In today’s talking points: Bitcoin’s unsecure future; Australia’s debt-income level hits 200%; Shanghai named China’s best city for doing business in 2017; Venture capital transactions in China hit record high in 2017
Bitcoin’s unsecure future
Since December Bitcoin has dropped 50% in value and on Wednesday dipped below $US10,000 for the first time in six weeks, it’s now reported at least 14% of the crypto-currency has been stolen by hackers. Affecting it’s rival Ether too, hacking crypto-currency is now a $US200 million p.a. industry, leaving companies and governments $US11.3billion short in tax revenue. It follows announcements of new regulations targeting the farming and use of crypto-currency from the South Korean and Chinese governments, two major producers. Regarding Bitcoin’s security Steve Grobman of McAfee told Bloomberg, “In general, it will be vulnerable to threats just like any other software system.”
Read more at: Bloomberg
Australia’s debt-income level hits 200%
The average Australian household now owes double what they earn per year, across the population that’s $100,000 per person. Total nationwide debt stock reached $AUD2.47 trillion, making it one of the highest disposable income-household debt ratios in the world. Mortgage debt takes up the majority of Australian household debt. In 2017 household debt reached 100% of GDP, compared to 63% in other advanced economies. From last year the Australian Bureau of Statistics started including debt owed by self-managed superannuation funds, increasing the ratio by 6% from 194%. House prices have also fallen throughout the last two quarters in Australian major capital cities, falling 3% in Sydney from their September peak.
Read more at: HeraldSun
Shanghai named China’s best city for doing business in 2017
According to Forbes China, Shanghai was the best city for doing business in China in 2017, with Guangzhou ranking second and Beijing third. Despite ranking 6th, Shenzhen, the home of Tencent and Huawei Technologies, was named the most innovative city out of the 100 listed. Cities are ranked according to evaluations of their human resources, urban scale, consumption ability, passenger traffic, freight transport, vitality of the private economy, operating costs and innovation. Hangzhou, Qingdao, Suzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing also ranked in the top ten.
Read more at: China Daily
Venture capital transactions in China hit record high in 2017
Recent analysis from KPMG shows that venture capital investment in China reached a record 40 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. Deals occurred predominantly in the fields of AI, automotive technology and corporate services and investors increased their focused on quality, as the number of transactions fell to 75 – the lowest figure since 2013. Wu Jianlin, KPMG China’s managing partner, noted the tendency of businesses to use startups in order to “increase efficiency and customer value” and Chinese investors focus on rapidly expanding and gaining market share in order to “quickly capture the market.” In 2018 the investors are expected to fix their spotlight on fields such as food technology and agricultural technology.
Read more at: KPMG