Switching to the Satoshi standard and Lightning Network connectivity makes Bitcoin more tangible and easy to use. AAX has made the first move in the crypto space, already providing BTC to SAT
SEBA Bank Secures Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market and Opens Office in Abu Dhabi
SEBA Bank, a fully integrated, FINMA licensed digital assets banking platform, today announced that it has secured a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (“ADGM”) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (“FSRA”) effective as of 07 February 2022. Following receipt of this FSP, SEBA Bank has opened an office in Abu Dhabi ADGM to strengthen support for its regional partners in the provision of regulated digital asset services.
The FSP authorises SEBA Bank to conduct regulated activities in the ADGM, including advising on investments or credit, arranging credit and custody, and arranging deals in investments; pursuant to the Financial Services and Markets Regulations 2015 (“FSMR”).
The office opening in Abu Dhabi will further accelerate the considerable growth that SEBA Bank has achieved over the past year. In January, SEBA Bank closed a USD 120M Series C round enabling continued high-trajectory institutional business growth through further investment in product offering and technology. ADGM is part of SEBA Bank’s strategy to establish licenced presences in the markets which we serve. With the dedicated office in Abu Dhabi, the bank will further expand headcount across operations, sales, and business development in the region.
Guido Buehler, CEO at SEBA Bank, said, “We are proud to receive a licence from the ADGM FSRA to provide our digital asset banking services in the ADGM. This licence is a valuable addition to our existing licences, as a FINMA regulated banking and securities dealer and licensed provider of custody services for Swiss Collective Investment Schemes for Digital Assets. Backed by the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s international financial services centre, ADGM is a leading global hub for driving innovation in technology and business development and will offer valuable support in meeting our growth objectives for the region. Our new office in the thriving business and financial district on Al Maryah Island will serve as a strategic hub for SEBA Bank to cater effectively to the evolving needs of our customers in the UAE and across the region.”
Dhaher Bin Dhaher Al Muhairi, CEO of the Registration Authority at ADGM, said, “We welcome SEBA Bank to ADGM’s expanding family of financial institutions at an incredibly exciting juncture for the thriving digital asset landscape. ADGM constantly seeks to advance its financial services offering to enhance the vibrant ecosystem and contribute to the growth and diversification of the Abu Dhabi economy. We look forward to supporting the SEBA Bank in its global growth strategy and serving as the GCC hub for business, financial services and client servicing activities.”
SEBA Bank is the Swiss smart bank providing a secure, institutional-grade, universal suite of regulated banking services for the new digital economy. As one of the world’s first fully licensed banks with a core capability in digital assets, SEBA Bank is trusted by investors, financial institutions, and corporations to seamlessly guide clients into the digital asset economy. SEBA Bank is a leader in innovation in digital asset services and has launched a number of landmark products in response to client demand.
Christian Borel, Senior Executive Officer and Branch Manager at SEBA Bank AG ADGM, added, “The UAE is a global leader in digital assets and blockchain, with the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2022 providing a clear plan for cementing its place as a global hub for blockchain innovation. Abu Dhabi has established clear regulatory frameworks which allow licensed companies to operate with clarity in the country. As a regulated bank, SEBA Bank can act as a trusted counterparty to those interested in digital asset investment and banking services in the region.”
ADGM-based FinaMaze announces the launch of the Metaverse Smartfolio
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FinaMaze Metaverse Smartfolio bundles stocks of the companies leading the way in the Metaverse. Among them are familiar tech names, video game publishers, software developers, entertainment industries and infrastructure and hardware manufacturers. The Metaverse Smartfolio includes for good measure a controlled exposure to a crypto exchange and to Ethereum, the cryptocurrency that serves as the basis for virtual reality blockchain platforms such as Decentralan and Sandbox, allowing users to purchase, build and monetize virtual reality applications.
Metaverse is deemed to become the future of the internet, the next frontier of technology, already fuelling the improvement of the hardware (smartphones, glasses, VR headsets), the development of faster cloud services, larger processing capacity and wider bandwidth.
