February 19, 2019 @ 4:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Koine, an institutional custody and settlement service for both fiat and digital assets, has appointed Hugh Hughes as Chairman and CEO. Hughes was previously CEO of Societe Generale Securities in London. Prior to that, Hughes built stockbroking businesses in London, according to a release from the firm…. Read More

February 19, 2019 @ 1:55 am By JD Alois  |  

In a release, equity crowdfunding platform Startupxplore stakes a claim as being “Spain’s largest online startup investors network.” The statement is based on Startupxplore having  14,703 registered individual investors. The site was launched in 2016 and reports having funded €6.5 million in 28 different deals.  Startupxplore is regulated by… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has revealed that over 380 peer to peer lending platforms are currently under investigation. A release by Xinhua on Sunday said that about USD $1.5 billion in P2P lending assets were involved. Apparently, the Chinese police have seized or frozen cash,… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 10:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Mobile payment Fintech TransferTo has rebranded as two separate company brands. TransferTo has now changed its name to DT One. Simultaneously, the cross-border payments business, which started in 2016, has branched off to operate independently from DT One and has been renamed to Thunes. Thunes will focus… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has applied to join the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) as an observer. GFIN is a global Fintech Sandbox project orchestrated by the UK. GFIN claims a good number of global regulators – each looking to facilitate… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 8:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Online small business lender iwoca has raised £150 million in both equity and debt capital, according to a note from the firm. This most recent investment brings iwoca’s total funding to £350 million. The Series D equity funding was led by Augmentum Fintech, a Fintech… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Bafin, Germany’s securities regulator, has given the green light to Bitbond to issue digital bonds. Bitbond is an online lending platform that operates globally. In business since 2013, Bitbond provides access to capital for small businesses. The Fintech boasts a peer to peer lending network… Read More

February 18, 2019 @ 1:06 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd has joined in the Series C funding of Medtech firm Sight Diagnostics. The company is creating a lab-grade point-of-care blood diagnostics system “OLO.” This system is designed to provide patients with lab-grade blood testing results in minutes rather than days by combining AI with… Read More

February 17, 2019 @ 8:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tokenise is a trading name of Kession Capital Limited, a company registered in the UK and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA is well known for being Fintech innovationtion friendly. In fact, a recent cohort of their regulatory Sandbox included multiple blockchain… Read More

February 16, 2019 @ 1:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, one of the big Fintech news stories was that JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) was issuing its own stablecoin anointed JPM Coin. The fact that an old school bank was embracing blockchain tech and going crypto caught the attention of traditional finance and disruptive… Read More

February 16, 2019 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, TokenMarket, a “Global investment platform” announced its intent to raise up to £10 million in a security token offering (STO). Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the forthcoming STO is the fact that TokenMarket will be issuing the securities under the watchful eye of the UK Financial Conduct… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 10:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

There has been a good amount of discussion regarding the decision by Judge Gonzalo Curiel, of the US District Court for the Southern District of California, to grant the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bid for a preliminary injunction against crypto company Blockvest LLC. Initially, the Court… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 3:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a relatively obscure filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, tech behemoth Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) indicated its participation in blockchain tech. First uncovered by CoinDesk, the specific filing  Form SD (Specialized Disclosure Report) pertains to Apple’s Conflict Minerals Report for the reporting period January 1, 2018,… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hong Kong may have been slow to join the financial innovation party but what it may have lacked in early awareness has now been made up for in fostering a booming Fintech ecosystem. The private-public partnership that has fueled sector growth continues to drive interest… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Today, the European Commission adopted the 2018 edition of the General Report. According to the Commission, this fulfills its legal obligation under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The report shows how the EU is delivering on its commitments to Europeans. The Commission… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 9:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The Clubs DiR gym chain has closed a funding round of €550,000 via Crowdcube. The funding will provide needed capital to finance its twenty-fourth club, BDiR Calvet, which is expected to open its doors in 2019. Crowdcube reports that, in total, 142 people invested with… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodities Trading Futures Commission posted their examination priorities for 2019 this past week and included on the list was cryptocurrencies. These priorities are for registrants of the Division of Market Oversight (DMO), Division of Swap Dealer & Intermediary Oversight (DSIO), and Division of Clearing &… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 8:46 am By JD Alois  |  

In a valentine’s day reprieve, the Securities and Exchange Commission was granted a preliminary injunction against Blockvest LLC and its founder, Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III, pertaining to allegations of fraud connected with an initial coin offering (ICO). The judge overseeing the proceedings reconsidered the court’s previous order… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 8:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Wyoming, a state that is small in population but huge in blockchain aspirations, is continuing to enact laws that are pro cryptocurrency and blockchain. The most recent legislation passed is SF125 – a bill that recognizes property rights for digital assets. Sponsored by State Senator… Read More

February 15, 2019 @ 1:34 am By JD Alois  |  

FinTech Australia, the leading advocacy group for financial innovation in Australia, has changed tack. According to a widely distributed email, FinTech Australia is: “… moving past pure disruption and is starting to build a collaborative ecosystem where corporates, startups and incumbent institutions work together to foster… Read More