Fintech Focus For March 25, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: Brainpower doesn’t have a zip code.

Source: Laura González-Estéfani

One Big Thing In Fintech: A new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicates that asset management giant Fidelity is seeking to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Source: The Block

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• HSBC launches mobile banking.
• JPM a winner of fintech bubble.
• Prove acquires MEDICI Global.
• Feedzai raises $200M in funds.
• ClosingBell adds sentiment API.
• Airwallex raises $100M in funds.
• MoneyGram adds business line.
• Fidelity’s eMoney joining Akoya.
• SH selects FinIQ for trade tech.
• Bankly raises $2M led by Vault.
• Upstart Referral Network is live.
• Plaid accelerator adds startups.
• Blockchain.com raising $300M.
• Filecoin, Chainlink collaborating.
• CCA adds private funding index.
• Obama ‘Hope’ artists sells NFT.
• StarkWare ends $75M Series B.
• Robinhood looking to Charlotte.
• Arca announces new BTC trust.
• Cboe to combine its businesses.
• USPS will audit its crypto policy.
• Virgin Money has added Fluidly.
• BrokerTec adds trading solution.
• Coinbase would launch CBDCs.
• TT is live with Athens Exchange.
• Compass eyeing $10B valuation.
• Crowdcube, Seedrs merger cut.
• Citi’s Sharegain will launch tech.

Watch Out For This: Banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America are scrambling to hire junior bankers as a surge in workload during one of the busiest starts to the year in decades has led to increasing concern over burnout and mental health.

Source: Financial News

Interesting Reads:

• North Korea launches missiles.
• Virus recovery and funny smells.
• Miami will become a tech hub.
• Tracking the Suez Canal block.
• Wall Street loosens work weeks.
• Tech CEOs to testify on attacks.
• China rebuking new sanctions.
• Jeep unveiled electric Wrangler.
• Auto plants idle as supplies dry.
• Spotify increasing transparency.
• Elon’s bet on BTC for payments.
• NYT turned column into an NFT.
• US needs to beef up innovation.
• Slack’s new DM feature is opt-in.
• Future of mobile phone markets.

Market Moving Headline: So far 2021 isn’t looking too different from where we ended 2020. But we see the second quarter bringing greater economic re-awakening, underpinning our constructive outlook for U.S. stocks.

Source: BlackRock