“The Metaverse, the virtual world, is already a “reality”, says Mehdi Fichtali, CEO and Founder of FinaMaze.
Tech giant Microsoft’s Teams is embracing the movement with the development of Mesh. Video Game publishers Roblox, Electronic Arts, Unity Software are developing three-dimensional content. Graphic card and chip manufacturer Nvidia launched Omniverse, an open platform for virtual collaboration and real-time physically accurate simulation. But the ultimate recognition came from the rebranding of the tech heavy-weight Facebook’s into Meta Platforms along with a $10-billion investment to develop products supporting augmented and virtual reality.
“The Metaverse is born, and major companies, such as JP Morgan, Walmart, Verizon and Adidas, are setting foot on it, in a way or another. But the adoption will certainly not be a straight line or happening overnight. Nor will the stock market performance journey”, adds Mehdi.
FinaMaze Metaverse smartfolio diversifies across over a dozen securities, spreading the risk among different sectors and automatically rebalancing the allocation to remain in line with each investor’s unique risk profile.
FinaMaze launches the Metaverse smartfolio as not all investors have the time and the expertise to conduct exhaustive and exhausting research on each market theme and build a carefully chosen selection of securities to translate the exposure they desire.
“And they neither want to be glued to their smartphone, constantly checking on their portfolio. Attracted by our dedicated risk controls, several investors are actually migrating to FinaMaze, which automatically rebalances each portfolio to remain in line with each investor’s personal risk appetite. This was all the more welcomed as the year started with Nasdaq’s negative -12% year-to-date performance. In this context, only Metaverse-related securities that have already been “corrected” by the market have been added to the smartfolio, to ensure an entry point appreciably below recent all-time highs.”
One of the most innovative and protective feature is the “Metaverse vs Market” version that allows market-pessimistic but metaverse-optimistic investors to capture the relative performance of the Metaverse-related securities over the market: if Metaverse securities indeed fall but in proportions less than the market, the “Metaverse vs Market” performance will then deliver the favorable difference.
FinaMaze investors have access to over 30 ready-to-invest thematic smartfolios, built thanks to the heavy lifting of FinaMaze investment committee experts, with the help of the computational power of AI and automated algorithms. Investment starts from $2,000 and investors can access tools and charts to track their own smartfolios real-time performance, put Take Profit and Stop Loss at the level of each smartfolio and exit, for free, on a daily basis.
The launch of the FinaMaze Metaverse Smartfolio is set to coincide with the opening of Dubai’s Museum of the Future, resonating with the vision of UAE’s leadership and residents, who want to live the future today.
ConnectPay partners with Salt Edge to offer a smooth open banking payments experience
ConnectPay, one of the fastest-growing Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) in Lithuania, joined hands with Salt Edge, a leader in providing open banking solutions, to offer the best payments experience to its customers in Germany and the Netherlands.
Living in the continuously shifting world of fintech, modern customers are always seeking instant, secure, simple, and most importantly, fully-fledged solutions. The disruptive future of digital banking and the whole fintech industry bolster the transformation of niche EMIs into an all-in-one fintech engine with a broad range of services. ConnectPay, an ambitious member of the EU fintech scene, offers a one-stop shop solution for all payment facilities under one roof for internet-based companies while collaboration with Salt Edge complements the company’s strategic goal to implement open banking payments.
ConnectPay strives for the best user experience and has been looking for a partner that could help with integrating multiple APIs of banks across Germany and the Netherlands as the technical documentation differs depending on each bank and more resources are needed for analysis and development if all done in-house. Salt Edge Payment Initiation solution will allow ConnectPay to integrate with a list of all required financial institutions and offer merchant services based on open banking in Germany and the Netherlands, aiming to constantly widen the list of supported countries.
Collaborations and partnerships drive the fintech industry forward. Salt Edge lived up to our expectations and offered a one-size-fits-all solution to reach the most popular financial institutions in Germany and the Netherlands, rather than integrating them one by one. Combining the strengths of Salt Edge and ConnectPay will enable us to offer high-quality merchant services to our e-commerce customers.
