And we’re kicking off the week with new details on crypto, money transfer, fintech funding, payment process, debt crisis and more. Dive into the latest fintech insights and have a great start of the week!
How Crypto Lender Celsius Overheated (Coindesk)
Celsius rapidly became more brazen in its attempts to generate yields, using decentralized lending protocols and aggregators to juggle around client funds for the best return. If the collapse of LUNA was cryptocurrency’s Bear Stearns moment, Celsius Network threatens to become the industry’s Lehman Brothers: the failure that exacerbates a market crisis. Celsius, which resembles a bank while touting itself as a democratized interest income and lending platform, is rumored to be insolvent following a freeze on withdrawals over the weekend. Founded in 2018, Celsius had more than $8 billion lent out to clients and $12 billion in assets under management by May of this year, according to the company. Read more.
‘The mood is very grim’: Once-hot fintech sector faces IPO delays and consolidation (CNBC)
Financial technology companies are putting IPO plans on hold and cutting expenses as fears of an impending recession cause a shift in how investors view the market. At the Money 20/20 conference in Amsterdam, bosses of major fintech players sounded the alarm about the impact of a deteriorating macroeconomic climate on fundraising and valuations. John Collison, co-founder and president of Stripe, said he was unsure if the company could justify its $95 billion valuation given the current economic environment. Read more.
Fintech 50 2022: The Newcomers (Forbes)
Last year, as the pandemic continued to push more buying and banking online and the price of both bitcoin and tech stocks climbed, venture capitalists poured money into fintech— a total of $133 billion globally, almost three times the $49 billion they invested the year before, according to CB Insights. That flood of capital carried so many promising startups to the next level that our job at Forbes of whittling down the fintech universe to the 50 most innovative startups was the hardest it’s ever been. In fact, there were so many intriguing candidates that half of our picks on this list, our seventh annual Fintech 50, have never appeared on the list before. That’s the highest number of newcomers we’ve had since the list debuted in 2015. Read more.
Apple is turning your iPhone into fintech service taking on PayPal, Affirm and more (CNBC)
Apple is turning into a fintech company. The company announced several new features for the iPhone’s Wallet app at its developers conference Monday that directly compete with products from other fintech companies such as Affirm and PayPal. The big one: a buy now, pay later service called Apple Pay Later. That announcement sent Affirm shares down more than 5% Monday, and they were down an additional 4% as of Tuesday morning. Apple will also launch a new payments system later this month that lets you pay someone by tapping your iPhone against theirs. It’s a direct competitor to Block’s Square. And Wallet in iOS 16 will let you track online orders you buy through Apple Pay. Read more.
Why BaaS is transforming the financial services space (Fintech Magazine)
Banking as a service (BaaS) is moving up the ladder in terms of important developments in the world of digital banking and fintech. But what does it actually mean, what are the implications, and why is it such a transformative force? We spoke to a number of industry-leading experts to find out more.
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