April 30, 2025 @ 12:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of crypto firm Celsius Network, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal scrutiny of the collapsed crypto lending platform. The U.S. Department of Justice is said to be seeking a 20-year prison sentence… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 10:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The corporate venture capital (CVC) landscape in Q1 2025 reflects a strategic shift toward selective, high-impact investments, as detailed in CB Insights’ State of CVC Q1’25 Report. With global CVC-backed deal volume dropping to a seven-year low, corporations are prioritizing quality over quantity, channeling larger… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 9:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Solda.AI, a Berlin-based AI startup, says it has raised $4 million in a Seed funding round. Sold.AI states that it is the first company to develop a fully autonomous AI voice sales agent that can close a deal from start to finish. The funding round… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 9:15 am By JD Alois  |  

Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM), a top BNPL provider, has announced the launch of “AdaptAI” for its merchant partners. According to Affirm, the new feature enables retailers to offer personalized financial benefits as part of the POS process. Offerings could include items like APR rates, special repayment… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Plume and Soneium by Sony Block Solutions Labs are working together to enable real-world asset (RWA) yield. Plume is a blockchain focusing on the RWA sector. Soneium is an Ethereum layer-2 developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs. The goal of the partnership is to bring RWA staking and real-world… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 8:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Securitize has announced a “new chapter for institutional DeFi.” The tokenization platform has partnered with Gauntlet to enable a Real World Assets (RWA) strategy, powered by Morpho, deployed on the Polygon Network. Securitize states that the institutional-grade solution enables permissioned Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 8:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Crypto Initiative (EUCI) has ushered in a transformative phase for cryptocurrency regulation with the release of The AML Handbook: A Guide for Crypto Activities. This comprehensive guide introduces 13 pivotal compliance pillars that crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) must adopt to align with the… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 8:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK’s capital markets, a key part of its financial ecosystem, are undergoing a digital transformation driven by distributed ledger technology (DLT) and securities tokenization. A report by TheCityUK and Hogan Lovells, titled “The Digitalisation of UK Capital Markets: Digitalised Financial Market Infrastructure and Tokenised Bonds,”… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 8:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI) is reportedly set to reintroduce cryptocurrency investing by the end of 2025, marking its return to the digital asset space after a forced exit in 2023. The update, made by CEO Anthony Noto in an interview with CNBC, reflects a… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Q1 2025 Global M&A Report from PitchBook provides a comprehensive analysis of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, highlighting key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the global landscape. Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, the report from PitchBook reveals a market demonstrating resilience, with strategic dealmaking… Read More

April 30, 2025 @ 5:23 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Investing.com, a financial news, tools, and data platform, has launched WarrenAI, an AI-driven financial researcher. According to the company, WarrenAI debuts with more than 30 languages. While existing AI software such as ChatGPT sources data from the entire web, WarrenAI has exclusive access to vetted,… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 11:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A research study on trust in Artificial Intelligence (AI) released has found half (50%) of Australians use AI regularly, but only “36% are willing to trust it, with 78% concerned about negative outcomes.” The Trust, attitudes and use of Artificial Intelligence: A global study 2025… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a transformative step toward bridging traditional finance and the digital economy, Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has unveiled an initiative to incorporate stablecoins into its global payments network. This move aims to make stablecoin transactions as intuitive and secure as conventional payments, enabling consumers to spend… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 9:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MoonPay, a global cryptocurrency payment platform, has announced the opening of a new U.S. headquarters in New York City’s vibrant SoHo district. The company has secured a facility exceeding 5,000 square feet, marking a significant expansion of its operations in the United States. This move… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 9:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Arizona’s legislature has passed legislation that could position the state as a pioneer in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption within the United States. The bill, which authorizes the state treasurer and retirement system to allocate up to 10% of their available funds to Bitcoin and other… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 9:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The British Business Bank announces the accreditation of Creative Growth Finance as a delivery partner under the Growth Guarantee Scheme. Creative Growth Finance (CGF) is Creative UK’s specialist £35m debt fund, which provides growth capital “to high-potential smaller businesses in the UK’s creative sector.” The… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 9:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Yieldstreet, a private markets investing platform, and Upgrade Inc., a fintech offering “responsible” credit products to mainstream consumers, announced the completion of an agreement to “purchase assets through Flex Pay, Upgrade’s BNPL financing solution.” This partnership enables individual investors to “target passive income from exposure… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 6:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dror Futter, a legal counsel to leadership teams, highlighted a subtle but significant shift in the venture capital landscape, as revealed by Carta’s 2024 Pre-Seed Funding Review. The review noted a surprising/unexpected trend in Q4: a decreasing percentage of Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs)… Read More

April 29, 2025 @ 5:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) has revealed Q1 2025 earnings, which matched analyst expectations of earnings of $0.10 per share. LendingClub, once an online lender and now a digital bank, also announced the acquisition of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform for Spending Intelligence. LendingClub, which still is heavily… Read More