August 25, 2022 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Young digital bank Zopa has surpassed £2 billion in deposits. The bank claims to be one of the fastest challenger banks to top this milestone. Zopa Bank is authorized and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and by the Financial Conduct Authority. Zopa started its… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 8:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

Several days ago, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler took to the pages of WSJ.com to reflect on crypto markets and regulations. This has been a hot topic for several years now as clear-cut rules by regulators still don’t quite exist. Chair Gensler is of the opinion… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 7:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Interest Protocol, a borrow/lend protocol launched in June 2022, has announced a strategic partnership with Chainlink Labs. Interest Protocol previously incorporated Chainlink Price feeds for data. Interest Protocol states that it is integrating Chainlink Keepers to help automate smart contract functions. Chainlink Proof of Reserves… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 6:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Really Good Boxed Wine, a beverage startup – just like its name, is seeking to raise up to $1.8 million in Seed funding on SeedInvest. According to the offering page, Really Good Boxed Wine is raising preferred equity at a pre-money valuation of $6.7 million…. Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 4:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published a draft strategic plan for the 2022 to 2026 fiscal years. The plan targets three goals: Protect working families against fraud, manipulation, and misconduct; Develop and implement a robust regulatory framework that keeps pace with evolving markets,… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 2:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Wes Hummel has been named Chief Technology Officer for Open Banking provider MX. Hummel is expected to oversee the company’s engineering and information security teams reporting to MX Chief Executive Officer Jim Magats. Magats said that Hummel brings a tremendous amount of experience in leading “high… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 11:07 am By JD Alois  |  

SaNOtize has raised $24 million in Series B funding in a rojnd led by global investment crowdfunding platform OurCrowd and Horizons Ventures. The Agricultural Bank of China International also participated in the funding round. OurCrowd enables accredited investors to gain access to unique venture capital… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 9:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Ten-year-old securities crowdfunding platform Seedrs has recently posted a blog on platform capital raising, which highlights sector growth. Seedrs reports that it took 8 years to top £1 billion in funding raised, but two years later, Seeders has doubled that amount surpassing £2 billion this… Read More

August 24, 2022 @ 1:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Paysend, a payments Fintech based in the UK, has announced a new partnership with Currencycloud – a global transaction platform and part of Visa. Paysend said the partnership will enable it to expand the capabilities of Paysend Business, a new digital end-to-end payments solution created… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 10:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The sanctioning of open source crypto mixer Tornado.cash has generated much scrutiny and questions about the legality of a governmental entity punishing code. On August 8th, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the crypto mixer, citing occurrences… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 6:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Cross-listed securities offering for Boxabl is nearing its end with three days left in the equity sale (scheduled to close the Friday, August 26). As it stands today, Boxabl is just under $1 million on Republic and over $23.4 million on StartEngine. The company previously… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 5:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fitch Ratings has issued a statement affirming the Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Block, Inc., formerly Square (NYSE:SQ), at ‘BB’. Fitch said its outlook of Block remains “Positive” adding that its debt could decline in the coming years as EBITDA scales. Fitch affirmed the… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 4:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The IDB Group and Colombia’s Davivienda Bank have completed the first blockchain-based bonds in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDG Group includes the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest and IDB Lab.  Davivienda Bank, part of Grupo Bolívar, is the second largest bank by gross… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 3:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital banks and neobanks are a fairly recent evolution in the financial services world. Incumbent banking has been around for decades, if not hundreds of years. Old banks taking deposits for safekeeping, paying little in return (or charging fees), packaged with mediocre services, and queues… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 11:48 am By JD Alois  |  

Unsecured personal loans have risen by around 30% more than pre-pandemic levels, according to a report by PeerIQ. The tech platform which tracks online lending says: ” it appears that lenders are reaching down the credit spectrum to originate loans, with the below prime originations… Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 9:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Open Banking provider Plaid is continuing to expand its services around the world – focusing for now on Europe. According to a note from the company, Plaid is now live in 8 markets, having recently added Spain and Poland and offering data connectivity in Germany…. Read More

August 23, 2022 @ 9:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Deutsche Payment has announced a partnership with Token – an Open Banking provider. According to a company statement, an upcoming launch of “PayThisWay“, an account-to-account payments service, will be powered by Token’s Open Banking platform. Token’s white-label-ready platform is designed to enable payment providers like… Read More

August 22, 2022 @ 5:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this year, Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) made a big announcement regarding expanding services across the Atlantic. The social investment platform announced the acquisition of Ziglu in the UK – an FCA-regulated e-Money platform and crypto asset provider. All subject to regulatory approval, of course. A few days… Read More

August 22, 2022 @ 4:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tamara, a Saudi Arabia-based buy now- pay later (BNPL) provider, has raised $100 million in Series B funding, according to multiple reports. Tamara operates in Saudi as well as the UAE and Kuwait. Tamara is said to be the first BNPL to make its way… Read More

August 22, 2022 @ 4:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services Commission of Korea has issued a warning to 16 unregistered “Virtual Asset Service Providers” or VASPs – the term utilized by the FATF for crypto exchanges. According to a statement by the Commission, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) has notified 16… Read More