German fintech Deposit Solutions has acquired Savedo; Savedo is also a startup in the fintech space and the two firms offer similar services; Deposit Solutions provides a deposit marketplace for savers allowing them to move funds among 15 European banks in order to achieve the highest rate of return; Savedo will help Deposit Solutions expand its offering by adding 13 new banking partners and integrating 18,000 new customers. Source
San Francisco real estate investment platform Income& has been selected as one of 24 startups to participate in the sixth Plug and Play Fintech Accelerator; the Plug and Play Fintech Accelerator is a 12-week accelerator program that provides for access to Plug and Play's extensive network of leading banks and financial institutions; the Plug and Play Fintech accelerator will support the development of Income&'s Prime-Rated Individual Mortgage-Backed Obligation (PRIMO™) product which is broadening fixed income investment alternatives by providing a product that allows investors to invest in portions of secured mortgage loans. Source
The SEC suspended trading of OTC-listed technology company CIAO Group (now rebranded as NuMelo Technology); trading is currently suspended until August 23; the SEC is questioning the accuracy of a planned ICO by the firm and the initiative that the ICO funding would support; the additional funding would support a digital financial products marketplace for the African market based on blockchain technology. Source
Nvidia CEO recently explained to VentureBeat: "Cryptocurrency and blockchain are here to stay. Over time, it will become quite large. It is very clear that new currencies will come to market."; Nvidia makes graphic cards that help cryptocurrency miners to add new transaction blocks; Nvidia believes there is a lot to gain from the recent trend in cryptocurrencies as the rise in coin prices results in higher demand for cards; not all graphic card makers see the benefits, as CoinDesk points out that rival company AMD is not as bullish and they don't think there is a long term market for them in the space; the graphic cards, known as GPUs, are used to mine newer cryptocurrencies like ethereum and litecoin. Source
The Confidential Consortium framework called Coco is an ethereum-based protocol that organizations can use to process information on the ethereum blockchain; Microsoft Azure's CTO says it can help enterprises scale their operations securely; explaining the benefits of the technology, Coco user, Tom Racette, vice president at Mojix, said: "Being able to run our existing supply chain Dapp code much faster within Coco framework is a great performance improvement that will reduce friction when we talk about enterprise blockchain readiness with our retail customers. Adding data confidentiality support without sacrificing this improvement is what will enable us to lead the digital transformation we are envisioning with smart supply chains." Source
Blockchain is causing rapid changes across all industries and specifically financial services; Forbes talks with Da Hongfei, co-founder of blockchain group NEO, about the firm's innovative offerings; it is currently focused on smart contracts which can track the entire process of a contract with transparency and automated alerts for all parties involved; NEO also has a cryptocurrency token that is among the top 10 cryptocurrencies with a market cap of more than $1.4 billion; Forbes also discusses cross border transactions and fraud prevention where NEO is also incorporating digital identity solutions. Source
Dorsey was recently interviewed at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View; Dorsey is bullish on the future of blockchain describing it as the "next big unlock"; believes that people need to be thoughtful in the applications of blockchain, focusing on what are the best applications of the technology; also discusses bitcoin and how it is beginning to reach more people. Source
Bank of America has filed over 20 blockchain and cryptocurrency-related patent applications since 2014; recent applications include the use of blockchain as a distributed database supporting the flow of certain actions; other patents involve the control of data, information verification, peer-to-peer payments and the protection of a generic cryptocurrency. Source
BBVA launched the "fintech games" in the search for the most innovative startups; the finalists for the Open Talent FinTech For Companies Challenge include Bitbond, Cardlife, RedCapital, B2Bpay, Akoni, PayBlocks, Asteria, Invoice Capture and MyFinB Holdings; the companies hail from countries all over the world and the competition closed on July 17; according to BBVA, "After eight years of focusing purely on seeking out the fintech firms that are transforming the Financial world, this year at BBVA Open Talent we are broadening the competition as we continue searching for talent and collaboration." Source
The State Council's "Made in China 2025" initiative is seeking to transform China into a greater innovator of technology; the initiative seeks to capitalize on artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robotics and is being designated as a three-step national guideline; along with the initiative the country's State Council has identified 17 national-level innovation demonstration zones that will be allowed favorable policies in order to bolster their respective geographical strengths and support increased regional innovation. Source