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

Isle of Man gets blockchain office and sandbox

Digital Isle of Man has today announced the formation of a Blockchain Office and the launch of an Isle of Man Sandbox, established to guide blockchain businesses through current (and future) regulatory landscapes, with expert-led assistance and support.

05 February 2019

News/Blockchain

Facebook acqui-hires Chainspace team for blockchain push

Facebook has reignited speculation about its plans in the payments space by aqui-hiring the team behind London-based blockchain startup Chainspace.

05 February 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Wall Street Blockchain Alliance partners R3 on Corda blockchain platform

The Wall Street Blockchain Alliance has joined enterprise software firm R3’s collaborative initiative to develop innovative applications and solutions on its Corda blockchain platform.

05 February 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Currency.com launches tokenised securities platform

Currency.com, a next-generation blockchain technology company, today announced the launch of the world’s first fully-functional trading platform for tokenised securities, which allows investors to trade, invest in, and benefit from exposure to, real-world financial instruments by directly using cryptocurrencies.

05 February 2019

News/Blockchain

Cryptoexchange assets locked after founder dies

Operators of Canada's biggest cryptoexchange are unable to access more than £100m in reserves after its founder died taking the passwords and recovery codes with him.

05 February 2019

News/Blockchain

SEC seeks help on blockchain data

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is inviting bids from firms that can build a tool that lets it review data from the most widely used blockchain ledgers in order to help it monitor risk and compliance, and inform policy, related to cryptocurrencies.

05 February 2019

Company update/wholesale

Kraken owner Payward buys Crypto Facilities

Hogan Lovells has advised Dr Timo Schlaefer and the main shareholders of Crypto Research Limited, the holding company of Crypto Facilities Limited, a world-leading, FCA regulated crypto currency platform and index provider, on its sale to Payward Inc, which operates Kraken, the world’s largest global bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity.

04 February 2019

Company update/Blockchain

tZero partners with Dinosaur for launch of digital trading

Dinosaur Financial Group, LLC (Dinosaur), a New York-based institutional brokerage firm, today announced its partnership with tZERO Group, Inc., a global leader in blockchain innovations for the capital markets.

01 February 2019

Company update/Blockchain

IBM reports successful blockchain-based trade shipment

Pacific International Lines (“PIL”) has used an electronic Bill of Lading (e-BL) built on the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Blockchain Platform in a successful real-time pilot tracking shipment of mandarin oranges from China for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

01 February 2019

News/inclusion

ECB's Cœuré touts faster payments to promote financial inclusion

Boosting financial inclusion in developing markets will require work to broaden access to payment services, possibly through the creation of infrastructure modelled on Europe's new Target Instant Payment Settlement (Tips) and, in the longer term, the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), says ECB executive board member Benoît Cœuré.

01 February 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Blockchain RegTech startup TRM Labs raises $1.7 million

TRM is a RegTech startup addressing one of the biggest challenges facing the cryptocurrency industry today: compliance.

31 January 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Smart Contract-based derivatives trading platform CloseCross raises $3 million

CloseCross, a multi-party, decentralized derivatives trading platform in beta, has opened its investment round with $3 million USD backed by Amnis Ventures, a privately owned venture fund based in Houston, Texas. The investment puts CloseCross at a post-money valuation of $60 million USD.

30 January 2019

News/Blockchain

Swift to open gpi gateway to R3 blockchain

Interbank co-operative Swift is to conduct a proof-of-concept trial to link its gpi network to the Corda platform of enterprise blockchain consortium R3.

30 January 2019

News/Blockchain

IHS Markit invests in Cobalt

IHS Markit has taken a minority stake in blockchain-based post-trade processing network Cobalt, embedding its MarkitSERV operation deeper into currency trading back offices.

30 January 2019

News/Blockchain

R3 and SBI Holdings form Japan blockchain JV

Financial services group SBI Holdings is setting up a joint venture with R3 to push the distributed ledger technology specialist's Corda platform in Japan.

30 January 2019

News/Blockchain

Marshall Islands to deliver physical 'notes' for digital currency circulation

Swiss startup Tangem has won a contract to issue physical 'banknotes' for the Republic of the Marshall Islands decentralised digital national currency.

30 January 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Bittrex joins Universal Protocol Alliance

Bittrex International has joined a coalition of leading blockchain organizations, including Uphold, Cred, Blockchain at Berkeley, Brave in support of a universal transparent reserve and custody standard that mints and burns Proxy tokens via the Universal Protocol Platform (UP Platform).

29 January 2019

News/Blockchain

Deutsche Bourse increases stake in HQLAx ahead of go-live

Deutsche Bourse has increased its stake in HQLAx, the liquidity and collateral management outfit with which it is building a blockchain-based front-to-back operating model for securities lending.

29 January 2019

Company update/Blockchain

Singapore's Everex looks for growth in the US

The mainstream payment industry has long been asking for a much-needed revolution considering the high transaction costs, remittance fees, time-taking processes and fraudulent activities.

29 January 2019

News/Blockchain

CULedger raises $10m for DLT-based digital ID system

CULedger, a consortium of American credit unions exploring potential use cases for distributed ledger technology, has hit its $10 million Series A funding round target.

29 January 2019