Who is Matthew Najar and some of his ideas? Governments in major economies are encouraging financial technology (fintech) innovation with regulatory and advisory initiatives designed to accelerate the availability of online payment solutions and other financial services for businesses. The initiatives generally aim to attract innovative fintech companies and help them operate in the regulated financial sector, while ensuring adequate financial protection for customers.

Matthew Najar believes without new FinTech initiatives, we will stall: “FinTech, blockchain certainly included, is critical for our generation to solve inherent financial system issues and progress forward”.

The U.K., traditionally a major financial-services centre, has actively encouraged new competition in banking, reducing barriers to entry such as banks’ capital requirements. As a result, several new digital banks are already offering Internet-based banking services, including online payment solutions, without establishing brick-and-mortar locations. Another ongoing U.K. initiative designed to enable competition and fintech innovation is the implementation of an open banking standard by 2018, including an open application programming interface (API) that enables development of new applications to access information in customers’ existing accounts at one or more banks. For example, customers might be able to manage all their bank accounts from a single app.

National banking licenses would increase fintechs’ ability to operate across the U.S. without requiring state-by-state permission or partnerships with established banks. This could increase competition in banking and also make it easier for technology firms to offer new online payments solutions or other services. In a speech, Thomas J. Curry, the OCC’s chief officer, listed three reasons for moving forward with the long-discussed plan to issue a national charter for fintechs. First, it’s in the public interest to make new innovative services available. Second, fintechs should have the opportunity to become national banks if they wish to do so. And third, it helps ensure that all financial institutions operate on a level, nationally regulated playing field. As Curry pointed out, the reality today is that many fintechs are already competing with national and state banks — but “without regard to any of the national bank responsibilities and under a patchwork of supervision.” The agency said it would collect public comment before moving farther.

Backup your wallet. Store only small amounts of currency for everyday use online, on your computer or mobile, keeping the vast majority of your funds in a high-security environment. Cold or offline storage options for backup like Ledger Nano or paper or USB will protect you against computer failures and allow you to recover your wallet should it be lost or stolen. It will not, however, protect you against eager hackers. The reality is, if you choose to use an online wallet there are inherent risks that can’t always be protected against.

The U.S., which is home to some of the world’s biggest fintech companies, is also kicking off innovation initiatives similar in concept to those already up and running in other countries. The OCC plans to establish an Office of Innovation in 2017 to help the agency ensure that financial institutions operate in a regulatory framework that is responsive to financial innovation; its roles will include an outreach and technical assistance program for banks and nonbanks developing financial services. In addition, a bill to introduce a regulatory sandbox was introduced in the U.S. Congress in 2016, with the goal of passing enabling legislation in 2017.

You can store your cryptocurrencies in a secure wallet. Cryptocurrencies give you the option to store your money in two types of portfolios that can be easily transferred to your account. And the wallets have no charge to store your money. For most people, privacy is the highest priority. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, you can expect your transactions to be highly confidential. You can make your transactions and be anonymous.

There’s a need for one to be more than cautious when looking to invest in any ICO. Knowing when to or not to invest in an ICO is not about science; rather, it’s about paying close attention to those details that most people seem to overlook while only focusing on the promised returns. Conduct a background check on the team behind the project and analyze their ability to deliver on their promise. In addition, you should also look at the viability of the idea behind the ICO, poke holes in the project’s white paper and seek answers where necessary. That will ensure that no stone is left unturned and, if by the end of it you still have doubts about the project, you’re better of passing than chance it investing in that ICO.

The prices of most altcoins depend on the current market price of Bitcoin. It is vital to understand that Bitcoin is relative to fiat currencies and is quite volatile. The simpler version of this is that when the value of Bitcoin goes up, the value of altcoins goes down and vice versa. The market is normally foggy when the Bitcoin price is volatile and, as you would imagine, this prevents most traders from gaining a clear understanding of what goes on in the market. At this point, it is advisable to either have close targets for our trades or simply not trade at all.

Learn to value coins in BTC. Ether aside, Bitcoin is the current primary currency of the crypto economy (i.e., its what you have to use to buy most altcoins). Those new to crypto tend to value things in dollars. Meanwhile, even seasoned cash traders value coins in dollars. However, enough crypto traders will value coins in BTC for it to matter. If you aren’t aware of the BTC charts, you won’t be able to properly understand the trends everyone else is analyzing and reacting to. You don’t have to make getting more BTC your goal, but you must have the BTC prices of altcoins on your radar. There are times when all coins move up, but altcoins steadily loose value against Bitcoin. Those who know will be the first to dump altcoins for Bitcoin; this will set off a vicious cycle that can result in the stagnation of altcoin prices.