Finsight Breaking News - Page 16

Finsight Reports Fintech, Blockchain, Markets and Technology. Global overview in one place.

Point raises $46.5 million to give millennials a rewards-based alternative to credit cards

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Reward-based debit card startup Point has closed a $46.5 million Series B funding round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. Point is bringing the high-end credit card experience to young millennials floundering in debt, offering a debit card and linked bank account that features a range of premium perk-based benefits.

Point Card provides cardholders unlimited cash-back by earning points on every purchase, alongside extensive travel protections and purchase insurance benefits.

Reward points are geared to the youth market, including monthly subscriptions like Netflix and Spotify, and rideshares and food delivery services such as Uber and DoorDash. The company claims to provide the average cardholder with $1,230 in value annually.

Opening a Point account currently costs $49 per year and comes with two free ATM withdrawals per month and no foreign transaction fees.

The latest funding round follows a $10.5 million Series A raise in March 2020, bringing Point’s total funding to $60 million.

Point CEO and Co-founder, Patrick Mrozowski, says: “We are so excited to announce our Series B funding round today to bring a superior debit experience to Gen Z and Millennials, who have been massively underserved by legacy banking institutions with clunky debit cards with no rewards, or credit cards that trap them into debt.”

He says the new financing will allow the company to grow its team, expand features, and build a more extensive product suite.

Leading Digital Bank Chooses Tezos to Expand DeFi Offerings

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EQIFI, a regulated and licensed decentralized finance platform, has announced new products supporting the Tezos blockchain ecosystem. EQIFI has chosen Tezos because it is a leading Proof of Stake network with time-tested on-chain governance, an active DeFi (decentralized finance) ecosystem, and a global community of builders and creators. This new product launch cements EQIFI as a leader in the DeFi space and as the world’s first seamless bridge to decentralized finance.

EQIFI will offer Tezos staking and borrowing services to its global customer base. EQIFI is powered by EQIBank, one of the world’s leading licensed and regulated digital banks. EQIFI operates under a community-focused, decentralized standard through its native EQX token. This allows community members to provide input on decisions such as listing and delisting assets and tokens, adjusting interest rates according to the market, and modifying collateral limits. 

“A product offering with an industry leader such as Tezos signifies the bar EQIFI is setting in the DeFi space. Providing exposure to Tezos holders for staking and borrowing is just the next step in positioning EQIFI to become an industry leader.” – Jason Blick, Chairman of EQIFI

Tezos is one of the original Proof of Stake smart contract layer one blockchains. Since launching in 2017, it has successfully upgraded itself seven times, logged millions of transactions, and attracted a vibrant, global community. Developers are able to easily build powerful tools and products, while new users can explore NFTs, DeFi, DAOs, and more across hundreds of decentralized applications running on Tezos. 

Tezos’ Proof of Stake design means it can operate in an energy-efficient manner, consuming over two-million times less energy than popular Proof of Work networks – this makes it an ideal platform for building blockchain applications that are energy-efficient and sustainable. 

EQIBank offers competitive rates, 24/7 service, trusted security and an innovative, simple online global banking experience. EQIBank provides bank accounts, loans, custody, debit and credit cards, over the counter, and wealth management to EQIFI and all its qualified clients. 

Balance raises $25m for B2B digital checkout platform

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Balance, a digital checkout platform for B2B businesses, has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Stripe.Avid Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Y Combinator Continuity Fund, SciFi VC and UpWest and a host of early employees and executives from Square, Plaid, Coinbase, Stripe, and PayPal joined the round.

Balance officially launched its self-serve digital checkout platform earlier this year, vowing to transform the online payments experience for B2B companies, bringing an Amazon-like experience.

The platform lets any merchant, marketplace or SaaS company that sells goods and services online and offline offer their buyers a wide array of payment methods and terms, and get paid instantly.

Balance says users get a payment experience that is as convenient as consumer checkout, automatic collection, reconciliation and settlement, instant, automated financing, and APIs for developers.

The startup is already partnering with e-commerce giants like BigCommerce, as well as Magento, leading B2B e-commerce agencies, and soon to include Salesforce.

Bar Geron, CEO, Balance, says: “Global B2B trade being done mostly offline is resulting in high cost of living and economic inefficiencies, worldwide. We are at the very early innings of a massive shift from offline to online, across industries.

