Global

March 24, 2025 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Commission has adopted its strategy for the Savings and Investments Union (SIU), a key initiative to improve the way the EU financial system channels savings to productive investments. It seeks to offer EU citizens broader access to capital markets and “better financing options… Read More

March 24, 2025 @ 12:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK’s digital bank Monzo noted that their engineering team has created Monzo Stand-in, which is described as a fully independent backup bank complete with its own data, software, and infrastructure. This system can reportedly become effective / go live instantly during outages, ensuring customers retain… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 11:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nordic challenger bank Lunar has announced reaching 1 million users, a significant milestone in its mission to transform the banking experience for individuals and businesses across the Nordics. The achievement of 1 million users highlights Lunar’s growth in the Nordic banking landscape. Ken Villum Klausen,… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 11:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Trustly, the global Pay by Bank solutions provider, announced that it will now support RIX INST, the instant settlement system of Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish Central Bank, solidifying Trustly’s position in instant payouts. Representing a key milestone for the company in its home market, Trustly… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 9:28 pm By Michael Wong  |  

IFC, IDB Invest, and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. have launched a BRL 1.4 billion ($250 million) bond issuance aimed at supporting biodiversity conservation and expanding access to credit for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Brazil. Structured as a private placement, the bond is… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 6:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

According to the recent Kaspersky Incident Response analyst report, long-lasting attacks, carried out by cybercriminals, that persist for more than a month accounted for 35.2% of the total attacks in 2024. The latest Kaspersky Incident Response analyst report and key insights offer extensive analysis of… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 6:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

AI is dramatically changing online gaming, according to an update from the World Network. According to a new survey shared by the World Network, more than 7 in 10 gamers “agree unauthorized third-party bots are both ruining multiplayer competition (71%) and making it less fun… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 6:51 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, Plug and Play announced the lineup for its XDC Network RWA Accelerator program, which launched on March 18. The three-month initiative features tokenization projects and collaborations with industry stakeholders, all with an eye to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Plug and Play will host… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 4:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Haun Ventures, the crypto-focused investment firm founded by Katie Haun, a former Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) general partner, is reportedly planning to raise $1 billion for two new funds. This move, revealed in a recent Fortune report, could potentially position it as the largest venture financing… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 4:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Plume, the RWAfi (real world asset finance) chain, and Goldfinch, the onchain private credit platform, announced a partnership to expand access to high quality private credit assets on Plume’s RWA staking platform, Nest. This partnership will reportedly aim to widen access to institutional-grade private credit… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 3:32 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

A new whitepaper from payment processor Silverflow suggests network tokenization can improve authorization rates by up to 6% while decreasing unnecessary churn. Launched at MPE Berlin 2025, a European merchant payments conference, Exploring the power of network tokenization for the modern payments stack explores how… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 3:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ICG, the global alternative asset manager, announced the final close of its second European Mid-Market fund program. ICG Europe Mid-Market Fund II, together with its related vehicles, received €3.0bn of commitments, representing a “300% increase compared to the prior fund vintage, ICG Europe Mid-Market Fund… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 3:27 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Nayla Finance, a Saudi Arabia-based Fintech focused on improving access to capital for micro-businesses, has raised $4 million in seed funding to scale its operations and expand its digital lending platform, the company said. The round was led by Sanabil Venture Studio by Stryber and… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 10:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

tradias GmbH announced recently that it has successfully obtained approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Following the submission of its notification at the end of last year, tradias GmbH has been “granted authorization to provide… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 6:07 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has officially recognized digital assets in its global economic reporting framework for the first time, updating its balance of payments standards to reflect the growing role of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based assets in the global economy. In the newly released seventh… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:43 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Frubana, a B2B online marketplace for the food service industry, has partnered with global nonprofit Accion and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to provide embedded financing solutions to small-scale restaurant owners in Brazil. The partnership seeks to provide access to credit to more than… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The EY organization announced its artificial intelligence (AI) EY.ai Agentic Platform, created in collaboration with NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) . Built on the full NVIDIA AI stack – including NVIDIA AI Enterprise and the new NVIDIA AI-Q Blueprint, AI-Q – the platform will integrate private, domain-specific NVIDIA… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), one of the world’s largest digital asset exchanges in terms of trading volume and scope of operations, has recently unveiled a series of strategic developments that underscore its position as a key player… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Munich Re and NEXT Insurance have signed a definitive agreement regarding the full acquisition of NEXT Insurance by Munich Re on March 19, 2025. The envisaged transaction will have NEXT Insurance become “part of ERGO, the major primary insurance business of Munich Re.” More than… Read More

March 21, 2025 @ 4:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

dLocal, the payment platform connecting global merchants to emerging markets, announced a partnership with Belmoney, the  Remittance-as-a-Service (RAAS) provider in Europe. The global remittance industry remains burdened “with high fees and slow transaction speeds.” According to the IMF, transfers under $200 incur average fees “of… Read More