Fintech Focus For May 20, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

Source: John F. Kennedy

One Big Thing In Fintech: TradeZero America, a commission-free trading platform, formally announced the launch of cryptocurrency trading.

In celebration of this addition, TradeZero will also purchase a license to a New York Yankees hospitality suite in Yankee Stadium with Bitcoin, marking it the ball club’s first transaction using digital assets.

Source: Benzinga

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• Ledger added to team new leaders.
• Coinbase is launching a media arm.
• DeFi platform Maple has launched.
• More funding flows into Pipe fintech.
• Goldman Sachs grows TS relations.
• Waffle closes $5M total seed round.
• ICE adds new BondLink investment.
• Wingocard launches amid financing.
• T.Rowe Price expands fintech effort.
• Transcend launches new solutions.
• BlockFi mistakenly sent lots of BTC.
• CrossTower provides crypto fintech.
• OCC, Fed, FDIC looking into crypto.
• Circle adds to team new leadership.
• Paxos edging into banking system.
• Altruist secures funding to innovate.
• Customers Bank is looking to scale.

Watch Out For This: It’s been a rough two weeks in the crypto world, where as much as $1 trillion in market value has evaporated. Wednesday may be the worst of it, as the world’s two largest digital asset exchanges, Binance and Coinbase Global Inc., suffered service outages, sending Bitcoin falling the most since 2013.

Source: Bloomberg

Interesting Reads:

• Podcast: Founders feeling unhappy.
• Celebrating 229 years at the NYSE.
• Instagram hosting an event for NFT.
• Study: Cancer deaths and Medicaid.
• Institutions bought bitcoin’s big dip.
• Manchester City to drop a new NFT.
• Lamborghini intros new plan for EV.
• Warning over Chinese skyscrapers.

Market Moving Headline: Some Federal Reserve officials were open to a debate at “upcoming meetings” on scaling back their massive bond purchases, a record of their April gathering showed, potentially putting taper talk on the table as early as next month.

Source: Bloomberg