April 9, 2025 @ 8:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Anchorage Digital, the U.S. federally chartered digital asset bank, is announcing that it has deepened its relationship with BlackRock to provide digital asset custody in order to meet growing digital asset demand from retail and institutional clients. Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. is being named “an… Read More

April 9, 2025 @ 8:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

NatWest has announced a minority investment in Yonder, a credit card platform that provides customer experiences through “lifestyle-led rewards.” Yonder provides a financial lifestyle platform “that brings together people, money and experiences.” Predominantly targeting young professionals and expats, their platform offers its members “a range… Read More

April 9, 2025 @ 8:05 am By Omar Faridi  |  

New research from PensionBee reveals that almost half of older savers don’t fully trust using artificial intelligence (AI) to help manage their finances. A nationally representative survey of 1,000 UK adults explored “attitudes towards AI in pension customer support.” The research findings reveal that 45%… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 10:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Shawbrook has provided an eight-figure revolving credit facility to bridging lender Bluecroft Finance, supporting the company’s expansion as it continues to grow its presence in the UK lending market. The revolving credit facility includes an accordion feature that “allows for a potential 50% expansion, offering… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 6:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tomorrow, April 8, 2025, the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Fintech and AI, part of the House Financial Services Committee, will hold a hearing to discuss digital assets and securities. While the hearing memo is rather brief, there is a dire need to update existing securities… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 4:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global fintech Airwallex announced that it now enables businesses to receive and hold funds in Israeli Shekels (ILS) through its Global Accounts and multi-currency wallet. The offering enables Israeli and global Airwallex customers to open accounts, facilitating transactions “in ILS via the Israeli payment network.”… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ripple has acquired Hidden Road Partners for $1.25 billion. Hidden Road is a prime brokerage that enables FX, digital assets, derivatives, synthetics, and more. Ripple is a digital asset platform probably best known for the issuance of XRP, a crypto for value transfer. This, as… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 2:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a significant move within the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, Cap, a stablecoin company, has secured $11 million in seed funding from a group of  investors, including asset management firm Franklin Templeton. The investment round also attracted participation from trading firm Susquehanna, investment firm Triton… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 2:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SOL Strategies Inc., a Canadian company dedicated to investing in and providing infrastructure for the Solana blockchain ecosystem, released its March 2025 operational update. Leah Wald, CEO, stated: “March represented a significant month for SOL Strategies, marked by our strategic acquisition of Laine’s validator network… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 12:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Chi-Chi’s, once a popular Mexican restaurant that emerged in the 70’s only to disappear in 2004, may emerge once again. That is if an attempt to reanimate the brand is successful. Raising money on StartEngine, Chi-Chi’s reborn has attracted the support of 360 investors, with… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Cybersecurity for crypto firm Octane has announced a $6.75 million seed round as it emerges from stealth mode. Winklevoss Capital and Archetype led the funding round. Other investors include Gemini, Circle, Legion Capital, Druid Ventures, Duke Capital Partners, and strategic angels Balaji Srinivasan, Sina Habibian,… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 11:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Apollo Funds has committed money to back Plume, according to a note from the company. Deal terms were not revealed. Plume is a blockchain built specifically for Real World Assets or RWAs. Plume says it is building an EVM compatible environment to transform traditional financial… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 11:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Euroclear is pleased to announce its participation in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Project Ensemble. Project Ensemble, launched in March 2024, is a HKMA initiative aimed at fostering and “shaping the tokenization ecosystem in Hong Kong.” This project brings together professionals and industry veterans… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 11:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Twinstake has joined the IOTA Genesis Validator Set, which is described as an institutional-grade staking solution for a “secure future.” When the IOTA Foundation selected its Genesis Validators for IOTA Rebased, it wasn’t just seeking network participants—it was curating what it claims is the “bedrock”… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

As a regular user of Companies House, this author believes the database needs more than some make-up. It needs a major overhaul. Companies House makes the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR system look like a supermodel in comparison. That’s a heavy lift. From posting documents with opaque… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 9:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK venture capital firm Osney Capital announces the first close of its debut fund to invest in the UK’s most promising cyber security startups, marking it the UK’s “first specialist” cyber security seed fund. The fund is oversubscribed from its “original target of £50m.” The… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 8:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The financial world is undergoing a fundamental shift. A new report by Ripple, the provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projects the market for tokenized real-world assets to grow from “$0.6 trillion today to $18.9 trillion by 2033… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 8:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Multiple reports indicate that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Unit (NCET), part of the US Department of Justice, has been shut down. Fortune first reported this, stating that a memo indicates that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the decision to eliminate the entity, claiming the DOJ is… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 8:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Launched in 2021 by Luca Colciago, Jack Diamond and Matteo Avramov Giulivi, pan-European growth debt platform, Atempo Growth has announced the first close of its second fund, Atempo Growth II with commitments of over €300M. This close reportedly increases the firms AuM to “over €700M.”… Read More

April 8, 2025 @ 8:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent shutdown caused a ripple across the industry and calls into question many regulations, including the status of the October open banking ruling. As the situation continues to evolve, CI caught up with Aaron Byrne, Head of Financial… Read More