November 23, 2021 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Circle, a digital asset firm that is a top stablecoin issuer and owner of investment platform SeedInvest, has invested $10.5 million in Crowdcube. The total funding round was $13.5 million. Circle’s investment in Crowdcube was made via USD Coin (USDC) – a dollar-based stablecoin. The percentage… Read More

November 23, 2021 @ 8:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK Finance notes in an update that it brought the payments industry together to “consider the future opportunity for open banking payments and how the market could collaboratively shape that future.” There are now more than 2.5 million Open Banking payments every month compared to… Read More

November 23, 2021 @ 8:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

One in every two UK residents is reportedly looking to give up their credit card completely for  Christmas shopping in 2021, with two-thirds or 66% of credit card holders saying they want to avoid having to pay excessive credit card interest. Even though credit cards… Read More

November 23, 2021 @ 8:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at UK-based Fintech Modulr says they wanted to let their community know that they’ve been named a 2021 Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 winner. Now in its twenty-fourth year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 is one of the United Kingdom’s tech awards programs,… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Mobile Banking Benchmark 2021 survey reveals that Hong Kong-based digital banks Mox and Livi stood out as the leading local platforms, though there’s overall a gap between Asian and European service providers. The survey has been carried out by management consulting company Sia Partners… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Global bank Citi (NYSE:C) is going on a crypto hiring spree, according to a report by Bloomberg. Citi is said to be hiring 100 people to support its emerging digital asset business that caters to institutional investors. Puneet Singhvi is said to have been appointed… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 9:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hong Kong Licensed investment crowdfunding platform AngelHub has shared an update on platform operations. AngelHub is licensed and regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission for Type 1 (Dealing in Securities) and Type 4 (Advising on Securities) activities in Hong Kong. AngelHub was the first… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 9:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), which was formed in 1960 as a development bank and is licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (nation’s central bank) for commercial and investment banking, reveals that its financial inclusion app DiskarTech has reached a five-digit organic growth in… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 8:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

GCC-headquartered early-stage VC company VentureSouq has introduced a $50 million MENA region Fintech Fund I. As mentioned in the announcement, the MENA Fintech Fund I is the first sector-wide Fintech-focused fund to be introduced across the Middle East area and Pakistan. The new Fund is… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered Pace, a Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) service provider, has acquired $40 million in capital as part of its Series A round. Investors that participated in Pace’s investment round include UOB Venture Management (Singapore), Marubeni Ventures (Japan), Atinum Partners (South Korea), AppWorks (Taiwan), and several family offices… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 7:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MCIS Insurance (MCIS Life) has reportedly acquired a 4.99% stake in Merchantrade Asia, which is a Malaysian money services solution provider (for an undisclosed amount). The acquisition is expected to support MCIS Life’s digital transformation efforts while leveraging Merchantrade’s all-digital capabilities, access to a vast… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 5:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Research from online pension provider, PensionBee, reveals that nearly a third of savers (32%) think that it doesn’t matter whether they notify their pension provider(s) of a change of address, as they will still have a way to contact them. This belief may be quite… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 5:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

MetaSoccer, an earn-to-play football metaverse developed primarily on the blockchain, says it has raised  €2 million to launch the first football game in the metaverse. In a release, Barcelona-based MetaSoccer said that investors include Play Ventures, Defiance Capital, Parafi Capital, DAO Maker, Kyros Ventures, Metrix… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 4:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Businesses require cash to grow their operations. That’s something company founders and CEOs know really well – even when business is picking up, the MarketFinance team writes in a blog post. UK-based MarketFinance, which is a leading online lender that recently raised £280 million in… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 4:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

Republic, a lead investment crowdfunding platform, has announced Republic Local –  a vision of bringing securities crowdfunding to main street businesses. Republic Local is said to be an extension of NextSeed, a crowdfunding platform acquired by Republic in late 2020. At that time, Republic said… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 3:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

European P2P lender Bondora notes that after a “booming” September, where the platform managed to recover over €2.3 million in missed payments, these figures “subsided” during the month of October 2021. As mentioned in a report from Bondora, there was a total of €977,354 that… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 12:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN), a provider of supercomputing solutions, has confirmed the successful delivery of more than 2,000 Avalon Miner units in Kazakhstan, “marking the commencement of joint mining operations by Canaan’s overseas-registered operating entity,” according to an update shared with CI. As mentioned in the announcement, more… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bank of England External Member of the Financial Policy Committee Carolyn A. Wilkins will deliver a speech to the Québec Autorités des marchés today. The text of her speech has been released in advance of the presentation and she will be addressing the booming crypto… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

DarkTrace (DARK.L), a cybersecurity firm that leverages artificial intelligence (AI), has announced a “major contract” with an unnamed firm. According to a statement by DarkTrace, it is now providing services to a US-based entity that is one of the world’s largest investment management firms. “The… Read More

November 22, 2021 @ 10:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Interoperability is an increasingly vital topic within the blockchain and distributed ledger tech (DLT) sector, as it continues to expand the possible functionalities that DLT networks can provide to their respective ecosystems once they’re well-connected. Permanent and scalable storage via Arweave is one such functionality… Read More