Fintech Focus For June 9, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

Source: Albert Einstein

One Big Thing In Fintech: A small number of banks have begun offering early direct deposit — a move that will cost them revenue in the short run but could help them preserve market share and strengthen their public image over the long term.

Source: American Banker

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• Forbes: Most innovative fintechs.
• Glue42, Deephaven partnered up.
• IRS expands crypto enforcement.
• BOE hones in on crypto regulation.
• Wix partnered with Stripe and HP.
• Voyager participates in new events.
• MassMutual licensing out its tech.
• Plum moves into retirement savings.
• Spartan Group closes on $110M.
• Nium expanding in UK before IPO.
• Euronext looks to streamline offer.
• LME plans to reopen trading floor.
• Kafene adds $14M for BNPL offer.
• Kraken looking to bolster security.
• QuantaVerse launching new tech.
• BBH introducing Connectors tech.
• Royal Park Partners launch in US.
• Nubank taps Berkshire for $750M.
• Revolut’s strategy shakes banking.
• Analysis: Why Current isn’t a bank.
• Goldman joins Blockdaemon round.
• DeFi Ventures closing on $17.7M.
• MoneyLion added new leadership.
• eToro is planning a move to Miami.
• Bottlepay intros European service.

Watch Out For This: The rich can’t possibly spend everything they earn, so they save a lot. In theory those savings can be recycled into productive investment, but in practice a lot of the money finances borrowing—i.e., dissaving—by people farther down the income ladder. “A substantial amount of borrowing by households in the bottom 90% of the wealth distribution was financed through the accumulation of financial assets by the top 1%,” [] economists write, citing their own prior work.

Source: Bloomberg

Interesting Reads:

• Story behind Fuel Venture Capital.
• Shortages fueling modular homes.
• Fastly outage takes out websites.
• Report: Tax departments and tech.
• How put sales can support a stock.
• Adding social metrics to analyses.
• The dark side of the hustle culture.
• Dispo confirms its Series A round.
• Job openings hit new record April.

Market Moving Headline: The meteoric rally in meme stocks such as AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and GameStop Corp. has unleashed a burst of options trading, upending traditional dynamics in the market for stock bets.

The rush into the stocks coincided with frenzied trading for options—contracts that allow investors to bet on price moves in stocks or protect their portfolios. The once-obscure corner of the market has boomed this year like never before, with many new investors trying their hands during the pandemic shutdowns.

Source: Wall Street Journal