March 1, 2026 @ 6:00 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Deepfake videos are spreading across TikTok and Instagram, using AI-generated faces and voices to promote products that are fake, misleading, or too good to be true. A deepfake is a piece of audio or video that has been digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence to make… Read More

March 1, 2026 @ 5:44 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Dots, a global payouts platform for marketplaces and service-based businesses, has secured $8.9M in Series A funding led by DCM with participation from Y Combinator. The company has raised more than $14.6 million to date and processes north of $150 million in payouts each month…. Read More

March 1, 2026 @ 5:26 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

LoanBud, a financial technology company that facilitates access to Small Business Administration (SBA) financing, this week announced the launch of its LoanBud Prequalification Platform (LoanBud.io), a solution that prequalifies businesses for SBA financing prior to listing—bringing financing validation to the start of the sales process instead of the… Read More

March 1, 2026 @ 2:24 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The British Business Bank has committed an additional £25 million to invest in angel syndicates. The platform is managed by Haatch, a bank partner, and follows an initial investment of £7 million into a cohort of five emerging syndicates last year. The total of £32… Read More

March 1, 2026 @ 1:01 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

African Heads of State and Government have formally launched the Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility (AIFF), a coordinated, Africa-led platform designed to accelerate the preparation and facilitation of financing for priority cross-border infrastructure projects aligned with Agenda 2063. The launch took place during the Third Presidential… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 7:56 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, NEAR Intents, the universal liquidity protocol for on-chain markets and tokenized assets, announced the launch of near.com, a new consumer super-app running on crypto rails. This announcement comes alongside the introduction of Confidential Intents, a confidentiality layer for cross-chain execution and the NEAR… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 1:30 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Zafran Security, a provider of AI-native threat exposure management, has announced a strategic investment from Amex Ventures, the venture capital arm of American Express. Amex Ventures joins Zafran’s latest $60M C round, including existing investors Menlo Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Cyberstarts.  The investment reflects a… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 1:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In yet another recent move signaling Wall Street’s embrace of digital assets, financial services firm Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has submitted an application to establish a specialized banking entity focused on handling digital currencies. The firm, which oversees approximately $9 trillion in client assets, aims to create… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 1:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dune Analytics indicated that stablecoins have emerged as a foundational element, facilitating seamless cross-border transactions, enabling efficient settlements for institutions, powering liquidity in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and serving as a medium for programmable currency. According to insights from Dune Analytics, these digital assets process… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 1:20 pm By Michael Wong  |  

RLWRLD, a South Korean “physical AI” startup building robotics foundation models trained inside live industrial sites, has raised about $26 million in a Seed 2 funding round, bringing its total seed financing to roughly $41 million, the company said. The Seed 2 round drew a… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 12:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In the maturing digital finance ecosystem, payment stablecoins continue to draw attention from US policymakers regarding the rewards /  yield that they could offer holders. The issue of generating returns for stablecoin holders appears to be the biggest hurdle for the passage of crypto market… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 9:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) (NASDAQ: MARA), a key player in the digital asset and infrastructure space, recently unveiled its financial performance for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025, alongside two significant partnerships aimed at diversifying its operations beyond traditional Bitcoin mining. These developments… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 9:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In a development for the European fintech investment sector, Augmentum Fintech (LON: AUGM), a growth capital firm based operating in London, has reportedly accepted a cash takeover proposal valued at approximately £185.7 million from Verdane, a Norwegian private equity group specializing in technology-driven businesses. The announcement… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 8:54 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Fideo Intelligence, an AI-driven identity intelligence engine, this week announced the launch of Verify for Payments, a real-time identity intelligence solution designed to help payment service providers, fintech platforms, payment processors, and financial institutions detect fraud earlier while approving more legitimate customers. As global fraud losses are projected… Read More

February 28, 2026 @ 1:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence platform, unveiled a strategic partnership with Finray Technologies to embed advanced crypto risk monitoring directly into banking and payments infrastructure. The collaboration integrates TRM’s industry-trusted blockchain analytics into Finray’s XZiel unified compliance engine, creating a single operational environment for managing… Read More

February 27, 2026 @ 4:26 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, Thredd, an AI-first issuer processing platform, announced the expansion of its partnership with MuchBetter, the consumer wallet and prepaid card platform, supporting the company’s launch in Israel. This marks the latest milestone in the company’s international expansion, powered by Thredd, following the successful… Read More

February 27, 2026 @ 3:25 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Midnight Foundation recently announced that MoneyGram, Pairpoint by Vodafone, and eToro will each be running one of 10 nodes for Midnight, the fourth generation blockchain delivering rational privacy to Web3, marking a shift in how privacy-enhancing blockchain infrastructure is being adopted at scale. The… Read More

February 27, 2026 @ 2:24 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Grey, a provider of cross-border payments solutions, has expanded its business banking offering to include USD business accounts, bulk payments, and USDC stablecoin support on a single platform. The expanded offering is designed to help businesses receive international payments, manage large-scale cross-border transactions, and reduce… Read More

February 27, 2026 @ 1:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As part of the ongoing movement that is gradually bridging traditional finance and blockchain technology, Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings has teamed up with Web3 infrastructure firm Startale Group to create a fully compliant stablecoin tied to the Japanese yen. This initiative, announced through a… Read More

February 27, 2026 @ 1:22 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Mindbreeze, a global provider of AI-based knowledge management solutions, has announced the results of its 1H 2026 GenAI Confidence Index Report. The study suggests a shift in how global enterprises view Generative AI from early enthusiasm toward disciplined, execution-focused adoption. While senior executives continue to… Read More