Monthly Volume of Funding Secured by P2P Platforms Tends to Rise in December, Report Reveals

Both private and public markets slowed dramatically during 2022. While the year started off relatively positive, the realities of persistent (and not transitory) inflation hit everyone hard. This, combined with geopolitical challenges such as Russia’s unprovoked war with Ukraine and China’s chest pounding, pushed investors to go risk off. As the US Federal Reserve drove rates higher, people moved their money to more mundane products. Private markets raising capital under various exemptions dropped.

A report published by Mobey Forum’s Digital Identity Expert Group has identified unique opportunities for banks “to leverage their position as custodians of personal data to offer value-added digital identity services and become brokers of trust in the digital economy.”. The report suggests “that for digital identity systems...

Finastra recently unveiled Finastra ALM IQ, a risk management solution available for banks from March 2023. The unique Cloud-based balance sheet management tool “enables small and medium-sized banks to make confident decisions in shorter timeframes, making them more competitive against larger financial institutions.”. ALM IQ offers “a faster, deeper...

Blockchain Intelligence Group, a key player focused on blockchain investigations and training, owned by BIGG Digital Assets, Inc. (CSE: BIGG), announces that it has achieved significant company and industry milestones “in global crypto investigations.”. It added new customers, “including enabler of real-time clearing and Embedded Banking for financial institutions...

Gobi Partners, the “most interconnected” Pan-Asian venture capital (VC) firm with US$1.5 billion (RM6.5 billion) in assets under management has “onboarded four more promising Malaysian startups to its Gobi Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund).”. The four firms “being onboarded are Islamic-themed streaming service Durioo+, e-commerce marketplace...

Finnish Fintech company Membrane Finance has launched EUROe – Europe’s “first” and “only” EU-regulated full-reserve stablecoin and payment network. EUROe transforms “a fiat Euro into a 1:1 pegged digital currency transactable on Ethereum, with planned support for an increasing number of blockchains.” One EUROe is always one Euro. For each EUROe issued, “at least one fiat Euro exists in a European financial institution or bank, ring-fenced from Membrane Finance.”

Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. launches a new discretionary mandate based on Artificial Intelligence. The new mandate has been developed in partnership with MDOTM Ltd, the Fintech scaleup global provider of AI-driven investment solutions “for institutional investors.”. The new mandate, called “GP AI-Driven”, will invest in “a flexible and...

The Nuon Protocol has announced the launch of its mainnet for the NUON flatcoin: the world’s “first” cryptocurrency “linked to an unbiased cost of living index.”. Decentralized and overcollateralized, Nuon will “go live on the leading Ethereum scaling solution, Arbitrum.”. The concept of a flatcoin...

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued the consultation conclusion to the discussion paper on crypto-assets and stablecoins (the “Consultation Conclusion”), summarizing the feedback “received in relation to the paper and the HKMA’s response.”. In the Consultation Conclusion, the HKMA proposes “to bring certain activities relating...

Klarpay AG marks a “significant” expansion of its international payment offering with the launch of 13 new currency IBAN accounts. This addition “enables digital companies, including online merchants, ad networks, marketplaces, and influencers, to collect and disburse payments in AED, AUD, CAD, DKK, HKD, HUF, JPY, MXN, NOK, PLN, SEK, TRY, and ZAR globally via their corporate Klarpay account in addition to the 80+ payout currencies which are already available.”

DealMaker, a tech-enabled capital raising platform, has sued Issuance – another firm engaged in raising capital for private firms, in the US District Court, Central District of California. DealMaker is based in Canada but has several offices in the US. According to the complaint, Issuance CEO and co-founder Darren...

Specialty insurer Relm Insurance Ltd. announces an expansion of its strategic fronting partnership with Trisura Specialty Insurance Company, enabling the Bermuda-domiciled carrier “to provide capacity in support of AM-Best rated paper for U.S. digital asset risks.”. Trisura, rated A- by AM Best, claims it is “a leading international specialty...

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s “fastest growing” fintech ecosystem, announced that Chimera Abu Dhabi has invested more than $200 million in equity in exchange for over 20% of the company. In addition, the company claims it is “in advanced stages with leading international investors to raise $60 million of primary...

Mizuho Bank, Ltd., the integrated retail and corporate banking unit of Mizuho Financial Group and one of Japan’s largest financial services institutions, is “modernizing its legacy banking system for international operations with Oracle.”. Over the coming years, Mizuho will “implement Oracle’s banking solutions to support critical functions, including...

Monzo, a top digital bank serving the UK and the US, has surpassed seven million customers, according to an investor update posted on the Monzo community forum. The post indicates that Monzo has been growing by 150,000 new account sign-ups each month, with 350,000 customers signing up for either the Monzo Plus or Monzo Premium tiers. Approximately 200,000 business customers now utilize the digital bank.

Fibery, the work and knowledge hub for startups, today announced that it has raised $5.2 million in a Series A funding round “led by Tal Ventures, with additional funding from Altair Capital.”. This investment round “brings total investment in the company to $8.3 million, following a $3.1 million seed...

Quick and easy payouts trump all other factors for North American and U.K. online sports bettors when selecting a sportsbook, according to the latest All the ways players pay research from payments platform Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE). The report also “reveals the crucial role of the payments experience in player retention...

Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR), a developer and operator of bitcoin mining data centers, announced its unaudited production and operations update for January 2023. During the month of January, Cipher continued “to expand operations at Odessa, fund our capital expenditures out of operations and build our bitcoin inventory.” Cipher started the month with the potential “to mine up to ~9.3 bitcoin in a day and finished with the potential to mine ~14.0 bitcoin1 – a ~51% increase in a single month.”

Iwoca reaches net profitability in Q4 2022 and experiences over 50% increase in the number of small and medium-sized businesses funded across the UK and Germany. This comes as iwoca “increases its funding line with Pollen Street Capital from £125m to £170m.” The total number of customers funded across the UK and Germany – “including all products and repeat customers – grew by over 50% in 2022 vs. 2021.”

Center, a software company helping businesses gain visibility into and manage employee spending, released insights from its fourth annual Expense Management Trends survey, revealing that “despite an uncertain economic environment, over a third of respondents (36%) plan to spend more than $250k annually on travel, with 16% expected to spend over $500k.”