General News

April 26, 2021 @ 7:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Research from Aldermore bank suggests that there are some signs of recovery for SMEs, as they announce plans to make investments in their businesses in the coming year, a move that has come after the easing of nationwide lockdowns in the UK. SMEs intend to… Read More

April 24, 2021 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent research study has found that a lack of proper financial education has left consumers across the UK a bit confused with how to manage their funds. The study reveals that UK residents may be dealing with detrimental effects on their confidence, mental well-being… Read More

April 24, 2021 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Kingdom remains a popular destination for EU-based company founders, according to a blog post recently published by UK-based challenger bank Tide. Brexit might have “severed” the UK’s political ties to the continent, however, it does not appear to have negatively impacted the UK’s… Read More

April 24, 2021 @ 12:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Last week, the US sanctioned several groups and individuals because of their alleged association with “disinformation” campaigns that were reportedly coordinated by the Russian government. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis points out that a few of the sanctioned utilized virtual currency in their “criminal endeavors,” and… Read More

April 23, 2021 @ 6:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines-based Uploan, an established provider of salary-linked financial services, has reportedly acquired a senior secured loan of $15 million from UK’s Lendable, a provider of debt to Fintech firms in emerging or developing markets. The long-term facility should help Uploan with expanding its existing loan… Read More

April 23, 2021 @ 4:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this year, Senator Pat Toomey, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued a call for policy proposals that could boost economic growth. Key policy moves designed to generate more jobs and improve prosperity are always needed – even more so on the… Read More

April 23, 2021 @ 10:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance recently dropped to 50.2% (but has increased slightly to 50.7% at the time of writing) for the first time since July 2018, Bloqport reports. Bitcoin dominance represents the total share of the digital assets market that BTC claims. Notably, the BTC price… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 11:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Survey results shared by Duff & Phelps, A Kroll Business on Tuesday (April 21, 2021) revealed that 81% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the idea that digital IDs may improve our ability to combat financial crime across the financial services sector. Duff… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 6:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Block.one, the developer of the EOSIO open-source software, has shared an economic analysis performed by Prysm Group for a proposed Stake-Based Voting and Rewards Mechanism, which specifies an alternative model for “inflation distribution” on the EOS public blockchain network. The proposal aims to serve as… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Enterprise payments platform Candex has reportedly secured $20 million in capital via a Series A funding round that was led by Altos Ventures along with participation from NFX, American Express Ventures, and JP Morgan. Launched in 2011, Candex serves as a master vendor for small… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 10:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Sacha Sadan to serve as its Director of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). Ian Alderton has been appointed by the financial regulator as Chief Information Officer while Ian Phoenix will work as Director, Intelligence and Digital. Nikhil… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 9:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global enterprise software company R3’s Development Fund has reportedy reached the milestone of $10 million in capital deployed “across over 30 investments in more than 20 of the most promising early-stage blockchain and confidential computing companies,” according to a release shared with CI. As noted… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 11:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Today, the European Commission proposed new rules and actions as part of an effort to turn the European Union into a global hub for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The “first-ever” legal framework is designed to ensure trust and safety while fostering AI innovation. In a speech… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 2:07 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  MPOWER Financing, a U.S.-based fintech platform for educational loans to international and DACA students, announced on Tuesday it has joined forces with student loans lender Sallie Mae to expand global access to higher education, particularly to international and DACA students. MPOWER revealed Sallie Mae currently provides… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 11:25 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, has scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 30, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (ET). This will be a virtual meeting and the event will be open to the public via a… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 7:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The founder of digital banking challenger Revolut is reportedly planning a new round of funding that could value the Fintech at over £7.2 billion (appr. $10 billion). Sky News reports that the digital bank may be looking to work with  FT Partners, the US-headquartered Fintech-focused… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 5:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BNPL Fintech Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) notes that last year’s holiday shopping season set many digital commerce records, including in its “volume of purchases” made through Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. Affirm cites Salesforce data which reveals that BNPL transactions surged 109% when compared to the… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 12:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The craze around virtual tokens recently led to DogeCoin or DOGE (had started off as a joke coin and still to a great extent) putting Robinhood Markets‘ trading system under great pressure due to excessive activity. Robinhood‘s management confirmed: “On Friday morning, we saw a… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 12:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital lending software provider Blend Labs, Inc. revealed on April 15, 2021, that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. As… Read More

April 17, 2021 @ 10:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Leading crypto exchange Binance notes in its weekly report that it completed a record-breaking Binance Coin (BNB) token burn. The weekly report (April 10 – 16, 2021) from Binance reveals that the digital assets firm burned “a record $593 million in BNB.” The digital currency… Read More