12 May 2021 16:46 GMT
IDEX Biometrics ASA, a leading provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions for payment cards and adjacent applications, today released its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.
IDEX recorded consolidated revenue of $624,000 for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of approximately 4% from the fourth quarter of 2020 and over 500% from the first quarter of 2020. Revenue recorded in the current period was primarily related to continued shipments to an important early-adopter implementing a global network access control solution based on our second-generation sensor product, but included initial volume shipments of the Company’s third generation TrustedBioTM products for payment card applications.
They were only two seemingly innocuous words: “investment alternatives.” But when applied to Bitcoin the seminal cryptocurrency by an official from the People’s Bank of China in a recent panel discussion, they reverberated like a firecracker.
“A remarkable step for BTC,” Lennix Lai, director of financial markets at OKEx, calls the statement. Michael Peshkam, executive in residence at European business school INSEAD, describes the central banker’s remarks as “a significant shift in the country’s position” on crypto.
To recap: On April 18 at a CNBC event at the Boao Forum for Asia, Li Bo, deputy governor of the PBoC China’s central bank said: “We regard Bitcoin and stablecoin as crypto assets. […] These are investment alternatives.” CNBC reporter Arjun Kharpal commented:
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Introduction
In recent months the price of Bitcoin has risen sharply on balance, despite some fluctuations. The largest cryptocurrency’s latest price spike is prompting talk about Bitcoin’s future. Pressing questions are coming up. Is Bitcoin money or not? Why is Bitcoin valuable? And what does the future hold?
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Skeptics anticipate a collapse at some point, while true crypto believers see Bitcoin as the currency of the future. The discussions about Bitcoin are very broad and opinion is divided on even its most basic aspects. For example, Bitcoin was designed to be a payment method, but more and more people have come to view it mainly as a new investment category. The likely future of Bitcoin is also the subject of debate; will it replace the existing system, or will it eventually become “just” another new financial produc
Bitcoin and Other Digital Assets Now Being Considered Investments but Not Medium-of-Exchange by Chinese Policymakers
May 2, 2021 @ 7:27 pm By Omar Faridi
China’s virtual yuan has been in development for the past 7 years (since 2014). Recently, Chinese officials had noted that Bitcoin (BTC) was not really a currency but they do think it’s a form of investment.
Regulators in China are also eager to explore the use of crypto-assets and their underlying blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT). During the past few years, the nation’s research communities have been developing rating systems for digital asset projects and have also been carrying out pilots of the digital yuan in major cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen.
China is keen on using evolving blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies to help build its digital economy and quicken adoption of its sovereign digital currency, analysts say, while avoiding the risks that decentralised virtual networks pose to the financial system. Chinese policymakers have recently ruled out cryptocurrencies as mediums of exchange but tacitly supported them as investment vehicles - as long as they serve the real.