Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Landmark lawsuit sees bitcoin from ransomware attack frozen

A ransom payout of nearly £1 million in bitcoin lodged with Bitfinex has been frozen by the UK High Court in what is deemed a landmark case for the status of crypto assets.

30 January 2020

Company update/crypto

Coinbase names Google vet Surojit Chatterjee chief product officer

Today we’re announcing that Surojit Chatterjee is joining Coinbase as our new Chief Product Officer after spending 11 years at Google.

29 January 2020

Company update/Blockchain

Figures names former Coinbase COO Asiff Hirji as president

Figure Technologies, Inc. (Figure™), a leader in transforming financial services through the power of blockchain technology, today announced that financial services veteran Asiff Hirji has been named President and is already in place at the company’s headquarters.

29 January 2020

News/crypto

Indian central bank digital currency proposed

Indian non-for-profit organisation, the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), has proposed a digital rupee in its draft National Strategy on Blockchain.

29 January 2020

Company update/crypto

Blockchain.com ties up with Turkish lira

Blockchain.com, the leading provider of cryptocurrency products including the world’s most popular crypto wallet, has launched a full banking integration for Turkish Lira (TRY) to create a native payment gateway for users to deposit and withdraw Lira on the Blockchain.com Exchange.

29 January 2020

News/Blockchain

UK finance industry faces urgent skills crisis

Urgent action is needed to tackle a skills and talent crisis in UK financial services, according to an independent review commissioned by HM Revenue which warns the industry is in for a bumpy ride in the face of the technological revolution and Brexit.

29 January 2020

News/crypto

World Economic Forum publishes CBDC framework

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has put together a policy-maker toolkit designed to help central banks investigating the creation of digital currencies.

29 January 2020

News/Blockchain

Bank-backed blockchain trade finance platform Contour launches

Contour, the blockchain-based trade finance platform backed by a host of big name banks, has made its commercial launch.

28 January 2020

News/crypto

One in five people could have access to central bank digital currencies within three years

Central banks collectively representing a fifth of the world's population say they are likely to issue a general purpose digital currency in the next three years, according to a survey from the Bank for International Settlements.

24 January 2020

News/crypto

Davos 2020: WEF unveils digital currency governance consortium

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched a global consortium for digital currency governance, bringing together tech firms, financial institutions, governments, technical experts and NGOs.

24 January 2020

News/crypto

Ripple boss hints at IPO

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has hinted that the blockchain-flavoured payments network could go public, with an IPO in the next 12 months.

24 January 2020

News/crypto

Japan to look at issuing digital yen

Japan is the latest country to announce intentions to launch a digital currency, Reuters has reported.

24 January 2020

News/Blockchain

Deutsche Bundesbank: DLT offers "substantial benefits" for collateral management

Deutsche Börse and Deutsche Bundesbank have issued an optimistic assessment of the use of distributed ledger technology in the management of bank collateral.

23 January 2020

News/crypto

Vodafone quits Facebook's Libra project

Vodafone has become the latest Associate Member to quit Facebook's beleaguered digital currency project, Libra.

22 January 2020

News/Blockchain

Hong Kong and Thai central banks report back on digital currency trials

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand have completed a working prototype of a cross-border digital currency payment system.

22 January 2020

Company update/Blockchain

Canadian FS players say digital transformation a top priority

According to a recent survey of Canadian financial services professionals by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader and part of the S&P 500® Index, digital transformation is of critical importance to the future success of their firms.

21 January 2020

News/Blockchain

Estate agency platform Reapit joins DLT-based home-buying consortium

Reapit, the UK's largest estate agency platform, has joined the IPN Consortium, a gaggle of industry players developing a distributed ledger technology-based system that lets customers go through the entire home buying process through their mobile phones.

20 January 2020

News/Blockchain

MUFG appoints digital lead CEO

After just a year in the job, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group CEO Kanetsugu Mike is being replaced by the Japanese giant's digital chief Hironori Kamezawa.

17 January 2020

Company update/Blockchain

MUFG executes first transaction on blockchain network Komgo

MUFG Bank has successfully executed its first live digital transaction on komgo, a blockchain based commodity trade finance platform led by KomGo SA.

17 January 2020

News/crypto

Turkish banks switch on digital gold transfer network

Turkish banks have begun the transfer of a cryptocurrency representing physical units of gold via a blockchain platform developed by Istanbul Clearing, Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasban).

17 January 2020