Southeast Asia is on a steady track to becoming an innovation destination. Singapore, with its strategic investment in R&D funding and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, went up to the third spot in 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, while US fell out of the top 10 last year. As evident, fintech has been an obvious buzzword in 2018, and will certainly remain to be so in 2019. To stay updated with the ever-changing fintech landscape, here is our suggested list of fintech books to read.
Table of Contents
Advances in Financial Machine Learning
Marcos Lopez de Prado
A disruptive technology, Machine Learning (ML) has the power to replace many human functions. This book teaches readers the means of analysing big data using relevant algorithms. While a difficult read, the author lays down useful solutions behind real problems faced by practitioners to keep the content relatable.
Bank 4.0: Banking Everywhere, Never at a Bank
Brett King
With banking becoming more and more widespread online and on-the-go, it is important to reexamine the roles that banks will play. The author discussed how traditional banks will be forced to adapt to stay afloat considering that the global economy is going cashless and favouring e-payment systems.
Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code
Primavera De Filippi and Professor Aaron Wright
This book talks about how the law is trying to catch up with the rapidly evolving blockchain through new thinking approaches. This is particularly crucial since blockchains have the ability to craft smart contracts and revolutionalise financial instruments, thereby affecting governance.
Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World
Don Tapscot and Alex Tapscott
In 2018, Bitcoin was wildly popularised by its boom and was all the rage. Blockchain Revolution details the possibilities of blockchain transforming into a World Wide Ledger that is open, distributed and global by removing intermediaries, giving rise to new innovations such as peer-to-peer transactions. The book focuses on the potential for blockchain to create a true sharing economy, as well as how participants can contribute to the exchange.
Cryptoassets: The innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar
The authors give an overview on cryptoassets as a new asset class, segmenting them into cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities and cryptotokens for clarity. The book also presents frameworks for investigating and valuing cryptoassets, navigating bubbles, understanding portfolio management, strategizing smart investments, and more.
If you are interested in the philosophy behind Bitcoin instead, try Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper, a New York Times reporter.
Emotional Banking: Fixing Culture, Leveraging FinTech, and Transforming Retail Banks into Brands
Duena Blomstrom
Acknowledging the threat faced in the banking sector, Emotional Banking explains how the old-fashioned business model and internal organizational paralysis can limit the embrace of fintech. A refreshing view on the cultural change required, the book delivers best practices and actional steps to solve the emotional aspect of problems in fintech.
Fintech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal Based Investing and Gamification
Paolo Sironi
Fintech Innovation analyses the advancements in fintech by explaining the impact that it has on asset management and private banking. The author uncovers insights on the repercussions following a clash between established economic interests clash and social transformation. Financial advisors and professionals who are interested in the democratization of the banking industry can expect to learn more on how business models are likely to be altered by regulators, as well as why investors can become price determiners in future.
For a comprehensive guide on the direction that banking will head towards, try Fintech in a Flash: Financial Technology Made Easy by Agustin Rubini.
Inclusive Fintech: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and ICO
David Kuo Chuen Lee and Linda Low
In this book, the authors demystify the understudied concept of inclusive fintech. The idea that businesses can still be sustainable and make profit with a social agenda is prominent throughout the book. Readers can expect to gain new perspectives on the methods of achieving a more equitable world.
The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything
Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna
After the release of The Age of Cryptocurrency, the authors went on to address the misconceptions surrounding blockchain in The Truth Machine. Topics of discussion include how blockchain can reinstate personal control over data and make the global economy more accessible. With a balanced perspective, this book expounds on the challenges in enabling a transparent blockchain in fields such as finance, technology, legal, and shipping.
The Wealthtech Book: The Fintech Handbook for Investors, Entrepreneurs and Finance Visionaries
Thomas Puschmann
Readers hoping to get acquainted with the disruption, innovation and opportunity in technology in the investment management sector will find this a stimulating read. With comparatively cheaper robo-advisors and other new fintech innovations available, the market dynamics has been, and will continue to be disrupted. Concepts around fully automated wealth accumulation and hybrid models for wealth diversification are also explored in the book.
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