Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital are investing in Bitmain, the world's largest bitcoin mining company; Bitmain is seeking $50 million in funding to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities, after previously focusing on developing chips for mining; Bitmain claimed in August that the company is at a $1 billion valuation, and is planning an IPO. Source
One of China's e-commerce giants, Baidu, has obtained regulatory approval for Baixin Bank; follows banking sector business activity from competitors Alibaba and Tencent; the banking unit will be digital only, offering online banking, telephone banking, ATM and mobile banking services; Baidu owns 30% of Baixin Bank and will work in partnership with China CITIC Bank which currently owns 70% of the bank. Source
Monexo plans to hire 30 to 40 people in a new office in Salt Lake Sector V; company plans to first start with personal loans and has already tied up with CIBIL for credit scores of borrowers; according to Monexo, good borrowers will receive a rate as low as 13%; Monexo has been in operation for 18 months and has offices in Bengaluru and Chennai. Source
New Zealand-based Xero provides cloud-based accounting software for small and medium size businesses; it has now announced new agreements to integrate its software with working capital financing platforms MarketInvoice, iwoca and DueCourse; the business integrations will help to better facilitate invoice finance lending and working capital credit for businesses using Xero. Source
Sichuan Xinwang Bank and Jilin Yilian Bank have received licensing to provide internet banking services in China; the two banks will bring the total number of digital only banks in China to four; Xiaomi is a leading Chinese shareholder in Sichuan Bank with a 29.5% stake and Meituan is a leading shareholder in Jilin Yilian Bank with a 28.5% stake; the other two digital banks in the Chinese market include Ant Financial's MyBank and Tencent's WeBank. Source
Ant Financial is building a new platform for selling money market funds online; it is also introducing "Fortune Accounts" which will sell a broad range of investment products to Chinese consumers through its wealth management app; the first companies to partner for the Fortune Accounts are Bosera Funds, Aegon-Industrial Fund, Tianhong Fund, China Southern Fund and CCB Principal Fund with more companies to be added in June when the platform launches; Ant Financial says it plans to only develop technology to improve platforms for financial institutions, branding itself as a techfin company with no plans to develop its own financial services. Source
Fifteen employees of Jinxing Investment are on trial in Shanghai for fraudulent lending of 1.5 billion yuan (US$220 million); the employees are charged with illegally raising funds and taking investments from the public that were not used for their intended use; Ji Jianhua, the company's chief financial officer, told the court that the investments were fake and that funds were directed to personal or related accounts of president Wang Mian; the company shut down in June 2016 and Wang Mian escaped and has not been found. Source
NTT Data, Japan's largest IT services firm, has announced a new blockchain consortium; 13 participating members including three of Japan's megabanks: the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; other notable participants represent industries such as insurance, logistics, and import and export trade; the consortium's objectives include exploring the lead up to and validation of the feasibility of blockchain applications; the consortium will be officially launched on August 30 and expected to last until March 2018. Source
Chinese regulators are investigating investment in the cryptocurrency bitcoin as its price is reporting high correlation with the value of the Chinese yuan; according to data from bitcoinity.org, yuan transactions have also accounted for 98% of bitcoin's trading in the past six months; regulators have met with bitcoin exchanges to monitor investment activity; they have also requested that the exchanges do not market the yuan's devaluation as an investment incentive; investors have reported that transaction volumes are limited to a few hundred thousand yuan. Source
Transferwise CEO Taavet Hinrikus and LocalGloabe back DeFi start-up Radix in $4.1m fundraise Railsbank continues global expansion and launches in...