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

Swedish central bank taps Accenture for e-krona pilot

Sweden's central bank is set to sign a deal with Accenture to develop a digital currency, dubbed the e-krona, in a test environment.

13 December 2019

News/Blockchain

Credit unions pilot blockchain-based digital ID system

Several US credit unions have begun piloting the MyCUID digital identity service from blockchain outfit CULedger.

13 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Digital Asset raises $35m

Digital Asset, the creators of the open source DAML smart contract language, announced today that it has raised more than $35 million in Series C funding from new and existing investors.

11 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Diginex joins Microsoft ScaleUp programme

Diginex, a blockchain financial services and technology company, has been selected as part of the Microsoft ScaleUp program. This exclusive 2-year program is designed for high-growth companies to leverage Microsoft’s expertise, scale their businesses and further deliver enterprise value to their clients.

11 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

BME launches blockchain-based collateral pledge management service

BME has successfully launched the process for the digitisation of the certification of collateral pledge using Blockchain technology, eliminating the need to use and exchange physical certificates.

11 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Digital Debt Capital Markets selects R3 Corda Enterprise platform

Digital Debt Capital Markets (“DDCM” or agora) today announces it has selected enterprise software firm R3 to provide the underlying blockchain technology for DDCM’s agora platform.

11 December 2019

News/Blockchain

Lithuanian central bank urges peers to join digital currency goldrush

The Bank of Lithuania is stepping up its research into the implications of offering a central bank digital currency, publishing a new research paper highlighting CBDC design choices as well as monetary policy and financial stability implications.

10 December 2019

News/crypto

Saga launches global, stabilised digital currency

Saga, a global, democratic, stabilised, non-anonymous digital currency, is launching today in an effort to build towards "worldwide money".

10 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Bank of Lithuania takes coin collecting into the digital age

The world‘s first blockchain-based digital collector coin created by the Bank of Lithuania is dedicated to the 16 February 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania and its 20 signatories. The coin is expected to be issued in spring 2020.

09 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Sekunjalo and China's Ultrain partner to build new African payment infrastructure

Diversified investment group, Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (Sekunjalo), has announced it has partnered with Chinese public Blockchain leader, Ultrain Technology Limited (Ultrain), to develop a pan-African open Blockchain business ecosystem - The African Chain 3.0.

09 December 2019

News/Blockchain

Morgan Stanley vets launch cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform

A group of former Morgan Stanley executives is building a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform.

06 December 2019

News/Blockchain

CULedger preps blockchain-based cross-border payments

Credit union-owned blockchain outfit CULedger is ready to launch its cross-border payments product, CUPay, next year.

06 December 2019

News/crypto

EU fires Libra warning

In the latest shot across the bow of Facebook's Libra project, European authorities are warning that no global stablecoin systems will be allowed to operate in the EU until legal, regulatory and oversight issues have been addressed.

06 December 2019

News/crypto

Deutsche Bank predicts cryptocurrency could replace fiat by 2030

Deutsche Bank has published its outlook for the decade ahead, predicting growth in appeal of cryptocurrency given the fragility of fiat money.

06 December 2019

News/crypto

Cryptocurrency firm Gemini hires Starling co-founder Sawyer to lead European expansion

Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange set up by the Winklevoss twins, has hired Starling Bank co-founder Julian Sawyer to spearhead a move into the European market.

04 December 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Financial firms struggling to assess risks of disruptive technologies - Accenture

The majority of UK financial firms do not believe they can adequately assess the risks of disruptive technologies, as technology advancements move faster than the skills of their risk managers, according to a new report by Accenture.

04 December 2019

News/Blockchain

First transactions executed on Deutsche Bourse's blockchain-based securities lending platform

Commerzbank, Credit Suisse and UBS have successfully executed the first live transactions on Deutsche Börse's HQLAx securities lending platform.

03 December 2019

News/Blockchain

Figure Technologies aims for $103 million fund raise

Figure Technologies, a San Francisco-based blockchain-based startup for providing loans against mortgage equity is close to raising $103 million in financing in a bid to enter the student loan market.

02 December 2019

News/Blockchain

Ex-Barclays Antony Jenkins predicts demise of traditional banking

Former Barclays chief executive believes its the end of the banking world as we know it...and he feels fine.

02 December 2019

News/Blockchain

NatWest looks to DLT for mobile-based home buying

NatWest is joining forces with a consortium of software firms to develop a distributed ledger technology-based system that lets customers go through the entire home buying process through their mobile phones.

29 November 2019