Marius Galdikas, CEO at ConnectPay
We are excited to join hands with ConnectPay, a company dedicated to providing the most innovative solutions and seamless user experience to merchants through open banking technologies. Our solution provides ConnectPay access to major banks in Germany and the Netherlands with a single connection and enables them to offer high-quality merchant service to their customers.
Vasile Valcov, VP at Salt Edge
Plot Twist: Russia to Legalize Bitcoin
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After the 20th January 2022 announcement that the Russian Central Bank proposed a ban on mining and the use of cryptocurrencies, we see a swift change of wind in the attitude towards Bitcoin coming directly from the Kremlin.
According to the Russian government official statement, the turnover of crypto financial assets will be regulated by the state with strict obligations for all participants in the professional market and an emphasis on protecting the rights of ordinary investors.
The purpose of the regulation is to integrate the mechanism for the circulation of digital currencies into the financial system and ensure control over cash flows in the circuit of credit institutions.
In addition, it is planned to introduce an obligation for market participants to inform citizens about the increased risks associated with digital currencies.
The implementation of the concept will ensure the creation of the necessary regulatory framework, will bring the digital currency industry out of the shadows and create the possibility of legal business activities.
The Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Russia, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Prosecutor General’s Office took part in the discussion of the regulation of the cryptocurrency market.
The legislation will reportedly be drawn up no later than Feb 18.
Protocol Labs and Faber Join Forces to Launch Web3 Hackathon and Accelerator Program
Protocol Labs and Faber are collaborating to help foster the development of the next generation of the internet. The partnership combines Faber’s experience as early-stage deep tech VC and Protocol Labs’ Web3 expertise to help entrepreneurs create the building blocks of successful new companies in the decentralized web.
As open-source research, development, and deployment laboratory, Protocol Labs has created benchmark Web3 projects such as Filecoin and IPFS and collaborates with a curated community of partners such as Outlier Ventures (UK), Longhash Ventures (Asia), or Techstars (US).
Based out of Portugal – a fast-growing hub of Web3 talent – Faber will leverage its experience as an early backer of AI/data-driven founders to work with Protocol Labs in helping form, fund, and accelerate new companies working on blockchain technologies in Continental Europe – at the core of this partnership are a virtual hackathon and a remote accelerator program
The Faber Web3 Hackathon will run from mid-February to mid-March, including two days of talks and workshops to get all the teams up to speed with the most relevant and up-to-date technologies and frameworks needed to build a Web3 project. Faber and Protocol Labs will be looking for talented teams working on hard engineering such as cryptography, blockchain technologies, or distributed systems to build new protocols, tools, infrastructure services, or applications to drive Web3 use cases.
Applications for the hackathon will open on January 24th and Protocol Labs will sponsor at least €75,000 in awards to be distributed among the submitted projects, with more details on how to apply coming in the next few days.
Starting in mid-April, the Filecoin Faber Accelerator will run for three full months and a select batch of 10 teams will have access to a world-class program put together to maximize their chances of success. Faber and Protocol Labs will back and accelerate teams leveraging Filecoin and IPFS to build innovative blockchain companies in multiple business cases and across the Web3 technology stack.
The program aims to help pre-seed teams create and develop their businesses, with technical, financial, and operational support from Faber and Protocol Labs together with top experts in areas like DeFi, tokenomics, smart contracts, governance, NFTs, UI, etc. Each selected team will also receive at least €80,000 of pre-seed investment directly from Faber and Protocol Labs, while during the program they will have multiple chances to pitch to and get mentorship from some of the leading VCs in the Web3 space.
Alexandre Barbosa, Managing Partner at Faber, said, “A new generation of entrepreneurs is building a decentralized stack of new protocols, tools, and algorithms to address the hard challenges of efficiency, scalability, security, privacy or cross-chain operations, as well as in the distributed services and applications of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) or NFTs. Faber is proud to be partnering with Protocol Labs, who is already a driving force behind the Web3 movement, in backing these teams.”
