FINTECHTV Editorial Team

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Welcome to Women in Crypto Online Series! Today's interview is with Alyze Sam, who is an author, speaker, and advocate of the Cryptocurrency movement. Alyze has written a book the Stable coin guide 2020. She also shares with us how the blockchain community steps up in a big way to effect positive change and gives back. Alyze pays it forward through her GIVE NATION non-profit organization.

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Welcome to Women in Crypto Online Series! Today's interview is with Maria Grazia Vigliotti Maria is the author of the Executive Guide to Blockchain. We discuss leadership in blockchain with Dr. Maria and advocating the real possibilities for Women in Technology in the new industry of Blockchain.

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Lori Souza summarizes today's digital economy, with the 3 main take away's from the Women in Crypto 21 day online interview series.

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Welcome to Women in Crypto Online Series! Today's interview is with Lisa Short, Founder of Mind-Shifting, consulting individuals and businesses in the shifting into the Economy of the new Financial Technology. Lisa supports financial inclusion opportunities through the entrepreneurial innovative solutions offered in the new cryptocurrency and blockchain technology industries. We discuss a global digital strategy that includes unlearning and relearning for future job markets which include blockchain technology and global markets.

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Welcome to Women in Crypto Online Series! Today's interview is with Linda Goetze from the Blockchain Chamber of Commerce and contributor to Blockchain Ecosystems. Linda values the Cryptocurrency movement, understanding the positive effects which are underlying in decentralized efforts of business applications, Linda sees the possibility of balancing the scales of a time-money correlation with the future transacting of digital assets on the blockchain. This expanded viewpoint gives a promise to a “pay it forward” mentality that Blockchain and Crypto offers to the world.

Join the Top women leaders in the new digital economy, where money meets emerging technology in our expanding digital world. Women in Technology, moving Cryptocurrency, Blockchain Technology, and AI to higher heights, building a better, brighter future!Welcome to Women in Crypto Online Series! Today's interview is with Koleya Karringten, Executive Director of Canadian Blockchain Consortium. Koleya provides educational programs and events for businesses interested in understanding blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. She is masterful in assembling a business consortium, promoting Blockchain Technology for business applications. Expanding this digital movement into communities to create a better brighter technological future.

Investing for the Next 100 Years -  COVID-19 has been a trying yet revealing time for many people around the world. It has shown the fragility in our current system, and how we have become comfortable with some not-so-sustainable consumer practices that have put a heavy strain on small businesses. With this strain has come an awakening of sorts that our global community hasn’t seen in over a hundred years. This awakening has caused a surge of attention and support for small businesses, with more attention going towards the idea of an impact economy and investing our money where there is the most value - rather than where there is the most convenience and profitability.  Environmentally conscious investing, sustainable capital markets practices, and impact theory are gaining steam and are slowly becoming the new status quo for customers, corporations, and investors.   Why It Matters Where You Spend Your Money -  When you buy groceries, technology, services, or products of any kind, this money should be thought of as an investment in the overall impact of the good or service. While this may seem a little overboard, it actually goes a long way to determine how sustainable and disaster-proof an economy can be.  Some of the most potent examples of these types of businesses include those who are concerned with sustainable development goals and the real, tangible value and impact they will have on their customers as well as the planet. Many of these companies can be found right in your backyard, with these types of goals being very present in many local small businesses. These businesses, dealing on a smaller scale, must put their resources where the intent is in order to maintain the small-yet-loyal support system they have all worked so tirelessly to create.  Back to the Basics of Community -  Smaller businesses have had to dial services back and ensure safety and value over cost-effectiveness in many cases. This complete shift has cost many businesses their livelihood and forced innovation. Consumers have begun noticing this, though, and the new trends are showing that support for businesses who have survived this shift is increasing. These businesses are providing valuable services in a safe and sustainable manner, even if it costs them more in the long run. This has shown consumers that extra effort towards sustainability and value does not come easy and merits reward and support.  COVID has created an urgency in local communities that hinges on a give and take support system that thrives on trust and transparency. Even larger companies such as Amazon are showing their support for this initiative by demonstrating to the world that they have these UN-guided steps in mind in the way that they operate as well as how they provide their services to the world. Desperate times have shown us that creating a better, safer world can go a long way in determining value.  The Power of Conscious Consumer Spending -  Since the COVID crisis has taught the world how much power they have with where they spend their money, there has been a renewed focus on supporting small businesses and considering the mission and impact of the companies where consumers regularly spend and invest their money. According to Harvard Business Journal, the trends are showing us that people are much more concerned about the impact of companies on society over the immediate convenience many big corporations are striving to provide.  The cracks in the armor stem from the fact that many big corporations are not putting their resources where their intent is. This trend is fading away, and COVID-19 has caused consumers to proclaim that they are no longer swayed by low low prices and convenience anymore.  Consumers are realizing the power in their hard-earned money, and that they can actually show their support for a wide array of companies. Investors and consumers alike are participating in this trend, with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices becoming the new status quo.  To build an impact economy, we need to ensure that everyone understands that every action has consequences and produces impact - good or bad. The decision is up to us. In the absence of impact theory, we are creating the illusion that most commercial activities might have no impact and that impact is irrelevant when it comes to an individual’s choice of where to work, what to consume, and how to invest. COVID-19 has taught us that every dollar counts and that during hard and uncertain times it won’t be corporations there to bail you out, it will be your fellow citizens.  The Future Revolves Around Transparency -  With this increased demand for companies to disclose their mission and overall impact on society, there will need to be trusted sources of information that justify investments and consumer spending on new products entering the market. This shows high potential for blockchain technology to help provide protected proofs of a companies information, as well as a trusted source of information that investors should have access to.  Businesses moving forward will be more successful with increased transparency.  Will we see blockchain-powered investment applications that weigh the impact on society using artificial intelligence or machine learning? Are sustainable companies the future of our economy? The only way we will know for sure is if we loosen the grip that only a handful of major companies have on the world and narrow the wealth gap they have created. Impact theory is gaining steam due to the profound effect that COVID has had on small businesses and the everyday lives of people across the world, and it will only continue to grow if we keep in mind the importance of conscious consumer spending.

