange on the blockchain, much like the crypto currencies themselves. This would reduce hacking significantly and whilst it is not currently practical, it could be the standard of the future.

Self-Regulation

The Crypto Currency market gets a lot of negative publicity and much of this could be rectified if there was more self-regulation. It would also reduce volatility within the market and bring about positive change. This refers to both exchanges and ICO’s alike.

The Crypto Currency market gets a lot of negative publicity and much of this could be rectified if there was more self-regulation
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The Japan Blockchain Association (JBA) for example has established self-regulation standards which includes the use of cold wallets amongst its 15 crypto exchange members (of which Coincheck was one of them) and are now looking to strengthen the standards further following this recent incident.

Even the most optimistic investor should at least consider that cryptocurrencies are a speculative bubble that could burst
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Risk Management in the Crypto Currency Space

Risk Management, as with all organisation’s, plays a vital role in meeting and exceeding objectives whilst providing resilience and stakeholder confidence. Exchanges and companies that are raising/have raised ICO’s should ensure that Risk Management is part of their business. Identifying risks and opportunities, assessing them and implementing response plans should be standard. Cyber risks, reputational risks, operational risks, system risks and strategic risks should all be considered and prepared for, which would minimise market disruption and reduce the likelihood of financial ruin. At the very least they owe it to the investors who have funded them.

Exchanges and companies that are raising/have raised ICO’s should ensure that Risk Management is part of their business
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For investors, with volatility so high, the rewards are great but so are the risks. Investors should ensure that they only invest what they can afford to lose, do their due diligence on their investments which includes understanding the technology, the team and look for a prototype rather than a wild concept. Additionally, investors should always be on the lookout for phishing scams and suspicious emails.

Finally, even the most optimistic investor should at least consider that cryptocurrencies are a speculative bubble that could burst.

Find out more about IRM’s Strategic Insights into Cyber Risk Course and more here.

The post Expert View: Regulating Crypto Currency Markets appeared first on Tech Trends.