Colin Evran, Ecosystem Lead at Protocol Labs, said that “Faber has been successfully backing AI/data-driven startups and impressive founders from Europe. We are delighted to partner with Faber to further ignite Europe’s community of entrepreneurs building the next generation of Web3-driven companies on IPFS & Filecoin. The number of high-quality applications building on Filecoin has increased by a factor of 8x in 2021, reaching millions of users and accelerating the transition from Web2 to Web3. With the help of Faber’s programming, mentorship, and network, we’ll help even more developers and entrepreneurs successfully build businesses on Web3 tech.”
More details on how to apply to the remote Filecoin Faber Accelerator will be announced in the coming weeks.
Doconomy and Salt Edge: Merging impact tech and open banking for a sustainable future
Doconomy, a Swedish world-leading impact tech provider for banks, SMEs, and corporates, joined forces with Salt Edge, a leader in offering open banking solutions, to use data aggregation and transaction categorisation services to speed up introduction of climate functionality to the European market.
As concerns about climate change have grown over the past years, the importance of the emerging fintechs that offer various convenient ways for consumers to reduce their carbon footprint, has increased too. Being the trailblazer in this movement, Doconomy aims to inspire shifts in behavior and mitigate the impact of everyday transactions, leading the fight against unsustainable consumption and environmental destruction.
Doconomy provides digital tools which allow customers to become environmentally-conscious by assessing, per transaction, the CO2 emission and H2O consumption impact based on the world-leading Åland Index. Collaboration with Salt Edge allows Doconomy to facilitate the introduction of applied impact solutions for banks and corporates in Europe. By leveraging Salt Edge’s account information and transaction categorisation tools, Doconomy can introduce climate impact calculations functionality within a short time to market, without major investment in legacy systems.
Doconomy is committed to driving innovation for a sustainable future. The new era of shared responsibility between consumers and financial services invites everyone to join. Partnering with like-minded companies, we aim to accelerate the transition to greener financial services. Salt Edge services help us speed up the introduction of applied impact solutions for banks and corporates in Europe. We believe that such collaborations can have a positive impact in shaping a more resilient tomorrow and guide consumers towards more sustainable choices in their everyday consumption.
Doconomy co-founder and CEO Mathias Wikström
Salt Edge is excited to partner with Doconomy – a world-leading provider of applied impact solutions which empower consumers to take convenient but tangible steps toward carbon neutrality. When it comes to the climate emergency, open banking becomes an important gear wheel in the mechanism that helps to accelerate positive climate efforts and enables consumers to calculate and offset their impact of everyday transactions. Doconomy’s Åland Index-powered Carbon Calculator together with Salt Edge’s open banking services bridge the gap between awareness and action when it comes to boosting positive climate efforts and responsible consumption.
Dmitrii Barbasura, CEO at Salt Edge
BPC extends market reach in Pakistan with UnionPay collaboration
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Leading payment solutions provider BPC has announced a collaboration with UnionPay International in Pakistan. As part of the understanding, BPC will offer its Access Control Server (ACS) solution and services to enable 3D Secure cardholder authentication to UnionPay issuer banks in the country. BPC’s ACS solution is certified with UnionPay International for 3D Secure authentication on its latest standards and mandates.
The ACS product forms part of BPC’s SmartVista Suite platform, a host of comprehensive, state-of-the-art integrated software applications that help financial institutions and businesses to process all forms of electronic payments, including digital money transfers, plastic cards, smart chip cards and other personal payment methods.
Among the SmartVista applications designed for the digital economy, is the ACS solution called 3-D Secure, which will provide UnionPay issuers instant authentication of cardholders during an online purchase. Quick and easy to use, 3-D Secure reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions and increases cardholder confidence in Internet purchases. It can be implemented as an integrated, standalone module or as a service, and is compliant with all functional and security standards set by international payment systems. BPC will host the solution locally, using its own software and ACS server ensuring quick time to market and costing that is reflective of regional prices.
