Asia

October 16, 2019 @ 10:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia’s internet and e-commerce economy is growing steadily due to the widespread use of mobile phones. The region’s middle class has also been growing, according to a recent report compiled by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company. Published earlier this month, the e-Conomy SEA… Read More

October 16, 2019 @ 9:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Investment in Fintech-related projects in Singapore increased significantly during the first nine months of this year. It was mainly led by fundraising rounds for payment companies and insurtech startups with a shift toward mature firms. As of October 2019, the combined value of Fintech deals… Read More

October 13, 2019 @ 6:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bank startup Juno has issued a release reporting $3 million in seed funding from some prominent names. The digital banks says it has received the backing of Sequoia, Polychain and Dragonfly. Juno was founded in July 2019 by Varun Deshpande, Ratnesh Ray, and Siddharth Verma… Read More

October 12, 2019 @ 7:11 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Chinese Banks May Stop Cooperation with Third-Party Data Provider Following Release of a New Privacy Regulation According to reports, People’s Bank of China (PBC) has issued the “Personal Financial Information (Data) Protection Measures (Draft)” to some Chinese banks this week. It is believed that the… Read More

October 12, 2019 @ 9:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the nation’s largest financial institutions, has reportedly added new features to its blockchain-based finance platform. According to local news outlet Xinhuanet, CCB’s distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled finance platform can now process cross-chain and inter-bank transactions. Trading volume on the… Read More

October 11, 2019 @ 2:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), popularly known as the “central bank of central banks,” will be engaging in two projects at the BIS’s newly-established Innovation Hub in Switzerland, one of which involves, “examin(ing) the integration of digital central bank money into a distributed ledger technology… Read More

October 11, 2019 @ 1:53 am By Cali Haan  |  

Following a confirmation from CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on Twitter yesterday that the Binance cryptocurrency exchange will soon allow customers to their trading accounts using Alipay and WeChat, Alipay has tweeted to deny Zhao’s announcement, stating: “NO, you cannot…There’re several reports about @Alipay being used for… Read More

October 10, 2019 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a wide-ranging speech at The World Federation of Exchanges General, Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) addressed the advent of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the utilization of regulated securities and exchanges. Singapore is a noted Fintech Hub… Read More

October 10, 2019 @ 9:30 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

C2FO, a fintech firm and market for working capital based in the U.S., announced on Wednesday it is acquiring India-based payment platform, Priority Vendor. C2FO reported that through the acquisition, Indian suppliers will receive a continuous flow of capital at costs lower than traditional financing… Read More

October 9, 2019 @ 9:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Prominent blockchain startup ICONLOOP has raised KRW 10 billion (over USD 8 million) in Series A funding. ICONLOOP, based in South Korea, says this is the first VC investment since its launch in 2016. Investors included Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) and T.S. Investment. ICONLOOP… Read More

October 9, 2019 @ 9:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Changing Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, has confirmed on Twitter that the platform will begin accepting money transfers via Chinese payment giants WeChat and Alipay. The news is very significant because China has been pursuing a progressively… Read More

October 9, 2019 @ 12:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA) has agreed to a pilot trial to test the feasibility of solar energy trading in the Malaysian energy market using Power Ledger’s blockchain-based platform. The trial will kick off later this year and run for 8 months. Power… Read More

October 9, 2019 @ 10:59 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

CredoLab, a Singapore-based fintech provider of mobile-based alternative credit scoring solutions for banks, consumer finance companies, and retailers, announced on Tuesday it has formed a new partnership with iovation, a TransUnion company, specializing in device-based fraud detection and authentication solutions. CredoLab reported that through the partnership… Read More

October 9, 2019 @ 2:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korean mobile payments app CHAI and BGF Retail, which manages CU, Korea’s largest convenience store chain with around 13,500 locations, are developing a blockchain-based platform for conducting offline payments.  The nation’s consumers will be able to make payments by scanning and completing transactions with… Read More

October 8, 2019 @ 8:39 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

China Rapid Finance Limited (NYSE: XRF), one of China’s largest consumer lending marketplaces, announced on Tuesday it has formed a new strategic partnership with Chengdu Qiye Technology to offer services for institutionally-funded lending to small and medium-sized businesses. According to China Rapid Finance, the partnership marks… Read More

October 8, 2019 @ 3:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Fintech industry is set to enter 2020 with promising deals as more investors and companies explore potential investment opportunities. One-third of Fintech firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are based in the UAE. The number of Fintech… Read More

October 8, 2019 @ 2:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) has partnered with Fintech Galaxy, a financial technology crowdsourcing platform. NBF recently participated in the MENA Fintech hackathon, which was hosted by Fintech Galaxy. The event brought together major local banks, regulators, financial industry professionals, and… Read More

October 7, 2019 @ 8:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Lawyers at Roche Freedman LLP filed a class action suit on October 6th against Bitfinex, Tether, and associated parties and firms. The suit alleges plaintiffs collectively suffered over $1.4 trillion USD in damages due to defendants alleged violation of Commodities Exchange and federal RICO statutes, as well… Read More

October 7, 2019 @ 7:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong’s securities regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has released an updated regulatory framework for digital asset fund managers. The SFC posted the guidelines on its official website on October 4. SFC’s 37-page document, titled “Proforma Terms and Conditions for Licensed Corporations which… Read More

October 7, 2019 @ 6:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s regulators have consistently preferred supporting blockchain-related initiatives over decentralized crypto tokens. Recent events confirm that the nation’s authorities are more inclined to support blockchain technology itself rather than investments in speculative cryptocurrencies.  According to local reports, approximately 97% of local crypto-asset exchanges might… Read More