“Our goal is to facilitate this transition with an amazing transaction experience for businesses and suppliers, making it a no-brainer for every B2B business to start selling online.”

Stock Brokerage firm Alpaca raises $50m and moves into crypto trading

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Alpaca, a stock brokerage platform that offers APIs for fintech apps to connect and trade in US stocks, has raised $50 million and laid out its plan to launch cryptocurrency trading.Tribe Capital led the Series B funding round, with participation from Horizons Ventures, Eldridge, Positive Sum, Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, and Social Leverage.

Launched in 2018, Alpaca has seen a 1500% year to date growth in brokerage accounts and expanding partnerships across Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, North and Latin Americas.

Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO, Alpaca, says: “By the end of the year, we’re going to see close to 100 global fintech apps built with our APIs go live with their stock trading platforms.

“We’re unlocking the ability to invest in U.S. companies in places around the world that have never had this opportunity and through fintech partners that share our vision of democratizing investing.”

The firm is now set to launch a cryptocurrency product for both its retail consumers and B2B partners. Customers will soon be able to buy, sell, hold, and trade cryptocurrencies via Alpaca’s developer-first APIs.

Alpaca has also teamed up with Plaid to allow broker API partners to simplify the account funding experience for their customers.

EQONEX announces the launch of Cross Collateral trading to improve capital efficiency

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Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange EQONEX (Nasdaq: EQOS), today announced the launch of Cross Collateral functionality across its platform to enable traders to more effectively manage their collateral when trading derivative products.

With the new feature, traders will be able to use US dollars (USD), USD Coin (USDC), and Bitcoin (BTC) as margin for derivatives trading. EQONEX also intends to expand the assets eligible to be used as margin including EQO.

The launch of Cross Collateral is another milestone for EQONEX as it introduces more trading tools demanded by sophisticated traders, who are seeking to trade crypto portfolios in all market conditions. It follows the introduction of trading Sub Accounts in June, Ethereum Perpetual Futures in March, and BTC Perpetual Futures in January.

Cross Collateral gives all customers the opportunity to use multiple assets instead of only USD or USDC to fund their Total Account Margin. This removes the requirement to convert assets into USD or USDC before opening a margined position. In addition, Cross Collateral now allows traders to generate negative USD or USDC balances to handle trading fees, basis payments, and P&L without liquidating any open Cross Collateral positions.

Neil Sheppard, Chief Product Officer at EQONEX, said: “As we continue to improve and upgrade EQONEX our main objective is to facilitate the wider institutional and professional trader adoption of crypto assets.

“Our roadmap to become the premier trading venue of choice for traders sees the introduction of both additional assets that can be used as Cross Collateral as well as a wider range of derivative products and trading features that will benefit from such functionality.”

LatAm: Honduras opens its first cryptocurrency ATM

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The first cryptocurrency ATM in Honduras opened this week as bitcoin backers sought to spur demand for virtual assets after neighbouring El Salvador became the first country to establish bitcoin as legal tender.

The machine, locally dubbed “la bitcoinera,” allows users to acquire bitcoin and ethereum using the local lempira currency and was installed in an office tower in the capital of Tegucigalpa by Honduran firm TGU Consulting Group.

Juan Mayen, 28, chief executive of TGU, led the effort to bring the ATM to Honduras in hopes of educating people about virtual assets through the first-hand experience.

Until now, there was no automated way to buy crypto-currencies, he said.

“You had to do it peer-to-peer, look for someone who … was willing to do it, meet in person and carry X amount of cash, which is very inconvenient and dangerous given the environment in Honduras,” he said.

On Friday, one ethereum was trading at $3,237, and bitcoin; $48,140. If the service is popular, Mayen said he hoped to install more units.

To make a purchase, users have to scan official identification and input personal data such as a phone number.

Many software developers in Honduras are already paid in cryptocurrencies, Mayen said, adding that it will also be a cheaper option to send remittances.

Cuba authorizes and seeks to regulate cryptocurrency use

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Cuba said this week it would authorize and regulate the use of cryptocurrency, a move that could help the Communist-run country skirt U.S. sanctions that have complicated transactions through the international banking system.

Cryptocurrencies, which allow financial operations to be carried out anonymously in a decentralized manner, have been used in the past to get around capital controls, as well as to make payments and transfers more efficient.

Cuba’s central bank can, for “reasons of socioeconomic interest,” authorize the use of certain virtual assets for payments and issue licenses to providers of services related to them, according to a resolution published in the official gazette on Thursday.

