General News

February 17, 2022 @ 2:17 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Pindrop’s Voice Intelligence and Security Report 2021 provides detailed evidence of how fraudsters have shifted strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to 2020 call centers typically saw fraud rates of one out of every 770 calls, but in 2020 the ratio rose to one out… Read More

February 15, 2022 @ 2:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The early stage continues to resemble the “late stage of years past.” Last year, the median early-stage valuation surged 50% YoY to $45.0 million. This value represents a greater median than the late stage only a few years ago “and illustrates the tsunami of capital… Read More

February 14, 2022 @ 9:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A report from PeerIQ notes that the official numbers are in and they’re not looking so great. Inflation, as measured by the CPI, surged at a higher than expected 7.5% annualized rate in January 2022. That’s the fastest rate of price increases since 1982. Expectations… Read More

February 14, 2022 @ 11:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday was the 56th Super Bowl where the LA Rams topped the Cincinnati Bengals by just a three-point spread. While the game was exciting, much discourse around the annual event tends to target the television commercials that costs advertisers millions of dollars due to the… Read More

February 14, 2022 @ 6:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Worldline (Euronext: WLN), a provider of payments and transactional services, is reportedly getting ready to sell its point-of-sale terminal business to Apollo Global Management for $2.3 billion. This, according to a report from the WSJ. A deal might be finalized within a few days as… Read More

February 13, 2022 @ 11:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The past few years have seen the crypto and blockchain space impact just about every industry in one way or another. However, one innovation in particular is leveraging blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in order to “fundamentally disrupt how organizations are structured, codified and… Read More

February 13, 2022 @ 5:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Affirm‘s (NASDAQ:AFRM) stock had fallen over 20% to a $58.68 share price on Thursday (February 10, 2022) following the firm’s disclosure of its Q2 results (which came ahead of schedule). Affirm closed the week at $46.55 after starting the year at over $95 so… Read More

February 12, 2022 @ 9:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Northspyre, a financial tracking and project delivery automation platform for real estate developers, has reportedly acquired $25 million via a Series B round to further grow its business and expand its solution “to improve the development process within the multi-trillion dollar commercial real estate industry.”… Read More

February 11, 2022 @ 9:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Algorand Foundation has confirmed the appointment of Staci Warden as its Chief Executive Officer. Warden, who has served on the Algorand Foundation’s Board since September of last year, steps into the additional role of CEO effective February 11, 2022. Warden has reportedly led international… Read More

February 10, 2022 @ 10:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Rino, the newly-launched startup founded by Trung Thanh Nguyen, has finalized a $3M pre-seed round in order to accelerate the firm’s blueprint for 10-minute instant delivery by “setting up dark stores and building its own logistics units beginning with Ho Chi Minh City.” Trung Thanh… Read More

February 10, 2022 @ 3:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendIt Fintech has announced the winners of the fifth annual LendIt Fintech Industry Awards. The awards announcement coincided with an event in Miami, Florida that incorporated a gala dinner. Following the conclusion of the second day of the inaugural Nexus Dealmakers Summit, the Awards brought… Read More

February 10, 2022 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Draper Goren Holm, a VC group that is focused on blockchain technologies including DeFi and digital assets – including securities, is returning to an in-person gathering in 2022 as COVID shutdowns diminish. This coming May, DGH will bring together noted crypto investors Tim Draper, Anthony… Read More

February 9, 2022 @ 6:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Acting Chair Martin J. Gruenberg released on February 7, 2022 the following statement and summary of the FDIC’s priorities for the coming year: “The FDIC’s core mission is to maintain stability and public confidence in the U.S. financial system…. Read More

February 8, 2022 @ 3:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Anti-money laundering (AML) fines had a blockbuster year in 2021, according to a report by Kyckr. The data firm recently posted a report on AML occurrences around the globe indicating that while the total amount of fines dipped in 2021 the number of institutions that… Read More

February 8, 2022 @ 11:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition in order to help authenticate individuals creating new online accounts. The transition will take place over the coming weeks in order to “prevent larger disruptions… Read More

February 7, 2022 @ 8:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Didi Taihuttu, who is a member of “Bitcoin Family,” is reportedly settling down in Portugal, which is one of Europe’s crypto tax havens, according to a report by CNBC. Settling down in Portugal is a huge deal for the family of five (originally from Netherlands),… Read More

February 7, 2022 @ 5:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dating or Defrauding. Catfishing has become a thing in the online dating world. While at times, Catfishing may be as simple as using a photo that does not represent the person in question at all, in some instances it has been taken to an extreme… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 12:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paysend, the card-to-card pioneer and global payments platform, has announced that the company is expanding its peer-to-peer money transfer services internationally. Via the implementation of Visa Direct, a real-time push payment platform, Paysend’s U.S. clients can send money to eligible Visa cards in 107 countries… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 9:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at digital asset firm Gemini notes that there has been a considerable decline across the wider crypto market, including Bitcoin, since the beginning of 2022. However, Gemini points out in a report shared with CI that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are “thriving.” The update… Read More

February 1, 2022 @ 2:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Brian Armstrong, CEO and Co-Founder of digital asset firm Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), confirms that commerce pioneer and open-source programmer, Tobias Lütke will bring his extensive experience and perspective to bear as Coinbase continues to expand its global presence and develop new products. Armstrong wrote in… Read More