Fintech Focus For May 21, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: “A smile cures the wounding of a frown.”

Source: William Shakespeare

One Big Thing In Fintech: As part of a vision to democratize access to actionable and timely stock market information, Benzinga partnered with Nasdaq Inc.

Apart from supporting firms like Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, and Microsoft Corporation, from their earliest stages, Nasdaq offers numerous other products and services, all of which increase market access and transparency for both institutions and retail participants.

Through this new partnership, the businesses that rely on Nasdaq for data will be able to tap into Benzinga’s Market Newswires feed, with ease, unlocking access to content crafted by a team of in-house reporters, analysts, and editors.

Newswires include individual stock coverage, Canadian asset coverage, cryptocurrency, macroeconomics, and innovations such as the Why-is-it-Moving API, which gives the 1-sentence reason why a stock is trading higher or lower on a given day.

Source: Benzinga

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• Nasdaq: Building the SIP Autobahn.
• MX to tackle regulatory innovations.
• GS invested into ComplyAdvantage.
• KingSwap announces tech updates.
• Boost raises a $20M Series B round.
• Fed to publish discussion on CBDC.
• Trade Republic snags $900M round.
• Taurus TDX selects GMEX matching.
• CoolBitX has added CoolWallet Pro.
• HK fintech gateway to Asian century.
• NFTrade launches Mainnet to grow.
• Plaid, Square team over payments.
• US Treasury toughening on cryptos.
• Santander introduces new e-banking.
• tZERO teamed with EnergyFunders.
• Unpacking Robinhood’s epic quarter.
• Coinbase adds new assets like SOL.
• Tezos joins Red Bull as DLT partner.
• European swaps accelerate e-trade.
• Certegy expands its BNPL solutions.
• Figure adds $200M Series D round.
• Limit orders now on PlasmaFinance.
• Figure raises $200M at $3.2B value.
• Epiphany adds to team new leaders.
• How to borrow crypto with certainty.
• NEM enters into NFTs with legends.
• Nym opens up the “Finney” network.
• Glint gears up for first crowdfunding.

Watch Out For This: Holoride, the Audi spinoff that’s creating an in-vehicle XR passenger entertainment experience, is deploying blockchain technology and NFTs as the next stage in its preparation for a 2022 market launch.

The company, which closed a $12 million Series A in April, announced it would be integrating Elrond blockchain into its tech stack to bring transparency to its ecosystem of car manufacturers and content creators. Holoride hopes to use NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, to incentivize developers into creating more content on holoride’s platform for the promise of more money earned off token purchases, and to attract passengers who want to personalize their in-car experience.

Source: TechCrunch

Interesting Reads:

• Podcast: Author Malcolm Gladwell.
• ICE launches UK emissions futures.
• VC: More opportunities than capital.
• Google search for crypto broke ATH.
• Ford’s F150 EV can power houses.
• Microsoft pulls the plug on Explorer.
• Snap emphasizes commerce offers.
• Airbnb CFO confident over rebound.
• Cell-cultured meat on store shelves.

Market Moving Headline: Further, recent volatility is happening in the context of concerns over rising inflation, which may prompt monetary authorities to ease back on stimulus. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s minutes showed that some on the committee were interested in tapering discussions.

“It was a surprise to hear the talk about Fed tapering,” Joyce Chang, JPMorgan’s chair of global research, told Bloomberg TV. “The market had been thinking there might be a couple of months before you really saw this particular issue come into focus.”

Why is this – inflation – a concern? Generally speaking, inflation and rates move inverse to each other. Low rates stimulate demand for loans (i.e., borrowing money more attractive). With the rapid recovery, though, market participants fear that rates will rise to protect the economy from overheating.

Higher rates have the potential to reduce the present value of future earnings, making stocks, especially those that are high growth, less attractive. To note, however, rates are still rangebound; rates on the 10 Year T-Note sit below their March high and are likely to continue higher, which the market will likely absorb.

Source: Physik Invest