Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

May 13, 2019 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

HBUS, a US-based digital asset marketplace and part of the Huobi Group, says that crypto adoption is gaining momentum in the US. HBUS was launched in July of 2018 and is part of Singapore-based Huobi Group’s global expansion plans. HBUS surveyed 1067 US citizens during… Read More

May 13, 2019 @ 8:14 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Leading marketplace lending platform Prosper announced on Monday the release of the financial results for the first quarter of 2019. Prosper reported that during the quarter it closed its second warehouse facility with $300 million in commitments, providing the company with $500 million in total… Read More

May 12, 2019 @ 2:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

On Friday, the Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) received good news from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it was approved as a national securities exchange. The LTSE is the creation of Eric Ries, an entrepreneur, VC, and creator of the lean startup concept…. Read More

May 11, 2019 @ 11:07 am By Cali Haan  |  

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, has issued a blog post stating the business is working hard to tighten security after hackers stole 7070 Bitcoins (worth ~$44 million USD) from an exchange hot wallet earlier this week. Zhao… Read More

May 10, 2019 @ 2:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

What do Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ‘Jay Z’, Jeff Bezos, Softbank, Tencent, Axel Springer, and OurCrowd all have in common? They all invested in Uber before it went public today (May 10, 2019). Where OurCrowd stands out from the pack is the fact that OurCrowd… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 4:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Cap table and investor management platform Vertalo has formed a partnership with digital securities platform seriesOne.  Vertalo provides an on-chain investor on-boarding and cap table solution designed for broker-dealers seeking to offer digital asset solutions to their issuer clients. seriesOne enables digital security offerings by… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 8:11 am By JD Alois  |  

New real estate investment platform RealT has launched seeking to tokenize real estate assets. The company said in a release they intend to start with residential property in Detroit with plans to expand into other cities during the year. RealT states that it will also… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 8:01 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Better.com announced on Thursday it has expanded into several new markets, including Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Backed by Ally, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, American Express Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Pine Brook and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Better.com describes itself as one… Read More

May 8, 2019 @ 4:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform CrowdStreet has shared some interesting news. According to the platform, sponsor J.Jeffers & Co. raised $10 million on CrowdStreet in just 80 minutes. In total, $14 million was raised in a day ($16.7 million in total offers were submitted). This is… Read More

May 8, 2019 @ 3:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Schadenfreude? Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, suffered a humbling hack where a hot wallet was compromised and criminals absconded with a mere $40 million. Other exchanges and crypto insiders have been quick to comment on the ignominious event. Julie Plavnik, CBDO at… Read More

May 8, 2019 @ 8:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Crypto exchange Zebpay has opened up trading services to the Australian market with a new office in the Fintech hub of Melbourne.  Zebpay currently claims over 3 million active users. The company is headquartered in Singapore. Zebpay is also extending its Lightning Network to Australia… Read More

May 7, 2019 @ 7:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE: LC), the leading marketplace lender in the US, reported first-quarter results today. According to the online lender, applications grew 31% with originations hitting $2.7 billion. Importantly, 73% of customers were approved within the first 24 hours – a necessary metric in the digital… Read More

May 7, 2019 @ 11:26 am By JD Alois  |  

European peer to peer lending platform Robo.cash has published a note on platform investors indicating that after the first month of investing, users tend to invest 30% more. The second month, investors bump it up by another 10%. The intimation is that new investors test… Read More

May 7, 2019 @ 11:13 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Esme Loans, the NatWest backed standalone digital lending platform for SMEs, announced last week it has hit £50 million of lending to UK businesses. The online lender reported that it has seen a continued period of strong growth, following an uplift in lending of 337%… Read More

May 7, 2019 @ 7:51 am By Cali Haan  |  

iFinex, parent company of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange and creator of Tether, the world’s most popular “stablecoin” cryptocurrency, has asked a court in New York to “vacate” (render void) ex parte orders issued by the Attorney General of New York compelling iFinex to produce comprehensive… Read More

May 6, 2019 @ 10:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lender Fincera (OTCQB: YUANF) has issued their 2018 year-end results. The Chinese online lender reported top line revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 at RMB 1,412.0 million (USD $205.7 million), an increase of RMB 388.1 million from RMB 1,023.9 million… Read More

May 6, 2019 @ 11:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) is circulating a letter to shareholders in the Series A preferred shares telling investors they are transitioning to tZero securities token trading platform. To facilitate the transition, Overstock will need to issue new shares and the company must receive individual shareholder approval. The… Read More

May 6, 2019 @ 8:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Fidelity, the mega mutual fund company that is entering the crypto sector, shared a survey last week quantifying institutional participation in digital assets. In a release, Fidelity said that 22% of institutional investors have exposure to digital assets with 40% expressing interest in the coming… Read More

May 6, 2019 @ 7:33 am By Cali Haan  |  

ICE’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Sprecher, told analysts in a conference call this week that the crypto bear market of 2018 allowed ICE’s crypto venture, Bakkt, to cheaply acquire Digital Asset Custody Co, Reuters reports. The acquisition of Digital Asset Custody Co could improve Bakkt’s… Read More

May 6, 2019 @ 7:04 am By Cali Haan  |  

Coinbase CTO Balaji S. Srinivasan, who took his position at America’s top crypto exchange in April of last year after his company Earn.com was acquired by Coinbase, has announced on Twitter that he is leaving the company: Earn.com is an app that allows users to earn… Read More