Is Blockchain a Viable Investment Option?

In truth, cryptocurrencies have dominated the news during the last 18 months, thanks primarily to Bitcoin’s historic price run last year. Altcoins such as Litecoin have also generated significant interest among investors, however, while driving high levels of engagement across social media.

Although the interest in cryptocurrency investment remains largely speculative in the mainstream, there’s no doubt that the blockchain technology behind this marketplace is evolving at a rapid pace and continuing to disrupt a huge array of alternative industries.

In fact, blockchain is now emerging as the fastest-growing digital technology since the evolution of the Internet, with its distributed and immutable qualities promising to revolutionise the social and economic landscape.

In this post, we’ll explore blockchain further while asking whether or not it’s a viable investment option.

What is Blockchain Technology?

A blockchain represents a growing list of records and data, with each individual block linked by cryptography.

The brainchild of Bitcoin innovator Satoshi Nakamoto, blockchain is a decentralised technology that has become synonymous with cryptocurrency and the financial market as a whole. In fact, blockchain is based on the principle of distributing rather than copying digital information, creating far greater security and removing the need for a central authority to manage data sets.

This highlights one of the main benefits of blockchain, namely its ability to provide immutable data records that cannot be manipulated. This, along with the anonymity provided by the blockchain, has created a technology that is tailor made the financial market and entities such as forex.

Is Blockchain a Viable Investment Option in the Digital Age?

Despite being synonymous with cryptocurrency, developers have also created an array of alternative applications for blockchain.

It’s certainly having an impact on the wider stock market, with NASDAQ having launched a ground-breaking LINQ platform based on this technology. This is a digital ledger that leverages blockchain to manage the entire process of issuing and managing private equity shares, creating a comprehensive and transparent set of records while optimising efficiencies.

NASDAQ continues to blaze a trail in this respect, however, with blockchain technology now used to underpin its own transactions and to support external marketplaces that are looking to integrate distributed ledgers into their business models.

This has involved a number of innovative and crucial collaborations, including a number of particularly interesting partnerships involving organisations such as Citigroup. Wealth management brands are also evolving to incorporate blockchain technology, in order to enhance the range of assets and the efficiency of service provided

Beyond this, blockchain is also having a huge impact on the modern supply chain, with distributed ledgers being used to introduce greater transparency into the logistics sector. Not only are these ledgers highly scalable, but they also improve the accuracy of recorded data and make it easier to monitor shipments in real-time.

The Last Word

As we can see, blockchain is an exceptionally diverse technology and one that has a growing number of potential applications available.

Not only this, but the blockchain market is also growing at a considerable pace and set to achieve a market value of $16 billion by the end of 2024.

With this in mind, it’s little wonder that RSM recently suggested that blockchain technology is “too powerful to ignore”, and this is certainly a worthwhile consideration for investors across the globe.

Ultimately, there’s no doubt that this technology offers value from both a short and a long-term perspective, while investing early may well increase your returns over time.

 

 

 

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To All The Money You’ve Wasted Before

On a positive note, you have started the month with the best intentions at heart. You intend to save money by buying what you actually need and by steering away from from temptation. You have created a seemingly robust plan to watch your spending habits. However, things do not seem to work despite your unwavering efforts. Do not beat yourself up! This happens to many of us.

Taking control of your finances starts with understanding your triggers. Why are your drawn to buying the non-essential items? Analyze the physical, environmental, and psychological triggers that cause you to spend. Managing said triggers will help you to avoid overspending.

Let us start with the physical factors that can affect your spending habits. Dropping by the nearest grocery while you are hungry may not be a practical idea! Your rumbling tummy makes you more susceptible to purchasing more. You are less likely to spend time exploring the isles when you already have a list in mind.

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Environmental factors include exposure to shopping malls, flea markets, and television or online shops. Are you more likely tempted to spend due to the convenience of having an item delivered through your doorstep? There are certain situations that can make you feel obligated to spend. For instance, some people are more likely to spend when they are travelling. These people go on a spree because of a mindset that they will not be able to come back there anytime soon.

Focusing on the the psychological factors will highlight the Money Disorders. Money disorders is a broad umbrella consisting of money avoidance, money-worshiping, and relational money disorders. Compulsive buying is under money-worshiping. Inner conflicts drive compulsive shoppers to overspend. Earlier in life, they often learned that shopping provides a temporary escape from worries and anxieties. The chemical reaction that shopping brings to them can be compared to an addiction that leaves them to crave for more. Is your problem as serious as this?

The second step to financial control is tracking your spending. Keep track of all your purchases for a month. Figure out whether an expense is essential or non-essential. Afterwards, get the total of each category. How much are you spending on the non-essentials? Perhaps, you can cut back at least S$50 per category?

Image Credits: pixabay.com

The final step is to allocate your money strategically. You need to give every dollar a place to stay. I do not intend for you to max out your account! Instead, you must allocate your money to several categories such as: savings, investments, retirement or emergency funds. Having money lying around can lead you to spend it. Do your wallet a favor! Avoid being trapped in this situation.

Sources: 1 & 2

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The Influence Of Asia On The World Of Cryptocurrencies

Despite being decentralised online payment systems, there are various countries across the globe adopting these cryptocurrencies and sky-rocketing them to the rate of growth and development we’re seeing today. While the USA, South Africa and the UK sit quite prominently within the industry, there are a huge number of Asian countries either catching up, or dominating completely. From China’s ever-changing regulation, to South Korea’s outright ban, the greatest and most prominent countries within the continent are proving time and time again to make quite a substantial difference – the question is, how?

