December 16, 2020 @ 12:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

CME Group intends to launch Ether futures starting February 8, 2021, pending necessary regulatory review. CME states that the new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of… Read More

December 16, 2020 @ 11:44 am By JD Alois  |  

As was previously reported, the State of Massachusetts, Office of the Security of the Commonwealth Securities Division, has filed a complaint against Robinhood, a popular online trading platform providing access to traditional securities as well as crypto. The complaint alleges that Robinhood engaged in acts… Read More

December 16, 2020 @ 10:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Bitcoin has been testing $20,000 for some time now. The world’s most popular crypto neared the hurdle last in 2017. There are plenty of people ready to explain why Bitcoin is so popular once again with justifications including a demand imbalance, geo-political uncertainty, an inflation… Read More

December 16, 2020 @ 8:29 am By JD Alois  |  

Robinhood, a digital investment platform that has encouraged a new generation of investors to enter the markets, is a target of an administrative complaint by the State of Massachusetts, according to the WSJ.com According to the report, Massachusetts Securities Division said that “Robinhood failed to… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 9:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Funding Societies has received an investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, according to a note from the Fintech.  Details on the investment were not disclosed. Samsung Venture is an investment arm of the South Korean conglomerate, Samsung Group, and has been an active investor in… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 6:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Karina Chairez, said to be a promoter of the AirBit Club investment scheme that targeted Latinx and Spanish-speaking communities, for acting as an unregistered broker. The SEC notes that it previously brought similar charges against two other… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 6:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) has published a blog post reflecting on platform performance and hope for the forthcoming new year as we turn the corner on past months that have been dominated by an ongoing health crisis. LendingClub was hammered by COVID-19, like many online lenders, seeing… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Admiral Financial Services Limited (AFSL), part of the Admiral Group (LSE:ADM), has selected credit reference agency Credit Kudos to provide Open Banking data to initially help with income verification for its personal loan products. According to AFSL the access to more up-to-date information than was… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 11:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Neufund, an aspiring early-stage digital asset marketplace that connects investors with early-stage firms, has announced a €4 million investment led by Atlantic Labs and Udo Schloemer (founder and CEO of Factory Berlin). Additional investors in the round include Freigeist Capital and Dario Suter (founder and… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 11:03 am By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest has launched a new cloud-based application for short-term lending products, according to a note from the company. The new application is designed to streamline and automate the loan origination process. The application utilizes Salesforce to enable a centralized hub for customer information, a log… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 9:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Steve Wozniak, aka the Woz, has moved into the digital asset sector quickly generating headlines. The Apple co-founder is helping to launch Efforce, a startup seeking to “disrupt the energy efficiency market,” that kicked off with a token offering that saw a market cap hit… Read More

December 15, 2020 @ 8:41 am By JD Alois  |  

Starling Bank, a digital bank that has built a substantial third party platform to offer a buffet of applications to its users, has added two new digital services to its marketplace. Starling states that both SumUP and Dinghy Insurance are now available for business customers…. Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 8:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE: LC) has received a nice recognition from the Salt Lake Tribune. A relatively recent presence in Utah, LendingClub has been rccognized as a Top Workplace for 2020. According to a note from LendingClub,  the list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through… Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 4:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Republic has revealed its next funding vertical today in a unique venture with Avalanche and Roche Cyrulnik Freedman, LLP. Initial Litigation Offerings or “ILO” will soon bring the multi-billion dollar asset class to retail investors, according to a blog post. In fact, the first ILO… Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 12:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

One of the largest banks in France, Societe Generale, has acquired an online car purchasing platform Reezocar. Launched in 2014, Reezocar aids in the process of purchasing and financing used cars in France as well as elsewhere in Europe. The start-up currently reports 150 employees,… Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Commission (EC) has come to an agreement on the €7.5 billion budget for the Digital Europe program. The goal is to “improve Europe’s competitiveness in the global digital economy and achieve technological sovereignty.” The EC said it seeks to support the digital transformation… Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

In a speech this week delivered at the China Fintech Global Summit in Shenzen, Liu Yingbin, Senior Assistant President, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said that Hong Kong can help mainland Chinese Fintechs go global. Yingbin touted Hong Kong’s Fintech ecosystem which has emerged as… Read More

December 14, 2020 @ 9:05 am By JD Alois  |  

Pockit, a Fintech targeting underserved demographics, says it has partnered with TransferWise to more efficiently move money around the world. Transferwise services will now facilitate Pockit users on international transfers. Pockit seeks to cater to an estimated underserved 11 million customers in the UK that… Read More

December 13, 2020 @ 7:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Russian hackers have apparently breached defenses at the US Department of Treasury monitoring emails for months, according to a report. Treasury was not alone, according to Reuters, the US Department of Commerce reportedly issued a statement on the breach to their systems: “We have asked… Read More

December 11, 2020 @ 5:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), helicopter money disbursed by the federal government to aid businesses crushed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had a positive effect but the overall impact has been short-lived, according to research provided by Biz2Credit. The online lender states that the government… Read More