BondEvalue and Northern Trust Complete World’s First Blockchain-based Bond Trade
Northern Trust and partner BondEvalue completed the first trade of a fractionalized blockchain-based bond in Singapore this month. Northern Trust is providing securities services for the wholesale bonds. In what is believed to be a first for the industry, Northern Trust built the capability to communicate cash and securities settlement reporting directly to BondEvalue’s DLT platform via an application programming interface (API).
“Digital assets bring significant benefits to both the end investor and all participants within the value chain as they improve trust and liquidity within market segments as a result of the immutable record,” said Justin Chapman, global head of Market Advocacy & Innovation Research at Northern Trust. “An additional benefit of fractionalized ownership of digital assets is the ability to open up institutional bond markets to more investor types – this is a positive step forward for broadening financial inclusion.”
Discover Financial Services Partners With CarIQ
Discover announced this week a new partnership with FinTech CarIQ to craft the first secure payment solution specifically developed for automotive fleet payments. Car IQ’s underlying technology solution is based on a machine identity verification process that allows vehicles and machines to connect directly to payment networks, physical infrastructures, and mobility platforms, potentially enabling vehicles to automatically initiate and complete payments for services such as tolls, fuel, parking and more.
M1 Finance Gets Noticed
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it might be a bit tough when you’re a startup and the imitator that notices you is one of the biggest names in the industry. We noticed a striking resemblance to Chicago-based M1’s portfolio “pie” analogy in a recent back-page ad in The Economist. (Disclosure: Collin Canright is an M1 customer.)
Jump Capital Releases New Crypto Theses
New theses at crypto site The Block are examining the unpredictable path of cryptocurrency over the course of what has been a generally unpredictable 2020. Take a look here.
Sandalphon Capital Launches Virtual Startup Summit
Sandalphon Capital has announced the launch of a new virtual event: midwest.tech/connect will serve as a three-day summit targeted to all types of early-stage startups and investors across the Midwest region and beyond.
“The Midwest always needs more early-stage capital, and COVID-19 has made the challenge much more acute,” Jonathan Ellis, Managing Director at Sandalphon Capital, said. “It’s become more challenging for both founders to raise and investors to source deal flow. We thought we’d do something about it.”
For more information about the event, visit midwest.tech.