JD Alois

EU – U.S. Joint Financial Regulatory Forum in Brussels Tackles Topics Like AML, Climate Risk, Digital Finance

Last week in Brussels, the EU – U.S. Joint Financial Regulatory Forum took place where policy makers tackled various aspects of global financial services. EU participants included representatives of the European Commission, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the… Read More

Seven Seas, A Creator of Quant Trading Strategies for DeFi, Announces Launch

British Virgin Islands-based Seven Seas has announced the forthcoming launch of its non-custodial DeFi investment strategies According to a release, the Seven Seas team combines smart contract developers, data scientists, and experts from traditional finance (TradFi), and decentralized finance (DeFi), to actively manage investment portfolios… Read More

UK: New Financial Services Bill Removes EU Regulation, Aims to Ensure UK at Forefront of Innovation

Today, the Financial Services and Markets Bill was introduced to Parliament in the UK. The legislation will replace “hundreds of pieces of EU retained law” as the UK moves beyond the oversight in Brussels. The aim of the bill is to establish a “coherent, agile… Read More

Bitcoin Rally: BTC Tops $24K

Bitcoin is in rally mode after several weeks of gloom. At the moment, Bitcoin is trading above $24,000 – the first time since the 2nd week of June. The rise in valuation is being joined by other cryptocurrencies as well as traditional securities. Marcus Sotiriou,… Read More

Primary Issuance: INX to Issue Trucpal Security Token

The INX Digital Company (NEO: INXD) will enable an online funding round for Trucpal, a blockchain-based SaaS platform serving the Chinese freight market. The digital security offering will commence next week with the token, then trading on the INX marketplace, a regulated alternative trading system… Read More

Blockdaemon Acquires Sepior, a Digital Asset Security Firm

Blockdaemon has acquired Sepior, according to a company statement. Blockdaemon is a blockchain enabler providing the infrastructure for firms to leverage the technology. Sepior is a data and digital asset security company that provides institutional-grade cryptographic key management and protection. Blockdaemon did not disclose the… Read More

Wise Q1 Earnings: Top Line Growth as Users Increase, 50% of Cross Border Transfers are Now Instant

Wise, a global transfers, payments and stealth bank, has reported its Q1 2022 performance. According to the company, it facilitated over £24 billion in transactions during the quarter increasing 49% versus Q1 year prior. In comparison to Q4 2021, Wise delivered a 14% increase (£21.4… Read More

Covid Born Recovery Loan Scheme Extended to Aid UK SMEs

Today, the UK government has announced that the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), launched in April 2021 to help businesses counter the COVID crippled economy, will be extended for a further two years. Originally set to end last December, during the Autumn Budget the government extended… Read More

Open Banking: MX Announces New Account Verification Service

MX, an open banking or open finance platform, has announced a new method for account verification called MXapi Processor Tokens. According to a company statement, MX now offers an API data exchange that is simple and secure to validate users and transactions. The tokens are… Read More

Connecticut Green Bank Launches 3rd Offering on Raise Green Funding Portal

Connecticut Green Bank has launched its 3rd Green Liberty Notes on its FINRA-regulated funding portal Raise Green. Previously, two other offerings have been successfully funded. The one-year debt note aims to raise up to $250,000 from individual investors with a minimum of $100 holding a… Read More

Starling Bank Bails on Irish Bank Application: Report

Starling Bank, a leading digital-only bank in the UK, has abandoned its pursuit of a banking license in Ireland and altered its  European expansion plans. The revelation was first reported by SkyNews that disclosed Starling might alternatively purchase a European bank instead of acquiring a de… Read More

Gaming Payment Processor ZEBEDEE Raises $35 Million Funding Round

ZEBEDEE has closed on a $35 million Series B funding round, according to a company statement. The funding was led by Kingsway Capital and merchant bank The Raine Group as well as video-game giant Square Enix. Existing investors participating include Lakestar and Initial Capital. ZEBEDEE… Read More

Galaxy Digital Holdings Founder Mike Novogratz Says He Got it Wrong. Yep.

Mike Novogratz, founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings, billionaire, and crypto bull, says he got it wrong about the crypto industry as several firms have collapsed and digital asset valuations have tanked. Novogratz was also a big supporter of TerraUSD/LUNA – the failed algorithmic stablecoin concoction…. Read More

ECSPR: European Commission Extends Transition Period for Pan-European Crowdfunding Rules

The European Commission has extended the deadline for compliance with the relatively new European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regulation (ECSPR). Last November, the European Union enacted harmonized regulations for investment crowdfunding platforms and offerings. Under the rules, issuers could raise up to €5 million across all… Read More

Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital Halts Redemptions for Crypto Exposed Fund

Skybridge Capital, an investment firm founded by Anthony Scaramucci, has halted redemptions on its Legion Fund. First reported by Bloomberg, the Legion Fund holds crypto assets as well as investments in private firms like FTX. The fund is said to be pausing withdrawals as private… Read More

Ugly. Three Arrows Capital (3AC) Liquidation Document Revealed

Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is shouldering part of the blame for the crypto contagion that has wreaked havoc on digital asset markets. The crypto hedge fund stumbled, and then imploded when crypto valuations rapidly declined – most dramatically represented by the collapse of TerraUSD/LUNA, an… Read More

Celsius Hearing Outlines Collapse in Value, Users May Now File for a Claim

Celsuis held its first hearing in bankruptcy court, publishing a presention that highlights the grim decline in value of its crypto holdings in just a few weeks. According to a presentation, as of March 30, 2022, Celsius helld over $22 billion in assets. That amount… Read More

Australia: Investment Crowdfunding Grows by 82% in 2022

Investment crowdfunding in Australia grew by 82% in the first 6 months of the year, according to the leading platform Birchal. Birchal shares that this growth was fueled largely due to its operations as it garnered 73% of all online securities offering. Crowd-sourced funding (or… Read More

Fundrise Announces Innovation Fund Opportunity for Investors as it Pursues New Asset Class

Fundrise, a real estate investment platform that has long leveraged Reg A+ to offer REIT investments, is expanding its pool of offerings according to an email. Fundrise will soon offer the “Fundrise Innovation Fund” aiming to provide access to “high growth, pre-IPO technology companies.” As… Read More

CFTC Comments on Consent Order Regarding Digital Asset Pump and Dump Plot that Involved John David McAfee

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) has issued a statement regarding U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entering a consent order on for a permanent injunction, monetary sanctions, and disgorgement of ill-gotten proceeds against Jimmy Gale Watson of Dallas, Texas…. Read More

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