Investment

Earlier this year Ripple announced that it has dedicated $50 million toward the University Blockchain Research Initiative, partnering Ripple with 17 universities around the globe from the U.K. to Brazil, with the aim of accelerating new innovations in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

AI-driven analytics can help both pure-play and brick-and-mortar brands understand the frustrations of their users at an elemental level — which buttons remain unclicked, which form fields make them leave, and which customer paths are dead ends, writes Jonathan Cherki, CEO and founder of ContentSquare.

Andrew Keys, co-founder of the venture capital firm ConsenSys Capital, has a vision of the future bankers might find chilling, in which banks and other middlemen are cut out of financial services.

Seeking a stronger foothold in the growing India payments landscape, Visa has made a minority investment in digital payments platform BillDesk.

The Omidyar Network has invested in five challenger banks. Tilman Ehrbeck, who is leading its financial inclusion efforts, says the firm will invest more in apps for gig workers and retirees next year.

California-based America's Christian Credit Union's efforts earned it a 2018 Best Practices Award.

Acorns Grow Inc. is in talks with investors for a new funding round that would give it a valuation north of $700 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

This week's plunge in bitcoin's value highlights one of the biggest concerns in using the cryptocurrency for payment. Stablecoins, which are pegged to traditional currency such as the U.S. dollar or a precious metal, are seen as a much less risky investment.

Standards are important to push blockchain payments, but the systems also need dynamic scale, according to Byung Ik Ahn, CEO of Fantom Foundation.

As an industry, we need to take the risks of poor AI design and algorithmic bias seriously, says Ralf Ohlhausen, business development director at PPRO Group.