Global

April 4, 2025 @ 11:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The venture capital landscape in Q1 2025 has reached a critical point, with funding soaring to its highest level in nearly three years, according to CB Insights’ latest State of Venture Q1’25 Report. This surge, driven predominantly by artificial intelligence (AI), underscores a transformative moment… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 10:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, CI shared a number of comments from Fintech executives sharing their opinions on President Donald Trump and his “Liberation Day” tariff policy. The President signed an Executive Order addressing what is described as “structural asymmetries,” which will “no longer be tolerated.” The CEO of… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 10:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

North Korea has emerged as a somewhat unexpected powerhouse in the world of cryptocurrency—not as a legitimate player, but as a prolific cybercriminal state. According to a detailed investigation by The Wall Street Journal, the isolated nation has pilfered more than $6 billion in digital… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 8:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Clearing House recently announced an update regarding their Real Time Payments (RTP) network transaction limit being raised from $1M to $10M. Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) has successfully leveraged this advancement and completed the largest instant payment in US history, a $10M inter-company… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 8:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Klarna, the AI-powered payments and shopping network, announces its launch with Eurostar, enabling travelers in the UK and France to book their journeys with flexibility. Customers checking out on Eurostar.com can now choose Klarna’s Pay in 3, allowing them to “split the cost of their… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Aria, a provider of deferred payment infrastructure for B2B marketplaces and platforms, selected Mangopay’s flexible wallet-based payment solution to optimize and automate its embedded finance product. The collab builds on the partnership between the two companies, with the integration of Mangopay’s technology “powering Aria’s international… Read More

April 4, 2025 @ 8:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ctrl Alt will explore tokenization in the Bank of England’s Digital Securities Sandbox, analyzing how digital ledger technology can improve efficiencies whilst working with the FCA to “integrate these innovative models into new frameworks.” As confirmed in the announcement, Ctrl Alt has been officially admitted… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 2:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced a digital collateral management platform. Collateral is an essential risk mitigation tool “that helps support overall financial stability.” DTCC also noted that as the markets grow… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 2:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple, a provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, today announced that Ripple USD (RLUSD) has been integrated into Ripple’s  payments solution, Ripple Payments, driving enterprise “utility and demand for the asset.” RLUSD is described as an “enterprise-grade,” USD-denominated stablecoin created with utility, and… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 10:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, President Donald Trump outlined his plan to impose tariffs on most of the world. With a few exceptions, just about every country will be impacted by the White House’s decision. Markets reacted as expected, tanking as the anticipation of trade disruptions and price increases… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 8:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Fuse, founded by TrueLayer veterans, has raised $6.6 million in a funding round led by Northzone. Other investors include Flourish Ventures, Alter Global, and angel investors. Fuse is a payments Fintech targeting the MENA region. The company says it is focusing on the “payments bottlenecks”… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 8:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, is embracing a transformative shift in economic forecasting, as recent findings from its Monetary Policy Department reveal that artificial intelligence (AI)-based models are outperforming traditional time series models in predicting Swedish GDP and inflation. This development marks a significant leap… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 8:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Quantoz Payments, a “regulated” issuer of electronic money tokens that are designed to be compliant with MiCA, announced the expansion of its stablecoins EURQ and USDQ to the Algorand (ALGO) blockchain. Algorand-based DeFi platform Folks Finance will offer trading pairs for EURQ and USDQ, providing… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 8:03 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Central Bank (ECB) released the results of its Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) for February 2025, offering a look into how euro area households perceive inflation, economic growth, and their financial prospects. Conducted monthly across 11 euro area countries with around 19,000 adult participants,… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 8:02 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Plaid, the San Francisco-based fintech infrastructure company, announced a significant milestone: a $575 million funding round that values the firm at $6.1 billion. This round, led by Franklin Templeton and joined by Fidelity, BlackRock, NEA, and Ribbit Capital, marks a pivotal moment for Plaid as… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 12:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Business confidence in the United Kingdom remained robust at 49% in March, maintaining its highest level since August 2024, according to Lloyds Business Barometer. This sustained high was driven by a significant boost in confidence among retail firms, which saw “a seven-point rise to 58%,… Read More

April 3, 2025 @ 12:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Adyen (ADYEN:AMS), the financial technology platform for various companies, announced its expanded partnership with Temu, the global e-commerce platform that connects consumers with various merchandise partners, manufacturers and brands. Adyen helped Temu go live in the U.S. in 2022, and has since partnered with the… Read More

April 2, 2025 @ 11:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Allfunds (AMS: ALLFG), the WealthTech partner for the wealth and asset management industries with more than €1.5 trillion assets under administration across Mutual Funds, Alternative Assets and ETPs, announces the launch of Nextportfolio 4, the latest version of its flagship portfolio management tool, “strengthening Allfunds’… Read More

April 2, 2025 @ 6:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Klarna, the AI-powered payments and commerce network, announced the relaunch of Laybuy in New Zealand. The launch combines a Kiwi brand with the expertise of BNPL Fintech Klarna. With over 93 million active users and 675,000 retailers across 26 markets, Klarna’s platform will aim to… Read More

April 2, 2025 @ 4:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A PitchBook update indicates that the venture capital ecosystem is grappling with a growing Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) crisis, as exits remain elusive and liquidity pressures mount. Secondary markets, where investors buy and sell stakes in existing VC funds or companies, have been touted… Read More