Cryptocurrency certainly has its appeal. The lack of middle men or local regulatory bodies make it an efficient transaction method, and many in the finance industry now see digital currencies as the natural and unavoidable future. But is the new technology worth the hype? Professor emeritus James Haskett takes a look back at the meteoric rise of another trend in finance – hedge funds – and determines that the answer is ‘maybe’.

In a way, 2017 was the year of the ICO. 2017 saw over 700 initial coin offerings will almost $5 billion raised according to ICO Data (compared with less than $1 billion in 2016). It is no surprise then that this fundraising phenomenon has left the finance world and VC firms in particular with a lot to talk about. This article from Harvard Business Review highlights some of the advantages and disadvantages of this disruptive new fundraising tactic.

New tech-heavy financial firms are helping millennials invest, but with a twist. They are swapping out investment advisers for financial robots, and passing along the savings. Luis Viceira explains the rise of “fintech” in a new case study.

Blockchain is one of a handful of technologies poised to transform a multitude of industries, and yet its promise remains relatively unrealized. However, HBS alumnus Yezi Peng (MBA 2017) thinks that the blockchain platform Ethereum might just have the power to usher blockchain into widespread usage.

During the 2015 Digital Transformation Summit, HBS Professor Sunil Gupta, Ernst & Young’s Janet Balis, and Twitter’s Glenn Otis Brown shared their thoughts on mobile commerce is effecting markets, business strategy and what people think of as money.

Seeding a technology while ignoring early adopters’ needs for distinctiveness is counterproductive.