January 18, 2024 @ 11:09 am By JD Alois  |  

Artificial intelligence [AI] and companies leading this tech sector are the new shiny. It’s almost gold rush like as people seek to invest in AI firms as the masses finally became aware that the technology has now hit mass adoption. The catalyst is ChatGPT, which… Read More

January 18, 2024 @ 9:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Deepfakes are a growing concern. As technology improves and AI services proliferate, it is getting easier for bad actors to create completely bogus content that intends to dupe the unsuspecting. Today, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued a warning to the public to… Read More

January 18, 2024 @ 8:42 am By JD Alois  |  

Tint Finance Services, a UK-based Fintech that aims to help SMEs simplify supply chains, said it has topped $20 million (£15m) in trade finance just six months after. Tint was founded in 2023 by a group of banking and trade professionals. The mission of the… Read More

January 17, 2024 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

IPO [initial public offering] activity was dismal in 2023. You have to go back to 2019, which was just before the COVID crisis disrupted the world, to find a worse year. A total of 1,429 IPOs were launched globally in 2023 a nearly 16% drop… Read More

January 17, 2024 @ 10:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Once one of the largest peer-to-peer lenders in the world, China’s Lufax (NYSE:LU) has hit an all-time low trading on the NYSE. The bid-ask of shares is around $2.17. A year ago, it was trading at over $10 a share, thus delivering a spectacular collapse… Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 1:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Over the years, Tether, the largest dollar-based stablecoin in the world, has been peppered with allegations of fraud and claims that the company did not have 1 to 1 reserves for USDT. In an interview with Bloomberg, held at Davos, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick… Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 1:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

European payments provider Mangopay has announced a partnership with Storfund. Terms of the deal were not revealed. Mangopay, based in France, has long been a top payments provider for marketplaces like crowdfunding platforms. Founded in 2013, Mangopay says it has supported 2,500+ platforms and marketplaces…. Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 12:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hedera says it Wallet Snap is now live on MetaMask, which provides access to MetaMask’s 30 million monthly active users, The wallet is built by Tuum Technologies, a developer of open-source decentralized identity solutions. Snaps extends the functionality of MetaMask by enabling developers to create… Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 10:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Republic, a top crowdfunding platform serving the full stack of securities exemptions, has announced that it has joined the Tokenized Asset Coalition (TAC). Securitize, another platform that provides online capital formation as well as other digital services, has also joined TAC. TAC, which was revealed… Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 10:15 am By JD Alois  |  

  CI has reported on the moribund activity for venture capital and private equity for some time now. Again and again, we receive reports that VC and PE cratered in 2023. Today, once again, S&P Global Market Intelligence has shared another gloomy report stating that… Read More

January 16, 2024 @ 9:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Later this year, sometime around mid-2024, the next Bitcoin “Halving” will take place. This is when mining rewards are slashed in half. The last Halving took place in 2020 when the number of Bitcoins gifted to validators was cut to 6.25 Bitcoin for successfully mined… Read More

January 15, 2024 @ 11:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month, Circle, a stablecoin issuer, announced the receipt of a conditional registration as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) or ‘Prestataire de Service sur Actifs Numériques’ (PSAN)) with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). When the approval was announced, Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO… Read More

January 15, 2024 @ 9:04 am By JD Alois  |  

While some are predicting a big move higher in the price of Bitcoin following the approval of eleven Bitcoin ETFs, volatility in the price of BTC is the story today. At this moment, Bitcoin is now trading at around $43,000 after tanking to under $42K. … 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 13, 2024 @ 11:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experienced an embarrassing breach of security when its X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked. The perpetrators took the opportunity to announce the approval of Bitcoin ETFs one day before the SEC intended to announce it publicly. In the following… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 10:37 am By JD Alois  |  

The pan-European payments Finteh Lemonway says it doubled revenue in 2023 when compared to 2022. During the year, Lemonway reports that it processed €9.6 billion, or a 24% increase compared to 2022. Lemonway works with some big names like SNCF. Decathlon, Drouot and others. In… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 9:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Switzerland-based payments Fintech Rivero has raised a $7 million series A funding round, according to the company. The funding was led by 6 Degrees Capital and Inference Partners, with participation from PostFinance, Kraken Ventures, Seed X Liechtenstein, and former COO of Adyen, Robert Kraal, and… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Biden Administration has not been known for embracing Fintech innovation and, in the past couple of years, has become more hostile towards digital assets in general. One aspect the Biden Administration is pursuing that may undermine crypto is the digital asset mining energy excise… Read More

January 12, 2024 @ 8:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Vanguard, a financial services firm with over 50 million investors, is blocking its customers from purchasing newly listed Bitcoin ETFs. The news was circulating on X yesterday, with Vanguard responding to questions about accessing Bitcoin EFTs as follows: “Thank you for your question! While we… Read More

January 11, 2024 @ 6:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Senator Elizabeth Warren has taken to X to express her displeasure with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to approve eleven Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These funds started trading today after being approved yesterday, experiencing solid trading demand. Warren, a policymaker who is no fan… Read More