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
Point of sale business credit provider Behalf has partnered with community bank FinWise Bank; FinWise Bank will support expanded credit financing and product offerings for Behalf; according to Behalf CEO and Co-Founder Benjy Feinberg, "Partnering with FinWise allows us to expand our product offering and serve more customers with financial tools that help them grow." Source
The blockchain data storage network has raised $200 million from accredited investors despite having technology issues during the ICO; the funding is in addition to $52 million in pre-sold tokens to investors Sequoia Capital, Andreesen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures. Source
Mobile-focused digital banking provider Varo Money has applied for a banking charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as chartering options continue to be debated for US fintech companies. Varo Money is the second fintech company to apply for bank chartering following SoFi who currently has an application pending with the FDIC.
Varo Money has applied for two approvals, one a national banking charter with the OCC and the second an application for deposit insurance with the FDIC. According to the Wall Street Journal, approvals would allow the company to take deposits, pay interest, make loans in any state and issue cards, all independently.
Details of the firm's applications have not been released publicly and it's likely to be a slow process for approval with the OCC who is currently being sued over offering a national banking charter for fintechs. The FDIC process also includes an open comment period which has been challenging for SoFi. Varo Money does have a significant investment from Warburg Pincus which also includes support from former US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is the firm's president.
StreetShares is an online small business lender that focuses on veteran-owned small businesses; company has hired a new chief product officer, Heather Tuason; Tuason previously was the senior vice president of small business at Capital One; Tuason stated: "I am proud to be part of an organization so focused on serving its members and in awe at the military drive and passion demonstrated by the StreetShares team each and every day. Veterans have sacrificed so much, and I'm honored to help them build businesses that drive our economy. It's time for veterans and the military community to have fully mobile, fully digital, next-generation financial products." 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
Coinbase has raised $100 million in a Series D funding round led by IVP; firm has exchanged over $25 billion of digital currency and plans to use the funding for expanding its business operations; the company currently has three main products: Coinbase for retail digital currency trading, GDAX for institutional and professional digital currency trading, and Toshi a browser for the Ethereum network. Source
Crain's talked with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon this week as he toured the Midwest, meeting with bank employees; Dimon discussed the credit market; also gave his perspective on online lending, noting some of the risks from depending on investor capital versus bank capital. Source
George Popescu is the founder of LendingTimes, a publication dedicated to the online lending industry; he also serves as CEO of Lampix, an augmented reality company that offers a product creating 'smart surfaces'; the company announced it had crossed $4.5 million in funding through an ICO in minutes. Source
Join LendIt on Monday, August 14 at 2:00 PM EST for a webinar about blockchain technology and insurance; the webinar will discuss how blockchain can streamline operations for wealth managers and insurance back office operations; presenters include Jayant Khadilkar, global head of analytics and technology at Tiger Risk, and Ryan Rugg, business development at R3. Source