Top Emerging-Technology Stories for 2018

This year has seen some significant technology developments, be it discussions on how to advance institutional participation in the cryptocurrency space, exploration into new types of alternative datasets, and experimenting with new types of AI. Wei-Shen Wong looks at some of the top emerging technology stories in 2018.

1. The Evolution of Deep Learning: Anthony Malakian takes a deep dive into how financial firms are experimenting with deep learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, to help generate more alpha.

2. Mosaic Partners with the European Space Agency for Market Surveillance: James Rundle writes about how data analytics firm Mosaic Smart Data entered a partnership with the European Space Agency to analyze trading behavior.

3. Trading Firms Turn to AI for System Stability: Josephine Gallagher reports on how some firms are turning to artificial intelligence to predict and help minimize outages, as IT systems come under pressure of current trading volumes and regulatory requirements.

4. IBM Focuses on Qubit Quality for Quantum Computing Development: To help further the development of the universal quantum computer, which IBM is working on, the company is focusing on improving the quality of individual qubits rather than expand on the number of qubits, writes Anthony.

5. Custody is Essential for Crypto’s Evolution: As institutional interest in cryptocurrency trading continues to grow, Wei-Shen explores how one crucial aspect hinders it—the current state of institutional-grade custody solutions.

6. The Tokenization Challenge: The process of turning traditional assets into digital assets involves overcoming more hurdles than one might think. Josephine finds out what it takes and whether or not there is actual value in digitizing traditional assets.

7. Orbital Insight Expands Telemetry Footprint: Anthony writes about satellite analytics platform provider Orbital Insight’s move into the broader geospatial analytics space by increasing its telemetry footprint and plans to offer it via a platform-as-a-service model.

8. Tradeworx Sells Trading Arm to Focus on Fintech: Tradeworx sells its trading business to focus on its fintech business, and has rebranded itself as Thesys Group. Its trading business now comes under Blueshift Asset Management, writes Emilia David.

9. DTCC Schedules Blockchain Platform Launch for 2019: The Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. (DTCC) has slated the launch of its blockchain platform which will replace the system that processes most credit derivative trades for the first half of 2019, according to Anthony.

10. Archax Takes Aim at Institutional Segment: Josephine looks at how Archax launched a blockchain-based crypto exchanged targeted specifically at the institutional sector.