The bank warned that individuals undertook unauthorized operations with such assets at their own risk. In May it had alerted Cubans against a growth of Ponzi-like ‘investment’ schemes, including some using cryptocurrencies.

Interest in the use of cryptocurrencies in Latin America has been growing. El Salvador in June became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. The first cryptocurrency ATM  in neighbouring Honduras opened this week.

Inflation in Argentina and Venezuela has also spurred interest in digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency already had a fanbase in Cuba as a way to get around the decades-old U.S. trade embargo that cuts Cubans off from conventional international payment systems and financial markets.

Some younger, tech-savvy Cubans have been buying digital currencies to make purchases online and to invest, while companies have offered to send remittances to Cubans through an exchange scheme involving cryptocurrencies.

AAX becomes the first crypto trading platform to make the switch to SATS To Counter Bitcoin Price Bias And Drive Adoption

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Switching to the Satoshi standard and Lightning Network connectivity makes Bitcoin more tangible and easy to use. AAX has made the first move in the crypto space, already providing BTC to SAT balance conversion with a separate SAT-USDT market with a minimum trade volume of 0.1 USD, launching on August 25. 

AAX believes that the adoption of SAT as a unit of measurement is an important and long-overdue process for the cryptocurrency community since the new standard contributes to the spread of Bitcoin and helps new people, especially those from unbanked countries and regions with a lower level of cryptocurrency awareness, make their first purchase into this new form of sound money. Mass adoption should not make the blockchain space look like the classical financial market, as it was never meant to be so.

The Bitcoin community has been requesting such an upgrade for a long time, with big players supporting the new standard. In May, Mike Novogratz, tagging Coinbase, Kraken and FTX, called on crypto exchanges to switch to Satoshis, referring to the growing number of people saying the high price of Bitcoin stops them from buying it:

“It is time to switch to Satoshis.  Too many people telling me that $58,000 $BTC is too expensive.  Which exchange will be first to quote in SATS?”

Following AAX’s announcement to heed Novogratz’ call, one prominent Bitcoiner and author of “21 lessons: what I’ve learned from falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole” pointed out that the discussion had been going on for a few years already. 

Apart from hints by some exchanges such as OKCoin, it was Bitfinex who was next to make a significant move, announcing:

Switching from BTC-USD to SAT-USD will allow people to be far less hesitant when considering the transition to using Bitcoin. Unit price bias is the biggest problem that has been underestimated for years as an incredibly powerful barrier, and it significantly affects both the average retail investor and new user.

“We are confident that this is the beginning of an important trend, and we are delighted to be at the origins of a new on-exchange metric system. I urge crypto exchanges and payment systems to pay attention to popularize the new standard as soon as possible, as this is the only real way we counter the idea that the Bitcoin ship has sailed. It’s only for the rich”, Toya Zhang, the Deputy COO of AAX,  added on the matter.

In addition, an increase in the availability and ease of use of BTC is needed for its further popularization and adoption as a means of payment. However, with its price growth, the situation is developing in the opposite direction since an expensive Bitcoin is less practical for regular payments for everyday goods and services.

As the industry matures, it is harder to gain access to BTC for the unbanked and generate organic demand. Commissions may cost more than the amount the less well-off can trade. 

Furthermore, as seen in recent months, meme coins such as DOGE and SHIB are perceived as cheaper than Bitcoin and, consequently, those who might need it most turn to hype money, unsound money, or riskier investments.

The widespread introduction of SATS as a unit can correct the situation, as it is more convenient to carry out calculations. For example, a cup of coffee costs 10,000 SAT or 0.0001BTC. This is also a good marketing ploy for BTC, as users will now be buying 212,000 SAT, not 0.00212 BTC for $100. Apart from such practical and psychological arguments, given that there can only ever be 21 million Bitcoin, most of its users will never be able to hold a full coin. This means that for the majority of Bitcoin holders, SATS will be the reality.

“Of course, in addition to this market and balance switch, we also understand the need to expand the Lighting Network to simplify deposits and withdrawals and bring down associated fees, but AAX is taking the first step in this direction today — offering to buy SATS of 10 cents or more without commission,” as Toya Zhang concluded.

