January 13, 2026 @ 11:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Private securities secondaries topped $110 billion in 2025, easily beating 2024, which reportedly totalled $89 billion. This is according to HarbourVest Partners, as outlined in the FT. According to the report, private markets continue to grow, with secondary transactions boosting that growth. Liquidity, or the… Read More

January 13, 2026 @ 10:42 am By JD Alois  |  

Polygon Labs says it has signed a deal to acquire Coinme and Sequence in a transaction valued at around $250 million. The Sequence transaction is expected to close this month, and the Coinme transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026 subject to normal regulatory… Read More

January 13, 2026 @ 10:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Netcapital (NASDAQ: NCPL, NCPLW), an operator of a FINRA-regulated funding portal and a broker-dealer, has announced its first tokenized offering. Digital assets, including digital securities, are the future of both private and public offerings, including primary and secondary trading. By incorporating blockchain technology, issuers, platforms,… Read More

January 13, 2026 @ 9:57 am By JD Alois  |  

President Donald Trump roiled the financial services sector this past week with his declaration that credit card interest rates would be capped at 10%. Of course, this would probably take an act of Congress and is unlikely, but the statement highlighted Trump’s lack of understanding… Read More

January 13, 2026 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

In one of the outlandish moves by the Trump Administration, it emerged this past weekend that the US Department of Justice was investigating Fed Chair Jerome Powell over cost overruns for renovations at the US Federal Reserve. Powell took to X to declare he would… Read More

January 12, 2026 @ 3:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital asset firm Ripple has been approved in the UK as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The firm was approved on January 9, 2026, under RIPPLE MARKETS UK LTD. Via a post on X, Ripple said that it had… Read More

January 12, 2026 @ 2:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has launched a new crypto regulatory framework. According to a statement distributed by the DFSA, they have monitored market developments over the past three years, while working with policy counterparts and industry insiders to ensure the new rules are… Read More

January 12, 2026 @ 11:43 am By JD Alois  |  

“Without a meaningful digital Euro, our dependence will deepen as US-backed private digital currencies are gaining ground.” Sustainable Finance Lab has posted an open letter signed by 70 European Academicians supporting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or digital Euro. The supporters included economists and… Read More

January 12, 2026 @ 10:44 am By JD Alois  |  

The independence of the US Federal Reserve is sacrosanct. Removing it from the vicissitudes of elected officials, many of whom do not have a clue about economics and finance, has been foundational to the stability of the US economy. The revelation that the US Department… Read More

January 12, 2026 @ 10:11 am By JD Alois  |  

The United Kingdom is a leading jurisdiction in the world for private firms and funding.  According to a new report published by Tracxn, the UK is the second most funded ecosystem in the world behind the US, but surpassing India and China. The report states… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

SpaceX may go public this year. As has been widely reported, the private space firm founded by Elon Musk is sizing up a public offering with major investment banks currently vying to lead the IPO. Estimates of the firm’s valuation are currently around $800 billion,… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 3:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has received £265,523.96 in a confiscation order against Andrew Currie, the operator of peer-to-peer lending platform Collateral LTd.  Currie was convicted of fraud in 2023 and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment for fleecing investors in the… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 12:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

The world is watching events in Iran as the populace is pushing back against the repressive regime led by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Recent reports indicate that Khamenei has vowed not to back down as anti-government protesters take to the streets and communications are… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 10:42 am By JD Alois  |  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be lambasted as a destroyer of jobs or lauded as a supporter of productivity. The conventional wisdom tends toward the latter, but some noted prognosticators have predicted the end of work. Regardless, sentiment in the UK seems fairly positive, as the… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Top venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has raised $15 billion to invest in a range of sectors including American Dynamism. As outlined in a blog post by Ben Horowitz, the VC will commit funds as follows: American Dynamism ($1.176B), Apps ($1.7B), Bio + Health ($700M),… Read More

January 9, 2026 @ 9:56 am By JD Alois  |  

It is not just about sports… Betting on regime change pertaining to Iran is trending on Polymarket as the population takes to the streets across the country, as it challenges the repressive Khamenei dictatorship. As it stands today, only 18% of bettors believe Khamenei will… Read More

January 8, 2026 @ 1:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

A relatively new law allows the state of California to claim crypto holdings from accounts deemed inactive. SB 822, The Unclaimed Property Law (UPL), was signed into law by Governor Newsom last October. While the state must make efforts to discover legal holders, after three… Read More

January 8, 2026 @ 1:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

There has been a formal submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to increase the funding cap of Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) from the current $5 million to $20 million. A petition to the SEC is a request to issue, change, or repeal a… Read More

January 8, 2026 @ 10:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Additional details have emerged regarding JP Morgan’s (NYSE:JPM) acquisition of the Apple Card (NASDAQ:AAPL) business. As reported yesterday, after years of agonizing indecision over Apple’s card offering, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has now agreed to exit the business while taking a $1 billion haircut on existing… Read More

January 7, 2026 @ 4:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Rumors about Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) exiting its support for the Apple Card have been circulating for quite some time. The Apple Card played a significant role in Goldman’s failed expansion into consumer Fintech. While the thesis that Goldman’s vast expertise in global markets would play… Read More