May 14, 2020 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Pagaya, a Fintech in the asset management sector, is expanding operations to the US west coast with several new executive hires. According to the company, origination teams in Phoenix and Los Angeles will see the additions of Jason Hass as Senior Vice President of Originations… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 8:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

StartEngine is one of the largest investment crowdfunding platforms in the US by funds raised. A full stack platform, StartEngine is raising capital under Reg CF, Reg A+ and, in the past, under Reg D. But the platform’s vision for the future of online capital… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 4:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

Pittsburg-based FINRA regulated funding portal Honeycomb Credit is currently running seven Cleveland based securities offerings. Honeycomb Credit is a Reg CF platform that seeks to provide a bank-replacement type service with loans to SMEs. Honeycomb reports that 3 of the investment offerings are regular loan… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 3:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a document posted by EY Canada yesterday,  the bankrupt crypto exchange QuadraCX trustee posted a document indicating 16,959 individual claims for the crypto and money. Most of the funds were vaporized when founder and CEO Gerald Cotten died without sharing passwords to the accounts… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched a Bitcoin Mining Map that tracks the creation of BTC. As we all know, Bitcoin just completed its periodic “halving” event when the creation or mining of Bitcoin is cut in half. As one may expect,… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 10:45 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), AMTD Group (NYSE: HKIB; SGX: HKB) and AMTD Foundation have joined in announcing a S$ 6 million “MAS-SFA-AMTD Fintech Solidarity Grant.” The new grant is designed to support Singapore based Fintech firms during the Coronavirus… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 10:18 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital bank Starling and Funding Circle (LSE: FCH), a marketplace lending platform serving SMEs, have formed a strategic partnership to provide loans to small businesses under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). According to a note from Starling, the bank will lend via Funding… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 9:19 am By JD Alois  |  

We have seen a lot of anecdotal evidence that online capital formation platforms focusing on early-stage ventures continue to do pretty well in spite of the ongoing pandemic. Earlier today, Crowdcube co-founder Luke Lang tweeted out some numbers indicating robust performance on the platform during… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 8:29 am By JD Alois  |  

Molinari Media, the recent acquirer of FINTECH TV, and the Asia Times Financial (ATF), have announced a co-branding and content creation and distribution alliance, according to a company release. Last month, it was announced that Molinari Media had acquired UK based Fintech Worldwide. Molinari Media… Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 11:48 am By JD Alois  |  

HM Treasury provided an update today on the progress of the various programs designed to backstop the UK economy. These programs include the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) targeted at sole traders and small firms, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for small and… Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 10:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Starling Bank, a UK based digital bank, has shared that during the first day and half of availability the Fintech paid out £90 million in Bounce Back Loans. The bank also made a total of £120 million in offers for these loans. Simultaneously, Starling Bank… Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

This should come as no surprise but Q1 was horrible for VC-backed Fintechs as the Coronavirus pounded private capital markets and crash-landed the once robust market. According to CBInsights, the first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst quarters for Fintech funding in years…. Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest, a marketplace for property financing, has launched a new one year fixed rate product labeled “BTL Plus,” to a “select panel of key intermediary partners and packagers.” According to LendInvest, a one year fixed rate of 3.45% is available up to 65% LTV, and… Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 8:25 am By JD Alois  |  

SharesPost and Forge Global have announced a merger of the two firms thus creating one of the largest private securities marketplaces in the world. FT Partners facilitated the transaction. While pending the typical regulatory approval, an agreement is in place that should boost transaction volume… Read More

May 12, 2020 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

According to a report in WSJ.com, JPMorgan is now offering banking services to two well known digital asset exchanges – Coinbase and Gemini. Typically, digital asset exchanges have been shunned by big banks as compliance officers have viewed the risk as too large fearing the… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 11:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

There has been a lot of chatter regarding the fate of Fintech lenders in the past few weeks. The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered online lenders as sources of capital have shied away and some borrowers have backed off. Existing borrowers are not always making payments… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 9:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

San Francisco has earned a bit of a bad rap the past couple of years. Questionable leadership has led long-time inhabitants to complain about the rising level of crime and the increasing squalor of the city. The high cost of living/rent and California’s reputation as… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 4:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

OKCoin, a digital asset exchange operating in 184 countries, has hired a new CMO and former Blockchain.com Head of Growth, Haider Rafique. Additionally, OKCoin has appointed former compliance executive for Coinbase and HBUS, Megan Monroe-Coleman , as the new Global Chief Compliance Officer. OKCoin’s headquarters… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 3:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, an amended bill hit the California Assembly. The legislation seeks to create an exemption for digital assets to be treated as securities. To quote AB 2150: “Existing law, the Corporate Securities Law of 1968, provides for the regulation of the issuance of corporate… Read More

May 11, 2020 @ 2:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fitch Ratings is out with a note on the impact of COVID-19 and US marketplace loan portfolios. According to Fitch, the Coronavirus and affiliated rise in unemployment will lead to “significant performance degradation in U.S. Marketplace Loan (MPL) portfolios.” Even more grim is that Fitch… Read More