Are social purchases too easy? Is Bitcoin joining the mainstream? And can David Attenborough get us to invest in the environment?

Analysis

Friday, October 30, 2020 – 11:29am

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.

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In this week’s episode, we discuss:
TikTok purchases
The social video platform TikTok is teaming up with the Canadia payment company Shopify to create ads with built-in online stores, making it easy – perhaps too easy – for app users to spend their money. Or, given the youth of the TikTok user base, to spend their parents’ money.
Crypto gets a job
In two cryptocurrency-related stories, Paypal that users will be able to buy Bitcoin on its platform – although not to use it directly in purchases – and the investment bank JPMorgan said its own digital currency, JPM Coin is now being used commercially by a big client for the first time. Both developments seem like a step into the mainstream for digital currencies – but both come with heavy caveats.
Green investments
The “Attenborough effect” has reached the world of personal finance, where it is reportedly driving a significant increase in interest in environmentally responsible investments. The asset manager Liontrust, for example, said its sustainable funds had trebled from £2.5bn to £7.5bn since 2017. And it’s not just about doing good: financial advisers say environmentally responsible companies are more likely to be resilient and could have better prospects for long-term growth.
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