TheIMPACT focuses on ESG, Impact Investing, and advancing the 17 United Nations-supported Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The show profiles people and companies committed to changing lives and creating a sustainable world.On this FINTECH.TV Edition of Celebration of Inspiration with Dr. Jane Thomason under our TheIMPACT series, Banke Alawaye joins our host to discuss how the country of Nigeria is on track to be the THIRD largest economy by 2030. Nigeria has massive digital talent, coders, and ambitious young people that will not accept anything less than realizing their respective dreams. These incredible humans are setting the bar for the digital economy as Africa leapfrogs the dogmatic barriers of the past by adopting capabilities of the New World in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.Banke and her team understand that technology is the future, people must be tech-savvy, and local solutions to local problems is how community reemerges in new multidimensional ways for humanity to evolve to the next level. While work is still in progress for Code Lagos in Nigeria, Banke Alawaye has stories that include security guards, young ones, and everything in-between. Hundreds of thousands of trained coders soon to be turned into millions is genuinely a celebration of inspiration.Banke is inspired by impact, making the world a better place and giving back by paying it forward to ensure her country, humanity, and the world has the best of the best possible. This is the beauty of genuine inspiration - Banke, we salute you. To learn more about this new way of thinking that Banke and additional exponential leaders bring to the largest economy in Africa, watch this exclusive interview only on FINTECH.TV with Dr. Jane Thomason. To Learn More About aCubed Limited : https://acubed.net/

