U.S. banks made more than 65 strategic bets in FinTech in 2020. Capital markets investments led the way. “Despite the economic uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. banks are future-proofing by actively investing in FinTech,” research firm CBInsights concludes in a report released last week. Deals in the capital markets category more than doubled those in the … [Read more...] about Banking on FinTech
Blockchain
New Charter Law Could Make Illinois a Crypto Leader
Illinois FinTechs may soon have a new opportunity to provide safekeeping of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, in a move that would make the state only the second in the nation to offer this authority to applying companies. A new charter for these “special purpose trust” companies got one step closer to passage through the state legislature Tuesday, with the Illinois … [Read more...] about New Charter Law Could Make Illinois a Crypto Leader
Blockchain Adoption Accelerates Across Finance
Adoption of blockchain technology continues to accelerate into 2021, driven in part by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but increasingly by investments across a wide range of financial services for a variety of use cases. According to the recently released Blockchain Technology Market Size report from Grandview Research, the blockchain market was valued at $3.67 billion for … [Read more...] about Blockchain Adoption Accelerates Across Finance
NFTs: Ugly Term for Beautiful Returns?
If the technical term "nonfungible token" was selected to describe how the art market meets FinTech as a way of catching attention, then it has succeeded mightily. It begs the inevitable questions: What the heck is that? Why would anyone buy that? The New York Times took that approach in its 03/12/2021 story on the largest sale of digital-asset token as art: "What Are NFTs, … [Read more...] about NFTs: Ugly Term for Beautiful Returns?
A More Mature Dream: Building Authentication into Cryptocurrency
In many people’s minds, cryptocurrency started as a dream of decentralization; of an asset not subject to government manipulation or many of the negative regulations that exist to steer the market in specific directions. And, for better or worse, those dreams have to some extent been realized. Technology has caught up to the ambitions, but bad actors have repeatedly shown the … [Read more...] about A More Mature Dream: Building Authentication into Cryptocurrency
Chicago FinTech News – Corporate Cash Surges
Corporate Cash Holdings Soar, Says New Carfang Group Study Corporations in the U.S. added $1.1 trillion or 38.5% to their cash holdings in the first half of 2020 according to recent data Federal Reserve data analyzed by The Carfang Group. For the second quarter, cash is up $424B or 12% and now stands at $3.9T. According to Anthony J. Carfang, Managing Director at The … [Read more...] about Chicago FinTech News – Corporate Cash Surges