Hong Kong-based TNG FinTech Group Raises a $115mn series A round; the round was led by New Margin Capital, with participation from Nogle Group and Infinity-KBR Group; the funds will be used to expand globally and invest in new technologies including blockchain. Source.
Google is expected to launch a mobile payments app in India next week; Google Tez, which means fast in Hindi, will offer a comprehensive set of payment options beyond existing products like Android Pay according to Banking Technology; it also plans to support Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Paytm and MobiKwik. Source.
A lot of the significant investment in ICOs has come from people who have made millions in bitcoin and need to diversify; Business Insider sat down with Lightspeed Venture Partners investor Jeremy Liew and Blockchain founder/CEO Peter Smith to discuss the ICO market and why so much money has flooded into these startups; the discussion also touched on the recent Chinese crackdown on ICOs which has driven the price of Bitcoin down and the need to diversify looks to be more important than ever. Source
FT Alphaville analyzes a new report by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) which looks at central bank cryptocurrencies; the biggest takeaway as the FT points out is central banks could add to the pool of anonymous cash in the system by digitizing currency in such a way that digital accounts remain anonymous. Source
Lend Academy interviews Misha Esipov, the CEO and co-founder of Nova Credit; Nova Credit was the winner of PitchIt @ LendIt USA 2017; the company has created the first ever international credit bureau primarily focused on immigrants. Source
The recent regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency markets, specifically in China, has dropped the worldwide market cap to $98.95bn; as recently as two weeks ago the market cap was up around $180bn; while the size of the market continues to fluctuate, it remains to be seen where prices will head when regulatory crackdowns pass. Source.
Raisin is looking to expand on their deposit marketplace by offering a term deposit product to European SMEs; this will allow SMEs to earn money on their cash instead of dealing with negative interest rates that have been prevalent across Europe; currently Raisin has enlisted Banco BNI Europa from Portugal, Younited Credit from France and Greenhill Bank from Germany in the product. Source.
Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, says the recent scandal at SoFi has cost them approval of their special bank charter; he tells the FT, “So for a company as aggressive as SoFi, I think the chances of that happening were slim. Now they become almost impossible.” Source
Business Insider highlights the recent news of China clamping down on ICOs and the digital currency exchanges; notes that mining has not affected by the recent changes and shares that while there will be pressure on the market that this marks the beginning of a highly regulated market. Source