Fintech leads as Electronic Payments International lists the top five terms tweeted on payment tech in Q2 2020, based on data from GlobalData’s Influencer Platform. The top tweeted terms are the trending industry discussions happening on Twitter by key individuals (influencers) as tracked by the platform.

1. Fintech – 6,678 mentions

The prevalence of the industry amid the coronavirus pandemic and fintech developments, were popularly discussed during the second quarter of the year. According to an article shared by Spiros Maragaris, a VC futurist, the fintech industry is growing to be extremely prevalent and an invisible force in society. The industry is growing at a horizontal pace with some companies aiming to build full-contact relationships, and others building their infrastructure with more intuitive and easy-to-use technologies and applications.

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The influencer also discussed the policy responses to fintech developments. The article shared details how a novel conceptual framework – the ‘fintech tree’ – is being designed to find a balance between maximising technological benefits and minimising potential risks to the financial system. The framework aims at understanding the different approaches pursued by regulators, and the challenges and policy trade-offs they face.

In other news, Florian Graillot, a VC investor, shared an overview of the French fintech scene, with detailed KPI and a split per vertical.

2. Bitcoin –5,045 mentions

Bitcoin investments and banks extending banking services to Bitcoin exchanges, were some popularly discussed topics during the quarter. According to an article shared by Cameron Winklevoss, a cryptopunk and Bitcoin investor, investing in Bitcoin is the most peaceful way to transfer power from governments to the people.

Barry Silbert, the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, meanwhile, shared an article on how JP Morgan is extending banking services to Bitcoin exchanges starting with Gemini, Coinbase as the bank’s first clients from the cryptocurrency industry.

In other news, Tyler Winklevoss, a crypto currency and bitcoin investor, tweeted on Goldman Sachs not recommending Bitcoin on a strategic or tactical basis for clients’ investment portfolios. He further added that the financial services provider did not have a vision and had prevented his clients to stay away from Amazon as well during the 1998 internet boom when the retailer was incurring heavy losses every quarter.

3. Artificial Intelligence – 2,675 mentions

The link between AI and blockchain, AI helping to fact check Covid-19 claims, and AI competition designed to put abstract machine learning to the test payments, were popularly discussed during the quarter. According to an article shared by Warren Whitlock, a digital business development strategist, a strong link is forming between two of the emerging technologies, AI and bockchain. For instance, projects such as open AI and Ethereum are providing the capability for entrepreneurs to utilise public blockchain and AI tools for developing innovative solutions, the article highlighted.

In other news, Patricia Hewitt, a widely recognised expert and strategic advisor to the payments industry, shared an article on how the Google subsidiary, Kaggle, is holding the most important AI competition designed to put abstract machine learning to test payments.

4. Financial Services – 2,072 mentions

Products, platforms and channels transforming financial services and the need to focus on it, were popularly discussed during the second quarter of the year. According to an article shared by Reid Hoffman, an entrepreneur and strategist, entrepreneurs need to focus on important areas such as health, bio, financial services, future of work, and more.

In other news, Jim Marous, a financial industry strategist, shared an article on how major shifts in products, channels and platform opportunities are changing the way banks and credit unions compete. Almost nine out of ten financial institutions believe that digital solutions will completely transform their services and reboot the industry towards a competitive landscape, the article highlighted.

5. Blockchain – 1,983 mentions

Issues around blockchain patents, the usefulness of the technology, and blockchain integration, were popularly discussed during the second quarter. According to an article shared by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum and the Bitcoin Magazine, if a country, company, or organisations were bragging about blockchain patents, they did not understand blockchains.

Chris Burniske, the cofounder of Placeholder, which specialises in cryptoassets, meanwhile, tweeted on how much people were actually paying to use blockchains, stripping out the inflation subsidy. He shared data from Placeholder’s annual meeting which showed that Ethereum led against other smart contract platforms such as Tezos, Waves, and Lisk combined.

In other news, Don Tapscott, a media theorist, author, and professor, shared an article on how Baseline Protocol, an open source initiative, secured business process automation across SAP and Microsoft Dynamics using Ethereum public blockchain. The demo showed how to privately and securely synchronise data and business logic between companies, using the Ethereum Mainnet and through an approach called ‘baselining’ to prevent data inconsistencies and workflow errors that interfere with revenue recognition.