The effects of COVID-19 have caused businesses and workers alike to completely rethink the way they work and interact with the rest of the world. Zoom meetings and remote work have become the new normal, which is causing businesses to reevaluate the way that they conduct themselves and what type of SaaS offerings they provide.    This is where the world’s view on exciting new technology such as blockchain and cryptocurrency has begun to really show their worth to the world. Prior to this pandemic, these technologies were still slowly making their way into the mainstream - but these strenuous circumstances have caused businesses and large corporations to reconsider the value that this revolutionary technology can bring them.  Visa, Mastercard, JPMC, IBM, Microsoft, and many other Fortune 500s have already begun to test out the crypto waters and are beginning to roll out exciting new frameworks and services that are set to revolutionize the way work is done, payments are handled, and how identity and sensitive data are managed.  While this is true, cryptocurrency is still a hotly debated topic in finance.  Many believe it can provide a real benefit to society while others remain skeptical of its true utility.  Many people found out about cryptocurrencies originally due to the headlines you would see every day about massive investment returns people were cashing out with nearly every week. This hype was well-founded - crypto was actually rooted in advanced and very relevant improvements to the current financial system that resulted in the crash of 2008. At the time, though, this was overshadowed by big money and over-speculation of its true monetary value.  In order to understand how crypto is shaping the future of the remote workforce and even how businesses will function after this pandemic, it is important to understand why cryptocurrency and the underlying blockchain technology is so valuable for society - especially in the current climate. What is Blockchain Technology?  Bitcoin and its mysterious inventor Satoshi Nakamoto brought with it the concept of “trustless” transactions, among other innovations.  This simply means that there is no trust involved in a bitcoin transaction, as the exchange of value is permanently stored, publicly visible, and verified by multiple parties with an incentive to ensure its verification. Therefore, two untrusting parties can engage in a transaction without the need for a moderator (i.e. the potentially biased banks). As you can see, this is a big improvement to the current monetary system and removes control from a few executives to an entire population.  Cryptocurrency’s ability to conduct private, secure, third-party free transactions is revolutionary, and could truly change the way business transactions are handled as well as how monetary value and data are distributed throughout society. It has the potential to lessen the disparate wealth gap in America, and make complex procedures like loans and financing smarter by making data permanent and unified.  Basically, it can allow strangers to engage in business dealings without worrying about getting overzealous fees, data breaches, or the negative effect that human error can bring.  At its core, it removes the need for banks and corporations to always have a hand in your financial dealings, digital tools, as well as your personal data - which is something the new generation is very concerned with.  The use for Bitcoin has been established - it can, in fact, have the impact it says it will have. The only barrier now is integrating into a society that is still transitioning into a digital age. This has been the question that has caused this revolutionary technology to have such a gradual and slow integration so far.  Blockchain technology has taken a backseat in the media to the currencies it supports. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, and more have all been hot topics that have brought up heated debates on whether or not they actually contain any value. But, blockchain has not received the popular media attention that the cryptocurrencies it supports have. As it turns out, the underlying blockchain framework that supports these currencies is what gives them value and allows for each of the digital currencies to have so many revolutionary features.  Blockchain allows for a digital distributed ledger to be used to facilitate transactions between two parties that are fraud-free and without any third party manipulation or interference. It can revolutionize the way information is stored, secured, and exchanged between the two parties and remove fraud and trust from the equation while streamlining the process and drastically improving efficiency.  Big Corporations Are Bringing Blockchain to the Mainstream Many of the world’s biggest corporations are beginning to integrate cryptocurrency and blockchain into their service offerings.  In late July 2020, Visa announced that they will be rolling out a crypto-supported payment system that will support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and other prominent currencies. This is huge for the crypto world because it finally shows how these big corporations are realizing the value of the technology.  From May 2019 to May 2020 there was over $10 billion of crypto transactions that took place, which shows the. trending popularity of this new monetary system.  This new service from Visa will come in the form of a Visa digital wallet that allows for the use and storage of cryptocurrency easily and securely. With people using cash less and less and the need for banks beginning to dwindle with stay-at-home orders and social distancing norms, this announcement is hardly surprising and very fitting for the time of the announcement.  Just as this announcement was happening, regulators in the U.S. were also announcing that it is now perfectly legal for large institutions to provide cryptocurrency services. Brian P. Brooks, the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, commented recently “This opinion clarifies that banks can continue satisfying their customers’ needs for safeguarding their most valuable assets, which today for tens of millions of Americans includes cryptocurrency.” This decision shows that the shock of 2020 is beginning to have an effect on the highest level of corporations and regulators in the US, and that they are becoming more open than ever before to new forms of technology that threaten many of the financial and societal norms that have been in place for decades.  Other companies such as IBM have integrated crypto services into their framework to bring about next-generation payment solutions. In 2019, IBM rolled out a service called World Wire that is able to provide a much easier mechanism for cross-border payments between out-of-country businesses. This technology is yet another example of a tool that is completely necessary during a pandemic where many Americans have trouble reaching clients or businesses not located in the U.S. In 2020 so far since COVID, the World Wire service has been critical for many to more easily make payments across the world.  As you can clearly see, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a tipping point for blockchain and cryptocurrency in the mainstream. It has fueled a renewed faith in crypto as the world begins to shy away from paper money and dependence on banks. In fact, one in three millennials now state that they will likely buy and hold bitcoin within the next year, which just shows how deeply this new idea is starting to solidify in our society.  With remote work becoming more prominent, it is looking more and more likely that people will be able to get paid in crypto sooner rather than later. This will help improve the confidence and trust that our generation has in the current financial system and trigger a more independent and self-sufficient workforce that will be more able to withstand the effects of any future pandemics or disasters.

Are you an asset manager, investment consultant, nonprofit, or individual who would like to invest in long-term financial, environmental, and social success? On this segment of TheIMPACT, our host Jeffrey Gitterman, talks with Jim Roach, AIF®, Senior Vice President Retirement Strategies at Natixis, Sarah Bratton Hughes, Head of Sustainability in North America at Schroders and Georges Dyer, Co-founder & Executive Director at Intentional Endowments Network (IEN). IEN is a peer learning network of colleges, universities, and other mission-driven institutional investors working together to achieve a thriving and sustainable economy. Watch the full video to learn about retirement plans, sustainable investing, adoption of ESG funds, COVID-19 effects, and endowment funds. To learn more about IEN, please visit intentionalendowments.org

On this segment of Millennials Matter, our host, Georgia Fairweather, covers the sustainable pearl farming enterprise founded and operated by Justin Hunter, CEO of J. Hunter Pearls, based in Fiji. Pearls are initially based on the extraction as it is a luxury industry - economic mining. Pearl farming is a unique practice as it is 100% sustainable with environmental protections connected with the "blue economy." Justin's sustainable pearl farming business engages with local communities rather than commoditizing the industry and what it produces. Island economies have a paradigm-shifting opportunity for sustainable companies that utilize technology, blockchain, AI, and similar infrastructure tools. Consumers of today want more...such as responsible stakeholders that reinvest and aligned with their values in ways that are measured, tracked, and impacted measured. Justin shares some of his past challenges, how they "weathered the storm," and were able to get back up on the front lines to address marine conversation issues through capitalism with consciousness ideals. To learn more about their work with the United Nations, island nations, and how his company is addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by resetting the way the economy works, watch the 15-minute interview here: https://fintech.tv/invest-in-the-oceans-with-pearls/