24th May 2023 Digital Bytes

Is AI set to reserve the decline of active managed funds? - PwC estimates that the fund management industry will be managing over $145 trillion by 2025. Predictions are that, by 2027, passive funds will exceed funds undermanagement compared to active funds. However, will AI and blockchain-powered digitised funds reverse this trend and usher-in a rise of actively managed funds?

Blockchain and green energy - blockchain is best recognised as the technology that supports cryptocurrencies, the most well-known example of which is Bitcoin. However, blockchain has many more applications and, indeed, the technology is being used in many industries including the renewable energy sector.

The relationship between DeFi and monetary policy - there is increasing evidence that, as DeFi markets mature, the more correlation there is between the amount of capital in DeFi protocols and traditional monetary policies. DeFi challenges existing financial markets - offering the promise of lower costs, greater efficiencies and making financial markets more inclusive. Interest rates, money supply and regulations can impact DeFi as they do in today's financial sector.

The role and opportunity for stablecoins in traditional cross-border payments - stablecoins are gaining traction as a new ‘digital asset’ in their own right. At the same time, the traditional bank-dominated payments model is being increasingly challenged by non-bank, fintech-native PSPs (payment service providers). What is the potential opportunity presented by - and role of - stablecoins in effecting positive change in cross-border payments models and workflows?