Nerve, a neobank for musicians, to launch in September

Nerve, a neobank for musicians, to launch in September

Nerve, a neobank for musicians, aims to serve musicians with FDIC-insured accounts that help the musician separate their personal and financial lives; streaming and follower data; free instant payments to other Nerve users; and a networking feature that allows musicians to collaborate with one another.

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Green-themed challenger bank Aspiration to go public in $2.3B SPAC deal

Green-themed challenger bank Aspiration to go public in $2.3B SPAC deal

Aspiration, an 8-year-old Los Angeles-based challenger bank, is going public through a merger with special-purpose acquisition company InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc.

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Venmo teams up with Fiserv to offer direct paycheck deposits for gig workers

Venmo teams up with Fiserv to offer direct paycheck deposits for gig workers

PayPal-owned Venmo announced a partnership with banking technology company Fiserv to offer gig workers the opportunity to get their paychecks and tax refunds deposited into their Venmo accounts.

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Standing at the Intersection of Real Estate and Technology

Standing at the Intersection of Real Estate and Technology

As the pandemic recedes, it's clear that the proptech sector is largely emerging stronger, more resilient, and with more interest from investors than ever before. In fact, according to Crunchbase, VC-backed real estate tech companies raised a record $10.6B in the first six months of 2021, up from $8.3B in the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, companies in the real estate tech ecosystem are increasingly going public, with major IPOs like Procore and Compass, and SPAC tie-ups for companies like Offerpad, SmartRent, Hippo, Doma, and more.


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Mastercard is planning to say goodbye to the magnetic strip on its cards

Mastercard is planning to say goodbye to the magnetic strip on its cards

Payments giant Mastercard said it’s getting rid of the magnetic strip on cards starting in 2024. The move is being taken largely as a result of the growth in adoption of new technology, including chip cards and contactless payments.

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Poly Network wants hacker to become chief security advisor

Poly Network wants hacker to become chief security advisor

Poly Network is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that was the target of a hack last week resulting in $600M in stolen crypto.

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Industry braces for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 2.0

Industry braces for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 2.0

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has outlined its priorities in a staff memo, including consumers facing hardship due to Covid-19, and racial equity.

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ICYMI: Chime raises a whopping $750M on its way to IPO

ICYMI: Chime raises a whopping $750M on its way to IPO

Neobank Chime, which reportedly has around 20 million customers, just closed a blockbuster $750M, bringing its valuation up to $25B and positioning it for an IPO in the first half of next year.

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Poly Network hack puts DeFi fraud under the microscope

Poly Network hack puts DeFi fraud under the microscope

In one of the biggest crypto thefts ever, nearly $600M in crypto was stolen in a cyberattack on a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform called Poly Network.

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Brex withdraws industrial bank charter application

Brex withdraws industrial bank charter application

Payments unicorn Brex is withdrawing its industrial loan company (ILC) bank charter application to allow it to “modify and strengthen” it and resubmit at a future date.

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Coinbase riding high amid $1.9B in transaction revenue and $1.6B in quarterly profit

Coinbase riding high amid $1.9B in transaction revenue and $1.6B in quarterly profit

In its second-ever earnings report as a public company, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase appears to be on a winning streak, with revenues past 1000% and profits up almost 4900%.

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Ally Financial taps insurtech Hippo on home-insurance offering

Ally Financial taps insurtech Hippo on home-insurance offering

Ally Financial entered into a partnership with Hippo, an arrangement that would allow it to offer home insurance to its customers.

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Senate rejects crypto tax amendment to infrastructure bill

Senate rejects crypto tax amendment to infrastructure bill

The U.S. Senate has rejected a bipartisan amendment to the $1T infrastructure bill that would have ring-fenced cryptocurrency tax-reporting requirements, creating potential headaches for crypto companies.

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ICYMI: Former OCC lead Brian Brooks leaves Binance.US

ICYMI: Former OCC lead Brian Brooks leaves Binance.US

Brain Brooks, former acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency under the Trump administration, resigned from his post as CEO of crypto exchange Binance.US, a mere three months into the job.

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Crypto firm Circle to apply for a banking license as ‘National Digital Currency Bank’

Crypto firm Circle to apply for a banking license as ‘National Digital Currency Bank’

Circle, a Boston-based crypto firm behind the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, announced plans to become a full-reserve national commercial bank, operating under the supervision and risk management requirements of the Federal Reserve

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