This book examines the FinTech revolution from a data privacy perspective. It analyzes key players on the FinTech market and the developments in various market segments. Particular attention is paid to an empirical analysis of the privacy statements of 505 German FinTech firms and how they were adapted after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into effect in May 2018. The analysis also includes 38 expert interviews with relevant stakeholders from supervisory and regulatory authorities, the financial and FinTech industry, leading consulting firms and consumer protection agencies. By adopting this approach, the book identifies key regulatory needs, offers a valuable asset for practitioners and academics alike, and shares intriguing insights for lawyers, economists and everyone interested in FinTech and data privacy.

This book focuses on market developments of crowdfunding, crowdinvesting, crowdlending, social trading, robo-advice, personal financial management, online payment and mobile payment in Germany. FinTech companies are an important driver of innovation in the financial industry. By making financial transactions more user-friendly and transparent, these firms potentially contribute to financial stability and economic growth. The authors define and categorize the different market segments that have emerged. They further provide an assessment of current market volumes and make forecasts for the next 5, 10 and 20 years. Particular attention is given to the empirical findings resulting from scholarly research. Furthermore, the authors evaluate how the German FinTech market ranks relative to international standards. This book will appeal to finance and entrepreneurship researchers as well as practitioners from banking and tech industries. “This book offers a fresh and fascinating look at the FinTech market. The authors provide a rigorous economic analysis of the FinTech market in Germany and offer many insights that are of interest to practitioners, academics, and policymakers alike.” –Professor Douglas Cumming, Schulich School of Business “Germany is one of the fastest growing FinTech markets in Europe. This book not only provides a comprehensive and systematic overview on the developments and actors, but undertakes a visionary outlook on the forthcoming decades based on scientific methods.” –Dr. Thomas Puschmann, Head of Swiss FinTech Innovation Lab

This open access book describes the most important legal sources and principles of data privacy and data protection in China, Germany and the United States. The authors collected privacy statements from more than 400 crowdsourcing platforms, which allowed them to empirically evaluate their data privacy and data protection practices. The book compares the practices in the three countries and develops empirically-grounded policy recommendations. A profound analysis on workers ́ privacy in new forms of work in China, Germany, and the United States. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Däubler, University of Bremen This is a comprehensive and timely book for legal and business scholars as well as practitioners, especially with the increasingly important role of raw data in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Professor Mingfeng Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology

Global finance is in the middle of a radical transformation fueled by innovative financial technologies. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitization of retail financial services in Europe. Institutional interest and digital asset markets are also growing blurring the boundaries between the token economy and traditional finance. Blockchain, AI, quantum computing and decentralised finance (DeFI) are setting the stage for a global battle of business models and philosophies. The post-Brexit EU cannot afford to ignore the promise of digital finance. But the Union is struggling to keep pace with global innovation hubs, particularly when it comes to experimenting with new digital forms of capital raising. Calibrating the EU digital finance strategy is a balancing act that requires a deep understanding of the factors driving the transformation, be they legal, cultural, political or economic, as well as their many implications. The same FinTech inventions that use AI, machine learning and big data to facilitate access to credit may also establish invisible barriers that further social, racial and religious exclusion. The way digital finance actors source, use, and record information presents countless consumer protection concerns. The EU’s strategic response has been years in the making and, finally, in September 2020 the Commission released a Digital Finance Package. This special issue collects contributions from leading scholars who scrutinize the challenges digital finance presents for the EU internal market and financial market regulation from multiple public policy perspectives. Author contributions adopt a critical yet constructive and solutions-oriented approach. They aim to provide policy-relevant research and ideas shedding light on the complexities of the digital finance promise. They also offer solid proposals for reform of EU financial services law.

This book offers an updated primer on the valuation of digital intangibles, a trending class of immaterial assets. Startups like successful unicorns, as well as consolidated firms desperately working to re-engineer their business models, are now trying to go digital and to reap higher returns by exploiting new intangibles. This book is innovative in its design and concept since it tackles a frontier topic with an original methodology, combining academic rigor with practical insights. Evaluation issues are increasingly based on an analytical comprehension of augmented business models and virtual function analysis, nurtured by real-time big data. The impact of digitalization on scalable business models is the main competitive advantage factor of the BigTechs and other Unicorns, representing a target for startups and the reengineering of traditional firms. The transition from the Internet to the metaverse represents the last frontier, showing how 3D virtual and augmented reality impacts social networking. The second edition of this book updates the contents of the first edition while comprehensively introduces these innovative topics--such as the metaverse, cloud storage, multi-sided digital platforms, ESG-compliance, and value co-creation patterns of digitized stakeholders--and demonstrates how best practices can be applied to specific asset appraisals, making it of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners alike.

