Global

December 14, 2023 @ 5:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Sygnum launches its inaugural institutional investor crypto survey report, Future Finance 23. The purpose of the research is “to accurately measure institutional crypto adoption, track trends over time, and profile the needs and challenges of future institutional crypto market entrants.” Key themes include: 40% of… Read More

December 14, 2023 @ 5:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Approval phishing is a scamming tactic that has existed for many years, the Chainalysis team notes. But whereas approval phishing scammers have historically “targeted wide swaths of crypto users through the proliferation of fake crypto apps, romance scammers (also known as pig butchering scammers) appear… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 10:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In the ever-changing landscape of economic uncertainties, the third quarter of 2023 brought both challenges and glimpses of recovery in household finances. UK Finance‘s Household Finance Review, published recently, delves into “the key trends and indicators that shaped consumer behavior during this period.” Q3 witnessed… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 7:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ClearBank is providing LemFi with agency banking services to enhance international payment services for emerging market immigrants in North America and Europe. ClearBank, the enabler of real-time clearing and embedded banking for financial institutions,  announced its partnership with LemFi (formerly known as Lemonade Finance), a… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 3:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Latin American Fintech Bitso says it facilitated USD $8 billion in payments during 2023. Bitso said this represents a 60% increase versus 2020. The company claims that it provides services to more than 1700 companies leveraging blockchain technology to provide global transfers, payouts, and other… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 2:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nubank (NYSE:NU), which claims to be one of the world’s largest digital financial services platforms, continues to expand its investment product offerings. Gradually, over the next few weeks, the company’s customers in Brazil will “be able to access and trade Real Estate Credit Bonds (LCI) and… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 2:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Citi (NYSE: C) has led a strategic investment round in Supra. Far Out Ventures and H20 Capital also participated in the financing round. Supra is a Colombian fintech that “enables cross-border payments and treasury solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that participate in import… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 1:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Rising interest rates, banking trauma, government spending, and geopolitical strife have caused private money to hit the pause button when it comes to investing. CI has reported repeatedly that private equity and venture capital have cratered in the last year. And it makes sense. Why… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 10:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The HBAR Foundation and Archax have shared plans to enhance their partnership by expanding support for HBAR staking, the native cryptocurrency of the Hedera network, as well as the pursuit of further tokenisation projects. Building on the recent addition of HBAR to its crypto spot… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 10:28 am By JD Alois  |  

B2B payments platform Melio has announced real-time payments for their customers. For their business clients, there is an option for payments to be immediate instead of waiting days or the invoice due date. Matan Bar, Melio’s CEO and co-founder, says that consumers have utilized real-time… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 10:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The British Business Bank has added to an existing ENABLE Build Facility to United Trust Bank (UTB) increasing the amount by £100 million. Now, the total facility is at £350 million. According to the British Business Bank, UTB has now provided £830 million to smaller… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 9:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

This past week saw the release of Bitcoin Core 26.0, ushering in a new version of “Bitcoin,” the team at NYDIG noted. While the Bitcoin ecosystem at large consists of numerous pieces of software that interoperate (wallets, mining software, Lightning, alternative implementations of Bitcoin written… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 9:41 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Growth of the UK economy in November was reportedly centered on London, according to the latest NatWest Regional PMI survey. Inflationary pressures were also strongest in the capital, “with firms there recording the steepest rises in both input costs and average prices charged for goods… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 9:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Elliptic, the global firm focused on crypto-asset risk management, announced a partnership with The Ascent Group, an independent global fund administrator. The Singaporean company will leverage Elliptic’s real-time wallet transaction screening capability, which is “supported by Elliptic’s cross-chain and cross-asset Holistic Screening technology.” This suite… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 8:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Onfido’s technology automates identity verification, “reducing onboarding time from days to minutes.” Onfido, the global enabler of automated identity verification, announced a partnership with InbestMe, a digital investment platform offering personalised investment strategies, to automate their onboarding process. With Onfido’s AI technology, InbestMe can now… Read More

December 13, 2023 @ 8:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Today, less than 0.25% of total global assets are “represented on blockchain infrastructure, leaving massive efficiency gains uncaptured,” according to an update from Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). Coinbase says that its goal is “to close this gap by enabling institutional use of next-generation financial technology.” Project Diamond… Read More

December 12, 2023 @ 11:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Airbnb and Klarna have joined forces to launch Pay Over Time with Klarna, which is described as being a new way for guests in the UK to spread the cost of their reservation. The launch is part of a phased global roll-out which “will see… Read More

December 12, 2023 @ 8:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has signed a strategic agreement with the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) in order to drive its technology transformation program and “further enhance its banking services to personal and business customers.” Accenture will set up “a development center of excellence (COE) to… Read More

December 12, 2023 @ 5:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Policymakers need a “fuller view” of consequences of illicit flows, including tallies of the fiscal, monetary, financial, and structural costs, according to an update from the IMF. The fight against financial crime isn’t lost, but the world “needs to do more to limit the economic… Read More

December 12, 2023 @ 10:07 am By JD Alois  |  

In a settlement with the State of New York, crypto exchange KuCoin has admitted that it operates a crypto trading platform that is effectively providing a service where users can buy or sell securities and commodities as defined by the State of New York. KuCoin… Read More