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
Hopper Secures $175 Million Growth Investment Led By GPI Capital
Hopper is announcing that it has completed a $175 million Series G financing led by GPI Capital with participation from Glade Brook Capital, WestCap, Goldman Sachs Growth and Accomplice as the company emerges from the pandemic stronger than ever.
As the travel industry continues to rebound, Hopper has demonstrated significant outperformance with its category-leading mobile-only marketplace, delivering value to customers and supply partners with the company’s proprietary suite of fintech offerings. Hopper has over 60 million downloads, consistently ranks as one of the most downloaded travel apps, and now has a larger air travel market share in North America than it did before the pandemic (source: MIDT) along with a growing suite of API-enabled solutions for its B2B initiative. Based on its current run rate, Hopper is pacing towards 330% revenue growth compared to last year and it has already surpassed its pre-pandemic revenue peak from Q1 2020 by over 100%. Product roll-outs have been delivered over an increasingly diversified mix of air, hotel and car rental bookings with the company’s fintech offerings now representing a majority of its revenue.
Whether it’s pricing volatility or avoiding trip disruptions, Hopper’s fintech offerings aim to address every pain point in the customer journey while driving conversion, repeat purchases, and profitability. Earlier in the year, Hopper announced that it was launching a B2B initiative called Hopper Cloud. Through this partnership program, any travel provider – airlines, online travel agencies, meta-search companies, travel agencies, etc. – can integrate and seamlessly distribute Hopper’s fintech or agency content. Additionally, Hopper Cloud offers white-label travel portals for companies that aspire to sell travel with a differentiated consumer experience and offering. By leveraging its vast data assets, Hopper takes on all financial risk as its AI is able to dynamically price each fintech offering on a real-time basis at scale.
“The success of our fintech offerings demonstrate that travelers are willing to pay for flexibility and assurance as they resume traveling again,” said Frederic Lalonde, CEO and Co-Founder of Hopper. “We feel strongly that our fintech offerings through Hopper Cloud can help supercharge the travel industry’s recovery by introducing a totally unique revenue stream for other brands. In fact, if all travel distribution channels offered our fintech, it could increase the total consumer spend for the sector by $200 billion annually. We are excited to be partnering with GPI and their distinguished track record of supporting iconic consumer internet companies. We welcome Khai to the board as we execute on a roadmap for sustained growth over the long term.”
Khai Ha, Managing Partner at GPI Capital, commented “Hopper has created a large market opportunity with unique fintech products for the travel industry that applies an entirely differentiated and attractive business model in which we are excited to work with Fred and the leadership team to accelerate the flywheel. The company emerged from a challenging period for the industry, bolstering its technology capabilities, customer service and its opportunity set with a stronger, durable foundation. We are thrilled to be a partner in this category-defining story.”
The funds will be used to accelerate the company’s growth across several fronts including customer support. Following a year of unprecedented customer support requests, Hopper has scaled its customer support team by 200% and developed several self-serve automation tools so that 60% of customer support requests are now resolved instantly. Hopper is hiring an additional 500 employees, of which 300 of them are focused on customer service. The company is actively looking to acqui-hire other teams in travel, data science, or engineering-heavy startups to introduce new product offerings and fuel international expansion. Hopper has had recent success integrating the teams of Journy and Mowgli, which will accelerate entry into new travel categories such as home rentals and regional expansion to Europe.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP and McCarthy Tétrault LLP acted as legal counsel to GPI Capital.
Sightline Payments completes $244 million round valuing the company at over $1 billion
Sightline Payments today announced the completion of a $244 million round valuing the company at over $1 billion. With this capital raise, Sightline becomes Nevada’s first fintech unicorn — one of roughly 700 startups worldwide to ever earn a $1 billion+ valuation as a private company.
In addition to Cannae Holdings, this funding round included existing investors Genting Group, Point Break Capital Management, and founding investor Walter Kortschak.
