Smartphone Giant Xiaomi Disavows ICO Token Pegged to Its Stock

Smartphone maker Xiaomi said it has not authorized and has no connections to an initial coin offering scheme that is selling a token which is said to peg to Xiaomi’s stock price in its upcoming initial public offering. The Chinese smartphone maker is currently scheduled to go public on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9. Aiming to raise $4.7 billion, Xiaomi’s IPO is seen as one of the most notable public offerings in Hong Kong this year. And the anticipated IPO appears to have…

Bankers Tout Trade Finance as the Sweet Spot for Blockchain

Even if blockchain fatigue may have set in among bankers, there’s at least one use case they’re still clearly excited about: trade finance. At least, that was the impression given at the Blockchain Summit in London last week, where a range of bankers talked enthusiastically about the digital trade finance platforms they are building and the cost reductions they believe will result. Perhaps most notably, Amit Varma, the CTO of Citibank, was unusually vocal and specific in describing the savings his institution expects the technology to bring to the chain…