April 22, 2025 @ 3:13 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

DeFi Technologies, its subsidiary, Valour, an issuer of exchange-traded products, and SovFi have entered into a strategic partnership with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to design and establish the Kenya Digital Exchange. The proposed Kenya Digital Exchange will be a fully regulated platform dedicated to tokenizing real-world… Read More

April 22, 2025 @ 3:05 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has partnered with Monadnock Paper Mills to introduce Renovo, a sustainable, fibre-based gift card substrate. A more eco-friendly alternative to PVC, Renovo introduces a new level of card resilience and manufacturing compatibility through its 30-point thickness and proprietary treatments. Already certified for use… Read More

April 21, 2025 @ 8:10 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Circle Internet Group, Inc., a global financial technology company and stablecoin market participant, today announced Circle Payments Network to connect financial institutions – banks, neo-banks, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers and digital wallets – and enable real-time settlement of cross-border payments using regulated… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 10:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

AI is not only powering online shopping; it’s also making it easier than ever for Americans to buy counterfeits. According to The Counterfeit Buyer Teardown, a study of US counterfeit e-commerce, 28% of consumers who bought knock-off products online say they used AI tools to… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 7:19 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Another milestone for tokenized real-world assets, gold-backed assets surging, a Canadian Solana ETF approval, and increased acceptance of cryptocurrency payments are among the DeFi topics that caught the experts’ attention this week. Tokenized RWAs cross $20B threshold “The tokenized RWA market crossing $20 billion in… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 7:11 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

1Fort, an AI platform for business insurance, has raised $7.5 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by Bonfire Ventures. The round also included Draper Associates (Tim Draper); Karim Atiyeh, the founder of Ramp; and participation from all existing VCs: Village Global, Operator Partners, 8-Bit Capital, Character VC and Company Ventures. This latest round brings the 1Fort total funding to $10… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 7:09 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Spreedly, an open payments platform, and FlexFactor, a payment recovery platform, are partnering to help merchants recover lost sales. With more than $500 billion in sales lost each year due to false declines, this new collaboration aims to empower merchants to turn declines into revenue, enhancing shopping cart… Read More

April 20, 2025 @ 7:12 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

PalmPay, a digital bank and fintech platform focused on emerging markets, has launched the PalmPay Debit Card in Nigeria in partnership with Verve, an African domestic card scheme. The PalmPay Debit Card brings advanced features such as savings yield on deposits and merchant rewards within reach for mass… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 4:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, HashKey Capital launched the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund. The company said it is the first investment fund in Asia designed to track the performance of XRP. One of the world’s leading digital assets infrastructure providers, Ripple, is an early investor. The HashKey XRP… Read More

April 19, 2025 @ 3:47 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

YouHodler’s chief of markets, Ruslan Lienkha, recently spoke about Bitcoin’s place in investment markets. What does Bitcoin’s near four-year dominance suggest about investor confidence amid global market uncertainty? The current trend in Bitcoin dominance differs significantly from the previous cycle. Unlike past bull markets, Bitcoin… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 9:27 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Smart Controls, a solution developed by Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments provider, helps companies navigate tariffs, In the wake of escalating market fluctuations driven by the Trump administration’s updated tariff policies, midsized companies face unprecedented supply chain shifts—tariffs have become the new black swan. As… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 9:18 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) has announced a strategic partnership with TerraPay, a global money movement company, to enable real-time fund transfers for PayPal customers across the Middle East and Africa. This partnership aims to drive economic growth by connecting banks, mobile wallets, and financial institutions. According to… Read More

April 18, 2025 @ 12:18 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Blue Onion, an e-commerce subledger, has completed a $10 million Series A funding round led by Viola FinTech. This round brings the company’s total funding to $17.6 million and includes participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Entrée Capital, Green Visor, and Vinyl Capital. Blue Onion’s AI-powered reconciliation… Read More

April 17, 2025 @ 11:07 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Branta, a provider of advanced payment verification for Bitcoin and Lightning, has partnered with Amboss, a provider of payment operations solutions for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, to bring a risk management solution for irreversible Bitcoin transactions. By integrating Branta’s payment verification with Amboss’ compliance tools, businesses now have a solution to mitigate fraud risks… Read More

April 16, 2025 @ 9:09 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Ncontracts, a provider of integrated compliance, risk, and third-party management solutions to the financial services industry, has released findings from its 2025 Third-Party Risk Management Survey. The report discussses the biggest trends, risks, and strategies shaping third-party risk management (TPRM) today. Conducted between November 2024… Read More

April 16, 2025 @ 11:01 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Toqio, a technology platform for B2B embedded finance solutions, has launched Toqio Design Studio, a Fintech platform that enables corporates to build, configure and launch embedded finance solutions. Businesses can launch multiple, bespoke embedded finance solutions in as little as 12 weeks. Design Studio is… Read More

April 16, 2025 @ 10:58 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Rain, the employer-integrated earned wage access (EWA) and financial wellness app, has raised $75 million in Series B equity funding. The round was led by Prosus, with additional participation from Nextalia Ventures, Spark Growth Ventures, and existing investors, including QED and Invus Opportunities. This funding… Read More

April 15, 2025 @ 5:21 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Galileo Financial Technologies, SoFi Technologies‘ Technology Platform (NASDAQ: SOFI), has launched Deposit Sweep. It enables fintechs to partner with a network of participating banks and a deposit sweep provider to offer their customers the opportunity to maximize interest earnings and extend FDIC insurance coverage. Galileo… Read More

April 15, 2025 @ 5:01 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

From Meta’s collaboration with China to Ethereum’s falling value and AI agents, Web3 industry executives had plenty on their minds this week. How AI agents can help Web3 “DefAI-related tokens are some of the worst performers year-to-date with a 91% drop, while tokens in the… Read More

April 15, 2025 @ 6:13 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The cybersecurity threat posed by phishing attacks is growing more dangerous as cybercriminals increasingly rely on phishing kits, which are pre-made malicious packages that allow anyone with minimal technical knowledge to launch sophisticated data-stealing scams. Phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web… Read More