December 30, 2025 @ 7:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A whitepaper from Juniper Research, entitled, Unlocking the Next Stage of Growth for Modern Card Issuing Platforms, examines various trends that are now said to be shaping the modern card issuing ecosystem, and the ways in which modern card issuing platforms are able to capture… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 5:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

Meta (NASDAQ:META) has acquired artificial intelligence firm Manus. The Singapore-based firm is developing autonomous AI agents, and the deal has been valued at between $2 to $3 billion. Manus’s tech is said to be able to execute complex tasks such as booking flights and conducting… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 5:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong’s digital banking service provider, Mox Bank, has solidified its position as a fintech powerhouse in 2025, now serving 750,000 customers—representing an impressive 12% of the city’s bankable population. As shared by CEO Barbaros Uygun, the year has been defined by robust expansion across… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 5:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s efforts to establish a proper framework for digital assets have encountered significant delays as of late, with the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act now postponed until 2026. The recent holdup reportedly stems primarily from ongoing disagreements among the country’s various regulatory authorities regarding… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 5:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement with the Fibonacci Group to acquire Cabel Industry, an Italian tech company that provides specialized core banking and IT managed services to mid-size financial institutions. The acquisition will enhance the managed services portfolio of Accenture Financial Advanced… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 5:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has announced its acquisition of Manus AI, a Singapore-headquartered startup specializing in autonomous artificial intelligence agents. The move aims to enhance Meta’s capabilities in deploying versatile AI tools across its ecosystem of consumer apps and enterprise solutions. Manus AI, known for its… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 1:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinList claims that 2025 was the year ICOs or so-called initial coin offerings returned in force. As more players entered the ICO market and the ecosystem grew noisier, CoinList says that it remained at the forefront, setting the standard for how token sales should be… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 1:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

California is considering a “wealth tax,” a concept that has failed everywhere it has ever been attempted. California is one of the world’s top economies, competing with Germany and Japan with a GDP of around $4 trillion – far more than almost all other countries…. Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 12:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

An Ethereum (ETH) address reportedly connected to the perpetrators of the 2021 Indexed Finance exploit and the 2023 KyberSwap attack has sprung back to life after roughly a year of inactivity, reportedly dumping millions in cryptocurrency holdings. On-chain monitoring firm Lookonchain has now reported that… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 11:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

KPMG UK has recently noted that a relatively cautious consumer landscape is now expected to continue into upcoming year. KPMG’s Consumer Pulse survey measures the overall consumer confidence as the current year finally comes to an end and 2026 begins. KPMG UK Q4 2025 Consumer… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 11:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced the planned retirement of Cicely LaMothe, who has been serving as the longtime Deputy Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, marking the end of a 23-year tenure at the agency. LaMothe, who played a significant… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 11:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Lloyds Banking Group, which serves as one of the UK’s mortgage lenders, is preparing to discontinue its invoice factoring operations by the end of 2025, marking a further retreat by major high-street banks from specialized financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Invoice factoring, also… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 9:15 am By JD Alois  |  

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum started the year higher than they will probably end the year. Yet many digital asset insiders anticipate a gangbuster 2026 as sentiment shifts and renewed interest in crypto takes hold. For Ethereum in 2025 on January 1st, it was valued at… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 8:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

QED Investors, a venture capital firm based in Alexandria, Virginia, that is focused on investing in Fintechs, has shared some end-of-year insights with CI. QED Investors, which also invests in financial services initiatives in the U.K. and Europe, Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia, has commented on… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 8:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Upvest has noted that it entered 2025 on a high, fresh off the announcement of their €100 million Series C last December and having reportedly reached a milestone 20 million orders processed during 2024. Fast forward to December 2025 and Upvest has claimed that they… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 8:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Anchorage Digital noted that some years can pass without actually leaving a trace. And then certain years seemingly shift the center of gravity—years that force an entire industry to rethink and perhaps re-evaluate what’s possible, what’s probably coming next, and who’s leading the movement. For… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 2:23 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The following post was written by Alexander Jung, a principal economist with the European Central Bank. Are independent central banks better at ensuring price stability? A study of 155 central banks over 50 years shows why independence makes a difference. Central banks that are shielded… Read More

December 30, 2025 @ 12:28 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Ahead of the Christmas spending peak, the October 2025 credit card data from global analytics software leader FICO showed a decline in credit card spending in the UK compared with the previous month and the previous year. Lower spending led to average balances falling for… Read More

December 29, 2025 @ 10:20 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Malaysia drew 54.13 billion ringgit ($13.3 billion) in approved Malaysia Digital (MD) investments in the third quarter of 2025, projects expected to generate 21,815 high-value jobs across 402 digital companies, according to the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). MDEC said the investment pipeline underscored sustained… Read More

December 29, 2025 @ 7:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

While Bitcoin has performed poorly in 2025, many people anticipate a better 2026. While there has always been a good amount of hubris in the Bitcoin sector with astronomical predictions that stretch the imagination, the fact that Bitcoin ended 2026 down for the year may… Read More