Cryptocurrency trading firms Celsius and Voyager Digital crashed earlier this month, trapping clients' funds within their platforms. Voyager’s financials are unknown, but Celsius has $167M in cash on hand to repay over $4.7B in customer deposits.
Read MoreStarling, the UK-based challenger bank, withdrew its application for a European banking license four years after its initial application to the Irish Central Bank. The bank is now eyeing growth through its banking software subsidiary, Engine, and by expanding its lending initiatives.
Read MoreOn July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that bans the use of digital assets like NFTs and cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services within the country. It is still legal to trade, buy, and sell those assets.
Read MoreThe European Union General Court ruled that Brussels has the authority to regulate the merger between US biotech groups Illumina and Grail. Grail has no commercial presence in Europe and its operations are primarily in the US.
Read MoreGoldman Sachs announced a $233M loan to Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre. Similarly, Citigroup lent $375M to them last year.
Read MoreERCOT, which operates Texas’s power grid, has requested that bitcoin miners suspend operations during the state’s current heat wave, which has caused a surge in residential and commercial energy demand. Bitcoin miners complied, freeing up to 1,000 megawatts by turning off their machines.
Read MoreCrypto firm Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy last week, previously told customers that their deposits were FDIC insured through a partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank. However, customer funds are only protected if Metropolitan Bank fails, not if Voyager fails; the FDIC is now investigating Voyager’s false claims.
Read MoreThe National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the public-private payments incubator operating within the country’s central bank, announced plans to build international digital payments infrastructure for the country’s 32 million expats. The NPCI previously built India’s domestic digital payments rails, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Read MoreThe US Supreme Court ruled last week against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), limiting its powers to interpret or enforce laws without explicit Congressional authority. Two top Republican lawmakers told the Financial Times that the ruling will soon affect financial regulators as well.
Read MoreLast week, the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, banned loading pre-paid payment instruments using credit lines. The regulatory shift effectively outlaws the business strategy of major BNPL providers in the country.
Read MoreSpecial Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) once seemed like the future of public launches. But, where there were more than 300 SPAC IPOs in Q1 2021, less than 70 took place a year later.
Read MoreThe Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, ending the federally protected right to an abortion. In response, banks and financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs said they would cover travel costs for employees seeking an abortion in other states.
Read MoreThe BNPL giant is in talks to fundraise at a $15B valuation. It had previously been valued at $46B.
Read MoreGolden Ark, a marijuana payments startup, has launched a metaverse-based payments system. It’s developed virtual cannabis as a cryptocurrency that supports real-life cannabis authentication and transactions.
Read MoreBrian Brooks, former acting Comptroller of the Currency during the Trump administration, said the head of “one of the two largest banks in the United States” was considering a ban on gun purchases using the bank’s debit and credit cards. Brooks convinced the bank CEO to not go ahead with the move.
Read MoreThe Financial Revolutionist is weekly newsletter and blog focused on the torrid pace of financial innovation. Today, thanks to the exponential rate of technological change, explosion in global trade and new regulations ushered in by the Great Financial Crisis, a new financial revolution is under way. In this battle, virtually every aspect of the greater financial services sector is subject to rigorous challenge. With the Financial Revolutionist, we are aspiring to create a boots-on-the-ground and highly opinionated assessment of important financial innovation developments in the past week.
