Global

July 1, 2019 @ 3:40 am By Cali Haan  |  

A crypto scam featuring the image of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has been circulating on Facebook and may have conned thousands of people, local news outlet The National reports: “The fake news story scattered legitimate information, including factual details… Read More

July 1, 2019 @ 3:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital bank Revolut has announced a new feature that facilitates donations to charitable causes. Launched today, Revolut’s new in-app feature labeled “Donations”, allows customers to round up payments and donate the money to three international charities. Another option of the feature is to allow customers… Read More

July 1, 2019 @ 3:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will issue five new “digital bank licenses” according to the financial regulator. MAS said this was in addition to any existing Singapore banks which may also offer digital banking under existing rules. MAS said the new rules extend digital… Read More

June 30, 2019 @ 6:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last April, the first securities issued on blockchain was part of a test on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) – one of the largest exchanges in the world. 20/30, a Fintech that has been part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Fintech Sandbox, issued around… Read More

June 30, 2019 @ 9:04 am By Aubrey Hansen   |  

Ethereum (ETH) is currently the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and while it doesn’t benefit from Bitcoin’s ‘first starter’ advantage, in many ways, it’s actually a far more superior blockchain technology. The Ethereum network has a more complex and detailed developmental structure that allows… Read More

June 30, 2019 @ 8:18 am By JD Alois  |  

As has been widely reported, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) presented a report providing guidance for financial services at the G20 last week. FATF is an independent inter-governmental body that develops policies to protect the global financial system. This includes strategies against anti-money laundering,… Read More

June 30, 2019 @ 8:01 am By Cali Haan  |  

Data at App Annie, the Apple App Store and Google Play downloads shows that consumer interest in crypto apps and “dApps” (purported “decentralized applications”) has flattened in 2019 even though the price of Bitcoin tripled this quarter, Bloomberg reports. The data is relevant, says the… Read More

June 29, 2019 @ 8:59 am By JD Alois  |  

The V20 Summit, a crypto focused event taking place alongside the G20 in Japan, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by a “group of key national trade associations” to create a single association to provide a unified, global voice representing “Virtual Asset Service… Read More

June 29, 2019 @ 8:31 am By Xu Gao  |  

PBC, CBIRC Unveil White Paper on Financial Services for Smaller Businesses To comprehensively sum up the new policies, new practices and new achievements on financial services for SMBs in 2018, and to better respond to social concerns, the PBC, in cooperation with the CBIRC and… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 4:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

In an email, investment crowdfunding platform Republic announced the acquisition of SheWorx an events and community platform that focuses on female entrepreneurs. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Republic is a mission-driven online capital formation platform. Management made the following statement: “At Republic, we’re… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 9:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Facebook’s Libra coin, a stablecoin crypto, may eventually falter and fail. It will take some time for Libra to get its digital sea legs or not. But whether or not you are a Libra fan or detractor, old finance is standing up and taking notice…. Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 9:37 am By Cali Haan  |  

Europol has announced that a 14-month-long investigation into a €24 million “typosquatting-based” cryptocurrency theft has netted 6 suspects in the UK and Netherlands. The five men and one woman were arrested “in simultaneous warrants” in Bath Staverton, Amsterdam and Rotterdam yesterday morning. An estimate 4 000… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 9:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has introduced a new Fintech license and a “revision” of the provisions related to their Fintech sandbox ecosystem. FINMA stated that the Swiss parliament has introduced a new licensing category for Fintech companies. Simultaneously, FINMA said the Federal… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 8:39 am By Cali Haan  |  

Etienne Goosse, director general of the European Payments Council (EPC), has told Reuters that Facebook’s new cryptographic payments program, Libra, is forcing banks in the Eurozone to rapidly develop an instant payments network for banks in the zone. The EPCs goal is to help harmonize… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 8:17 am By JD Alois  |  

Investment crowdfunding platform Seedrs has added a new program to boost the food and beverage sector of crowdfunding.  Noting that consumer-facing companies in the food and beverage sector have been a popular category for retail investment, Seedrs has launched the FMCG Accelerator program (Fast-Moving Consumer… Read More

June 28, 2019 @ 3:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Capital Markets Malaysia, an affiliate of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), hosted an event to generate greater awareness of capital raising and investment opportunities in the Malaysian capital market. The target audience was micro, small-and-medium enterprises (MSMEs); and entrepreneurs. The half-day forum focused on how… Read More

June 27, 2019 @ 1:03 pm By Karsten Wenzlaff  |  

The European Council has concluded its negotiations on the European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regime, after discussing for more than a year how to facilitate more cross-border Crowdfunding, especially for equity-based and lending-based Crowdfunding. The European Council “defines the EU’s overall political direction and priorities.” The… Read More

June 27, 2019 @ 11:46 am By JD Alois  |  

The “(Almost) Complete Guidebook to Crowdfunding for SMEs” is a free publication that provides over 200 pages of tools for launching and managing a crowdfunding campaign. Supported by Interreg Central Europe, the guidebook is authored by Karsten Wenzlaff and Wolfgang Gumpelmaier-Mach. Gumpelmaier-Mach and Wenzlaff have… Read More

June 27, 2019 @ 9:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Merj Exchange plans to list its own shares claiming to be the “first-ever regulated security token on a national exchange.” Merj, based in Seychelles, is a securities exchange, clearing agency, and securities facility regulated by the Financial Services Authority as a national exchange. Merj says… Read More

June 27, 2019 @ 8:32 am By JD Alois  |  

Paxos, a trust company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services, has partnered with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to integrate a new deposit gateway. According to Paxos, the portal will allow traders to exchange fiat directly for PAX on the… Read More