Blockchain: Unfiltered Binarystar Ventures

Latest news:


Alibaba is spending more than $3 billion to dominate online groceries in China
The US government sues Google for alleged anticompetitive abuses in search



Featured roundtable: Does COVID19 mark the beginning of the end for traditional education? What transformations will we see over the next decade


Covid-19 could push some universities over the brink
An economist explains how COVID-19 will impact universities
Education may be forever changed for Gen Z after the coronavirus pandemic.
VCs pour funding into edtech startups as COVID-19 shakes up the market


Learn more about our special guest Laurence Smith:

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Transformation Mindset

Latest news:
Politics in tech- Inside the BLM turmoil at Coinbase
https://www.wired.com/story/turmoil-black-lives-matter-political-speech-coinbase/

Technology becoming a cornerstone of global diplomacy?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-01/china-tech-to-face-even-closer-scrutiny-from-global-governments

The beginning of the breakup of bigtech?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-05/house-panel-to-recommend-breakup-of-tech-giants-republican-says

Featured Roundtable: What influence has COVID-19 had on technology adoption and digital transformation? 

Which companies and industries will be the winners and losers?
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/digital-transformation/digital-transformation-COVID-19.html

Latest News: 

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin disclosed today a mega hack
https://www.zdnet.com/article/kucoin-cryptocurrency-exchange-hacked-for-150-million/

TikTok’s fate coming to a head
https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/tiktok-s-fate-coming-to-a-head-11601210526711.html



Featured Roundtable: 
Asia encompasses a diverse mix of advanced and high-growth emerging economies undergoing immense demographic, economic and technological transformations. As such, the region’s growth and dynamism represent one of the world’s best long-term growth stories.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GadhFQAcxOmQjEWnGRC3tovr3icPl3DKFsnsbl5gDOc/edit  



Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:                                                                                                                                   

Indonesian fintech startup BukuWarung gets new funding to add financial services for small merchants 
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/28/indonesian-fintech-startup-bukuwarung-gets-new-funding-to-add-financial-services-for-small-merchants/

Philippines payment processing startup PayMongo lands $12 million Series A led by Stripe
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/27/philippines-payment-processing-startup-paymongo-lands-12-million-series-a-led-by-stripe/

Latest news:
https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/alibaba-3-207255/
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/17/tiktoks-chinese-rival-kuaishou-becomes-a-popular-online-bazaar/  

Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:
https://www.techinasia.com/tiktoks-rival-kuaishou-aims-raise-5b-hk-ipo
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/21/wm-motor-1-47-billion-funding/
https://e27.co/kim-an-raises-series-a-to-connect-vietnams-financial-institutions-with-msmes-via-its-fintech-platform-20200911/ 

Featured roundtable:
Asia's digital economy is developing rapidly, and at a faster pace than the West. Why is this so?  1. Asia's scale a digital advantage: Asia has around half of the global internet users, with China and India leading the way.  2. Emergence of Unicron innovators - Asia has around 40% of the global tech unicorns who are actively driving innovation. 3. Role of the government, in some cases, governments have remained on the sidelines, creating space for startups to experiment. In other cases, governments have taken an active role in promoting innovation eg Singapore. 4. In some emerging economies in the region, there is less legacy infrastructure standing in the way, enabling innovators to bring advanced solutions right to the public at speed. 5. Consumers’ openness to new technologies and the mobile Internet. 6. In many countries fundamental infrastructure is broken, and founders can leverage technology to fill those gaps. What does this all mean for investors and the wider global economy?

Latest News:

Global

Square Forms Group to Stop Patent Hoarding From Stifling Crypto Innovation 

https://www.coindesk.com/square-alliance-patents-crypto



Binance introduces $100 Million Decentralized Finance or DeFi Fund for “High-Quality” Projects

https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2020/09/166623-binance-introduces-100-million-decentralized-finance-or-defi-fund-for-high-quality-projects/



Asia 

SBI, A Japanese Financial giant, is planning to launch a digital stock exchange based on blockchain technology.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbi-holdings-to-set-up-blockchain-based-digital-stock-exchange-in-osaka



China is serious about Blockchain and DLT, pumping out thousands of startups.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/beijing-pulls-ahead-of-shenzhen-as-chinas-top-blockchain-city



Featured roundtable:



Do financial institutions (the old guard) and crypto startups need to work together? 

https://www.coindesk.com/an-open-letter-to-our-dear-bankers-be-brave

https://www.coindesk.com/visa-cred-fast-track

https://cointelegraph.com/news/payment-giants-drive-crypto-adoption-by-engaging-with-startups



Investment highlights/ Startup spotlight:



https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/77555/crypto-to-fiat-gateway-xanpool-raises-4-3-million

Where is Blockchain gaining real-world traction? 
Blockchain has seen much hype over the last decade, but where has the technology actually seen real-world traction and value add? Where should investors be looking? One area which we’ll cover this week is provenance and supply chain tracking. This area also happens to be of particular importance, given global trade uncertainties between the US and China and COVID-19. Provenance including traceability, data immutability, clarity on the origin of goods. Supply chain tracking with traceability, instant data reconciliation, transparency between players, real-time accurate information are all important topics we discussed on this week's episode.