Gaming is one of America’s last cash-centric businesses, with hundreds of billions of dollars running through casinos annually. Sightline Payments was founded over a decade ago by Omer Sattar, Tom Sears, and Kirk Sanford to give consumers a way to safely and securely fund their online gaming experience, starting with New Jersey’s launch of online gaming in 2013. Sightline has helped power the exponential growth of sports betting after the Supreme Court overturned the Federal ban in 2018 and continues to lead the industry in innovation by launching cashless gaming in brick-and-mortar casinos.
“Sightline has continuously risen to meet the changing needs of the casino gaming industry. As we strive to help lead the digital transformation of the patron experience in our vertical, we are humbled to become Nevada’s first FinTech unicorn,” said Sightline Co-founder Omer Sattar. “Financial Services has historically not embraced the legal, regulated gaming industry, but thanks to the innovations Sightline has fostered in the market, gaming is clearly poised for an omni-channel cashless revolution.”
“After seeing Sightline’s groundbreaking technology firsthand at the recent launch of Resorts World Las Vegas, I am more bullish than ever about Sightline’s ability to be at the forefront of the digital transformation afoot in the North American gaming, sports, and entertainment ecosystem,” said Cannae Holdings Chairman William P. Foley II. “I look forward to helping Sightline continue their tremendous growth.”
“The Sightline team has reached new heights to provide innovative solutions to drive our industry forward,” said Sightline CEO Joe Pappano. “Our investors’ continued faith in our business will enable us to execute our vision of transforming payments in the casino gaming and hospitality industry.”
This $244 million round is Sightline’s second round in 2021. Sightline closed an earlier $100 million funding round in April, which also included an investment by Searchlight Capital Partners. Building upon Sightline’s growth in the gaming and hospitality sectors, Sightline recently acquired JOINGO, the casino gaming industry’s top mobile engagement and loyalty platform.
Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Sightline in connection with the round, with a team led by M&A partner David Beller.
Poly Network Offers Chief Security Officer Role to “Mr. White Hat” after $600M heist
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Poly Network has offered the hacker who exploited its protocol to steal $611 million in crypto a job as a chief security officer.
Poly Network offered the hacker (or hackers), dubbed “Mr. White Hat”, a role as the protocol’s chief security advisor on Tuesday. “Mr. White Hat” is a common reference for a hacker who receives a bounty or award for exposing a system’s security flaws.
On August 10, “Mr. White Hat” breached the security of DeFi exchanges like Polygon, Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum and stole $266 million in Ethereum, $253 million in tokens on Binance Smart Chain and $85 million in USDC on Poly Network.
In response, Poly Network urged crypto exchanges to “blacklist tokens” that were connected to the alleged hacker. Poly Network tweeted following the massive cybercrime that the company would “take legal action” and “urge[d] the hackers to return the assets.”
On August 12, Poly Network offered up $500,000 to the hacker to return all funds. The hacker declined the bounty the same day, but has since returned $400 million of the stolen assets.
Poly Network offered the hacker the chief security advisor role so that “Mr. White Hat” could continue “contributing to security advancement in the blockchain world,” according to a Medium post. Poly Network also doubled down on their offer of a $500,000 bounty if the hacker returns the remaining stolen funds.
Indonesia and Thailand Launch Instant Cross-Border QR Payment Linkage
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Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) launched a cross-border QR payment linkage between Indonesia and Thailand today. Under this linkage, consumers and merchants in both countries will be able to make and accept instant cross-border QR payments for goods and services. This connection is the first that links the retail payment system operators in both countries. It also marks a key milestone in the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative, aiming to promote financial integration in the region.
This development follows similar arrangments between Singapore and Thailand, and Malaysia and Thailand which announced the enablement of instant cross-border QR payments.
The launch today is the project’s pilot phase, aiming to ensure smooth interconnection and pave the way for customers, merchants, and operators for the full commercial launch next year.
At this stage, users from Indonesia are now able to use their mobile payment applications to scan Thai QR Codes to make payments to merchants all over Thailand. Likewise, users from Thailand are now able to use their mobile payment applications to scan QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) to pay for goods and services at merchants in Indonesia and also use this service for their cross-border e-commerce transactions.
