Asia

July 4, 2021 @ 7:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong-based digital asset custody provider Hex Trust revealed earlier this week that it has acquired a strategic investment from Cyberport, a local Fintech hub and digital community. The size of the investment has not been shared publicly. The new investment should allow Hex Trust… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 5:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Hong-based digital banking platform Airstar Bank has confirmed the appointment of Xiaomi’s Chief Financial Officer Alain Lam Sai Wai as its new Chairperson of the Board of Directors (BoD). The previous Chair, Lei Jun, the Chinese billionaire businessman who established Xiaomi, has now stepped… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 3:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Insurtech company Bolttech recently revealed that it has finalized an oversubscribed $180 million Series A round which values the firm at over $1 billion, thus giving it Unicorn status just a year after it began operations. Bolttech’s investment round was led by Activant Capital… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 3:20 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Beijing Subway Begins to Accept Digital RMB According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, digital RMB payments will be accepted on Beijing’s 24 rail transit lines and 4 suburban railways. Those who would like to use the new payment option will need to download… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 3:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Endowus, a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)-approved and licensed digital wealth management platform, reveals that it has acquired an investment from strategic investors UBS AG, Samsung Ventures and Singtel Innov8. The size of the investment has not been disclosed. Venture capital investors Lightspeed Venture… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 12:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia, the nation’s reserve bank, recently revealed that it received 29 different applications for a virtual bank license under the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. This has come after a 6-month application period, which came to an… Read More

July 3, 2021 @ 9:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

KT, one of South Korea’s largest telecom companies, reveals that it will be investing KRW 23.6 billion (appr. $20.9 million) into the operations of Webcash Group. The investment will be part of a plan to form an alliance relationship for the B2B sector. Webcash Group… Read More

July 3, 2021 @ 8:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) will be welcoming the first group of participants to take part in its pilot for HKEX Synapse, which is HKEX’s new Stock Connect settlement acceleration solution. As part of the pilot, industry participants such as fund managers, brokers,… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 9:47 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is the next jurisdiction to target the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to a posting by the securities regulator, the Thai SEC has filed a criminal complaint against Binance for operating a digital asset business without a license…. Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 10:58 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Pakistani digital bank UBL is partnering with Temenos and National Data Consultant to produce an omnichannel digital online banking platform digital banking solution. It builds upon UBL’s launch earlier this year of the Islamic Digital Account and UBL Pay, which allows customers to use phones… Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 4:11 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Cryptocurrency finance service provider Amber Group has raised $100 million in Series B funding from China Renaissance Group, Tiger Brokers, Tiger Global Management, Arena Holdings, Tru Arrow Partners, A&T Capital, Sky9 Capital, DCM Ventures, Gobi Partners, as well as existing investors Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures,… Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 3:08 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

China’s recent actions on Bitcoin are going to reverberate across the industry for some time, the CEO of Graph Blockchain believes. Through subsidiary Babbage Mining, a proof of stake miner focused on altcoins, Graph Blockchain exposes its investors to cryptocurrency. The decision crack down on… Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 9:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Mintable, an NFT marketplace and platform for creating NFTs, says it has closed on an over-subscribed Series A funding round raising $13 million. The funding saw the participation of Ripple, Animoca Brands, Metapurse, Doug Band, a former advisor to Bill Clinton, and Jon Oringer, founder… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 10:03 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Blockchain services company Casper Labs, developer of the Casper Network, is working with His Highness Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum Al Maktoum’s SJM Group of Companies to deploy the Casper Network in the United Arab Emirates. CasperLabs and Lead Ventures will work with government agencies and… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s Bitcoin mining ban has been moving forward in an aggressive manner, which has led to a rapid decline in hashrate or the amount of computing power required to secure the BTC network. The team at BitOoda notes in a blog post, dated June 29,… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 11:07 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

IDBI Intech Ltd, the technology services arm of Indian lender IDBI Bank, is looking to expand its operations into markets such as Europe, South East Asia, and Japan. The company, which provides tech and digital regulatory compliance services, is looking to acquire a few fintech… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 10:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Siam Commercial Bank (BKK: SCB), which is Thailand’s first and oldest banking institution, and Thunes, an established international payments firm, revealed on Tuesday (June 29, 2021) that they have teamed up to allow individual customers and businesses overseas to send money to Thailand. The cross-border… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia-based Fave, a fast-growing Fintech firm, has introduced its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service for Singapore and Malaysian markets, offering more than 6 million Fave users with instant access to interest-free credit options. These flexible payment options are available at more than 40,000… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 7:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines-based digital and financial services company Voyager Innovations has secured $167 million in capital for its expansion program, which includes a venture into virtual banking, its listed and largest shareholder confirmed on Monday (June 28, 2021). Shareholders PLDT Inc, private equity firm KKR & Co… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 7:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reveals that it has introduced an international challenge for retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) solutions. The Global CBDC Challenge from the MAS will aim to find innovative retail CBDC solutions to improve existing payment processes while promoting greater… Read More