Fintech Nexus Newsletter (November 3, 2023): Breathe a Sigh of Relief, SBF has been Found Guilty
It’s almost a year since those fateful few days that toppled the crypto king from his throne, and at last, Sam Bankman Fried’s trial is over.
The verdict is guilty on seven counts of fraud.
In the space of three years, SBF built FTX, riding on the cryptocurrency hype. In 2022, it was a household name, featured in Superbowl Ads and plastered on the side of arenas.
Too bad it was built on a now-proven framework of lies.
It’s been a long road to get to this verdict. Even after the FTX death spiral and SBF’s bizarre Twitter frenzy in November last year, it feels like there were headlines every month at yet another one of SBF’s attempts to evade the consequences of his deception.
Media appearances, witness tampering, leaked documents, and extradition, nothing was missed during the run-up to the trial.
Even during the trial, he tried to convey “the well-intentioned overworked business person” and continues to “maintain his innocence” despite the seven counts of fraud.
Some say the conclusion of the trial marks a new era for crypto, free from the mistrusting shadow cast by his lies. But his damage was already done last November. In the year since then, the blockchain space has already evolved.
I just hope our news feeds can now be spared of his fluffy locks and bumbling.
FEATURED
Sam Bankman-Fried Is Found Guilty of 7 Counts of Fraud and Conspiracy
By David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein and J. Edward Moreno
The case against the founder of the failed FTX exchange had come to symbolize the excesses of the volatile cryptocurrency industry.
FROM FINTECH NEXUS
| Plaid and Adyen Partner to Power Pay by Bank By Isabelle Castro Margaroli Card payment fees have been a long-standing issue for businesses. Pay by bank could be a solution. Plaid joins Adyen to make it possible. How 1033 May Impact Embedded Finance By Isabelle Castro Margaroli The financial sector is set to see a shift in the light of proposed data rate rules. The impact on embedded finance may be unexpected. Mercado Libre’s Q3 profit soars on strong commerce in Mexico, fintech growth By David Feliba Mercado Libre booked $359 million in profits from $129 million a year ago, driven by strong e-commerce in Mexico and growing fintech products. |
| PODCAST Anu Sachdeva, Global Business and Service Line Leader at Genpact, on the impact of generative AI In this episode we talk with Anu Sachdeva, Global Business and Service Line Leader at Genpact. She has deep knowledge of… Listen Now |
| UPCOMING EVENTS The Most Important Policy Event of the Year! – Fintech Policy Summit Confirmed speakers include Congressman French Hill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Mark… See Details |
| WEBINAR Advancing transaction fraud detection with global payments intelligence Nov 9, 2pm EST As the pace of AI and ML development accelerates, technology providers are finding ways to better protect financial institutions… Register Now |
ALSO MAKING NEWS
- USA: Block shares surge after earnings beat and increased full-year guidanceThere was particularly strong growth in Block’s payment platform, Cash App, and its point-of-sale suite, Square.
- USA: Personal finance app Monarch sees bump in users following Intuit’s news it is closing MintMonarch’s co-founder said that Nov. 1 “was our biggest day in terms of new users since we launched the app” in January 2021.
- USA: Banks ‘flying blind’ without cumulative data on regulatory proposalsTrade groups, analysts and some regulators want more data on how various regulatory changes and proposals would impact the banking sector in totality. But regulatory agencies have yet to take on such a project and private sector groups say the task is beyond their capabilities.
- USA: Credit unions say yes to financial literacy in a bid to engage the next generation nowGreenlight, the family focused fintech company, has recently launched Greenlight for Credit Unions. From a credit union’s perspective, offering family banking tools to its members is about proactivity and sustained engagement.
- USA: 9 new AI moves in the payments industryCompanies such as Visa and Mastercard, as well as banks and retailers, are stepping up their investments in artificial intelligence to reach small businesses and spot new uses.
- Global: Stop Fretting About Musk’s ‘Superapp:’ Just Make Your Own App BetterBy challenging his team to transform X into the center of its users’ ‘entire financial life’ by the end of 2024, Elon Musk set off alarm bells in banking boardrooms across the country.
- Global: Leveraging Fine-Tuned GPT For Fintech Customer SupportSpeed, efficiency, convenience and personalization are what customers look for in 2023, and I believe that’s what a GPT-driven chatbot can help you deliver.