General News

February 28, 2022 @ 2:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK government’s Help to Grow scheme has seen “painfully slow” uptake from small businesses – “despite the current economic landscape leaving many of them in desperate need of support,” according to an update shared with CI. Mikkel Velin, Co-CEO of B2B embedded lending provider… Read More

February 28, 2022 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Department of Treasury has issued a statement today following a flurry of international actions over the weekend that sought to cut off Russia from global markets while freezing assets of certain individuals and other entities. Treasury said the actions were taken following the… Read More

February 28, 2022 @ 10:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The not-for-profit group, the Financial Technology Association (FTA) has hired Tom Davis as Vice President of Membership and Development. According to a statement distributed by the FTA, Davis brings more than a decade of experience in directing, marketing, and developing membership-based organizations to his role… Read More

February 27, 2022 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) notes that they have made enhancements to the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme. The Financial Secretary confirmed in the 2022-23 Budget today (23 February) that the application period for the 80% Guarantee Product, the 90% Guarantee Product and the Special… Read More

February 27, 2022 @ 4:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

While the humanitarian crisis grows in Ukraine and Russia’s unprovoked war rages on, the European Union (EU) announced that selected Russian banks have been removed from the SWIFT messaging system. While the names of the bank were not immediately available, any on the list will… Read More

February 26, 2022 @ 5:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT, is in the news quite a bit as of late as discussions are ongoing as to whether Russia should be disconnected from the platform following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war terrorizing the country…. Read More

February 24, 2022 @ 3:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has shocked the world. For weeks now, many have expected Russian forces to cross the border to occupy part or all of Ukraine while some thought threat of war was just posturing by Russian President Vladamir Putin. In recent hours… Read More

February 24, 2022 @ 11:12 am By JD Alois  |  

  As Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the world with his horrific invasion of Ukraine, many nations enacted economic sanctions to punish the rogue country as Europe entered a state of war. Following Putin’s effective annexation of Donetsk and Luhansk (Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics… Read More

February 24, 2022 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Leading European association that advocates on behalf of securities crowdfunding, the European Crowdfunding Network (EUROCROWD), has announced a new partnership with the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) creating a “cross-membership agreement” to develop activities of common interest, according to a statement by EUROCROWD. ALDA… Read More

February 23, 2022 @ 5:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Private debt managers secured $191.2 billion last year, representing a 12.1% YoY gain and the second-highest annual tally on record, according to an update from Pitchbook. As noted in a report from Pitchbook, investors continued piling into these funds “despite the puzzling macroeconomic environment.” This… Read More

February 21, 2022 @ 6:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

SKAEL has raised $38 million in Series A funding, led by RTP Global, according to a company statement. SKAEL is a digital platform designed to support firms using digital employees by automating services, saving money. The funding was led by RTP Global with participation from… Read More

February 21, 2022 @ 9:32 am By JD Alois  |  

This is an interesting factoid. In a tweet, Funderbeam noted that Estonia claims the title of having the highest number of unicorns, per capita, in the world. 🦄 Estonia might soon have its 10th unicorn and already has the highest number of unicorns per capita… Read More

February 19, 2022 @ 7:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO at Ava Labs, ex-professor at Cornell, confirmed that BENQI liquid staking is live. Liquid staking is live. https://t.co/7ltUAvEXHn — egs9000🔺⚔️ (@el33th4xor) February 16, 2022 The team at BENQI noted that they are pleased to confirm the release of BENQI’s… Read More

February 19, 2022 @ 2:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cryptocurrency donations have increased considerably along with the Bitcoin price (and those of Ethereum as well as other major altcoins). Last year, Fidelity Charitable investors reportedly donated over $330 million in digital currency, which is over 12x the amount provided back in 2020, according to… Read More

February 19, 2022 @ 2:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

A new report by Telstra Ventures highlights how the tech hub ecosystem is changing. The US has long been a hotbed of entrepreneurship and innovation with early-stage firms establishing dominant hubs in locations like the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. But COVID… Read More

February 19, 2022 @ 1:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Billtrust (NASDAQ: BTRS), a B2B accounts receivable automation and integrated payments company, announced the latest version of its machine learning-driven Cash Application solution. With virtual payments, non-standard remittance information and the proliferation of accounts payable (AP) portals challenging today’s accounts receivable (AR) teams, Cash Application… Read More

February 18, 2022 @ 12:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Open Market Committee has announced new restrictions on senior Fed officials in regards to investing and trading activities. According to a statement by the Fed, under the new rules, senior Federal Reserve officials are prohibited from purchasing individual stocks or sector funds, holding investments… Read More

February 18, 2022 @ 11:42 am By JD Alois  |  

SIM Swap fraud has been prevalent for years now targeting both traditional financial services as well as crypto investments. The scam is where a criminal hijacks your mobile phone by using a new SIM card affiliated with your phone number. Once accomplished, two-factor authentication goes… Read More

February 17, 2022 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a sign that we are all moving from quantum exploration to quantum production – and that quantum software development is an important ingredient in gaining quantum advantage – Classiq, which offers a platform for Quantum Algorithm Design, announced that it has secured $33 million… Read More

February 17, 2022 @ 3:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Symphony – the markets’ infrastructure and tech platform – is teaming up with Digital Asset – a software and services provider that assists enterprises with building economic value via interconnected networks – in order to “generate efficiency and remove manual processes in the broadly syndicated… Read More