Japan

Japan’s crypto success arguably came when China imposed a ban on cryptocurrency withdrawals. This saw the BTC JPY exchange rate start to raise in a relatively strong upwards curve until the crash in price after the December 2017 high and has since turned more and more businesses within this innovative hub to either utilising blockchain technologies, or accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments. There has even been recent speculation that future economic booms could either involve, or be thanks to cryptocurrencies and the decentralised technologies that power them. Whether this is ultimately the outcome is a matter of keeping a close eye on changing focuses in the technological and financial industries, but it’s certainly proving an interesting road to take.

 China

China has always been notorious for reducing and restricting the development of anything potentially out of government control and as a digital coin with no centralised system to control, cryptocurrencies were certainly in their line of sight. Despite having initially held one of the biggest markets across the world for cryptocurrency trading and mining, this isn’t so much the case anymore. After the ban of ICOs and the following closure of various local bitcoin exchanges, their stance in the industry plummeted. However, with a focus on ‘blockchain not Bitcoin’, it might not be the end for cryptocurrency use in China just yet.

South Korea

South Korea has taken a similar stance to China, but seems to be offering a far more mixed view than its larger counterpart. Despite its small size compared to China, a simple speculation that bitcoin could be banned was enough to plummet the price of major coins considerably. However, it still remains unclear as to whether this is going to actually be the case. These rumours certainly hold weight behind them, considering the announcement having been by South Korean officials, but have yet to actually be put into place. Instead, we’re simply seeing more and more Korean exchanges and local businesses starting to consider Bitcoin payments as standard, regardless of potential changes to come in the future.

What Could The Future Hold?

Whether we see global bans on cryptocurrency use or global adoption of a ‘blockchain first’ policy, only time will tell for sure. If there is one thing we have quickly learned from the world of cryptocurrencies, it’s that even the slightest movement or speculation can considerably shake up the industry and as a result, Asian countries focused on FinTech and other technologies have an even bigger influence than you may expect.  The future could see unstable governments or economies introducing their very own cryptocurrencies to reap the benefits without the risks, or the simple outright ban and avoidance of all things digital coin.

What do you think?

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Are you getting $100, $200 or $300? You can now go online to check your SG Bonus, update your payment mode and more.

The SG Bonus was announced in Budget 2018 to share the fruits of Singapore’s development with Singaporeans. All eligible Singaporeans will receive hardcopy letter notifications on their SG Bonus benefit from 2 October 2018. Those who have registered their mobile numbers with SingPass will also receive SMS notifications.

The amount of SG Bonus is tiered according to income, with more for those earning less:

SG Bonus will be paid to eligible Singaporeans in end 2018.

Citizens are encouraged to register their NRIC on PayNow by 7 November 2018 to receive their SG Bonus earlier (see payment dates below). They may do so via their bank’s mobile banking or Internet banking platforms.

Log in to the SG Bonus e-Service (SingPass login required) to sign up for the SG Bonus, update your payment mode, or make a donation:

Click here to be redirected to the SG Bonus website www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/sgbonus.
Example:

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Insurance and Cancer: Tips to Buy Health Benefits

Insurance Policy

Purchasing health insurance can be a daunting task. It may be a tricky situation if your family member has cancer. Fortunately, you can make different choices that offer the best coverage for prescription drug and medical needs.

These cautions and suggestions will help you to shop for policy for your cancer treatment:

Plan Covers Your Clinics, Hospitals, and Doctors

Evaluate your plan if it includes a cover for doctors, hospitals, and clinics.  Plans may change your preferred clinics, hospitals and doctors. If your plan is not covering your clinics and doctors, you have to change this policy. Doctors or hospitals out of network may increase your expense.

Plans like australian health insurance – iSelect offer special benefits to a policyholder. You have to do your homework to find out a reliable plan. Keep it in mind that high-deductible plans need you to pay 100% of medical costs until you mollify your deductibles. Deductibles can be more than out-of-network care.

Plan Cover Costs of Prescription Drugs

Some plans are associated with co-pay that is a fixed rate for the prescription of each patient. Other insurance plans may charge one co-insurance that is ideal for the total charges of a drug. It may be expensive for a cancer patient who undergoes multiple services like radiation therapy and chemotherapy for treatment. For cancer medications, a co-pay can be a cheap option than co-insurances.

Plans often divide medications as per formulary into categories or tier. The medicines in higher tiers can be expensive for you. Cancer medications are placed in the highest tier. You may compare every formulary to see the tiers/categories of your drug.

Effects of Step Therapy

Several insurers follow “fail first” or “step therapy” rules in healthcare policies. They necessitate patients to try cheap medications before offering coverage for drugs the doctors would prescribe. If initial medicines prove useless for a patient, the treatment may progress toward expensive therapies.

Advocates of patient and physicians are concerned that this therapy can delay the access to treatments offering maximum benefits. Therefore, they consider it wrong for patients. Several states have laws that permit doctors to apply or supersede these policies. If your state doesn’t enact this law, you can talk to the insurance company to know about their policies.

Work-based Insurance Plans

Several work-based insurance plans offer open enrollment period almost once in a year. It allows you to evaluate your health plans. You can add a new member of family or change plans to avail this opportunity. You may get an option to keep similar plans without any change. If you get an option to change plans, you must carefully evaluate new prospects and their way to cover the treatment of cancer patients.

Carefully secure copies of paperwork relevant to your claims, such as FMLA (family medical leave, sick leave, receipts, bills, EOBs (explanation of benefits and necessary medical letters. Maintain your records and send reimbursement bills to your insurance provider.

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