U.S. moves to seize Robinhood shares
Happy Friday FinTech Fanatic,
Another day, another sequel in the ongoing FTX-saga.
This time news came out of the U.S. federal authorities moves to seize hundreds of millions of dollars in assets in the U.S.
While that is already a decent sum of money, it is even more interesting that the assets are tied to the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Furthermore, Seth Shapiro, a Justice Department official, confirmed that the federal government is in the process of seizing Robinhood shares whose ownership is disputed by FTX and BlockFi, the other crypto lender that collapsed last year.
In December another federal magistrate judge ordered the seizure of 'FTX-money' kept in accounts at Silvergate, for an amount of $93 million.
All strong signals that the battle over control of the FTX’s remaining funds is intensifying. To be continued...
Today's FinTechReport sets its sights on the Green Finance sector, for whom last year brought a significant increase in sustainable financing.
The report captures some notable trends and activities in the Green Finance space.
Let's get on to the other FinTech news!
BREAKING NEWS
New York regulator hits Coinbase with $50m fine. The crypto exchange will pay a $50 million penalty and invest another $50 million in its compliance programme to settle a New York State regulatory investigation into its anti-money laundering practices. Link here
SafetyNet Credit parent close to collapse after FCA crackdown. A provider of high-cost credit to hundreds of thousands of Britons is on the brink of collapse following a crackdown on the industry by the City regulator. Link here
NEWS HIGHLIGHT
FinTech Stocks Did Worse Than Fin or Tech in 2022. Financial-tech companies, long hyped for their vision of bringing Silicon Valley-style innovation to the businesses of lending, investing and payments, underperformed both financial stocks and tech stocks more broadly in 2022. Read more
China OKs Ant Group consumer finance expansion. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved an application by Ant to expand the registered capital held by Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance from 8 billion yuan to 18.5 billion yuan. The move marks a crucial step for Ant Group in its longtime effort to go public. Link here
Astra Tech’s PayBy is first to receive both the SVF and RPS licences from the UAE Central Bank. This will allow customers and merchants to experience ultra-fast and secure services on Astra Tech’s upcoming app. Link here
FTX NEWS
Silvergate tumbles after FTX implosion prompts $8.1 billion bank run. Silvergate Capital Corp. shares plunged after the bank said the crypto industry’s meltdown triggered a run on deposits, prompting the company to sell assets at a steep loss and fire 40% of its staff. Link here
The State of Green Finance, by Whitesight, is a roundup report that captures the significant trends and activities in the Green Finance space in 2022. Link here
Check out "An Illustrated Guidebook To Understanding Blockchain" by Mingxing Xu, Ying Tian and Jiyue Li. Link here
INSIGHTS
FinTech deal activity in December closed out the year with a handful of large financing and M&A transactions, while full year totals are significantly lower than 2021 – see all of the details in FT Partners’ Global Monthly Infographic here
Funding for Boston’s Fintech Firms Falls in 2022. Take a look at this interesting analysis by Jim Smith from BlueDun. Link here?
Check out 5 Canadian Fintech Predictions for 2023 by Canadian Fintech. Link here
Indonesia is expected to be South East Asia’s biggest BNPL market by 2025. Check out the full analysis here
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FINTECH NEWS
Bondsmith becomes a principal member of Visa to further its mission of improving the wealth management industry through embedded banking services. Link here
PicPay doubles bets on P2P lending to boost credit in Brazil. The firm launched its P2P lending business for companies. It is one of the first FinTechs in the country to do so and represents its latest innovation in a bid to enhance the product suite. Link here
enza group enters the African payments industry. The Egyptian company is focusing on the needs of banks, FinTechs, and MNOs across the African continent. Link here
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
Zopa Bank hits ￡3bn deposits as interest rates highest since 2008. Today the nearly three-year-old bank has 850,000 customers. Between them, they have opened 150,000 customer savings accounts. Link here
Cashless Denmark records a year without bank robberies. The transition away from cash has seen the country record its first ever year without bank robberies. Finansforbundet says that the fall has coincided with many banks completely closing their branch cash registers. Link here
Taiwan’s Next Bank launches on Temenos. The new digital bank backed by Chunghwa Telecom has gone live on Temenos core banking platform to bring products to market fast and scale efficiently. Link here
SmartPay has launched its new digital customer finance service SmartPay Bank Direct in Japan as well as Saudi Arabia and UAE. The new service allows SmartPay’s customers to pay for their online installment purchases straight from their bank account. Link here
BLOCKCHAIN
Indonesia to create crypto exchange in 2023 as part of its reform of crypto regulation. The action is a part of a larger financial reform initiative that was started in December 2022.? Link here
Italian crypto exchange Young Platform secures French licence. This is an important step for business growth and represents a new opportunity for anyone interested in the crypto market to access Young Platform’s innovative solutions, said the company CEO. Link here
PARTNERSHIPS
Axis Bank partners with OPEN to launch a fully digital current account proposition for businesses. This is Axis Bank’s first-ever partnership with a FinTech player to launch a fully digital current account that will help customers save a significant amount of time and effort. Link here
SUNRATE teams up with Visa to launch virtual corporate cards. Through the deal, SUNRATE’s travel stakeholders can have another option when making payments to their own partners on virtual corporate cards. Link here
Befiler raises $1.5m in seed funding. The company aims to serve over two million individuals, SMEs and corporates in the next few years. Link here
MicroVest backs school finance company Varthana, which has raised $7m in funding. The capital from MicroVest will be deployed towards affordable education in rural India and providing loans to private schools at affordable rates. Link here
India-based neobanking platform Jupiter snares $3m in debt from Alteria Capital. The company said it will use the funds for general corporate activities. Link here
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Zodia, a crypto assets custody provider, has appointed Julian Sawyer as its new CEO. “As CEO, I am delighted to step into such a high calibre team and to work with them to ensure Zodia Custody continues to stay ahead of the competition,” said Sawyer. Link here
Mastercard appoints Gautam Aggarwal as Division President for South Asia. With his new remit, Gautam will oversee all of Mastercard’s activities across South Asia and India, including product management, engagements with customers and regulators, marketing, and more. Link here
PayNet has appointed Gary Yeoh as its new Chief Commercial Officer. Yeoh, a veteran of the Malaysian payments scene, brings a lot of varied experience to the table. Link here
Goldman Sachs' direct-to-consumer unit head, Swati Bhatia, is stepping down from the role, according to an internal note seen by Reuters. Bhatia will retire from the partnership and become an advisory director. Link here
This ends Your Daily FinTech News. Let me know if there are any questions or comments. Until the next!
Regards,
Marcel van Oost