Leading the news this week was the incredible demise of Fast that imploded this past week. Also making news was a big M&A deal from Fast archrival Bolt, Jamie Dimon’s shareholder letter discusses tech, the UK go all-in on crypto, the SEC wants to regulate crypto exchanges and more. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Live Fast, Die Young: Behind the Fall of a One-Click Wonder from The Information – I don’t think we have seen anything like this in fintech before. Fast, the one-click checkout company, went from raising money to looking for a buyer, to shutting down all in one week. The demise of Fast lived up to its name.
Crypto Startup Wyre Being Acquired by Payments Company Bolt for $1.5 Billion from The Wall Street Journal – In an interesting coincidence of timing, Fast archrival in the one-click checkout space, Bolt, announced the acquisition of crypto payments company Wyre for $1.5 billion. Outside of SPACs this is the largest acquisition ever in the crypto sector.
Jamie Dimon’s Annual Letter To JPMorgan Chase Shareholders Talks Technology from Forbes – Ron Shevlin took a deep dive into Jamie Dimon’s annual shareholder’s letter this week to discuss how JPMorgan is spending its massive $12 billion technology budget.
UK Economic Secretary announces innovative approach to crypto technologies from LendIt Fintech News – I was in London this past week and heard this speech from John Glen live. The UK is going all-in on crypto as they want to attract crypto entrepreneurs with friendly regulation. The devil will be in the details but this was the most positive stance on crypto we have seen from any major government.
SEC Chair Gensler says agency is planning greater oversight of crypto markets to protect investors from CNBC – Meanwhile, back here in the US, a decidedly different tone from the SEC, where they are focused primarily on investor protections with plans to register and regulate crypto exchanges.
Blockchain and financial markets: will computers push out brokers? from The Financial Times – An in-depth piece on FTX and founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his proposal to automate risk management in financial markets, replacing brokers with machines, and moving to 24/7 trading (like they do in the crypto markets).
Democratic state AGs call on four big banks to eliminate overdraft fees from American Banker – More than a dozen state attorneys general are calling for JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and US Bank to eliminate overdraft fees completely. While these banks have made some moves to reduce overdraft fees they are looking for these banks to join the other top-five bank, Citi, in eliminating them altogether.
Cathie Wood says banks have a ‘big problem’ thanks to crypto from CNBC – Speaking on CNBC this week high profile investor Cathie Wood said that the amount of interest investors are showing in DeFi is impacting banks. They are losing talent to crypto companies and losing business to DeFi.
Block Notifies 8.2M Customers After Breach of Cash App Investing from CoinDesk – A former Block employee was able to access a report after he was terminated that had details of millions of Cash App users. No personally identifiable information was disclosed but it was still not a good look for Block.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen shares crypto ‘lessons’ at university address from LendIt Fintech News – More news from regulators this week as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke about financial innovation in a speech at American University in DC. She provided six policy objectives for advancing the conversation on crypto.
