With banks providing loans as far back as in Babylon in 1800 BC, and ‘modern’ banking coming about in the 1470s, banks have not been the fastest innovators.
However, the past 10 years has seen more advanced products and more adoption of disruptive technology than in the previous 100 years, where traditional bricks and mortar, large branch network, limited product financial institutions have given way to mobile, agile, multi-currency, e-banking, global, internet driven service providers.
And it is not only the service delivery method that has changed so dramatically, but the pace of change, sparked by the inclusive nature and tech-savvy social media generation demanding faster, more diverse, secure services.
The demand for data, information and financial services, and the technology to support vast data consumption now, has only been made possible by the advent of high-speed networks, smart phones and technology companies, translating those needs, enabling anyone, anywhere to trade international equities, bonds and derivatives, arrange a mortgage, make deposits, trade crypto currency, electronically sign and send vital documents, at the click of a button.
Whilst the past 20 years may be the era of Internet Banking, 2020 onwards has launched the decade of crypto.
As of January 2022, there were approximately 10,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, many created for specific purposes with solid use cases, and others as speculative investment tools with spectacular volatility, few investors and even less volume.
Always a case of buyer beware, some earlier coin offerings experienced bad press through hacking, loss of consumer confidence, no activity, price collapse and where the mere mention of blockchain sent the investment community into a frenzy.
And how times have changed, with much more consumer demand, as, like bond and equity offerings, new coins are coming to market via initial exchange and security token offerings following extended due diligence by the trading…
