Global

May 1, 2020 @ 10:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Giant venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has finalized its second crypto asset fund which is valued at over half a billion dollars. Established in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in 2009, the VC firm confirmed the news on April 30, 2020. The… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 9:17 am By JD Alois  |  

May is here meaning spring is emerging for parts of the world. For all of the world, it also means that Bitcoin is on the cusp of the next Halving (or the Halvening). The Bitcoin Halving takes place every four years. This is when the… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 8:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

American Fintech Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) payments network has reportedly managed to triple its transaction volumes during Q1 2020. San Francisco-based Ripple’s XRP Markets Report confirms that the dollar value transacted using the company’s ODL service grew by over 294%, which may be a positive… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 11:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT), the largest transactional clearing facilitator in Pakistan and Haball, a Fintech firm that provides various B2B services, have teamed up, in order to launch contextual payments for local companies. NIFT is a payment system operator and provider. It offers… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent analysis of the top 10,000 Ethereum (ETH) wallet addresses suggests that the world’s second-largest digital asset (by market cap and overall adoption) could potentially see its value increase significantly in the foreseeable future. This, as the blockchain network prepares to transition from proof-of-work… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

WhatsApp Payments, an in-chat payment feature that lets customers perform transfers through the messaging app to anyone in their contact list, has not achieved mainstream adoption in India. The UPI-based payments service lets users send and receive funds. It has been created by the National… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Eftpos (electronic funds transfer at point of sale) Australia confirmed that it will begin running pilots of a mass-market digital identity service, which is reportedly backed by the nation’s leading banks and merchants. According to a document submitted to the Australian government’s Select Committee on… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 2:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bison Trails, a blockchain “infrastructure-as-a-service” company, recently confirmed that it has added support for Keep Network, which serves as a privacy protection layer for Ethereum (ETH). Keep Network aims to address the challenges involved with allowing private and secure data to be used on a… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 11:23 am By JD Alois  |  

  We are hearing a lot of chatter about some online lending platforms halting originations and some real estate crowdfunding platforms pulling back. A report out of the DACH countries provides some European perspective. In the DACH countries, property investment has been a standout performer… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Fireblocks reports having topped $30 billion in digital asset transfers and over $7 billion in monthly transfers, according to a company release. Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform providing the infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks seeks to enable exchanges, custodians, banks, trading… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

  A report conducted by crypto research firm Diar calls crypto trading on derivative exchanges “more akin to gambling than sustainable trading strategies.” Ironically, the report was paid for by crypto derivatives exchange ZUBR. The report states that Bitcoin liquidations on popular derivatives exchanges have… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The San Francisco-based developers of Brave, an open-source, privacy-oriented Internet browser, have submitted a complaint which asks the European Commission to take quick action against European Union-based government agencies that are not protecting the data and privacy of local residents. Brave’s complaint was filed on… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Folk2Folk, a unique localized peer to peer lending company, is reporting a profit for the first time of £198,000 for the financial year of February 2019 to January 2020, according to a company release. In the previous period, Folk2Folk generated a £535,000 loss. Full audited… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:04 am By JD Alois  |  

UK Finance has posted its weekly update as to the amount and number of loans distributed to SMEs impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the data, £4.157 billion has been approved under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for 25,262 loans. 52,807 applications… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 10:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

At the end of last month, the Australian Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology submitted a request for input as to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Fintech sector. The committee said that it is “keenly aware” to the impact… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 10:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

The global pandemic has been a total shock to the world. The COVID-19 crisis has devastated many businesses around the world. In New Zealand, popular fashion retailer Ingrid Starnes was planning a significant expansion of its business. Late last year, the company signed a lease… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 2:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

tBTC, an Ethereum (ETH)-based token that’s pegged to Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency, is preparing for its public launch. During the course of the next two weeks, the tBTC project is planning to introduce its technical infrastructure with the help of more than 40 digital… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 12:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Earlier this month, Latvia-based peer to peer lender Grupeer announced it was pausing operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a blog post, Grupeer founder Alla Kiska stated said that the Coronavirus had compelled the platform to halt operations as before and told investors… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 11:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MakerDAO (MKR), a leading Ethereum (ETH)-based lending protocol, has released a new report that tries to put the events of “Black Thursday” (when the Bitcoin and larger crypto market crashed over 50% between March 12-13, 2020) into context. MakerDAO’s report notes that there are certain… Read More

April 29, 2020 @ 9:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Incomlend, a global online invoice trading platform, has been recognized at the Global Trade Review (GTR) Leaders in Trade Awards 2020 as the “Best Fintech Startup”. GTR recognizes global top-performing companies in trade, commodity, supply chain, export finance, and fintech markets. Since launching in December… Read More