Commenting on the partnership, James Yang, General Manager of UnionPay International Middle East Branch said: “We are impressed with BPC’s technology that can be integrated within our network to provide a reliable and smooth payment experience for the users. Having BPC as a valued partner who strives for not only innovations but also for commitment to ongoing support for the application, we will be able to deliver a trusted and effective customer experience across channels through BPC’s constantly improving offerings and cutting-edge developments. This level of commitment is crucial for us as we continue to address the market pain points and improve our cardholders’ payment experiences.”
The collaboration comes at a time of rapid digital transformation in Pakistan. Having a population of over 220 million, with an average age of 22 years and a large mobile penetration rate, Pakistan offers immense business opportunities in the digital finance and payments sector. The country has seen tremendous growth in digital payments both in terms of value and volume of transactions during the last couple of years. Especially in the e-commerce sector, the usage of payment cards is gradually increasing and with it the need to secure the payments being made online by the consumers.
Commenting on the announcement, Ahson Saaed, Managing Director at BPC in Pakistan said: “BPC is committed to playing a leading role in helping UnionPay during this critical period of growth as Pakistan continues its digital transformation. We are excited to be collaborating with UnionPay International and look forward to supporting its ongoing success as it makes headway into the local economy.”
The 10th NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum: an inspirational gathering of leading Payments & RegTech experts
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The 10th NextGen Payments and RegTech Forum is an inspirational gathering connecting leading decision-makers from across the entire Payments and RegTech community, delivering optimum benefit through premium content and bespoke networking opportunities.
This distinguished Forum will explore every aspect of Payments & RegTech – from upcoming regulation to new payment methods and practical case studies. Attended by senior executives from across the UK and EMEA – offering a unique opportunity to learn and network with leading international experts and like minded peers.
High-achieving specialists will inspire the participants by their knowledge and innovative concepts on how to evolve business activities in the world of technology advances, regulations, empowered customers and continuous development in a disruptive economy.
This B2B Forum is the perfect platform to build connections, educate and explore new business opportunities and meet the key decision-makers that are shaping this rapidly changing Payments & RegTech world.
TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR MOST RECENT EDITION: THE 9TH PAYMENTS & REGTECH FORUM TOOK PLACE ON THE 24TH & 25TH NOVEMBER IN LIMASSOL, CYPRUS:
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‘An event that was focused, yet provided the relevant outlet for solid business networking!’ EBO
‘Thank you so much for such an experience. It was very interesting and informative two days.’ EXINITY
‘Excellent networking, well organised, great location.’ WonderInterest
‘Very professional and pragmatic when it comes to networking and real valuable content.’ RCB Bank Ltd
‘Excellent organization, interesting subjects and knowledgeable speakers.’ CreditPilot
KEY BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING
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About QUBE Events:
QUBE Events are created to provide an authentic platform where business leaders can build and cultivate long lasting relationships in a healthy and productive space. We believe in building credible relationships with our participants and sustaining mutual growth through our combined successes.
For more information and the full Agenda contact the 10thNextGen Payments & RegTech Forum 2022 team at [email protected] or by visiting the event website: https://www.qubevents.com/npf-ireland
Biden administration may release executive order on crypto in February
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The White House is working on an executive order that will detail the government’s strategy on cryptocurrencies. The Joe Biden administration has reportedly directed federal agencies to outline the risks and opportunities of digital assets, per a Bloomberg report.
Individual federal agencies like the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had so far been taking a scattershot approach in regulating cryptocurrencies. However, the White House faced continuous pressure from cryptocurrency industry executives who raised concern over the lack of clarity on the rules.The Bloomberg report suggests the executive order, which will detail the economic, regulatory, and national security challenges that cryptocurrencies pose, may be released as early as next month. The final draft of the executive order is expected to be presented to President Biden in the coming few weeks, per the Bloomberg report.
