Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said he thinks bitcoin is “certainly something more than just a fad,” according to a Bloomberg report; he also stated that the concept of anonymous currency is interesting because of the privacy it provides; while he has yet to invest in the technology he does see more regulatory control coming soon. Source.
JoinedNov. 30, 2016
Articles1,635
Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.
AltFi reports that Ranger Direct lending Fund could see the second half dividend payout cut in half as compared to the first half of 2017; they cite legal fees, downward revisions to expected returns of platforms and cash drag due to reallocation of funds from closing platforms. Source.
Zopa plans to reopen to new investors by end of the year after stopping investor on boarding earlier this year; they stopped taking new money because they were finding it harder to get good quality borrowers; they also saw a big jump in demand for their Innovative Finance Isa; while the plan for opening to new investors is targeted at year end it could be delayed by existing investor's Isa demand. Source.
Chime raises $18mn in a series B fundraise from Cathay Innovation, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Crosslink Capital and more; Chime is a digital banking app focused on millennials by not charging monthly fees or overdraft charges; they make money on transactions and thus far have over 500,000 customers. Source.
Fortress Alum Mike Novogratz is starting a $500mn hedge fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, ICOs and other companies in the blockchain space; he will start the fund with $150mn of his own money and raise the rest from family offices, fund managers and wealthy individuals; “This is going to be the largest bubble of our lifetimes,” Novogratz said to Bloomberg. "You can make a whole lot of money on the way up, and we plan on it.” Source.
The collaborative paper between ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and developer Jason Teutsch, creator of smart contract scalability project TrueBit, would produce what CoinDesk says is a potentially transformative protocol for ICOs; the new protocol would allow buyers the option to analyze bids on token sales; they are still early on in their development. Source.
Fred Wilson is urging investors to diversify their bitcoin assets before the crash comes; while he does not offer a timeframe for when this might occur he does think diversification will protect those who are heavily invested; he is a believer in the crypto markets in general and thinks they add value to a portfolio. Source.
According to research by JP Morgan Asset Management and Platforum only 3 percent of advisers offer automated wealth management services; the main reasons were cost of implementing, clients not interested and concerns about security. Source.
According to UK research firm Autonomous NEXT there are now 68 crypto hedge funds which is a significant jump since the start of the year; while calling themselves hedge funds many of these new entities are not structured like a typical hedge fund and they don't have institutional backing; as the interest in cryptocurrencies grows, the market will continue seeing new entrants trying to capitalize on the rising value. Source.
ZhongAn starts trading tomorrow and raised $1.5bn last week, valuing the group at up to $10bn; the IPO has begun pushing insurtech into the mainstream as the company has seen growing interest across the world; the use of AI & big data have been driving forces behind the company and a main reason for investor interest; this might help to give momentum to other insurtech firms like Lemonade and Oscar. Source.