Saxo Payments calls for Fintech Industry to step up and help merchants reach their full international trading potential
The findings from the latest Financial Stability Board (FSB) underlines the on-going challenges faced by businesses, when trading internationally, reinforcing the findings produced in Saxo Payments White Paper Cross Border Payments for Cross Border Merchants – An Internationally ‘Local’ Future – published last week. Anders La Cour, CEO of Saxo Payments: “The latest report highlights the growing need for the FinTech sector to utilise the new ecosystem of financial utilities to help merchants reach their full international trading potential. A distinct lack of viable options in offering a global account infrastructure that merchants can access quickly and cost-effectively has halted over 39% of merchants recently surveyed by Saxo Payments[1] from […]
Investors are preparing to give fintech app Revolut £50 million even though it’s bleeding money
Fast-growing fintech app Revolut is close to sealing a £50 million funding round that will value the nascent company at £300 million, Sky News reports. London VC Index Ventures, already an investor in Revolut, is leading the round, Sky says. Silicon Valley investor Ribbit Capital is also said to be taking part in the round. CEO and founder Nikolay Storonsky told TechCrunch earlier this month that the company was close to “large equity round.” London-based Revolut offers a pre-paid international currency card, initially offering zero-fee, zero-commission foreign exchange. Cash is pre-loaded to the card through an app. The big round and chunky valuation are eye-catching for a number of reasons. […]
A new way to raise money: The Initial Coin Offering
The digital currency ecosystem has had a crazy year. The Bitcoin market capitalization has grown from $11 billion on June 5, 2016 to almost $47 billion USD on June 5, 2017. Negative news during that time included a 120,000 BTC heist from Bitfinex, worth $65m then and $350m now. The Winklevoss twins sought to create an exchange traded fund dealing in Bitcoin, but they were denied. Positive events were much broader, including Japan recognizing the coin as a legal payment method, Russia reversing their prior stand against Bitcoin, and Australia adjusting its policies to remove a double taxation problem for those accepting digital currencies. Now a new phenomenon is sweeping […]
Bitcoin price crosses $3,000 milestone to set new all-time high
The price of bitcoin topped $3,000 for the first time in history today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). After spending much of the last week seeking direction in the $2,700 to $2,900-range, the average price of bitcoin across major international exchanges edged up over this threshold finally at roughly 17:00 UTC. The new record comes at a time when alternative digital assets are seeing robust inflows, with ethereum’s ether token setting a new all-time high of more than $300 today as well. Indeed, analysts spoke to the ongoing broadening of the cryptocurrency market as a tide that is benefitting bitcoin. “The inflows into ‘alts’ are greater than […]
Bitcoin prices surge, here’s why cryptocurrency is skyrocketing
Bitcoin prices are skyrocketing. Business Insider reported Thursday bitcoin hit a record high, exceeding $2,700 per coin, up from $1,400 on May 1. The world’s second most influential cryptocurrency, Ethereum’s ether tokens, also broke its record this week. Ether is now evaluated at more than $200 per token, CoinMarketCap reported. For comparison, ether was selling for just $60 on April 27. There are a variety of factors driving up the market value of cryptocurrencies. The past few weeks have seen increased corporate investment in Ethereum, alongside a global “blockchain boom,” where companies like Ripple and IBM announce partnerships with leading financial institutions around the world. Japan has even kickstarted the […]
Cryptocurrency market cap reaches $77bn, surpasses Uber and Airbnb
The cryptocurrency sector has seen massive gains in the past few weeks. Almost every single altcoin has increased in value in one way or another this month. According to coinmarketcap, the overall market cap surpassed $77 billion. To put that in perspective, crypto is valued more than some of the world’s most successful startups such as Uber and Airbnb. It seems that cryptocurrency is becoming the next hot topic among investors and technology enthusiasts alike. With the price premium rising as high as 5-10% in Asian countries, it is evident the demand is there. While it was just Bitcoin that was exhibiting an amazing price rally, soon after the alts […]
Fintech unicorn Transferwise achieves first profit
U.K. financial technology (fintech) firm Transferwise claimed it has achieved its first operational profit six years after it was founded in London by Chief Executive Taavet Hinrikus and his fellow Estonian Kristo Kaarmann. The global fintech unicorn, which means it is a start-up valued at more than a billion dollars, is a currency exchange that offers a simple user interface and peer-to-peer network that it says matches customers wanting to swap money with each other. This means foreign exchange (FX) rates can be drastically reduced in comparison with bank charges where money is actually moved overseas. Transferwise says it is currently amassing £8 million a month in revenue and is […]
Total Market Cap of Digital Currencies nears $30 Billion
Digital currencies reached a new high today, surpassing $28 billion, a more than doubling from their previous all-time high of around $12 billion back in 2013. Indicating an increasing interest in digital currencies and the wider blockchain space. The main driver is, of course, bitcoin, which is nearing $20 billion once more after rising for much of the week from around $1,000 to approximately $1,200. The currency, however, has lost market share, falling below 70%, as other coins gain attention. At first it was monero after being added to some drug markets, then dash suddenly and puzzlingly incredibly shoot up above $100, but now has nearly halved, standing around $60 […]
