Fintech Focus For February 4, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.

Source: Helen Keller

One Big Thing In Fintech: Seedrs and Crowdcube were created as forward-thinking Fintechs leveraging technology to match investors with private firms in a sector traditionally dominated by big money.

Incumbents, such as venture capital firms, angel investors, funds, and other online capital formation sites, directly compete in the marketplace to fund early-stage firms. Seedrs and Crowdcube continue to lose money similar to platforms in other markets like the United States.

By merging the two, the founders and management hope that a combined firm can more effectively compete in the UK as well as potentially in other markets such as continental Europe and perhaps elsewhere like Asia or the US.

Source: Crowdfund Insider

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• CME completed its Globex migration.
• Cashplus is becoming a full-on bank.
• Alameda Research bought DeFi Ren.
• Visa partners with neobank on crypto.
• BestEx launching futures algorithms.
• PayPal is investing in new crypto unit.
• AIX platform onboarding new users.
• Binance has introduced USDT futures.
• Neobank Dave taps Apple executive.
• Robinhood eyes a Super Bowl debut.
• Zenotta launches P2P trade system.
• GROUNDFLOOR announces growth.
• Tapping into Confluence’s technology.
• Bill Me Later co-founders intro SPAC.
• Private Wealth Systems adds $100B.
• Stripe, Levchin fund payment startup.
• Quantitative Brokers expanding team.
• Regulatory fintech framework needed.

Watch Out For This: The victims of the GameStop saga will be trading platform Robinhood investors and the movement was “doomed from the beginning”, co-founder of investment fund Pimco Bill Gross has said.

Source: Financial News

Interesting Reads:

• Unpacking how IPOs get their prices.
• TikTok to downrank with fact checking.
• New Ford F-150 raptor is getting a V8.
• Rebuilding after the 2020 Beirut blast.
• Impact of Musk’s carbon capture prize.
• NYSE’s Jay Woods talking GameStop.
• Yellen and others aim at market frenzy.
• Survey: Post-2020 Financial Mindsets.
• Going Public show is receiving capital.
• Mia Khalifa talks investing, stock picks.
• Biden won’t retreat on $1,400 stimulus.

Market Moving Headline: Overall, we favor a barbell strategy to balance the “tried and true” structural growers with more opportunistic positions in cyclical stocks that could benefit as the economy heals. We see active stock selection as the best route to uncovering opportunities in both categories, particularly as COVID-19 impacts will need to be evaluated on a company-by-company basis.

Source: BlackRock