The full commercial phase will be launched in the first quarter of 2022. During this phase, more participating banks/non-banks are expected to join. In the future, the service will be expanded to enable users in both countries to make real-time fund transfers conveniently by referencing the recipient’s mobile phone number.
EQONEX Group announces the launch of its institutional crypto lending platform
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Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: EQOS), recently rebranded as EQONEX Group (“EQONEX” or the “Company”), a digital assets financial services company, today announced the launch of its institutional crypto lending platform, EQONEX Lending, and the execution of its first crypto loan to a European crypto native institution.
The launch of the platform follows a licensing agreement with Lendingblock, a lending platform for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, under which EQONEX has integrated Lendingblock’s lending exchange technology.
EQONEX Lending brings a uniquely safe and transparent offering to the market, capable of transforming the institutional crypto lending landscape. By providing a lending exchange with an open order book, its approach differs from many other crypto lending transactions which are currently undertaken on an over-the-counter (OTC) basis with little transparency over rates – a practice that stifles competition and impedes efficient markets.
The new approach enables institutional lenders and borrowers to interact directly via a lending exchange. The open order book allows exchange participants to view market rates being offered, and establishes market-competitive terms for collateralized transactions, bringing much needed rate transparency to the market. In addition to exchange-based lending, EQONEX will also offer an OTC lending service, with prevailing rates visible on the platform.
EQONEX Lending will also provide an automated workflow that manages the entire loan lifecycle, eliminating settlement risk, actively managing collateral to protect the lender from default risk and substantially reducing the operational risks normally associated with manual loan processing. The increasingly prominent risks associated with re-hypothecation are also eliminated as collateral assets are held in fully segregated storage in our FCA registered custodian.
Following a soft launch last month, EQONEX Lending has successfully originated and completed its first transaction, providing a Bitcoin (BTC) loan backed by USDC collateral. The platform has already developed a pipeline of loans to institutional counterparties, denominated principally in USDC, backed by collateral in BTC and Ethereum. The loans will service the fast-growing lending market, providing efficient financing for a wide range of institutions including funds, market makers, proprietary trading firms and crypto-specific firms such as miners.
The crypto borrowing and lending market has increased tenfold over the past 12 months. In 2020, crypto-backed loan volumes grew to well over $10 billion from just $1 billion in 2019, driven by increased investment activity from institutions. Much of this is conducted through a small number of custodial lenders. EQONEX Lending enables market participants to lend and borrow with EQONEX, but also directly with a broad range of other counterparties.
The EQONEX Lending platform seamlessly integrates with the rest of the EQONEX ecosystem including digital custodian Digivault, which provides fully segregated custody for loan collateral from the lending platform. Digivault recently received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority to register as a custodian wallet provider under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information of the Payer) Regulations. EQONEX Lending will also be integrated into the crypto exchange EQONEX to provide borrowing and lending services to both retail and institutional investors.
Richard Byworth, CEO at Diginex, said: “The crypto lending market is set to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the industry in the coming months and years, as institutions look to manage their capital efficiently. Lendingblock’s technology is proven to provide state of the art settlement, collateral management capabilities, and transparent pricing. EQONEX Lending will be the only platform that provides the ability to view the whole loan book, allowing clients to have the full flexibility to set their own financial terms.”
Head of EQONEX Lending, Charlie Beach added: “We’re very excited to have launched what we think will be a transformational product for the institutional lending market, enabling a broad range of companies to come together across a safe and transparent venue that combines proven capital markets financial concepts with blockchain technology.”
Fintech firm Chime valued at $25 bln after $750 mln funding
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Chime Financial said on Friday it had raised $750 million in its latest funding round led by Sequoia Capital Global Equities, valuing the financial services startup at $25 billion.
Chime’s latest fundraise is likely to be a precursor to its stock market listing in the United States early next year.
The company had held preliminary talks with investment banks for a stock market floatation that could value it at more than $30 billion, Reuters reported in March, citing people familiar with the matter.
Other major investors in the Series G round include SoftBank Group Corp’s (9984.T) Vision Fund 2, General Atlantic, Tiger Global and Dragoneer Investment Group.
