September 25, 2023 @ 8:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen has submitted a proposal to build the project’s upcoming native chain using Solana’s codebase, which led to Vitalik Buterin selling $580,000 worth of MakerDAO’s MKR token in rebellion. The move may be an indication that ecosystem participants want to explore different… Read More

September 25, 2023 @ 8:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

British Business Bank is supporting more than £12.4bn of finance through its core programs and meets its objectives, but “reports a loss for 2022/23 due to falls in market valuations.” Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank, said: “The British Business Bank has continued to build… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Metro Bank’s ‘Scam of the Month’ for September 2023 is a warning to drivers about the influx of second-hand car scams “as approximately a million drivers take possession of their new 73 licence plate cars from September.” Purchase scams can take many forms; “with the… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Smart Pension, one of the UK’s workplace pension providers, announces its investment in the AMX-DWS Global Low Carbon Stewardship Fund. The fund is a new low-carbon global equity index strategy that “offers innovative stewardship voting capabilities, being one of the first pooled funds to offer… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Starling Bank is raising the interest rate on its 1-Year Fixed Saver from 5.25% to 5.53% AER/Gross. Effective from Thursday 21 September 2023, Starling Bank customers “choosing the Fixed Saver will receive a return of 5.53% on balances of £2,000 – £1 million locked in… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) wrote to several members of the U.S. Congress to highlight the harms the Credit Card Competition Act would “bring to consumers, businesses of all sizes and financial institutions. Today’s payments ecosystem enables consumers “to make purchases safely and securely while gaining access… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The “chill” in startup fundraising is having major ripple effects on startup employee compensation, according to a comprehensive update from Carta. Startups on Carta collectively raised “about $28 billion through the first half of 2023.” That was less than half of the total funds “raised… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TreviPay, the global B2B payments and invoicing network, today released a new capability to support cross-currency sales between businesses, showcasing its commitment in “orchestrating choice, convenience and efficiency in B2B payments to merchants around the world.” TreviPay, which operates “in 32 countries and in 20… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pitchbook introduces their research series: Country Snapshots in which they provide an overview of macroeconomic and microeconomic trends in various regions spanning both private and public markets. Here is what Pitchbook highlighted for Q2 in France: Contrary to VC, PE deal value in France “came… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 10:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payhawk, the global spend management platform, announces ‘Payhawk Green’, the new platform features to help companies make more sustainable decisions related to company spending. The features are “available to all customers at no additional cost.” Payhawk Green will help companies make more sustainable decisions related… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 9:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has registered as a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian wallet provider with the Bank of Spain. This registration will allow Coinbase to offer their full suite of products and services “to retail and institutional users in Spain, all in compliance with the national legal… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 8:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In order to support innovation, financial inclusion as well as the emerging digital financial services ecosystem, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reportedly issued In-Principle Approvals for launching five digital retail-focused banking platforms. Pakistan’s newly approved online banks reportedly include HugoBank, KT Bank Pakistan… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 8:07 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Payments Association, a United Kingdom-based payments organization, presented its report, Navigating the rising cost of living: Payments innovation as a game-changer at Parliament last week. The report identifies three groups of people newly at risk of financial exclusion and provides recommendations for building a… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 7:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hitting their Covid lows, tech M&A deal volume dropped to its lowest level since 2020, according to a report from CBInsights. The CBInsights report also reveals that risk-off strategic acquirers are the primary drivers of “a slowdown in tech M&A activity.” The report further notes… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 4:11 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, raised concerns regarding the influence of social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop on the operations and sales of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and traditional market merchants. He opined that platforms like TikTok should stick to… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 3:51 pm By Michael Wong  |  

In what is being touted as Singapore‘s most significant money laundering operation, authorities reported a staggering increase in the total value of assets confiscated, now amounting to S$2.4 billion ($1.76 billion), according to a police announcement. The huge inventory of seized assets now encompasses over… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 3:47 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Nagad, a Mobile Financial Service (MFS) provider in Bangladesh, is on the verge of launching a digital bank. The company expects to receive its license from the Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, in the coming months. Sadaf Roksana, co-founder and executive director of Nagad… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 3:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pacaso, the technology-enabled real estate marketplace that helps people buy and co-own a luxury second home, released its 2023 marketplace resale report. Pacaso homes have historical resale gains “from the time of the ownership interest purchase to the time of reselling of more than 10%.”… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 2:58 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Deepcoin Labs, a venture capital firm with a specialization in blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and digital assets, has been granted the “Proprietary Trading in Crypto-commodities” registration by the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC). This recognition coincides with the unveiling of a $10 million fund, explicitly earmarked to… Read More

September 24, 2023 @ 12:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nation-state cyber threat activity will push the boundaries of war exclusion language, warns cyber risk analytics specialist CyberCube. In a report examining selected nation-state cyber hot zones to gain insight into the potential cyber (re)insurance impacts of future cyber wars, CyberCube monitors these hot zones… Read More