Asia

August 20, 2020 @ 4:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ravi Menon, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), recently delivered a speech on “Powering the next stage of Singapore Fintech” at the Singapore Fintech Festival Just five years ago, the country’s leaders had a vision that focused on making Singapore a… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 7:58 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Neat, a digital bank based in Hong Kong, announced on Wednesday a $4 million extension to its $11 million Series A investment round, which originally closed in April 2020. MassMutual Ventures, Pacific Century Group, Linear Capital, and Robby Hilkowitz as well as new investor Vectr Fintech… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 12:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain platforms Ontology, Neo, and Switcheo have announced the launch of Poly Network, a “heterogeneous” distributed ledger technology (DLT) interoperability protocol alliance. The Poly Network will enable cross-platform interoperability, which should significantly increase transparency and accessibility. As mentioned in a blog post by Ontology: “Enterprises… Read More

August 19, 2020 @ 11:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan needs to work on its economic development strategy. The country has a population of over 210 million, but its GDP hasn’t grown nearly as fast. The country’s GDP is around $300 billion and the average income is about $1,500 per year which is significantly… Read More

August 19, 2020 @ 9:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bahrain introduced its first Open Banking product for the MENA region during December of last year. The central bank of Bahrain is among the first major institutions in the Middle East to propose and create regulations that require the adoption of Open Banking technologies by… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Saudi, an initiative that aims to transform Saudi Arabia into an innovative Fintech Hub with “a thriving and responsible” financial technology ecosystem, has been supporting the Kingdom’s economy by establishing an ecosystem directory and an online jobs portal dedicated to Fintech professionals. Fintech Saudi… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 7:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Conflux Network, a permissionless blockchain network, has received a second public endorsement from a Chinese government entity. In a release, Conflux said that the Hunan government has joined the Shanghai government in blessing their blockchain. Conflux notes that they are the only privately created blockchain… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 2:29 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform Hexindai (NASDAQ: HX) recently announced it has launched an upgraded version of its new form of social e-commerce platform Xiaobai Maimai, offering high-quality and affordable branded products. According to Hexindai, Xiaobai Maimai uses its cooperation with domestic e-commerce platforms and… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The COVID-19 outbreak had led to many Asian countries exploring the adoption of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in order to securely manage data, according to an update from the Nikkei Asian Review. Tomohiro Maruyama, senior manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Consulting, told Nikkei that… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 8:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Huobi Group, a major blockchain and digital assets service provider that operates cryptocurrency exchanges and related services, has revealed that it has launched Huobi DeFi Labs. According to a release, Huobi DeFi Labs will focus on research, investment, and incubation of decentralized finance projects. The… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 7:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Supply@ME recently committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Khaled Abdulla Almass and his investment firm, iMass LLC, in order to focus on the expansion and ongoing development of Supply@ME into the Middle East region. Supply@ME is a Fintech firm that’s owned by Italy’s… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 6:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Abu Dhabi based NymCard, a card issuing and processing platform, has reportedly been granted “in-principle” approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The Fintech firm aims to assist financial service providers including banks, and other financial technology companies… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 4:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week, it was announced that Israel has established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a ground-breaking shift in foreign relations for a volatile region. The deal was announced by President Trump, Israel, and the UAE that the countries have agreed to… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 10:27 am By JD Alois  |  

CoinDCX, a crypto exchange that claims to be the largest in India, says its fiat to crypto product Insta has experienced 38% month over month growth in volume, according to a statement by the firm. The company claims that Insta has become India’s most trusted… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 7:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered Plc, a British multinational banking and financial services company with over $700 billion in total assets, is reportedly getting ready to introduce its second all-digital bank in Asian markets. Standard Chartered will be partnering up with a division of Singapore’s largest labor union,… Read More

August 16, 2020 @ 10:35 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com recently announced its Exchange will exit public beta on September 8th. According to Crypto.com, Exchange was launched last November in private beta and opened to the public a month after.   “Users are able to trade digital assets on one… Read More

August 15, 2020 @ 3:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Peer to peer (P2P) investors based in China are reportedly facing losses of over 800 billion yuan (appr. $115 billion) in unpaid debt, due to failed lending platforms, according to the head of the nation’s banking industry regulator. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the Chinese Banking… Read More

August 15, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Moka, an Intelligent Recruitment Management System, Completes 100-million-yuan Series B+ Financing Moka, a provider of intelligent recruitment management solutions, has completed a Series B+ round of financing of more than 100 million yuan led by a well-known venture capital fund. Up to now, Moka’s B… Read More

August 15, 2020 @ 11:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

WeLab Bank recently confirmed the public launch of its digital banking services. It’s notably the only stand-alone firm to acquire a virtual bank license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city-state’s de facto central bank that’s also responsible for promoting the efficiency, integrity… Read More

August 14, 2020 @ 6:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based Fintech startup Versa Asia Sdn Bhd, which offers an app to manage and preserve idle cash, revealed on August 14, 2020, that it has appointed key board members. According to a statement from Versa, the Fintech firm has appointed Datuk Noorazman Abd Aziz and… Read More