Launched by former Visa (V.N) executive Chris Britt and Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) alumnus Ryan King in 2012, Chime makes money by earning a fee from payment processors such as Visa every time a customer uses a Chime debit or credit card.
It provides financial services through partnerships with brick-and-mortar banks, primarily through a Chime-branded checking account with no fees and a ‘Spot Me’ feature that allows customers to go overdrawn without penalty.
A change in consumer behavior around banking and financial services has benefited fintechs like Chime as they grow more comfortable with digital channels, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. digital banks have also caught investor and public interest, highlighted by rising cases of mega funding rounds and public listings.
Chime said it would use the funds raised to scale its operations and launch new products and services.
Intel discloses small stake in crypto exchange Coinbase
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Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Friday disclosed a stake worth less than a million dollars in U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O).
The chipmaker held about 3,014 shares of Coinbase’s Class A common stock as of June 30, Intel said in a regulatory filing. The Coinbase shares would be worth around $788,191, based on a trading price of $261.51 at 15:01 pm ET on Friday.
Intel did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
Major players have doubled down on crypto holdings including star stock picker Cathie Wood and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Elon Musk.
One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Coinbase went public through a direct listing in April, which saw its valuation rise to as high as $112 billion on the first day of trading.
SEBA Bank Adds Support for AAVE and Chainlink Tokens to Enable Institutional DeFi Access
SEBA Bank, a FINMA licenced Swiss Bank providing a seamless, secure, and easy-to-use bridge between digital and traditional assets, today announced that it is expanding its comprehensive offering into DeFi with support added for Aave (AAVE) and Chainlink (LINK) tokens.
Aave and Chainlink are pioneers in the DeFi space, with a combined market cap in excess of USD 12 billion. With this integration, institutions will now be able to manage these DeFi tokens across SEBA Bank’s full suite service offering, including investment, custody and trading. The expanded array of tokens will now be available across SEBA Bank’s investment solutions, including tailor-made and actively managed client portfolios in the framework of individualized discretionary mandates.
Alistair Heggie, COO of SEBA Bank, commented, “Investor interest in digital assets is growing rapidly, and many want to go beyond bitcoin. SEBA Bank offers investors bespoke access to the return drivers and diversification benefits of this new asset class. We are pleased to provide our expertise in digital assets to build exposure in this new asset class.”
To support the rapidly accelerating demand for DeFi and other crypto assets, SEBA Bank is integrating a number of ERC-20 tokens supported on its agile hot storage custody solution into its proprietary institutional-grade cold storage custody solution. In addition to existing support for BTC and ETH, institutions will now be able to securely manage and store ERC-20 tokens in a battle-tested cold storage environment including: USD Coin (USDC), Uniswap (UNI), Yearn Finance (YFI), Synthetix (SNX), Chainlink (LINK) and Aave (AAVE).
SEBA Bank’s full suite digital asset banking services are supported by SEBA Research, providing analytics, insights and access to this nascent asset class. SEBA Research applies the highest standards and complies with the Swiss Bankers Association research guidelines. Digital assets are selected according to a rigorous process combining quantitative metrics and in-depth qualitative analysis. The value accrual mechanism, tokenomics and the underlying protocol play a central role in this process.
US-Based Diem Networks Partners with K2 Integrity for Industry-Leading Financial Crime Compliance Framework
K2 Integrity today announced its engagement with Diem Networks US to support, initially lead, and continue to build innovative solutions for the Diem Networks US Financial Intelligence Function (FIF). The FIF is designed to protect the Diem Payment Network (DPN) from illicit financial activity and works in close collaboration with DPN participants who also are required to maintain strong financial crime compliance controls.
Diem Networks US has built a blockchain-based payment system designed to make payments cheaper and faster, while protecting consumers and the integrity of the financial system. It is poised to reshape the payments landscape by bringing the benefits of blockchain technology to consumers, including those who are underserved by the current banking system, and businesses around the world. Diem’s FIF raises the bar for financial crime risk management, marrying K2 Integrity’s world-class talent with Diem’s steadfast dedication to preventing financial crime.
