Asia

July 10, 2019 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

Special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) 8i Enterprises Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: JFK) has entered into a definitive share exchange agreement with Diginex Limited. The deal claims to engender the largest publicly traded blockchain company in the US – once it closes. JFK is a BVI company… Read More

July 9, 2019 @ 3:26 am By Cali Haan  |  

Influential bankers convening at an academic conference at Peking University’s Institute of Digital Finance this week have expressed serious concerns about Libra, Facebook’s forthcoming cryptocurrency payments network, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. Wang Xin, director of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s research bureau warned… Read More

July 8, 2019 @ 9:57 pm By Cali Haan  |  

India’s Economic Affairs Secretary, Subhash Garg, has confirmed rumours that India is less than keen on Facebook’s current effort to create a private, global currency network aimed particularly at citizens in the developing world, Bloomberg reports. “(The) Design of the Facebook currency has not been… Read More

July 6, 2019 @ 5:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding on PitchIn, Qeos LED plans to raise sufficient capital and then plan a public listing in Singapore later this year or in early 2020, according to a report in Digital News Asia. If the company is successful in their ambition, Qeos will be the… Read More

July 6, 2019 @ 5:05 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Min Zhu: Libra is not Alipay. Its core concept is currency. On July 1st, the 13th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (also known as the Summer Davos Forum) in Dalian, China. Min Zhu, Chair of Tsinghua National Institute of Finance Research and former vice… Read More

July 5, 2019 @ 9:09 am By JD Alois  |  

PayU, Naspers’ payments firm, is expanding into Southeast Asia through the acquisition of a majority stake in Red Dot Payment (RDP), a Singapore-based online payment Fintech. RDP currently serves more than 500 merchants in 22 countries. RDP supports global and local alternate payment methods such… Read More

July 5, 2019 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Payments and transfer Fintech InstaReM has launched an API-based digital platform that will enable start-ups, Fintech companies, and other corporations to launch their own branded cards. InstReM says its “card issuing platform” will offer next-generation digital payments as a B2B solution. InstaReM’s customers may now… Read More

July 5, 2019 @ 7:21 am By Cali Haan  |  

Outspoken Bitcoin and cryptocurrency critic and economist Dr Andy Xie, renowned for predicting the 1997-8 Asian currency crisis, told The Korea Times this week that Bitcoin is “a gambling instrument” primarily exploiting Asian investors and that it can never function properly as a currency. “Bitcoin… Read More

July 5, 2019 @ 7:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) in France have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to “enhance collaboration between the two authorities in supporting Fintech innovation. The French ACPR is a supervisory authority attached to the… Read More

July 5, 2019 @ 6:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Ethis Dubai, part of the Ethis Group of crowdfunding platforms headquartered in Singapore, has announced its participation in the Dubai “Real Estate Investment Opportunities” (REIOs) launched by Dubai Land Development. Ethis said the initiatives came at a time when the Dubai property market is at… Read More

July 4, 2019 @ 1:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is out with another warning cautioning investors about initial coin offerings and digital asset exchanges which have not been authorized. The SC says they have seen an increase in both complaints and queries from the public about these crypto offerings…. Read More

July 4, 2019 @ 7:55 am By JD Alois  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued a statement on the launch off the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub opening in Hong Kong. BIS announced on June 30th its intent to open several Fintech focused hubs with Hong Kong becoming the first…. Read More

July 4, 2019 @ 1:13 am By Cali Haan  |  

Officials at the Bank of Japan, Japan’s central bank, are reportedly concerned that Facebook’s new “difficult to regulate” cryptocurrency could have a calamitous effect on global financial systems, all while exploiting those very systems without paying the costs, Nikkei Asian Review (NAR) reports. Legislators in… Read More

July 2, 2019 @ 3:08 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform Hexindai (NASDAQ: HX) announced on Tuesday it is set to launch a new consumer installment financing platform, called “Hexin Installments.” According to Hexindai, the platform will offer carefully curated categories for installment financing, such as electronic products, education, and travel products… Read More

July 2, 2019 @ 1:59 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Kyber Network, a Singapore-based decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Tuesday it has surpassed 827,000 ETH in total transaction volume, and one million tokens burned within the first year of launching its platform. Kyber Network reported that fifty-seven blockchain-based applications including MyEtherWallet, Decentraland, and Coinbase wallet… Read More

July 2, 2019 @ 2:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

Citing ongoing pressure from unfavourable government actions, Indian cryptocurrency trading platform Koinex has announced it will “permanently disable” trading services on June 27th, 2019. “A snapshot of the wallet balances at this time will be taken for record, and the effort to disburse INR balances… Read More

July 1, 2019 @ 3:26 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Singapore Life, a Singapore-based insurtech startup, has reportedly received a $90 million investment from Sumitomo Life Insurance. Founded in 2014, Singapore Life describes itself as a life insurance company fully licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore that is built on the belief that “the… Read More

July 1, 2019 @ 3:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will issue five new “digital bank licenses” according to the financial regulator. MAS said this was in addition to any existing Singapore banks which may also offer digital banking under existing rules. MAS said the new rules extend digital… Read More

June 30, 2019 @ 10:25 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

The Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced on Sunday they have approved the establishment of a BIS Innovation Hub to foster international collaboration on fintech within the central banking community complementing the already well-established cooperation within the existing committees. The Board reported… Read More

June 29, 2019 @ 8:59 am By JD Alois  |  

The V20 Summit, a crypto focused event taking place alongside the G20 in Japan, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by a “group of key national trade associations” to create a single association to provide a unified, global voice representing “Virtual Asset Service… Read More