Fintech Focus For June 29, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: “Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

Source: John D. Rockefeller

One Big Thing In Fintech: Randal Quarles, the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision, is out with a new speech on digital money and the main gist is that he’s skeptical about the imminent need for a central bank digital currency.

However, he sounds very bullish on stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies meant to track the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar, provided they can be regulated properly.

Source: Bloomberg

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• State Street builds out data, digital.
• TradeStation takes on Miami crypto.
• Coinbase talks crypto listing plans.
• Voyager Innovations added $167M.
• ARK Invest filed to create BTC ETF.
• Neobanks expanding, add products.
• CME adding micro futures products.
• CME removes afternoon trade halt.
• Fintech Crypto.com joins with Circle.
• Goldman’s Marcus hiring for BNPL.
• Walmart, Green Dot honing fintech.
• Western Union fights against fintech.
• Startup Slice secures $20M funding.
• TT connects with LSE CurveGlobal.
• Chip has added a membership plan.
• Inside Tampa Bay’s blockchain hub.
• Credit Agricole taps BBG for trading.

Watch Out For This: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell demanded that President Joe Biden pressure Democratic congressional leaders to follow him in separating a bipartisan $579 billion infrastructure plan from a larger tax and spending bill that would carry out the rest of his economic agenda.

Source: Bloomberg

Interesting Reads:

• Google’s business faces DOJ action.
• US forces get attacked after air raids.
• J&J settles New York opioid lawsuits.
• Judge dismisses Facebook lawsuits.
• Morgan Stanley adding to dividends.
• Cathie Wood funds back in spotlight.

Market Moving Headline: The market has become meaningfully overvalued—price-to-earnings multiples are outside of most historical bounds—and bordering on speculative.

The explosive popularity of GameStop and other meme stocks, the Archegos Capital kerfuffle, and the proliferation of SPACs or so-called blank-check companies are symptomatic of the froth in the market.

We expect the stock market to more or less trade sideways for the foreseeable future as it digests the shift in monetary and fiscal policy, but given the overvaluation/speculation, odds are uncomfortably high it will suffer a more severe correction.

While it is difficult to construct scenarios in which a decline in stock prices, even a severe and sustained sell-off, could undermine the current recovery, there are scenarios in which it would materially change the contours of the recovery.

Source: Moody's