Global

October 2, 2023 @ 10:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

At the end of last week we saw a number of updates regarding the push for ETFs, with VanEck readying an Ethereum futures ETF, Ark pushing to win the race for the first spot Bitcoin ETF and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delaying… Read More

October 2, 2023 @ 10:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Mexican Fintech albo has reportedly secured $40 million in capital via a Series C round in order to enhance its payments services. albo’s investment round included participation from Nazca, Morpheus Ventures, and Valar Ventures. In addition to the raise, the Fintech company said it will… Read More

October 2, 2023 @ 9:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Innovate Finance is the advocacy group for the burgeoning Fintech industry in the UK. London has long been a top global financial center, and many policymakers, as well as financial services insiders, want to maintain that status. Hence, the adoption of digital financial services is… Read More

October 2, 2023 @ 9:00 am By Michael Wong  |  

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest participation bank by asset size in the United Arab Emirates, has officially entered the Turkish digital banking and fintech sector after acquiring a minority stake in T.O.M. Group. Established by Aydın Group shareholders, the T.O.M. Group includes T.O.M. Katılım… Read More

October 2, 2023 @ 8:52 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Parents could help provide more than £300,000 in pension wealth for their kids by the time they reach retirement age “by contributing to their child’s pension from the age of 18,” according to new research shared by PensionBee. As concern grows around the sustainability of… Read More

October 2, 2023 @ 8:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Enterprise blockchain firm Ripple‘s co-founder Chris Larsen recently commented on how the UK has become a major Fintech hub. The UK is also adopting a progressive approach to regulating crypto-assets, according to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen (although certain significant challenges still remain). The UK has,… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

France-based Mistral AI recently revealed its first generative artificial intelligence (AI) model in order to compete with US rivals in AI (which includes Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corportation-supported OpenAI). The Paris-headquartered firm is introducing a small-scale language model with around 7 billion parameters which… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 11:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Atom Bank has announced a partnership with climate tech business Kamma. Atom will benefit from access to Kamma’s full climate suite, “offering an unparalleled view on both the physical and transition risks of its mortgage book.” Kamma will further “provide analytics on Atom’s financed emissions,… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 9:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Organizations in the United Kingdom reportedly suffered a record number of ransomware attacks last year, according to analysis of a dataset published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). In its data security incident trends – which “are reported to the data protection regulator – the… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 9:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FloQast, a provider of accounting workflow automation software created by accountants for accountants, announced today a strategic consulting partnership with PwC Germany, a global firm focused on assurance, advisory, and tax services. This collaboration aims to transform financial close processes “for businesses across German-speaking countries… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 9:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, recently marked its tenth anniversary serving Irish businesses, “with the release of data revealing widespread, rapid growth in the country’s internet economy.” Over the last decade, conditions for Ireland’s internet businesses “have improved dramatically.” Homegrown startups now “have… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 8:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Klarna, the AI powered global payments network, announced the launch of several new products and services aimed to promote circularity and encourage smart shopping. With these updates, Klarna continues to evolve beyond payments “to become a starting point for every purchase for 150 million consumers… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 5:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Akash Mahendra, Director of Haven1 Foundation, has commented on what the green light for Ethereum (ETH) futures from Valkyrie Funds means for the nascent crypto and blockchain industry. Akash notes that while it’s a cause for celebration, it’s “a different picture for those still waiting… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 5:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

According to research by London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management, Europe’s regulated digital assets hedge fund manager founded by alumni of Bankers Trust, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, institutional investors “are confident Bitcoin and Ethereum will sustain their strong performance for the rest of this year.” The… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 5:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Over 200,000 consumers have reportedly verified their World ID in Chile as demand for the privacy-preserving digital identity protocol continues to grow following the Worldcoin project launch in July. In a country with approximately 19.5M residents, that’s “over 1% of the population.” In order to… Read More

October 1, 2023 @ 5:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In the DeFi realm, while innovation and opportunity are definitely arising, significant potential risks prevail, according to an update from SlowMist. SlowMist explains that addressing these challenges demands “an active and evolving security approach, parallel in its dynamism and comprehensiveness to the ecosystem it aspires… Read More

September 30, 2023 @ 3:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited “unilaterally” decided to stop processing EUR deposits for Binance users, Paysafe users are now “advised to take appropriate actions in advance.” Paysafe users may “convert EUR balances in their Binance accounts to USDT before 2023-10-31 at 0:00 (UTC).” Meanwhile, users… Read More

September 30, 2023 @ 3:47 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Cyberstarts, an Israel-based venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage cybersecurity startups, has announced raising $480 million to make follow-on investments. In a statement, the firm said the Opportunity Fund will take advantage of follow-on opportunities from its portfolio companies that are raising Series A… Read More

September 30, 2023 @ 3:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As of late, financial markets have been gripped with the reality that the US government may be headed toward a shutdown due to Congress’s “inability to pass the federal appropriations bill for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on October 1st,” the team at NYDIG… Read More

September 30, 2023 @ 3:40 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has successfully completed Project Mariana, a collaborative endeavor with the central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland, aiming to explore the potential of wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDCs) in cross-border trading and settlement between financial institutions. Developed jointly… Read More