Opinion

A revolution is pending in finance, and the world is only beginning to realise the transformations it is likely to bring. Financial institutions will have to take a radically different approach to information technology just to stay in business. Bullish Global, a crypto firm, is planning to go public this year, with an expected valuation of $9 billion. Circle Internet ...

From electric carmakers to space tourism to online learning firms, special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) have provided an easy route to the public markets for businesses with, generously, a long path to profitability. The SPAC boom is now also smoothing the way for a legacy media company — Britain’s biggest newspaper — to leave the public markets through a wily feat ...

The European Union wants to prove to the world just how serious it is about fighting climate change. But can it coerce other countries to act as decisively? On Wednesday, the European Commission was expected to outline a hugely ambitious package of climate legislation with the aim of achieving the bloc’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least ...

India’s current rate of spawning unicorns, or startups with at least a billion dollars in valuation, is almost three per month. But all that action is in private markets; practically nothing of the digital economy trades publicly. Which explains the nervous excitement over this week’s initial public offering by one of the country’s two dominant online food-delivery services. As China ...

As earnings season begins, one of the biggest emerging storylines is that Netflix Inc’s most formidable rivals, led by Walt Disney Co, already may be starting to falter. If Disney can’t get to where Netflix is, can anyone? Netflix is set to kick off the industry’s quarterly reports next week on July 20, while investors will have an anxious wait ...

“Living” with Covid-19 has been talked about since the pandemic first began: A moment when the coronavirus disease becomes part of everyday life, rather than an overpowering wave of cases and deaths that overloads hospitals and triggers society-crushing lockdowns. This so-called “endemic” phase would see Covid-19 look more like influenza, with regular vaccine campaigns and a focus on primary care. ...

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) first strategy review in 18 years is about to get its first credibility test. President Christine Lagarde has fired the starting gun for the implementation of the ECB’s new policy framework. Just over a week from now, it will issue updated forward guidance on policy rates. That will be in preparation for a fresh program ...

When the Apple II personal computer was shipped in 1977, it came with a detailed manual for upgrading and repairing the device. Parts were readily available from Apple Inc. (and, later, other manufacturers), and if Apple owners didn’t want to fix or upgrade at home, they could find plenty of small, competitive repair businesses to do the work for them. ...

Bitcoin lovers, cry foul! Accounting firms are restricting corporations from holding the cryptocurrency as assets even as they give free rein to venture capital firms — such as SoftBank Group Corp — to invest in equally risky and volatile unicorns. MicroStrategy Inc and Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc own Bitcoin but they are exceptions. One survey found that only 5% of ...

Just months before she retires from politics, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is jetting to Washington to meet US President Joe Biden. The event will be staged to show a return to transatlantic harmony after four years of acrimony under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. But to keep up those appearances, the Americans will be hiding a crushing sense of disappointment, and ...