Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

January 1, 2022 @ 11:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at digital asset firm Kraken notes that last year, they remained focused on their mission to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency “so that you and the rest of the world can achieve financial freedom and inclusion.” In 2021, Kraken celebrated its 10-year anniversary,… Read More

January 1, 2022 @ 10:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Surojit Chatterjee, Chief Product Officer at Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), notes that 2021 proved to be “a breakout year for crypto” with Bitcoin (BTC) price gaining nearly 70% YoY, DeFi hitting $150B in value locked, and NFTs “emerging as a new category.” Chatterjee has shared his… Read More

January 1, 2022 @ 10:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at European lender Bondora notes that 2021 was another “unexpected” year as they’ve learned to “adapt to a new normal.” But from change “comes growth,” Bondora writes in a blog post while adding that they’d like to take the a moment to highlight… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoinSmart Financial Inc., one of the first digital asset trading platforms to be registered as a restricted dealer under securities laws across Canada, has shared some perspective on the Binance Canada predicament. Earlier today, it was reported that Binance Canada had been registered as a… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 12:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance Canada, or Binance Canada Capital Markets, Inc., has been registered as a Money Service Business (MSB), The Calgary-based operation is registered to provide foreign exchange dealing, money transferring, and dealing in “virtual currencies.” The registration is good until December 2024. As shared with CI,… Read More

December 30, 2021 @ 8:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Valereum Blockchain Plc (AQSE: VLRM), has agreed to acquire Juno Group of Companies, a Gibraltar-based firm that facilitates the formation and management of trusts, administration of funds, and the formation of companies in Gibraltar. Juno also operates with both fiat and cryptocurrencies. In October of… Read More

December 30, 2021 @ 11:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this month, the team at digital bank Zopa made an important update regarding the future of their peer-to-peer business. After 16 years of handling P2P investments at Zopa, the team has taken the decision to close down their retail investing business (something similar to… Read More

December 29, 2021 @ 3:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Anil Stocker, CEO at UK-based MarketFinance, a leading online lender that raised £280 million in debt and equity (earlier this year) and was approved for flex loans, notes that for most businesses in the United Kingdom, 2021 presented both opportunities and challenges (and that was… Read More

December 29, 2021 @ 11:53 am By JD Alois  |  

Wefunder is one of the leading investment crowdfunding platforms in the United States. A FINRA regulated funding portal, Wefunder is frequently the top offering platform when it comes to Reg CF offerings in any given month. In 2021, Wefunder published an “Impact Report” that highlighted… Read More

December 29, 2021 @ 10:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Nicholas Harding, Co-founder and CEO at Lending Works, noted that he established the firm with help from Matthew Powell,  Co-founder and CFO, back in 2014. Harding explains that they believed that technology could “transform customer experience in financial services.” Their aim was to “deliver this… Read More

December 28, 2021 @ 5:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Peer-to-peer lending has become an increasingly popular strategy among online investors. Platforms like Prosper have brought the P2P lending model “into the spotlight,” according to an update from YieldStreet, a multi-asset alternative investment platform that’s focused on reducing friction and offering “previously unattainable” access to alternatives… Read More

December 28, 2021 @ 8:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Croatia-based Robo.cash is reporting that it garnered € 42 million of investments in 2021, exceeding the year prior amounts growing by 227%. Robo.cash is a peer-to-peer platform that operates in the European Union and Switzerland. It also operates in parts of Asia. Robo.cash states that… Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 12:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at European P2P lender Mintos has shared their latest Risk Score updates based on developments and data “from the third quarter of 2021” (now live on the platform). The Mintos team has shared the summary of the recent quarterly changes and other details… Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 11:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Return rates for 2021 Bondora originations continue to “perform well” in November, as they did in October of this year. Spanish originations kept rising above the target rate for 2021, along with other rates for the past couple of years. Overall, it was “a steady… Read More

December 26, 2021 @ 8:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Interest for peer-to-peer loans is expected to gain traction across Europe, according to an update from Croatian P2P lender Robo.cash. As noted in a blog post by Robo.cash, the number of Google requests for P2P lending in Europe has been growing steadily this year. An… Read More

December 26, 2021 @ 1:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at European online lender EstateGuru notes that during 2021, they have primarily focused on developing their loan origination tech and hiring new loan managers and credit analysts. This has helped them to support the relatively high volume of loan projects while maintaining a… Read More

December 23, 2021 @ 3:08 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Fractional real estate investment should continue to grow in 2022 as it is shaped by five trends, Andy Zhao said. Zhao is the CEO of Ark7, a fractional real estate investment platform offering passive income and value appreciation opportunities. He has managed a wide range… Read More

December 22, 2021 @ 2:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Oppenheimer is out with its 2022 picks and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has made the list. The analyst providing the coverage has set a $444 price target for the crypto exchange, a significant increase over its current per-share price that hovers around $252/share. Coinbase became a public… Read More

December 22, 2021 @ 12:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kraken, which claims to be one of the largest digital asset platforms, announced it has acquired Staked for “an undisclosed sum.” Staked is described as a non-custodial staking platform that “enables investors in Proof-of-Stake networks to easily and securely compound their holdings.” According to an… Read More

December 22, 2021 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

DeFi incubator Dispersion Holdings plc (AQSE: DEFI) has submitted an application for the listing of its ordinary shares on the Canadian Neo Exchange. Dispersion Holdings currently has a market cap of around £26 million. NEO Exchange is an early stage Fintech that aims to “re-focus… Read More