Calypso Pay Adopts Bitcoin Lightning Network, Enables Users to Send Payments Faster

Wefunder, one of the largest securities crowdfunding platforms in the US, has received regulatory approval to operate in the European Union. Wefunder is the first Funding Portal to cross the Atlantic and gain approval to provide online capital formation services. Wefunder has been sharing its ambition to operate in Europe...

Injective, a blockchain specifically designed for building financial applications, announced a new $150 million ecosystem initiative “to further accelerate the adoption of interoperable infrastructure and DeFi.”. Injective claims it is the first fully decentralized smart contracts platform “optimized for building finance applications.” Injective was “created using the Cosmos SDK...

Eventus, a global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has “selected the firm’s Validus platform to provide market abuse monitoring on the exchange.”. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, Deribit claims it is among the largest cryptocurrency options...

FV Bank, the U.S. licensed global digital bank that offers a vertically-integrated suite of traditional and digital asset banking and custody services to Fintech and blockchain firms, has announced “the launch of their cross-border foreign exchange (FX) payments service for its U.S. and international account holders.”. The new offering...

In a report titled, Monitoring the Currents of the Crypto Market, Matías Andrade and Kyle Waters from Coinmetrics noted that the digital asset market is “experiencing a surge in activity as we kick off the new year. The update from Coinmetrics points out that Bitcoin is “up 36%...

Inflation has reduced the value of social security benefits to recipients. But there will be further cuts in the long run. Experts say the increasing needs of seniors are burdening small benefit reserves. Americans are living longer because of lower lifestyle risks. Life expectancy was 47 years in 1900 and it was 76 in 2021.

In November 2021, pan-European crowdfunding rules became actionable after approval by the European Union in 2020. Under the new rules, or European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR), a platform may raise up to €5 million from investors in all member states. This opens up investment crowdfunding to over 300 million EU citizens. The industry has heralded the new rules as a transformative event – a change in policy that took around 9 years of advocacy from industry insiders. At the same time, ECSPR is foundational to the concept of European monetary union – the ability for goods and capital to flow seamlessly across the EU.

Tabby, one of MENA’s shopping and financial services apps, has raised $58 million from Sequoia Capital India, STV, PayPal Ventures, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst in a Series C round which values the company at $660 million. The fundraise will be used “to expand Tabby’s product...

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, announced the launch of ICE Digital Trade Documents (ICE DTD) for the energy industry, a configurable solution “digitizing post-trade and shipping processes for physically delivered commodities including oil, gas and petrochemicals.”. The launch follows “a...

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has issued updated guidance for firms engaged in the crypt or “virtual asset” sector. NYDFS created a path for regulating digital asset firms fairly early on in the emergence of crypto. The announcement issued yesterday aims to provide guidance that protects consumers in the case of insolvency.

Binance Pay, a cryptocurrency payment service powered by Binance, announced its partnership with DT One, a B2B micropayments platform. DT One is powering cross-border transfers of mobile top-ups, data bundles, gaming pins, and gift cards. This partnership will “enable more than 90 million Binance users to top up their mobile...

FTX is being advised by 150 lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell, who are charging rates ranging from $810 to over $2,000 an hour.

"Another tightening of financial conditions this spring may be required to tip a US economy... into the recession the consensus craves," BofA said.

Nubank (NYSE: NU) has launched a new functionality that allows customers to view, within the Nu application, the balance of all their bank accounts linked to Open Finance. The tool is still “in the testing phase, and will initially be offered to 300,000 customers that are part of NuCommunity.” It will be gradually “released to the entire user base of the institution in this first quarter.”

The French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has posted a comment on its website commenting on investment crowdfunding. The AMF notes to change to online capital formation under EU harmonized rules or European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR). The AMF explains:. Crowdfunding: a regime undergoing transition. Crowdfunding, initially...

Female-founded Fintech Twinco Capital has announced a $12 million funding round led by Quona Capital. The funding provided both debt and equity capital. Working Capital, as well as existing investors Mundi Ventures and Finch Capital, participated in the round, with Zubi Capital providing the venture debt portion. The Amsterdam and...

Online lender Accelerated Payments has announced topping the €1 billion worth of invoice financing milestone. Based in Ireland, Accelerated Payments claims to be of the fastest-growing Fintechs in the world, with offices in Europe, the UK, Canada, and the USA. Accelerated Payments provides a solution for cash flow delays...

Tranch, a buy now pay later (BNPL) platform for SaaS sellers and services providers, has raised $100 million in seed equity and debt funding “to bring payment flexibility to a wider pool of B2B customers.”. The investment round was “led by Soma Capital (New York-based backers of Deel, Razor...

Digital asset exchange Luno will reportedly be cutting 35% of Its staff. Luno’s management stated that the upcoming job cuts will impact company workers in all supported regions. Luno is part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG) and reports having over ten million customers globally. Luno further noted that...

Milo, a financial technology company that is reimagining the way crypto and global consumers access financial solutions, announced the launch of its new crypto loan product. This launch means that digital asset-holders will now have the opportunity “to use their cryptocurrency as collateral to access loans, ranging in value from USD $10K – $200K and larger on a case-by-case basis.”