The senior administration members have held multiple meetings to draft and execute the executive order. Through the directive, the White House will assume a central role in overseeing efforts related to setting policies and regulating digital assets.The executive order will also include detailed reports from various federal agencies on the impact of digital currencies in the second half of 2022.One of the reports are expected to be released by the FSOC, a group that includes the top financial watchdogs in Washington, will evaluate the possible systematic impact of digital assets in the country. Another report aims to determine the illicit use of cryptocurrencies.
The cryptocurrency market has been witnessing a massive sell-off after US Federal Reserve signalled the end of its quantitative easing policy. Some of the top cryptocurrencies have shed up to 80 percent over the past three months. Bitcoin, the oldest crypto, has nearly halved from its all-time high of around $70,000 hit in November last year.The administration is also exploring the possibility of establishing a US government-backed digital currency or a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The administration is reserving comments on this specific issue as the Federal Reserve is evaluating the impact of the CBDC. The Federal Reserve released a preliminary discussion paper on January 20 that looked into the pros and cons of creating a CBDC. The paper that lists 22 questions on which the Fed is soliciting comments will be open to the public until May 20, 2022.A CDBC could be an essential issue for the US government as China and other countries are already in the process of embracing CBDC, which could be a threat to the dollar’s dominance in the world. However, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been arguing that the US dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency is not at risk.
Union Bank of the Philippines Selects METACO and IBM to Orchestrate its Digital Asset Custody Operations
METACO, the leading provider of security-critical software and infrastructure to the digital asset ecosystem, has announced that Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is implementing its digital asset management services. UnionBank is deploying services on IBM Cloud, in order to leverage the confidential computing capabilities of IBM’s digital asset infrastructure which are fully integrated with METACO’s digital asset orchestration system, METACO Harmonize.
One of the largest universal banks in the Philippines, with over $15 billion in assets under management, UnionBank, will leverage METACO Harmonize, METACO’s digital asset orchestration system, to manage its digital asset operations. UnionBank can improve insurability with additional FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certified physical controls for managing and migrating keys, mitigate potential operational risk and loss events through trusted threshold signatures and hardened policies, and address insider collusions with third-party audited source code deployments. These capabilities are supported by IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Services.*
METACO Harmonize enables institutions to manage a range of end-to-end digital asset use cases from cryptocurrency custody and trading to tokenization, smart contract management and decentralized finance (DeFi). UnionBank’s launch follows the recent opening of METACO’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, established to ensure that METACO offers best-in-class services to UnionBank and other customers in the region.
Patrick Enjalbal, VP Customer Success and MD, APAC at METACO, commented, “We are proud to further expand our significant presence in APAC, with Union Bank of the Philippines, a national leader in banking services. METACO continues to grow at a significant pace. With the recent launch of our APAC headquarters in Singapore, we can ensure that we continue to offer best-in-class services to UnionBank and other customers and partners in the region.”
Founded in 1982, UnionBank is a leader in innovation in banking technology and was one of the first institutions to launch electronic savings accounts in the country with the EON Cyber Account. With over 388 branches nationwide, UnionBank is a key provider of corporate cash management and B2B banking services for local and multinational companies in the Philippines.*
“We have the passion for meaningful and sustainable reinvention. We value our strategic partners, like METACO, and collaborate with them in an alliance that is meaningful in pursuit of a common vision. And for UnionBank, that common vision is customer centricity driven by emerging technologies and innovation”, said Henry Aguda, UnionBank’s Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Technology & Operations Officer and Chief Transformation Officer.
As the digital asset industry matures, most organizations require optionality to reduce the risk of third-party dependency, seeking to work with multiple vaults, sub-custodians, and liquidity providers. Working with numerous service providers creates additional complexity. Institutions face challenges in terms of security, and scalability, with a proliferation of access points weakening end-to-end processes. METACO Harmonize manages this complexity and mitigates the risks in working with an ecosystem of partners by acting as the overarching policy layer to ensure tight management of digital asset operations, coupled with a single point of integration to its various internal systems.