Asia

September 29, 2021 @ 1:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Citi (NYSE:C) has introduced a dedicated technology hub in Bahrain in order to develop its digital-first platforms. Citi’s management confirmed on September 27, 2021 (Monday) that they are establishing an international tech hub at their Bahrain offices. According to a report from Reuters, the tech… Read More

September 29, 2021 @ 12:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the payment systems sector are preparing to introduce various initiatives that are set to promote payments digitalization and financial inclusion in the Southeast Asian nation. Benjamin E. Diokni, BSP Governor, stated (during… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 11:43 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Multi-chain, community-oriented launchpad Starter this week announced it will host the launch of the IDO for NASDEX, an independently owned and operated decentralized exchange that allows users to trade tokenized stocks on the blockchain through a minting and trading mechanism.  NASDEX, which is designed to… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 10:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tradeteq has teamed up with Singapore-headquartered eXchange inFinite (XinFin) to provide tokenized trade finance products to institutional investors and has carried out its very first transaction. This is reportedly the first complete end-to-end transaction “following a unique set of regulatory guidelines and trade finance standards,”… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 4:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital securities exchange ADDX reveals that it has tokenized an allocation from a private equity fund that is being managed by Partners Group, an international private markets investment company. As mentioned in a release shared with CI, the allocation from the Partners Group Global Value… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

The BIS (Bank for International Settlements) has published a report pertaining to central bank digital currency (CBDC) and payments. Crafted in partnership with the HKMA (Hong Kong Monetary Authority), Bank of Thailand, People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of the UAE, the document… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ascend Money has reached a $1.5 billion valuation after finalizing a $150 million round, making it the very first Fintech Unicorn in Thailand. The proceeds will be channeled towards growing the firm’s client base (which includes its digital wallet app, TrueMoney Wallet) and to further… Read More

September 27, 2021 @ 11:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The cryptocurrency markets have been trading down after news of another crackdown on the industry from China. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has issued a statement that has reiterated that all cryptocurrency trading activities in the country are illegal, and regulatory authorities will be… Read More

September 27, 2021 @ 10:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Y-Combinator-backed Aspire reveals that it has secured $158 million in capital via its Series B round. As noted by its management: “Aspire is the all-in-one finance operating system for growing businesses. We help companies pay, manage, and earn smarter – by doing more than a… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 10:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Turkey-headquartered Colendi, a micro lending and credit scoring Fintech firm, has acquired $30 million in capital via a Series A round. Colendi’s investment round has been led by Re-Pie Asset Management Company, a Turkey-based alternative asset management company. The funding has been provided via Re-Pie’s… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 9:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As widely reported, China has expanded its ongoing cryptocurrency crackdown. This reportedly includes increasing enforcement against illegal digital currency mining, as well as preventing financial transactions involving crypto-assets. The Chinese central bank also confirmed that any trading, order matching, token issuance and derivatives on cryptocurrencies… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 8:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, awarded the sixth virtual banking permit to Voyager Innovations via its Fintech division PayMaya Philippines. PayMaya had acquired $167 million in capital from Philippines-based telecom firms PLDT, international investment company KKR, Chinese technology company… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 6:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Velmie, a Fintech and banking software service provider, has launched an FX and cross-border transfers module that is connected to providers like Currencycloud, Rapyd, and Nium. Velmie’s white-label platform is currently capable of supporting international payments and funds transfers with customized integration. Global payments and… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 6:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan-based virtual banking platform Tag has acquired more than $12 million in capital as part one of the largest seed rounds in Southeast Asia. With the capital injection, Tag’s valuation now stands at $100 million, with the firm managing to finalize the fundraising deal within… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 5:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s (RCBC) financial inclusion app DiskarTech has managed to process gross transaction value of over P11.8 billion (appr. $230M) just a year after its launch (in July 2020). As mentioned in the announcement, this total transaction value includes money transfers performed via… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 2:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Board of Mox Bank Limited has confirmed the appointment of Barbaros Uygun as the  Chief Executive Officer of Mox and Executive Director of the Board “with effect from 27 September 2021.” After establishing a solid foundation for Mox over the past 3 years, Deniz… Read More

September 26, 2021 @ 2:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

CBIRC is Studying and Developing ESG Investment Guidance for Insurance Funds It is reported that China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) is accelerating research and development of ESG investment guidance for insurance funds. The guidance shall clarify relevant principles for product design, investment process,… Read More

September 24, 2021 @ 11:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Nervos, China’s leading public blockchain, has revealed that it will be integrating its testnet and mainnet with Covalent, an established provider of indexing solutions for blockchains, “expanding the availability of data on the network and simplifying the experience for developers building on Polyjuice, an Ethereum… Read More

September 24, 2021 @ 9:39 am By JD Alois  |  

  China has effectively banned crypto. While the news should not come as any surprise as China has been tightening the regulatory vice for years now, statements by the People’s Bank of China indicate that any hope of crypto access is now dashed for consumers… Read More

September 23, 2021 @ 10:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

InvestaX (IC SG Pte Ltd) has introduced an exchange in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) sandbox, offering key infrastructure for “bringing liquidity to digital securities.” As mentioned in a release, InvestaX is a Singapore-based, MAS-licensed online investment and trading platform for Digital Securities (DSO)… Read More