Podcasts & Radio Shows
Some of my Podcast collaborations covering my book, Singapore - The Fintech Nation, Digital Banks, Blockchain and so on !
In 8 years, ShopBack has become the market leader in cashback in South-east Asia and Australia, dominating 13 markets with over 1,500 retail partners. Host Vanessa Ho speaks with Joel Leong, co-founder of ShopBack, who shares about retail and market expansion. The expert of the episode, Varun Mittal, chief growth officer of Singlife with Aviva, weighs in on achieving sustainable businesses and why companies integrate financial services.
Meta has been exploring alternative revenue streams and the most recent venture is in the form of in-app tokens that draw similarity to Roblox's Robux or Fortnite's V-Bucks. But how would this be able to be monetized in the Meta ecosystem? Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer of Singlife with Aviva and Author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation tells us more.
FTX, which was at one time the 2nd largest crypto exchange, saw its fortunes take a dive after a series of bad decisions by its owner, Sam Bankman-Fried. It looked like a white knight in the form of a rival, Binance would come and save the day but that deal is now dead in the water. Bankman-Fried told investors that the company is facing a shortfall of up to 8 billion dollars from withdrawal requests and needs emergency funding. Will all this have a contagion on the price of cryptocurrencies and broader markets and will there be a white knight that will come to FTX's rescue?
The banking and crypto-currency sectors faced a triple whammy this past week, with the failure of Silvergate Capital, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in quick succession. The three were central banking partners to the crypto sector, acting as conduits between regulated financial institutions, centralised crypto services, and decentralised finance. How much of a setback are these developments for the growth of digital assets? Fintech expert Varun Mittal weighs in.
The past few days have been terrible for cryptocurrency markets, with the market cap of crypto falling below USD1 trillion US dollars, down from USD3 trillion at its peak in November. The sell-off comes as investors rotate out of the riskiest assets due to macroeconomic headwinds and rising interest rates. Once touted as a hedge against inflation and the future of money, can cryptocurrencies rally? We discuss the outlook for the crypto space with fintech expert Varun Mittal.
Crypto investors have lost a fortune since TerraUSD's collapse this week exacerbated the post-Nov 2021 swoon for the ecosystem. Varun Mittal, author of The Fintech Nation, explains the collapse, including what's in store for the industry.
Cryptocurrencies have garnered significant attention amidst the war in Ukraine. As Russia becomes more excluded in the global financial system, many have raised questions as to whether Russia will turn to cryptocurrencies to bypass the sanctions imposed. Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer of Singlife with Aviva and author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation tells us more.
Meta has been exploring alternative revenue streams and the most recent venture is in the form of in-app tokens that draw similarity to Roblox's Robux or Fortnite's V-Bucks. But how would this be able to be monetized in the Meta ecosystem? Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer of Singlife with Aviva and Author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation tells us more.
2021 was a blockbuster year for cryptocurrencies, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum reaching new highs in November, even if it didn’t last long. However the asset class continues to be characterised by extreme volatility, making entry into mainstream markets difficult. We discuss the outlook for cryptocurrencies in the new year with Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer, Singlife with Aviva.
Cryptocurrencies are a volatile asset class that cannot be ignored by investors. But with price volatility and scams, how do we differentiate the chaff from the wheat? Varun Mittal, author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation gives us some ideas.
A few days ago, some hackers stole US$613 million worth of digital coins from Poly Network, and only returned US$260 million worth of tokens after less than 24 hours. So we ask Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader of EY what are the impacts of this incident and will we be seeing more regulatory oversight on cryptocurrencies.
With the recent restrictions imposed by the Chinese Government, cryptocurrencies especially Bitcoin have taken a beating, returning all their year-to-date gains. Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader at EY tells us if this has long-term repercussions and will there be other regulatory or compliance risks that we should watch out for.
Varun Mittal gives some context behind the roller-coaster price movements of Bitcoin amid regulatory pressures but also helps explain how its long-term future is contingent on its ability to evolve and adapt.
Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader, at EY Singapore gives his take on Grab’s listing via a SPAC merger - why SPAC, why US and how would you value a super app?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are described as "one-of-a-kind" assets in the digital world that can be bought and sold like any other piece of property but have no tangible form of their own. Just as Bitcoin has been hailed as the digital answer to currency, this new star in the cryptocurrency world is seen as the future of collectibles.
The number of SPACs in 2020 grew fourfold from 2019, and so far in 2021, there have already been more SPACs than the entirety of 2019. What’s driving this, what are the risks, and is a bubble brewing?
Varun scans both the start-ups and big tech companies, and details his views on payments, wallets, remittance, regulation, WealthTech, e-currency, and digital banks. We discuss the role of FinTech in levelling the playing field between the wealthy and not-so-wealthy investors, and between those who have access to banking services and those who don’t. As the co-author of "Singapore – Fintech Nation of the World,” Varun is particularly passionate about Singapore’s model of strict compliance and risk mitigation, which he believes is particularly suited for success in the regulated world of FinTech.
Reports have filtered in this week that two of Indonesia's biggest tech startups are looking to tie the knot. Ride-hailing and payments player Gojek and local e-commerce platform Tokopedia are said to be in merger talks, which could create a company valued at as much as $18 billion. We speak to Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader at EY, about what both sides stand to gain from this, as well as what Tokopedia might bring to the table for Gojek that Grab does not.
In this episode of Asia Pacific Series, hosted by Angela Conroy based in Singapore, Angela talks with Varun Mittal, EY Global’s Emerging Markets FinTech Leader. They cover public-private partnerships in Singapore, FinTech revolution in emerging markets, early days of Singapore FinTech association and his new book, Singapore: The FinTech Nation.
Singapore has awarded licences for its first digital banks - what can we expect from this and what will this mean for the traditional players? The Morning Run speaks to Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader at EY, to find out.
How do regulators push and hold back digital banks?
The very intention of tech is to disrupt. So are "digital banks" an oxymoron since the role of the regulators is also to maintain the stability of the banking system.
A lot has been happening in the Singapore FinTech scene recently. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is bound to invest more than $225 million Singapore dollars, or $158 million US dollars in FinTech by the end of 2020, and there’s a lot of hope that this can cut out costs from back office systems, and become truly transformational for the market and the region. In this episode, we take a step back, and, with help from FinTech experts in the field, paint a rich picture of what’s happening in Singapore today.