Fintech Focus For July 20, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: “It’s not exactly like you thought it would be, you think it’s a failure. What about the spectrum of colors in between.”

Source: Sara Evans

One Big Thing In Fintech: In light of pandemic restrictions, retail investors, hungry for engagement with the outside world, fueled an impressive rise in trading activity. This was a boon for TradeZero, a commission-free stock and options trading solution for the beginner and advanced market participant.

“January and February were huge,” Dan Pipitone, co-founder at TradeZero, said of the speculative narratives surrounding so-called meme-stocks. “I had basically been positioning myself, my whole career, for that week we had.”

Source: Benzinga

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• Yellen eyes stablecoin regulation.
• JPM on a blockchain hiring spree.
• Broadridge teamed with OpenFin.
• Exponential growth fuels fintechs.
• Fintech, crypto boost NBA spend.
• Metromile adds Tesla leadership.
• Sushiswap puts S and G in ESG.
• Facebook payment tech expands.
• Credit Suisse investing in AI data.
• Daloopa securing $20M Series A.
• SEC approves IEX retail program.
• Revolut staff can cash 20% stake.

Watch Out For This: How do you make finance fun?

That’s the question Kyla Scanlon has been entertaining for the past five years or so. The 23-year-old influencer creates content around traditionally hard-to-understand finance topics and popular narratives which have been known to stem volatility in stocks such as GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

In an exclusive interview, Scanlon spoke with Benzinga about her motivations, perspectives on the generational shift in market participation, as well as current projects.

Source: Benzinga

Interesting Reads:

• Uber is scaling its grocery delivery.
• CNN unveils new streaming offers.
• Capital One investing into Lightico.
• Quantum Computing talked to BZ.

Market Moving Headline: Investors are growing increasingly worried that the delta variant will weigh on the global economic recovery. Meanwhile, tensions with China escalated as the U.S. and its allies connected the Microsoft Exchange hack to actors affiliated with the Chinese government. The recent development builds on last week’s strife when the Biden administration cautioned investors about the potential risks of conducting business in Hong Kong.

Source: Bloomberg