Note from the Publisher: Well OF COURSE fintech would be covered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. Interestingly, though, it doesn't appear to have gone that deep, or at least not to those of us who are fintech afficianados. The topic seemed to come back to bitcoin and blockchain. Everyone's interested in bitcoin, but skeptical, but the underlying technology - blockchain - is where the excitement lies. Been there, done that, a thousand times now. We agree blockchain ROCKS, but we are on record that digital currencies - and especially bitcoin - have a massive future, albeit decentralized and disconnected from any government authority. We think that's its magic. Anyway, it's good that these topics are in the lexicon at this important event.
The biggest benefit of Bitcoin isn't the ability to instantly send and receive money regardless of borders, it's the technology that underpins it--at least that's how top regulators and banking executives see it.
In a panel discussion, dubbed the "Global Fintech Revolution," at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, fintech luminaries like David Craig, president of financial and risk at Thomson Reuters, praised the technology behind crypto-currencies like Bitcoin. More specifically, they're keen on the "blockchain" ledger that lets companies make and verify transactions without a central authority.
It may well hold the key to winning back customer confidence in the banking industry, which has suffered various setbacks in recent years."Blockchain distributes trust among a group of people who have to work together, and who don't necessarily trust each other," said Craig. "They have to collectively agree to a standard of how they federate trust. The financial industry hasn't traditionally been good at collaboration, and this offers a way of changing."
Read Full Story at Inc