July 22, 2019 @ 9:06 am By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE: LC) has issued its “next-generation certificates,” called “Levered Certificates.” These certificates are backed by approximately $100 million of loans originated on the LendingClub platform. According to a release, LendingClub has structured the offerings to consist of two securities, one equity certificate, and one… Read More

July 22, 2019 @ 7:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Blockchain-related jobs continue to surge, according to a report from teQatlas. Over the past five years the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) stands at 139%. During 2018, blockchain jobs more than doubled versus 2017 with 2019 easily on track to top year prior. Software engineers… Read More

July 22, 2019 @ 7:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Evarvest, a Lithuania-based startup that is preparing to launch a new trading app, has easily topped its €75,000 goal on Seedrs to raise €235,000. Evarvest sold equity in the company at a pre-money valuation of €1.175 million. Evarvest plans to launch the app later in… Read More

July 21, 2019 @ 9:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Iain Niblock, CEO peer to peer lending aggregator Orca Money, says that current criticism of the P2P sector of Fintech should not be construed as being reflective of the entire industry. Returns, which tend not to be correlated with the stock market, remain strong. The… Read More

July 21, 2019 @ 5:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

As part of the G7 meeting in France last week, a series of announcements were made. The G7 represents the seven largest advanced economies in the world. Finance ministers from these countries descended upon Chantilly, France to discuss a multitude of issues. One of these… Read More

July 21, 2019 @ 3:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, both the US House and US Senate held hearings on Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency which is envisioned as a global payments platform. David Marcus, Head of Libra/Calibra testified at both hearings. As Crowdfund Insider has already reported, both the House Financial Services Committee… Read More

July 21, 2019 @ 9:47 am By JD Alois  |  

The Women in Finance Charter now has over 350 names on its list of supporters, according to a note from HM Treasury, as 21 new names were announced. A good number of signatories are Fintech firms. The Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter seeks support from… Read More

July 20, 2019 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

FINRA, the regulator of broker-dealer in the US, has posted a notice on digital assets encouraging firms to “notify FINRA if they engage in activities related to digital assets.” The notice appears to be more of an extension to en existing request. FINRA states: “Last… Read More

July 20, 2019 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week much of the Fintech news was dominated by hearings in Congress addressing Facebook’s plan to launch a global, blockchain-based, payments platform using a stablecoin, of sorts, as a foundation. This global currency, which may be able to challenge sovereign currency, is said… Read More

July 19, 2019 @ 11:53 am By JD Alois  |  

TokenMarket, part of the UK Financial Conduct Authority Sandbox program, is scheduled to close its own security token offering (STO) this coming Monday (July 22nd). TokenMarket launched its STO in early July seeking a max amount of £2 million. As it stands today, TokenMarket has… Read More

July 19, 2019 @ 10:58 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the emerging legal cannabis industry and the challenges with banking. In the US, legalization of Cannabis, whether it is for medical or recreational use, has been a slapdash state by state affair. Federal legalization… Read More

July 19, 2019 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Stashbee has closed its 2nd crowdfunding round at £2.5 million on Seedrs. The company offered equity in the firm at a pre-money valuation of £9 million. The company received the backing of 886 individual investors. Stashbee, an online sharing-economy platform for storage space, raised £1.6… Read More

July 19, 2019 @ 6:21 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK  Department for International Trade (DIT) is in the process of doing a survey on Fintech. The survey appears to be designed to enable DIT to better understand how the government may more effectively support UK Fintech development asking specifically “what support can DIT… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 2:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) issued its Q2 earnings report this past Tuesday (July 16). Goldman’s shares moved higher following the release after beating expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Goldman also announced an increase in the capital return program including an increase in the… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 12:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Global law firm Linklaters has announced the appointment of Joshua Ashley Klayman as US Head of Fintech and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets. Klayman will be operating out of the New York office of the 175-year-old, UK based law firm. Klayman is well known… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 11:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Sure, banks do not like to provide small business loans. Too much work, too much risk and no money in it for them. A plethora of online credit providers has moved in to fill the gap. Supply meets demand. But sometimes fast finance from an… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 11:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Brexit be damned. At least, so it seems. The UK is rocking early-stage equity investments, according to Beahursts 6 month report. While the political class agonizes over what may happen when the European divorce is final, investors continue to shoulder risk in the UK market… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 8:50 am By JD Alois  |  

The first CV Labs incubation program is said to have ended in success as 12 startups from 8 different countries exited the incubator with an aggregate valuation of $10 million, according to a release. Crypto Valley reported that over 600 applicants applied for the incubator…. Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 8:33 am By JD Alois  |  

Alternative finance surpassed € 1 billion in 2018 in the Netherlands as sector growth continues, according to a report from Stichting MKB Financiering. Ronald Kleverlaan, a representative from Stichting and note alternative finance expert, commented on the report: “The Dutch Alternative Finance market has reached… Read More

July 18, 2019 @ 6:30 am By JD Alois  |  

ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co. Ltd. (6060:HK), a Chinese Insurtech backed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Tencent founder Pony Ma, has announced multiple changes to its executive leadership. ZhongAn went public in Hong Kong in 2017. At that time, it was Hong… Read More