Regulation in the US is far different than in China; CredEx is a Chinese company that shares the state of regulation there; Jo Ann Barefoot shares her perspective on regulation in the US, having spent most of her career working in consumer protection and financial inclusion; she believes that we have produced a regulatory system that has high cost and low value which has left consumers confused by products; while not discounting the importance of regulation, Barefoot shares that fintechs can do more to further goals around financial inclusion than regulation can; one area where the US is lagging behind much of the world, specifically China is in mobile adoption and regulators in the US are struggling to keep up as technology quickly changes. 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
A former SoFi employee has filed a California lawsuit; he is arguing that he was fired for reporting sexual harassment and has included in his court filing, allegations of impropriety in the handling of loans; source also reports that a broader class action lawsuit is being prepared on behalf of a group of mistreated employees. 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
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
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 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
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
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
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