This week, Chinese ride-hailing juggernaut Didi Chuxing announced that it was rolling out a suite of financial services offerings for both customers and drivers. We’re particularly interested in the driver side of the equation here, because as TechCrunch’s Rita Lau explained, China recently instituted a new legal framework that renders it much more difficult for gig workers to casually participate in the sharing economy.

The problems with cross-border payments have been discussed ad nauseum. They’re expensive, slow and inefficient. The major Swift hack of 2016 also called into question the security of the current system in place for cross-border payments.  The last few years have seen calls in some quarters for a new innovative settlement system.

"We welcome competition to our transparent, highly regulated equity markets. However, with more than 40 equity trading venues already in operation in the United States, we are keen to learn more about the value proposition of a new exchange." That’s a quote from the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. in commenting on the announcement of MEMX, a new consortium-based exchange

When you think of companies that receive a high number of technology patents, large institutional tech firms like IBM, Microsoft or Oracle may come to mind, or the new tech giants like Amazon and Google.

Merry-Go-Round, Bugle Boy, Spencer’s… These and many other brands help define the experience of going to the mall for legions of consumers old enough to recall a time when you actually had to go somewhere to buy stuff (like parachute pants and jackets adorned with meaningless zippers).

“Consultants included museum specialists Goppion, usually found protecting artwork and valuables in the world’s biggest art galleries, and the end result is crafted to perfection, moodily lit and set to crunch numbers like never before.” Yes, that’s a real line from an article in design magazine Wallpaper (See below) describing IBM’s new ‘Q System One’ quantum computer that walked the runway at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.