General News

October 22, 2019 @ 3:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malta-based digital asset exchange Binance is planning to launch its first fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading pairs. While attending the Open Innovations 2019 conference in Moscow this week, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that fiat-to-crypto options would be introduced soon, starting with the Russian ruble. Zhao stated:… Read More

October 21, 2019 @ 9:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Michael Terpin, well known within the cryptocurrency industry, was a victim of a serious theft of crypto several years ago as approximately $24 million in crypto was stolen from his accounts via a Sim Swap hack. Terpin went on to file a lawsuit against AT&T… Read More

October 21, 2019 @ 1:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), part of the Judge School of Business at Cambridge University, has partnered with the World Bank to publish a report on the global regulation of alternative finance and innovative Fintech firms. According to the new report, the regulation… Read More

October 21, 2019 @ 7:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malta, a crypto-friendly island in the Mediterranean, has established a government authority to assess and certify distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms. The nation has also developed regulations for smart contracts and introduced a framework for conducting initial coin offerings (ICOs). Recently, the island country launched… Read More

October 18, 2019 @ 8:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sberbank Rossii PAO (MCX:SBER) and Microsoft Research (MSR) announced a joint initiative to explore the use of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in robotics. The project involves training robots to interact with real-world objects in the same way that humans do. Researchers at Sberbank will… Read More

October 18, 2019 @ 7:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

London-based Santander InnoVentures, Santander Group’s venture capital fund focused on financial technology investments, is leading a €35 million (appr. $38.7 million) investment round in Berlin-based CrossLend, a cross-border marketplace lending platform for making pan-European investments. The Series B funding round in CrossLend includes investments from… Read More

October 18, 2019 @ 5:25 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and Morehouse College are co-hosting a panel discussion for the general public on October 24th in Atlanta. From 4 to 7 pm, panelists and attendees will address and hear about, “strategies to attract investment capital to minority businesses.” The… Read More

October 18, 2019 @ 3:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America (BoA), the second-largest US bank with over $2.3 trillion in total assets, is reportedly testing out Ripple’s distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based financial products. The bank might be planning to do more with the San Francisco-based Fintech firm’s technology. Ripple’s… Read More

October 18, 2019 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Banking Authority (EBA), a regulatory agency that performs stress tests on European banks to increase transparency in the region’s financial system and identify weaknesses in institutions’ capital structures, has extended the deadline for the migration to Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) to December 31,… Read More

October 17, 2019 @ 8:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

VC firm Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures (NMFV) is allocating $20 million USD to fund female-founded start-ups. According to the company, since its launch in 2017, Northwestern Mutual has invested in 18 startups and deployed $50 million in capital. As well: “In May this year, it… Read More

October 16, 2019 @ 10:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Robo investment advisors have threatened to make human advisors obsolete and the rise in passive investments may lead to less demand for active management. However, a recent partnership between Betterment and Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) indicates that there may still be a need for certain… Read More

October 16, 2019 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this month, DrawBridge Lending (dba DBL Digital), a digital asset lending, borrowing and investment management firm, partnered with Kingdom Trust, a qualified custodian providing a self-directed IRA incorporating several digital assets with property and traditional asset investments. DBL Digital and Kingdom Trust aim to… Read More

October 16, 2019 @ 7:43 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Exchange-traded fund provider Reality Shares announced on Tuesday it has liquidated and closed the Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy China ETF (BCNA) and the Reality Shares Fundstrat DQM Long ETF. According to Reality Shares, BCNA will cease trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq), DQML… Read More

October 15, 2019 @ 10:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Google has banned high-interest rate lenders from the Google Play app store. First reported by WSJ.com, the move was said to be made to protect people from “exploitive personal loan terms.” The report quoted a Google spokesperson: “Our Google Play developer policies are designed to… Read More

October 15, 2019 @ 9:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

US venture capital funding fell in the third quarter of 2019 as both funding levels and the number of deals both declined. As funding dips, the Unicorn herd has hit a new record as there are currently 180 private companies valued at over $1 billion…. Read More

October 15, 2019 @ 7:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Plug and Play Amsterdam reportedly held a Soft Launch for its new Smart Cities and Financial Services programs last Wednesday at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. According to Plug and Play, the event brought in more than 80 attendees including six startups and over 30 corporate… Read More

October 13, 2019 @ 9:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK’s Royal Mint has developed a solid gold payment card that’s priced at £18,750 (appr. $23,460). Royal Mint is a government-owned firm that is tasked with minting coins for the UK. The company noted that it partnered with Mastercard and payments technology firm Accomplish Financial… Read More

October 11, 2019 @ 4:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

Alon Goren has been involved with the Fintech industry for a very long time. From the very early days of regulated crowdfunding (JOBS Act of 2012) to the emergence of crypto and the advent of digital assets, Goren has pretty much seen it all. Several… Read More

October 11, 2019 @ 10:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Six Nordic banks will be funding the development of an international real-time payments system as part of the P27 collective. Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank have reportedly finalized a shareholders’ agreement, formulated a business plan, and agreed to make investments… Read More

October 11, 2019 @ 8:32 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published updated information on the ramifications of Brexit in a no deal scenario. Currently, the UK is scheduled to exit the European Union on October 31st. Recently, there has been some more positive chatter on negotiations, and the… Read More