“A thousand years ago, when money meant coins, China invented paper currency. Now the Chinese government is minting cash digitally, in a re-imagination of money that could shake a pillar of American power. It might seem money is already virtual, as credit cards and payment apps such as Apple Pay in the U.S. and WeChat in China eliminate the need for bills or coins. But those are just ways to move money electronically. China is turning legal tender itself into computer code.”
No sooner had the ink dried on CBA's announcement that it's to launch it's own Buy-Now / Pay-Later offering (sorry Klarna) to challenge local incumbents, Afterpay, went full 'double-bicep flex' and returned fire with the salvo that they are making a foray into banking via Afterpay Money.Confident that they have the loyalty amongst their base to lure them across, Afterpay are developing customer experiences that "will be like nothing a bank, or neobank, will do," according to Lee Hatton, who is running the venture.Given their success to date, few would bet against them. Popcorn at the ready.https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/afterpay-confident-it-can-build-a-better-banking-app-
Manta Network recently closed a USD$1.1M funding round to create a fully private decentralized exchange. At the moment, some would consider the blockchain too transparent for a number of finance transactions enabling someone to see the transaction and commit it with a higher fee before you do. Perhaps privacy is important on the blockchain after all?Manta wants to create an automated market maker exchange on Polkadot that would feature fully private swaps, and obfuscate wallet addresses (among other attributes). Could a privacy-preserving decentralized finance stack be a reality sooner than we think?https://cointelegraph.com/news/manta-aims-to-bring-a-private-decentralized-exchange-to-polkadot-with-1-1m-raiseImage by V
Lynn Wood
arslan
Madeline Cunningham