This week The Flash checks in from WIRED Money 2015, where the headliners included MIT Media Lab director of digital currency Brian Forde. The most exciting innovations in digital currencies will come from developing countries, where financial infrastructure is not as strong, according to Forde. He believes Western consumers don’t fully appreciate the “economic revolution” that’s upon us in the form of digital currency. To wit: "Today, in 2015, I still can't use Paypal to send money to friends in Nicaragua," Forde said at the conference. "But I can send them Bitcoin instantly."
The Flash also got its crowdfunding fix during a talk by Darren Westlake, co-founder and CEO of leading investment crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Westlake said the future of crowdfunding is a more democratized platform that will "put the P back into IPO.”
The Flash hears that. These stories and more in this week’s Founders Flash!
- Highlights from WIRED Money 2015:
- Bitcoin is the flagship of a coming digital currency revolution
- Crowdfunding can democratize IPOs and hedge funds
- Oradian leads FinTech startups in best pitch competition
- Startups can’t afford to ignore the government (Tech Crunch)
- 86% of Etsy sellers are women (Wall Street Journal)
- Big data startup Palantir Technologies raises $450M on $20B valuation (Forbes)
- Can a LinkedIn for athletes replace sports agents? (Bloomberg)