January 14, 2024 @ 5:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Defining “competitiveness” in financial services is not a simple task, according to an extensive industry report. The aim of the report, produced by Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) in partnership with OMFIF, is to consider “the relative competitiveness of the European financial services industry against their… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 5:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

bunq, a Dutch digital banking platform, has started describing itself as “the first AI-powered bank in Europe.” However, like most firms that claim to leverage AI, there is more hype than actual value being delivered to consumers. During the past few years, artificial intelligence has… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 5:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

High growth businesses generally own few tangible assets, but can be rich in IP and intangible assets, according to an update shared by NatWest Group. These businesses can find it difficult “to use their assets as collateral to secure growth funding, especially when compared with… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SlowMist has been analyzing the attacks and major incidents of 2023. SlowMist‘s latest report will focus on the anti-money laundering (AML) trends in the blockchain sector for the same year. Thanks to the support of our InMist Intelligence Network partners, SlowMist aided clients, partners, and… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

VanEck, a global investment fund manager with $76.4 billion USD in assets under management, announced recently the listing of its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) under the ticker HODL, with Gemini named as custodian. Both Gemini and VanEck claim that they “have been pioneers in… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chargebacks911, an international chargeback management and prevention company, released the highly-anticipated findings of its 2024 Cardholder Dispute Index. This comprehensive research study compiles insights “from more than 4,000 consumers who have engaged in chargeback processes with their issuing banks in the past year.” Released in… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (CSE: BIGG), an innovator in the digital assets space and owner of TerraZero, Netcoins, and Blockchain Intelligence Group is pleased to announce select unaudited financial results for Netcoins’ Q4 2023 and the launch of its Crypto Trading API. Assets under Management… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinShares International Limited (Nasdaq Stockholm: CS; US OTCQX: CNSRF) announced it has exercised the option to acquire Valkyrie Funds LLC, the U.S. digital asset manager’s investment advisory business specializing “in actively managed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, from Valkyrie Investments Inc.” CoinShares‘ decision to exercise this option… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 3:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Trading and investing platform, eToro, announced the addition of spot bitcoin ETFs to the platform, following the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of the products. US users can buy iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) on eToro for whole share… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 3:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitpanda has commented on why they think spot Bitcoin ETFs are a “game-changer” for the crypto market. Bitpanda notes in a blog post the crypto world has “reached an important milestone as major financial institutions receive approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 3:52 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has initiated a significant step towards refining the regulatory framework for Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) by proposing amendments to the NBFC (Establishment & Regulations) Rules of 2003. This move, aiming to modernize and streamline the sector, invites… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 11:12 am By JD Alois  |  

As part of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the Union address, “sweeping consumer protection” was unveiled for buy now pay later (BNPL) providers. The Governor seeks to amend New York’s consumer laws to boost protections against practices deemed to be “unfair” while establishing… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 8:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global enabler of mission-critical, real-time payments software, announced that a UK retailer Co-op has successfully moved its full stack of payments and fraud prevention technology software into ACI’s multi-tenant cloud platform hosted in Microsoft Azure. As a strategic technology partner… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 7:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CaixaBank and KfW IPEX-Bank are jointly providing HOCHTIEF financing for the interim construction financing of the PPP project Frankfurt (Germany) judiciary center. The project volume is in the low three-digit million range and “includes the parallel construction of two new judicial buildings in the Frankfurt… Read More

January 14, 2024 @ 4:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Valmar Capital,  a digital assets multi-manager multi-strategy platform that brings together a broad array of crypto-strategies and emerging talent, has taken a look ahead to comment on key anticipated developments to watch in 2024. Valmar Capital, which says its approach is backed by institutional-grade infrastructure,… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Lemonade (NYSE: LMND), the digital insurance company powered by AI and social impact, today announced the extension and expansion of its financing relationship with General Catalyst (GC) – AKA ‘Synthetic Agents’ – whereby GC “finances up to 80% of Lemonade’s spending specifically related to customer… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

hyperexponential, the global firm focused on pricing decision intelligence (PDI) software, announced completion of its $73m Series B funding round reportedly “led by global technology-focused investment firm Battery Ventures, with participation from leading Silicon Valley investor a16z, and existing Series A investor Highland Europe, which… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Injective, a blockchain for Web3 finance applications, announced its Volan chain upgrade, marking its “largest” mainnet upgrade to date. Injective has introduced a Real World Asset (RWA) Module, offering a new approach “to creating and managing permissioned assets with extensive customization options.” This module enables… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 4:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Spectrum Markets, the pan-European trading venue for securities saw a surge in overnight activity on products “linked to bitcoin, in the hours following the SEC’s announcement approving the first spot bitcoin ETF.” The volume of bitcoin-linked instruments “traded on Spectrum Wednesday was five times higher… Read More

January 13, 2024 @ 3:46 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Southeast Asian Fintech company Salmon said it has secured approval from the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, to acquire a majority stake in the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna), a Filipino financial institution established in… Read More