January 22, 2025 @ 7:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous (and now defunct) dark web marketplace, Silk Road. Ulbricht had been serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole since his 2015 conviction… Read More

January 22, 2025 @ 7:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Quantexa, the global enabler of Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, has joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Innovator Community as a member of its Unicorn Program. This program unites private start-up companies valued at more than $1 billion with political,… Read More

January 22, 2025 @ 7:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Gemini says it has chosen Malta as its hub for the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. This strategic decision underscores Gemini’s ongoing dedication to “enhancing regulatory compliance and European growth.” Having received their Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Service License in Malta in Dec 2024 (their… Read More

January 22, 2025 @ 7:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Nu Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NU), the parent company of Nubank and Latin America’s most valuable fintech, is weighing the possibility of relocating its legal base to the United Kingdom as it eyes broader global expansion, including a potential entry into the highly competitive US markets…. Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 9:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Numou, a subsidiary of ADGM the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, announced an expansion of its lending partner network, strengthening its position as a digital lending marketplace. The platform reportedly features collaborations with institutions, including the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and private credit… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 9:11 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Skor Technologies, the Indonesian parent company of credit-education platform Skorlife and the Skorcard digital-first credit card, has raised $6.2 million in a pre Series-A funding round led by Southeast Asia-focused Argor Capital. The round also saw participation from existing backers QED Investors and Saison Capital,… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 5:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

President Donald Trump took to the podium once again to reveal a significant investment targeting Artificial Intelligence development. “Largest AI Infrastructure project in history” At a press event at the White House, the President introduced Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, Masayoshi (Masa) Son, CEO of… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 5:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kaia has integrated Fireblocks, an enterprise platform to manage digital asset operations and build innovative businesses on blockchain. The collaboration enables institutions to securely manage and transfer assets on the Kaia blockchain / DLT network, reportedly “offering enhanced capabilities in tokenization, DeFi, and blockchain-based financial… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 5:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Colbeck Capital Management, a middle-market private credit firm focused on lending, has recently announced that it raised $700 million in capital commitments for its third flagship fund, Colbeck Strategic Lending III, “exceeding its target by 40%.” The Fund received support from existing Colbeck clients and… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 2:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Generali Investments, a global investment management firm and part of the Generali Group, and MGG Investment Group (MGG), a U.S. private direct lending investment firm with over $6 billion in assets under management, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Generali Investments’ wholly-owned… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 1:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Small Change, a FINRA-regulated Funding Portal in the real estate sector, is reporting its best year to date. According to the company, in 2024, issuers raised over $6 million for 12+ real estate projects across the US. Small Change says that 13 issuers were launched… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 1:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Following the SEC debacle in regulating crypto under the direction of Chairman Gary Gensler, acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda has announced a new Crypto Task Force. Uyeda was just announced as the temporary Chair to lead the Commission. Following his selection, Acting Chair Uyeda said… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 1:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

As one of many Executive Actions taken by President Donald Trump, the Biden Executive Action pertaining to Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been rescinded. As posted on the White House website, Executive Order 14110 of October 30, 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 11:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Honeycomb Credit, a FINRA regulated Funding Portal, says it will offer a $10,000 grant for smaller firms. The grant is available to any small business in the US. Accepting applications now, the company says it has already provided over $40,000 to smaller firms, but this… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 11:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Circle, a top stablecoin issuer best known for its dollar-based digital currency USDC, has acquired Hashnote. The purchase was revealed at  Davos, Switzerland where Circle CEO and founder Jeremy Allaire was speaking. Hashnote is the issuer of the Tokenized Money Market Fund (TMMF) – US… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 11:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Adopting the new global standard for payments is more important than ever, according to an update from Swift. As the financial industry moves closer to the CBPR+ November 2025 deadline, Swift has shared comments on some key developments. CBPR+ stands for Cross-border Payments and Reporting… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 11:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Open Campus, the community-led decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) building an on-chain education network, announced it has launched the EDU Chain mainnet, a Layer 3 blockchain on Arbitrum Orbit. EDU Chain is designed for consumer-facing education apps and on-chain education finance (EduFi), “powered by the EDU… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 10:43 am By JD Alois  |  

Leading European tokenization enabler Tokeny will be working with London-based asset manager Fasanara Capital Ltd. According to an email from Tokeny, Fasanara will be issuing the first tokenized money market fund called the Fasanara MMF Token (FAST). The digital security will be using the Polygon… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 10:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK capital markets are being held back by low levels of retail investment, as an abrdn report shows the extent to which wealth is being skewed towards property and cash compared with some other G7 countries. Looking at what percentage of people’s wealth is held… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 9:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Commissioner Mark Uyeda has been designated the Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the exit of the Biden Administration. Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler officially exited his leadership role at the Commission on the… Read More