Asia

October 23, 2018 @ 1:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Hong Kong based Fintech Neat has received USD $3 million in funding led by China-based VC firm Linear Capital. Neat is a bank alternative and claims to already have customers in more than 100 countries, delivering a fully digital alternative to a traditional bank account. Neat… Read More

October 22, 2018 @ 3:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, South Korean-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Bithumb announced it payback 70% of transaction fees for overseas users to show appreciation for the users’ support and loyalty. According to the platform, this event, Cryptocurrency Transaction Fee payback promotion, is being held from October 22nd to November 21st and… Read More

October 22, 2018 @ 9:39 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reporting that investors attending the Singapore FinTech Festival have committed to investing $12 billion into ASEAN firms over the next two years. The 380 investors plan to dedicate USD $6.2 billion over the next year and an additional… Read More

October 21, 2018 @ 11:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Group-IB, a company that provides computer forensics and cybersecurity services large international companies, published a report last week the put a number to the frequent cryptocurrency exchange hacks that seem to happen on a weekly basis.  According to Group-IB, attacks during 2017 and through Q3… Read More

October 21, 2018 @ 8:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

LATTICE80, a Fintech Hub that migrated its headquarters from Singapore to London, reports it will open a new Fintech Hub in Hong Kong. Supported by the Marvelstone Group, LATTICE80 seeks to connect Fintech Startups, Financial Institutions & Corporates, Government Institutions and the Public to build… Read More

October 20, 2018 @ 9:41 am By Xu Gao  |  

Xiaomi Eyes Consumer Financing and B2B Lending in India Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi plans to enter the consumer finance and business-to-business (B2B) loan market in India. Xiaomi has followed the Indian company law and established a non-bank financial institution “Xiaomi Financial Services India” to apply… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 10:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

New tariffs in the US that raise taxes on imports of crypto-mining machines from 2.6% to 27.6% may significantly impact revenues at Chinese companies like Bitmain, South China Morning News (SCMP) reports. The tariffs have come into place after American trade overseers in August reclassified, for… Read More

October 17, 2018 @ 1:36 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Ping An Insurance Group announced on Wednesday it has done a full update of its Ping An Cloud. The company reported the Cloud is entering a new phase of offering cloud services to external customers. As previously reported, Ping An is considered one of the largest… Read More

October 17, 2018 @ 9:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has, “caution(ed) the general public on the use of crypto currency and other virtual currencies,” in the small archipelago nation lying southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, though the overall status of cryptocurrencies there remains grey. The press release… Read More

October 17, 2018 @ 8:43 am By JD Alois  |  

Two GTR Ventures portfolio companies have joined to create a blockchain application designed to eliminate invoice financing fraud. The two Fintechs, global invoice discounting platform Incomlend, has adopted Invoice Check – a blockchain application developed by Trade Finance Market (TFM). The companies state that invoice… Read More

October 16, 2018 @ 10:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ping An Insurance Group held an investor day in Shenzen this week. Ping An is one of the largest financial companies in the world. The firm boasts 179 million customers along with 485 million internet users. The company trades on both the Hong Kong and… Read More

October 16, 2018 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Wadiz, the largest crowdfunding platform in South Korea, has shared a recent report on equity crowdfunding that indicates a growing marketplace. Online capital formation was first legalized in Korea in January 2016 by legislation that created amendments to the Capital Markets Act. Presently, there are… Read More

October 15, 2018 @ 11:58 am By Cali Haan  |  

Properly regulating the cryptocurrency sector is a complex affair, says outgoing Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) chairperson Carlson Tong, but a complete ban is futile: “We do not think imposing a total ban on these platforms is necessarily the right approach, and it will… Read More

October 14, 2018 @ 8:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Later this month, Hong Kong will host their annual Fintech Week. This year’s event is being billed as the “world’s first” cross-border Fintech event. The multi-faceted conference will straddle Honk Kong and Shenzen – the relatively new metropolis that links Hong Kong to China’s mainland. Macao… Read More

October 13, 2018 @ 11:54 am By Xu Gao  |  

Alibaba Submits Blockchain Patent Applications that Allow “administrative intervention” On October 6th, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba applied for a blockchain system patent, allowing third-party administrators to perform “special treatment” (e.g. suspend a smart contract or freeze an account associated with an illegal activity). For example,… Read More

October 12, 2018 @ 6:59 am By Cali Haan  |  

Fourteen cryptocurrency million- and billionaires have made their way onto a list of China’s richest individuals for the first time, says Bitcoin.com. Perhaps predictably, at the very top of “The 2018 Lexus Lexus Huron Rich List,” in spots one to three, appear the entrepreneurs behind… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 4:58 pm By Cali Haan  |  

South Korean Finance Minister, Yong-Joo Park told auditors from the Finance Committee of the Yeouido National Assembly in Seoul this morning that ICOs (initial coin offerings) pose undue risks to investors and should not be equated with blockchain, Yonhap News reports. “The government does not… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 1:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif has announced that its acquisition by “investment support services” firm FISCO has been finalized and says it will compensate users affected by a $60 million dollar hack that occurred September 14th: “On 10 October, the Company concluded the business of our virtual currency… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 9:43 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Financial Services Authority of the Republic of Indonesia, or “Otoritas Jasa Keuangan” (OJK), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost Fintech cooperation and foster innovation in financial services between the two countries. The MOU is… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 3:17 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Streamr, an open-source, real-time data platform just selected as one of PwC’s Crypto Valley’s Top 50 Projects, continues to expand its network with a new partnership with Japan-based Daisy AI, an AI platform focused on using blockchain for deep learning. Daisy AI will use Streamr… Read More