Last week Prosper closed their Series G, raising $50 million from an investment fund co-managed by FinEx Asia and LPG Capital based in Hong Kong; sources say the post money valuation was $550 million, approximately a 70% drop from their high in 2015; Peter Renton reflects on the investment and the current state of the market. Source
Until now little has been known about the hedge fund that invests in cryptocurrencies; it is backed by big names including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund and Bessemer Venture Partners; the firm owns about a dozen cryptocurrencies, taking a value investing approach; Fortune shares more details about how the fund operates and the eye popping returns the fund has returned to date. Source
deBanked reports that Wold Business Lenders (WBL) has purchased several assets from Bizfi including the brand, marketplace, the Next Level Funding renewal book and other pieces of the company; WBL, a small business lender will lend on the platform; Stephen Sheinbaum, founder of Biz joined WBL as a managing director in July; several other Bizfi staff have joined WBL. Source
Andy Rachleff, the CEO of Wealthfront argues that managed real estate funds perform poorly compared to low cost ETFs like Vanguard's REIT Index Fund; Fundrise's CEO Benjamin Miller responded in a blog post, writing "Less competitive, inefficient markets mean an investor can generally buy comparable assets at lower prices than efficient markets. With Shiller price-to-earnings (PE) ratios at all-time historic highs only seen in 1929 and 2001, more than ever investors need to find ways to invest at a reasonable cost basis."; Miller also argues that long term investors are paying a premium for the liquidity that ETFs offer, something that these investors don't need. Source
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika spoke about the online lending industry, discussing the potential of companies taking deposits and seeking banking charters; he shared,"One way a maturing industry adapts to changing market conditions is to diversify its funding sources and expand into other sources that offer greater stability. As the industry matured, companies have found a balance that includes selling loans to retail and wholesale investors, securitizing loans, and even exploring the potential for deposits." American provides more on his remarks in their article. Source
According to research by JP Morgan Asset Management and Platforum only 3 percent of advisers offer automated wealth management services; the main reasons were cost of implementing, clients not interested and concerns about security. Source.
Fred Wilson is urging investors to diversify their bitcoin assets before the crash comes; while he does not offer a timeframe for when this might occur he does think diversification will protect those who are heavily invested; he is a believer in the crypto markets in general and thinks they add value to a portfolio. Source.
The collaborative paper between ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and developer Jason Teutsch, creator of smart contract scalability project TrueBit, would produce what CoinDesk says is a potentially transformative protocol for ICOs; the new protocol would allow buyers the option to analyze bids on token sales; they are still early on in their development. Source.
Fortress Alum Mike Novogratz is starting a $500mn hedge fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, ICOs and other companies in the blockchain space; he will start the fund with $150mn of his own money and raise the rest from family offices, fund managers and wealthy individuals; “This is going to be the largest bubble of our lifetimes,” Novogratz said to Bloomberg. "You can make a whole lot of money on the way up, and we plan on it.” Source.
Peter Renton, Founder of Lend Academy provides a summary of the second annual Online Lending Policy Summit which covered a wide variety of topics around regulation for fintech companies. Source