April 5, 2021 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

PeerIQ, a data house for online lending platforms, reports that consumer bankruptcy filings fell sharply last year. PeerIQ notes that filings under chapter 7 were down 22%, while those under chapter 13 were down 46%. Certain government programs have helped to mitigate bankruptcies as well… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 10:48 am By JD Alois  |  

Sightline Payments, an omni-channel payment solution for the gaming, lottery, sports betting, entertainment, and hospitality industries, has raised $100 million in funding led by Cannae Holdings (NYSE: CNNE) and William P. Foley II.  Other investors include Walter Kortschak, Genting Group, Point Break Capital, Searchlight Capital Partners,… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 10:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Grayscale, a company that claims to be the world’s largest crypto asset manager, says it is “100% committed to converting GBTC” to an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). GBTC trades on OTC Markets and allows retail investors to easily invest in Bitcoin via a traditional brokerage… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

UP Fintech Holding Limited (NASDAQ: TIGR) an online brokerage firm that wants to service global investors, reports that a consortium of institutional investors has subscribed to purchase convertible notes in an aggregate principal amount of USD $90 million through a private placement. The convertible notes… Read More

April 3, 2021 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

In 2020, over €400 million was invested into securities offerings in Germany via crowd investing or investment crowdfunding platforms according to research by Crowdinvest.de augmented by data from Bundesverband Crowdfunding (the German crowdfunding association). The first quarter of 2021 saw approximately €100 million. According to… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 7:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Popular vacation rental platform Vrbo and BNPL Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) have announced a collaboration so that travelers can book now and pay later for vacation homes. By incorporating Affirm, travelers may save money by not having to utilize expensive credit cards. To promote the new service… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 2:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tezos has invested an undisclosed amount in venture firm Draper Goren Holm, an LA-based venture studio and fund that is a partnership between Tim Draper, Alon Goren, and Josef Holm. In 2017, Tezos raised a huge ICO that reportedly generated over $230 million in funding…. Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 11:35 am By JD Alois  |  

According to a release by Valdy (TSXV:VALDY), the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding securities of INX Limited. Upon completion, INX will effectively become a publicly listed company. Valdy is a shell company based in Vancouver, Canada.  Valdy was incorporated… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Funderbeam is a global funding and trading platform for private companies that reports over €30 million in funding raised and more than 60,000 trades on their secondary marketplace.  The Fintech notes that it holds multiple financial licenses including authorised and regulated by the Estonian Financial… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

In a post on its site, Tether Holdings Limited said a recent assurance opinion by Moore Cayman confirms that “information in the company’s Consolidated Reserves Report is accurate.” The report, a snapshot document from February 28, 2021, indicates that at that time Tether effectively held… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 8:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Smart Lenders Asset Management, a Paris-based investment firm that specializes in managing loans originated from online lending platforms, is reporting over $300 million in Assets Under Management (AUM) in Moonstone Lending SICAV it manages. The SICAV is open to professional investors only. The Smart Lenders… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 11:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

ikigai, a UK-based Fintech that combines banking and wealth management, will raise capital on Crowdcube. The securities offering is expected to go-live in mid-April. Having already raised a pre-seed round of £2 million, ikigai plans to be the first UK Fintech to integrate banking and… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 11:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

The United Kingdom is looking to regulate the fast emerging stablecoin market before it addresses the broader crypto-asset sector, according to a report by Reuters. Citing John Glen, MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who was speaking at a conference, the report indicated concern about… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 5:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a statement addressing the hot SPAC market. Special purpose acquisitions companies or blank check firms have boomed in recent months. SPACs are viewed as an easier path for issuers to become a publicly-traded firm yet the rapid… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 3:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has distributed a note criticizing President Joe Biden’s planned tax increase that will hit both individuals and businesses. Addressing  the policy of pushing business taxes higher, the SBE Council says raising taxes during the shaky economy and… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

IOHK, a blockchain research and development company and the developers of the Cardano blockchain, reports that as of today (22:44:51 BST) Cardano block production has been successfully decentralized. IOHK states that they will no longer produce any blocks on Cardano, with the responsibility now fully… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

RealT, a US-based real estate investment platform, has chosen Bridge Protocol, the open-source asset tokenization technology by Switzerland-based Mt Pelerin to aid in its issuance of digital securities. RealT seeks to make access to property investments via tokenization. According to RealT, investors may participate in… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 8:33 am By JD Alois  |  

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is expected to soon allow investing in digital assets according to a report by CNBC. The report mentions Mary Rich, Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, as stating the bank will offer a “full-spectrum” of digital assets including Bitcoin, other… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crown Agents Bank, a UK regulated provider of wholesale FX and cross-border payment services, has launched EMpower Payments, a payments gateway for cross-border transactions into emerging markets. According to Crown Agents Bank, the API-enabled solution allows its customers, including governments, international development organisations, and financial… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 5:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Beam, a mobile banking app, will be banned from offering such services and must give full refunds to users. The announcement was made as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As part of the settlement, Beam neither admits nor denies any… Read More