“Designing a framework that sets high financial crime compliance standards has been one of the Diem project’s top priorities, and this is an area where we are continuing to innovate,” said Stuart Levey, Chief Executive Officer of Diem Networks US. “We are excited by this opportunity to partner with K2 Integrity, a team that has a wealth of experience in this space and is respected internationally for their leadership on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) issues.”
Mariano Federici, Managing Director at K2 Integrity, will act as the initial FIF Head, reporting to Sterling Daines, Chief Compliance Officer of Diem Networks US, and working alongside Diem’s experienced compliance team and dedicated K2 Integrity compliance professionals. Mariano is one of the world’s foremost experts in financial intelligence and a respected leader in the Egmont Group, the international body of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). Mariano has played a pivotal role in the development of the international AML/CFT framework and is the former Chair of the Egmont Group and Head of Argentina’s FIU.
“We are proud to be partnering with Diem Networks US to continue developing innovative FIF solutions and supporting Diem’s financial crime risk management program,” said Juan Zarate, Global Co-Managing Partner, K2 Integrity, and first-ever Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes. “Diem’s financial crime compliance framework, which is focused on protecting the integrity of the DPN and the financial system, is setting a high bar for the virtual asset industry. In close collaboration, we are bringing our world-class talent and experts in the field of financial intelligence, virtual assets, and compliance risk management to support Diem Networks US’s efforts to launch and expand its platform with a leading financial crime compliance framework.”
The Diem FIF will provide leadership in detecting and preventing financial crime on the DPN, working with both DPN participants and government authorities to deter misuse of the platform for illicit purposes. The engagement between Diem Networks US and K2 Integrity further enhances and demonstrates the Diem project’s commitment to the highest standards to fight financial crime.
Giles Colwell Joins BlockFi as Head of North America and LATAM Institutional Distribution
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BlockFi, a financial services company dedicated to building a bridge between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial and wealth management products, named Giles Colwell as Head of North America and LATAM Institutional Distribution. BlockFi also announced additional executive appointments in North America, EMEA and APAC regions, maintaining a strong pace of global growth and senior hires. Samia Bayou joins as the Global Head of Private Clients, Rafael Weber serves as the Director of APAC Private Clients, and Paul Howard is an Institutional Sales Director for APAC.
In his role as Head of North America and LATAM Institutional Distribution, Mr. Colwell is responsible for overseeing the Americas distribution team and delivering BlockFi’s innovative cryptocurrency products and services to clients.
Mr. Colwell has more than 30 years of experience as a Wall Street executive at Bank of America, JPMorgan, and UBS. Throughout his career, he has held senior leadership positions across Global Markets and FIG banking, providing insight, advice, and tailored solutions to investment managers, corporations, and individuals. For the last decade, Mr. Colwell has been a Managing Director in the Senior Relationship Management team at Bank of America, responsible for overseeing the entire Bank of America platform and driving strategic dialogue with some of the bank’s largest institutional accounts across global markets, banking, capital markets, and advisory services.
Ms. Bayou joins BlockFi after nearly five years as a Senior Investment Advisor at a private family office in London. In that role, Ms. Bayou managed assets and investments for the family office and was a regular participant in the Davos World Economic Forum. Previously, Ms. Bayou served in senior roles with more than 12 years of experience in large banking groups such as UBS, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Societe Generale.
Mr. Weber joins BlockFi with more than 12 years of experience in private banking, working with multi-family offices, external asset managers, and fund managers in Asia and Europe. Most recently, he worked for UBS in Singapore and Hong Kong as a Senior Client Advisor and Business Developer.
Mr. Howard brings more than a decade of Institutional Sales and coverage experience in Asia with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. An MBA graduate from the University of Hong Kong, Mr. Howard was also named as one of Asia’s youngest Managing Directors for a Fortune 500 company.
“As we continue to expand relationships with institutional investors around the world, we’re honored to welcome these top-notch professionals who will play an integral role in liaising with clients and external partners,” said David Olsson, Head of Institutional Distribution at BlockFi. “We’re highly committed to institutional business growth and Giles and team will be an instrumental part of this plan. The proven leadership and expertise of each individual will aid our institutional clients as they continue to gain exposure to digital assets.”