FinTech Weekly - Fintech News Issue #361

Metaverse New business models

Also the investment company Fidelity joins the several brands that entered the metaverse to expand their businesses in the digital world. The new platform, built in Decentraland, will give users more investment opportunities, as well as a virtual place where they can work and socialize.

Cryptos Opinions Regulation

Fabio Panetta, member of the European Central Bank, asked for new regulatory frameworks and taxes for what concerns the crypto space: Panetta compared cryptos to Ponzi schemes and said that they could represent a new bubble.

Cryptos Investments Payments

Also Stripe joins the crypto space: the firm announced that it will give its users the possibility to pay with cryptos. The company focuses on a stablecoin, USDC.

Banks Financial Instruments Opinions

The types of services offered by banks still can’t compete with fintech companies. Even if banks started focusing more on digitalization, it’s also true that they usually offer only digital products related to the management of accounts, while users would like to have access to more complex services like loans online.

Bitcoin Cryptos Financial Instruments Investments

Fidelity exploits fintech opportunities not only thanks to the metaverse, but also by expanding its financial services: Fidelity Investments will allow its users to invest part of their savings in Bitcoin.

Blockchain New business models NFT

The crypto exchange Okcoin, founded in 2013, announced a new market for NFTs (non-fungible tokens): its CEO, Hong Fang, announced that in this NFT market there won’t be any limit on royalty rates.

Interviews Opinions

Benjamin Ensor and Nicole Perry are joined by Kate Drew (CCG Catalyst) and Bence Jendruszak (SEON) to discuss the most popular fintech news, from the effects of inflation to the new investments of some fintech companies.

Financing Investments

The fintech company Qonto opened a crowd investing round that made the company raise €5 million in a few hours. The company opened the round via Crowdcube and was supported by over 1800 Qonto users.

Investments

According to data from CBInsights, the fintech industry received investments for over $28 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The best performer was Europe, and for what concerns sectors even insurtech and payments tech experienced declines.