This book explores the significant impact of FinTech on the financial industry and how it could be used to promote legitimate development in the global economy. It takes readers on an engaging tour of the field of FinTech, immersing them in a thorough investigation of the technological advancements, creative business models, and regulatory issues that define the FinTech landscape. The book begins by documenting the rise of FinTech, providing historical context, and highlighting key milestones. It delves into the numerous technologies that have fuelled the FinTech revolution and offers valuable insights into the ongoing evolution of the financial industry and its implications for individuals, businesses, and society. It explores topics such as microfinance, digital lending, social impact investing, and sustainable finance, signalling the ability of FinTech to foster financial inclusion, reduce poverty, and drive sustainable economic growth in developing economies. The book takes into account ethical as well as regulatory considerations, and the importance of striking a balance between innovation and consumer protection. The book offers a comparative regional perspective and provides case studies of successful FinTech organizations from across the world. It concludes by providing an in-depth exploration of future trends and predictions, with a specific focus on emerging technologies such as ChatGPT and their potential impact. This will be a useful reference for researchers, scholars, and students, concerned with the changing dynamics of the industry in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.

Money is no longer limited to physical currency or credit and debit cards; however, cryptocurrencies are emerging due to recent technological advancements. Financial markets have been revolutionized as a result of innovative technological trends. It seems that there is no way to evade embracing new trends in the financial markets; without them, we will be destined to fail. Mainstreaming Cryptocurrency and the Future of Digital Finance provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of current cryptocurrency-based payment methods aiming to leverage technology to create better financial services in different businesses. The book also discusses fintech, the cryptocurrency market, trading tips and techniques, brokers and how they work, digital wallets, analytical tools to pick cryptocurrencies, and risk management methods to leverage a secure investment in cryptocurrencies. Covering key topics such as digital money, trading, and financial technologies, this premier reference source is ideal for managers, business owners, industry professionals, researchers, academicians, scholars, instructors, and students.

This book offers a primer on the valuation of startups. Innovative startups are characterized by high growth potential that usually absorbs liquidity. This is unattractive for traditional banks, replaced by other specialized intermediaries such as venture capital or private equity funds, which diversify their portfolio basing their strategies on a multi-year exit. Startups coexist in an evolving ecosystem with established firms, to which they transfer innovativeness, technology, flexibility, and time-to-market speed, contributing to reinvent the business models and receiving from mature firms feedback on the current market features, the existing clients, and their unsatisfied needs. The valuation paradigms represent a central issue for any start-upper seeking external finance, either from family and friends or through a wider professional placement. This book, complemented by practical cases (concerning, for instance, FinTechs, digital platforms, and e-Health applications) offers a guide to practitioners, students, and academics about the trendy valuation patterns of the startups based on their strategic business planning

Blockchain technology is defined as a decentralized system of distributed registers that are used to record data transactions on multiple computers. The reason this technology has gained popularity is that you can put any digital asset or transaction in the blocking chain, the industry does not matter. Blockchain technology has infiltrated all areas of our lives, from manufacturing to healthcare and beyond. Cybersecurity is an industry that has been significantly affected by this technology and may be more so in the future. Blockchain for Cybersecurity and Privacy: Architectures, Challenges, and Applications is an invaluable resource to discover the blockchain applications for cybersecurity and privacy. The purpose of this book is to improve the awareness of readers about blockchain technology applications for cybersecurity and privacy. This book focuses on the fundamentals, architectures, and challenges of adopting blockchain for cybersecurity. Readers will discover different applications of blockchain for cybersecurity in IoT and healthcare. The book also includes some case studies of the blockchain for e-commerce online payment, retention payment system, and digital forensics. The book offers comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including: Blockchain architectures and challenges Blockchain threats and vulnerabilities Blockchain security and potential future use cases Blockchain for securing Internet of Things Blockchain for cybersecurity in healthcare Blockchain in facilitating payment system security and privacy This book comprises a number of state-of-the-art contributions from both scientists and practitioners working in the fields of blockchain technology and cybersecurity. It aspires to provide a relevant reference for students, researchers, engineers, and professionals working in this particular area or those interested in grasping its diverse facets and exploring the latest advances on the blockchain for cybersecurity and privacy.