BitMEX, a peer-to-peer crypto trading platform, announced that it has added Vancouver, British Columbia to its global footprint. The platform said that Vancouver is an ideal destination because of its innovative culture, crypto-savvy workforce, and welcoming business environment. The Vancouver expansion comes as BitMEX is looking to open up more trading opportunities in new product lines for clients across a number of jurisdictions globally. BitMEX added that its Vancouver presence will allow it to more quickly grow and establish more robust 24/7 support functions for its business. This includes technical, security, customer support, and devops capabilities. The firm plans to…

Google has made a US$1 billion equity investment in CME Group, a diverse derivatives marketplace, and signed a 10-year strategic partnership to accelerate latter’s move to the cloud. Under the agreement, CME Group will migrate its technology infrastructure to Google Cloud beginning next year with data and clearing services, and eventually moving all of its markets to the cloud. Using Google Cloud’s fast, secure, global network, CME Group will be able to scale its infrastructure, while increasing access for more market participants, optimising costs, and helping onboard new users more easily and quickly. With Google Cloud’s technology, CME Group will…

Socure, a provider of digital identity verification and fraud solutions, announced its significantly oversubscribed US$450 million Series E funding round at a US$4.5 billion valuation. The company achieved a US$4.5 billion valuation just seven months after its US$1.3 billion Series D. The round was led by Accel alongside funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. It also includes two new investors, Bain Capital Ventures and Tiger Global, as well as participation from existing investors Commerce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Sorenson Ventures. Socure said that this will allow it to accelerate its investments in product innovation to…

Bottomline, a provider of financial technology that makes complex business payments simple, smart and secure, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Bora Payments Systems for US$15 million in cash. Bora Payment Systems is a B2B card payment platform specializing in Buyer-Initiated Payment processing for commercial cards. This move enables Paymode-X vendors to utilise straight through processing (STP) as a method of accepting virtual card payments. The combination adds new bank channel relationships to Paymode-X and capabilities that improve the network’s virtual card program. “For more and more customers and channel partners, the ultimate digital transformation of payables requires…

Latin America (LatAm)’s fintech revolution continues its course this year. Investors’ confidence remains high as they continue pouring billions into the space, betting on the prospect of fintech to help improve financial inclusion and bring innovation in the outdated banking and financial sector. Several trends are emerging this year on the back of changing market dynamics, evolving customer habit and government initiatives. Here we look at five key fintech trends to look out for in LatAm. Neobanking continues to lead LatAm’s fintech boom LatAm’s fintech boom is showing no signs of slowing down as unicorns continue to grow and investors…

Drip Capital, a digital cross-border trade finance platform for small and medium businesses (SMBs), announced that it has raised US$175 million to power its next phase of growth. Funds raised include a US$40 million Series C investment and US$135 million in warehouse debt facilities. To date, with this fundraise, Drip Capital has raised about US$525 million in equity and debt funding. San Francisco-based TI Platform led the Series C investment round alongside participation from new and existing investors, including Accel, Sequoia, Wing VC, Irongrey, and GC1 Holdings. The new capital also includes a US$100 million warehouse credit facility with Barclays…

Digital Currency Group (DCG) announced that it has closed a secondary investment round by selling more than US$700 million of its shares and is now valued at US$10 billion. SoftBank’s Vision Fund II and Latin American Fund led a syndicate of equity investors that included Google’s Capital G, Ribbit Capital, GIC, Tribe Capital, and Emory University in purchasing the stock from existing investors. According to the group, its founder and CEO Barry Silbert did not sell any shares as part of the secondary transaction. The crypto conglomerate is the parent company of digital currency asset manager Grayscale, institutional lending and brokerage…

PayPal announced the launch of the Zettle Terminal, its new, all-in-one point of sale solution that offers increased mobility in-store for small businesses. The Zettle Terminal will now be available in the UK beginning and will continue to roll-out across additional markets in Europe, and in the U.S. next year. The terminal will also feature an integrated barcode scanner in 2022. The Zettle Terminal comes with a pre-loaded SIM card, and its combined WiFi and cellular connectivity means that small businesses are no longer dependent on fixed check-out points. The terminal makes the checkout completely mobile; the seller is free…

American Express has introduced its new Business Checking account designed for small and mid-sized (SME) businesses in the United States. This fully digital Business Checking account offers a secure, high-yield, and low fee digital banking experience with a competitive APY of 1.1% on balances up to US$500,000. The checking account connects with existing American Express Credit Cards and comes with a business debit card. In early 2022, Business Checking customers will be able to earn membership rewards points and redeem them for deposits into their business checking account. The announcement further expands American Express’ small business offerings, building on its…

TIFIN, a fintech platform using AI for wealth and asset management, announced the successful closing of US$47 million in Series C funding. The firm closes its Series C round at a valuation of US$447 million, which is nearly five times higher than its Series A that was completed towards the end of 2020. Hamilton Lane, a private markets investment manager, entered the capital round as a new strategic investor. Other investors include J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Morningstar, and Broadridge after their initial investment in TIFIN’s Series B round. TIFIN said that it will work closely with its strategic investors to…