Due to the smaller trade size, market makers on AAX will need to deploy alternative hedging techniques. Although small, within larger BTC movements, this local market for SATS can be expected to chart its own unique price fluctuations. Therefore, to optimally protect smallholders, any order above 50,000 SATS users shall be directed to the main Bitcoin market. 

The transition to a simplified standard is part of the AAX initiative to make onboarding easier for new crypto users. On August 5, the exchange cancelled commissions for all spot pairs. As a result, users will be able to trade in the SAT-USD pair for free as well. The first trades in the SAT-USDT pair on AAX will be possible with a minimum order of $0.10 (214 SAT) and a maximum order of 50,000 SAT ($23) from the 25th of August.

PERA HUB Join Forces With Brankas to Launch Digital Remittance Platform

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Philippines’ financial services center PERA HUB has joined forces with Brankas, an Indonesian open API technology provider, to launch a digital remittance platform, PERA HUB Conex.

The platform serves foreign and local remittance companies, fintech partners, banks, e-wallets, brick-and-mortar retailers, and any other business looking to offer their customers digital remittance services.

As PERA HUB’s technology partner, Brankas is implementing its Open Finance system to unlock new digital remittance channels for Filipinos at home and abroad.

Brankas provides a secure API developer portal that enables partners to access the PERA HUB network.

The platform will offer services that include international and domestic remittances, sending remittances for direct credit to bank account or e-wallet, account validation and KYC, digital micro-insurance as well as instant bill payments.

PERA HUB said that these services are available at more than 3000 locations in the Philippines.

PayPal Launches Its Cryptocurrency Service in the UK

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 PayPal  announced the launch of a new service enabling its customers in the UK  to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal. This new service starts rolling out this week.

Customers can choose from four types of cryptocurrencies—Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. By accessing their PayPal account via the website or the mobile app, they can view real-time crypto prices, access educational content to help answer commonly asked questions, and learn more about cryptocurrencies, including the opportunities and risks.

This announcement marks the first international expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States. With a trusted brand like PayPal now making an entry, access, knowledge, and the exploration of cryptocurrency has the potential to become mainstream in the UK.

The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager, Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrencyWe are committed to continue working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”

Buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal

The introduction of this service offers customers a new way to explore cryptocurrency in the PayPal environment they know and trust. Customers can start by buying as little as £1 of cryptocurrency through PayPal. To purchase cryptocurrency, eligible customers can log into their PayPal account via the website or their mobile app, navigate to the new crypto tab to view the four cryptocurrencies available and view current pricing and trends.

Customers can choose from pre-determined purchase amounts or enter in their own purchase amount, before following the prompts to buy the cryptocurrency of their choice. Customers will be able to fund their PayPal account for the purchase using their bank account or debit card. If customers choose to sell cryptocurrency with this new service, funds are normally available quickly to spend in their PayPal account. There are no fees to hold cryptocurrency in a PayPal account. There are transaction fees and currency conversion fees for buying and selling applicable cryptocurrencies.

Create greater understanding and enable access

As part of this offering, PayPal provides account holders with educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the volatility, risks, and opportunities related to purchasing cryptocurrency. The company encourages its customers to do their research on the risks and opportunities for various cryptocurrencies before taking the step to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal.

Advancing the next generation of financial services infrastructure

PayPal is one of the largest companies globally to enter the market for digital currencies with its announcement last October that it would allow its millions of U.S. customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies. This March, the company announced ‘Checkout with Crypto’— enabling customers in the U.S. to use their cryptocurrency alongside other payment methods in their PayPal wallet to make purchases at businesses around the world. In April, the company introduced crypto services on its mobile payment service Venmo in the U.S.

In addition to providing these cryptocurrency services, PayPal has been exploring the potential of digital currencies through partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and with central banks around the world. For the past five years, PayPal has increased its focus on, and invested resources in its internal blockchain research team to explore the next generation of digital financial services infrastructure and enhancements to digital commerce.

The company has enabled its cryptocurrency offering through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company. PayPal’s venture capital arm has also made investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency-related start-ups including: TRM Labs, leading cryptocurrency risk management software; TaxBit, a provider of crypto tax software to customers and exchanges; and Talos, institutional-grade infrastructure technology for digital asset trading.

In the UK, PayPal’s new crypto offering which covers buying, holding and selling cryptocurrency will start to roll out this week and will be available within the next few weeks for all eligible customers directly in their PayPal account via the website and their mobile app.

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