October 4, 2018 @ 10:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) subsidiary Medici Ventures has invested in VinX – an Israel based company which is developing a blockchain platform for wine futures trading. VinX is working with another Israel Fintech, Zen Protocol, a company that has created a new type of blockchain, written from scratch…. Read More

October 4, 2018 @ 5:33 am By JD Alois  |  

  Air France-KLM and Winding Tree have partnered on a blockchain project to provide a “more advantageous travel offer for customers which is more profitable for suppliers, in particular by reducing the number of intermediaries.” Winding Tree’s platform is said to enable benefits for users in a… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 11:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoinFi, is described as the “world’s first decentralized crypto market intelligence platform” designed to offer research, analysis and trading signals for crypto traders. The goal is to give users an edge when they speculate on the price movement of crypto – a higher that is… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 1:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, CI reported on a court ruling where the Judge determined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has jurisdiction in the case of My Big Coin Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The statement by the court will have ramifications for other actions pertaining to ICO… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 11:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Arcis Biotechnology is crowdfunding on Capital Cell now having already raised £1.25 million. The company is hoping to raise £1.75 million at a pre-money valuation of £18.2 million. Capital Cell “endorses” this company and has posted the following statement: “Arcis’ technology allows the extraction of… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 9:03 am By JD Alois  |  

Funding Circle (LSE:FCH), the leading online lender in the UK providing financing options for SMEs, completed its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) this past week. Shares began unconditionally trading today (October 3rd). Originally priced at 440 pence per share, Funding… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 8:16 am By JD Alois  |  

qiibee, a loyalty token protocol that wants to power corporate loyalty programs on the blockchain, has enlisted Chris Cracchiolo as lead advisor. Cracchiolo has been with American Express since 2002 and currently serves as Vice President and General Manager of Global Membership Rewards and Loyalty Benefits,… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest, an online lending platform for property finance, has announced the addition of Chief Financial Officer, Angelie Panteli, to the board of directors. According to LendInvest, Panteli joined the company in January 2018 and is responsible for all financial aspects of the business including financial… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 10:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

This is an interesting perspective courtesy of CBInsights. A very unscientific Twitter poll by CBInsights, asks the question if you had a $10 million to invest would you put it in crypto or Cannabis? Well, perhaps if you had asked the same question at this… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 10:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

For quite some time now, the European Commission has been discussing creating a pan-European approach to investment crowdfunding. This policy move absolutely makes sense and clearly aligns with the Fintech Action Plan and Capital Markets Union. In many ways, creating a single law for all… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 4:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

On September 28th, WSJ.com published an article on cryptocurrency entitled “How Dirty Money Disappears into the Black Hole of Cryptocurrency.” Authors Justin Scheck and Shane Shifflett slammed crypto exchange Shapeshift as complicit in illicit trades deemed to be attempts to launder money with with crypto. Yesterday, Erik Voorhees,… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 3:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Law firm Perkins Coie has partnered with the Accord Project, a consortium for the development of smart legal contracts using blockchain technology. Perkins Coie has long been active in the blockchain and crypto sector of Fintech. Perkins Coie’s Blockchain Technology & Digital Currency industry group was… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 12:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bitcoin Foundation has submitted an opposition letter to the French Parliament Special Commission which is currently reviewing the PACTE legislation that is ostensibly designed to empower initial coin offerings (ICOs) in France. The Bitcoin Foundation “strongly opposes” an amendment apparently submitted on Friday, September… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

A note from UK based investment crowdfunding platform Volpit indicates they have been acquired by Zion Capital. Deal terms were not revealed. Volpit was launched in 2014 by Patrick O’Flaherty and Simon Oberman, and received full FCA approval, but struggled to gain traction in the UK… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

BitMEX (Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange), a sophisticated cryptocurrency trading platform, has hired Angelina Kwan as its new Chief Operating Officer. Kwan was previously Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Compliance for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX). Kwan also spent eight years working at the Securities and… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 9:10 am By JD Alois  |  

According to CoreData Research, advisers believe MiFID II is a bigger challenging than Brexit. A study by the research firm of nearly 1000 UK financial advisors indicated that 19% deemed MiFID II a challenge followed by Brexit at 15%.  Macroeconomic and geopolitical risks stood at 13%,… Read More

October 2, 2018 @ 7:33 am By JD Alois  |  

VentureFounders has appointed Michael Gray to build their Channel Islands presence. Gray is the founder of MMG Consulting Limited (MMG), a consulting advisory firm, and a non-Executive Director of various companies and private equity groups in Europe, UK and Japan. VentureFounders states that until recently… Read More

October 1, 2018 @ 5:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, CI reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had charged LendingClub Asset Management LLC (part of Lending Club), and former President Renaud Laplanche with fraud for improperly using fund money to benefit LendingClub. A settlement was quickly agreed to by all parties… Read More

October 1, 2018 @ 4:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

As we reported last week, Coinbase has announced a process where any and all altcoins can apply to list and trade on the growing Coinbase platform. Currently, the application process is free and Coinbase aptly notes that accepted crypto will be regulatory compliant and only… Read More

October 1, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Prime Minister of Malta, Dr. Joseph Muscat, addressed the United Nation’s General Assembly. As part of this speech, Dr. Muscat advocating on behalf of new technologies  which “pose endless possibilities.” “We are currently in exciting technological times: with the lightening pace of… Read More