Brazilian challenger bank Nubank has filed for its initial public offering (IPO) and is expected to go public in the U.S. by early 2022, according to Forbes. Nubank had filed both with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. and the Formulario de Referencia with the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) in Brazil. The IPO is expected to commence after the SEC and the CVM complete their respective review processes. Nubank has secured a total of US$ 750 million during two extensions of its Series G funding round, raising the round to US$1.15 billion. During the first extension,…

Mastercard and Bakkt announced a multifaceted partnership at Money20/20 to enable merchants, banks and fintechs in the U.S. to offer cryptocurrency solutions and services. Bakkt is a digital currency company that specialises in concurrency, rewards, and loyalty points. It will now extend Mastercard’s ecosystem of cryptocurrency partners enabling Crypto-as-a-Service, providing quick access to cryptocurrency capabilities. Through Mastercard’s network and Bakkt’s digital asset platform, the payment giant’s partners will be able to offer cryptocurrency solutions. These include the ability for consumers to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets powered by the Bakkt platform and streamlined issuance of branded crypto…

Singapore’s payment unicorn Nium,  today launched its Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) solution. Initial API-based elements from the new Crypto-as-a-Service offering will allow financial institutions to add in-demand capabilities for cryptocurrency investment. The cryptocurrency investment services will support five cryptocurrencies in the U.S. in 2021 and selected Asia Pacific countries such as Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong in 2022, with the list of supported currencies to reach 20 across 35 countries in 2022. Nium’s Crypto-as-a-Service platform launches at a time when crypto has emerged as one of the most popular investment asset classes. According to the 2021 Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index, 46% of…

DocuSign, a US-based e-signature technology provider, has introduced DocuSign Ventures, which will co-invest in as well as partner with companies raising early stage funding to innovate around the agreement process. By staying close to and working with innovative startups, DocuSign can help its customers identify and integrate new solutions. This includes technologies that facilitate pre-agreement work and negotiation, in addition to the logistics and workflows that may result after an agreement is signed. DocuSign Ventures said that it is interested in a diverse range of innovative technologies being used to transform how agreements are created, executed, and managed. This includes…

OSL, a SFC-licensed digital asset platform and member of BC Technology Group, announced that it has expanded access to its crypto trading platform to professional and institutional customers in Latin America, with zero trading fees until the end of the year. OSL Exchange provides clients with access to a global liquidity pool that is powered by a matching engine as well as offer connectivity via a rich API suite and professional user interface, allowing clients to tap into deep pools of liquidity. OSL said in a statement that it has established a strong track record in the region. Since the…

A number of US lawmakers jointly issued a statement saying that Facebook cannot be trusted to manage cryptocurrency and has urged Mark Zuckerberg to stop the launch of Novi and Diem immediately. Facebook had just announced the pilot launch of Novi, the new name and brand for the digital wallet that will help people send and hold Libra digital currencies, in Guatemala and the US except for Alaska, Nevada, New York and the US Virgin Islands. The pilot version of Novi will only be available to a limited number of people and others may be placed on a waitlist when…

Tala, a Californian digital financial services provider in emerging markets, announced that it has secured a US$145 million Series E fundraise led by Upstart with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation. New investors Kindred Ventures and the J. Safra Group also joined, along with existing investors IVP, Revolution Growth, PayPal Ventures, and Lowercase Capital, to bring Tala’s total funding to more than US$350 million. Tala said that it use this investment to provide those services and accelerate the rollout of its new financial account experience. The company will also work to develop mass-market crypto products for emerging markets to help make…

Reworth, a Mexico-based startup that offers API solutions so financial institutions can offer cash back to their clients, announced the closing of a US$2.8 million seed funding round. This round was led by ALLVP, with participation from New York-based FJ Labs, San Francisco-based Soma Capital and New York based Gilgamesh which focuses its investments on fintechs in the Americas. This round brings Reworth’s total raised to date to about US$3.2 million. Reworth, which already has 20 full-time employees, plans to use the money to expand its tech team so they can offer same-day API integration as well as on board…

SumUp, a London-based global payments service provider, announced the acquisition of Fivestars, America’s commerce network that combines a marketing platform with integrated payments, for US$317 million in a mix of cash and stock. The acquisition will enable both companies to offer essential payments and marketing automation services to small business owners across the U.S. and globally. Fivestars’ San-Francisco-based team, including its CEO and co-founder, Victor Ho, will remain in their roles and continue to operate the firm. The deal is SumUp’s first acquisition in the U.S. and will provide the company with access to the more than 70 million consumer…

Halo Investing, a Chicago-based multi-issuer technology platform for protective investment solutions, announced that it has raised over US$ 100 million in Series C funding. The latest fundraising round was led by Owl Capital and included the Mubadala-backed US$ 1 billion fund managed by Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, in addition to existing investors Allianz Life Ventures and William Blair. As a result of Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners’ investment, Halo will open an office at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to drive the growth of its international footprint in the protective investing landscape. Halo, which has raised US$ 120 million to date,…