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☆ Zepz, a $5 billion fintech unicorn, is laying off more staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Zepz, the money transfer group that owns WorldRemit, made a fresh round of layoffs. "Zepz has entered a redundancy consultation which will could affect less than 2% of its global headcount," a Zepz company spokesperson said in an exclusive statement to CNBC. "Zepz values the contributions these colleagues have made to our company," the spokesperson added. "To fully realise our mission to unlock the prosperity of cross-border communities, we sometimes need to make tough decisions," Zepz told CNBC. The business was last valued at $5 billion, making it one of the largest and most valuable fintech companies in Europe.

Persons: Zepz, Zepz hasn't Organizations: TCV, CNBC, Sendwave Locations: British, Europe

☆ Italy's competition watchdog stops Intesa moving clients to mobile bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo and stock graph are seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Italy's AGCM antitrust authority opened a probe earlier this month into the way Intesa was transferring clients to Isybank after a raft of complaints which the watchdog said had now reached 5,000. It wants Intesa to only move clients who explicitly give their consent. Isybank targets 4 million Intesa customers under 65 who only access their banking services remotely. The group migrated the first 300,000 Intesa account holders in October and plans to shift another 2 million in March.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa, AGCM, Carlo Messina, Antonio Valitutti, Isybank, Valentina Za, Giulia Segreti, Christina Fincher, Jane Merriman, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Italy, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ Two Amazon and Netflix alums have raised $1 million for their fintech startup that aims to disrupt entertainment and production financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Conduiit, a fintech startup that promises to save entertainment companies time and money by centralizing their production finance operations, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. He saw how production companies were using a hodgepodge of services to manage day-to-day transactions, as well as managing individual productions in silos, resulting in lost time and wasted expense. ConduiitCharging on a SaaS model, Conduiit lets production companies access all their compliance, management, accounting, and payment tools from a single platform. "There are two Black founders in a world that doesn't have a lot of them," said Glover of Hamilton and Thurman. Only about 1% of venture funding in 2022 went to Black startup founders, according to Crunchbase data analyzed by TechCrunch .

Persons: Hiro Mizushima, Shawn Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton's, Jason Thurman, who's, HBO Max, Max, John Oliver, Drew Glover, Glover, Thurman, we're Organizations: Fiat Ventures, Aperture Venture, Business, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, HBO, Jigsaw, Laylow Productions, Productions, Silicon Valley Bank, Fiat, TechCrunch Locations: Silicon, Hollywood

☆ Forbes built a hall of shame for all the questionable people on its 30 Under 30 lists
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Plenty of people on the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists have turned out to be not quite so shiny. AdvertisementThe Forbes "30 Under 30" lists celebrate the achievements of young people making a mark in a range of sectors. Its "hall of shame" starts – appropriately enough – with Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX cofounder who was on the 30 Under 30 finance list in 2021. Caroline Ellison was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list last year. Outside the 30 Under 30 finance class, the gun rights activist Cody Wilson also makes the hall of shame.

Persons: Forbes, Sam Bankman, Martin Shkreli, —, Mark Zuckerberg, FTX, Fried, Caroline Ellison, Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Martin Shkreli, Craig Ruttle, Charlie Javice, Frank, JP Morgan Chase, Javice, Morgan, She's, Nate Paul, Lucas Duplan Clinkle, Lucas Duplan, Peter Thiel, Andreesen Horowitz, Cody Wilson, Kelly West, Steph Korey, James O'Keefe, Prendergrast, she's Organizations: Forbes, Service, Prosecutors, Justice, TechCrunch, Business, Reuters, Project Veritas, The City Magazine Locations: Alameda

☆ Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Anton Bridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

By any measure, cash-bleeding Rakuten Mobile is deeply troubled. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024 with investors keen to see if it can achieve its goal of having the mobile unit break even. Those steps have raised some 800 billion yen ($5.4 billion). Then in October, SoftBank Corp (9434.T), Japan's No.3 mobile network provider, began offering a generous reward campaign for most mobile users using SoftBank Group's (9984.T) PayPay online payment system. Without profits, the mobile unit is not likely to entice would-be suitors and competition laws would probably prevent the likes of SoftBank and Docomo from bidding.

Persons: Japan's Rakuten, Hiroshi, Mickey, Rakuten, Mitsunobu Tsuruo, Rakuten's, NTT Docomo, Mikitani, Amir Anvarzadeh, Anton Bridge, David Dolan, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Citi, Amazon Japan, Rakuten Securities, Rakuten Bank, SBI Securities, GUNNING, Rakuten Mobile, Reuters, NTT, SoftBank Corp, Asymmetric Advisors, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, ARPU

☆ Fintech firm SoFi set to exit cryptocurrency business
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Financial technology firm SoFi Technologies (SOFI.O) is set to exit the cryptocurrency business and has given its customers the option to migrate to UK-based Blockchain.com, the companies said on Wednesday. The San Francisco-based company said it was ending its crypto services on Dec. 19, and starting Wednesday, new SoFi crypto accounts cannot be opened. SoFi said its eligible customers can migrate their account to Blockchain.com or close their account instead. Crypto users living in New York will not be eligible for the migration due to New York state availability. London-based Blockchain.com said crypto account holders at SoFi will get access to dozens of tokens traded on its platform.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Changpeng Zhao, SoFi, Blockchain.com, Arasu Kannagi Basil, Devika Organizations: SoFi Technologies, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Bloomberg News, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, New York, London, Bengaluru

A bitcoin is seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, June 23, 2017. Anticipation of easing U.S. borrowing costs and a possible U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund have lifted crypto prices since the summer, with market bitcoin gaining by about half since the end of August. Ether , the layer 1 token linked to the Ethereum blockchain on which most layer 2 tokens are based, has leapt 13.8% to $2,028.80 in the past month. They are often among the last ones to catch a bid when broader crypto market rises and among the first ones to sell off when sentiment is shaken. Numerous projects and their tokens were launched as the crypto market boomed in 2020, before sinking during the crypto winter of 2022.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, It's, Matteo Greco, Joshua Peck, Peck, Alyse Killeen, Fineqia International's, Lisa Mattackal, Medha Singh, Tom Wilson Organizations: La Maison du, REUTERS, Fineqia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, U.S, Stillmark, Bengaluru

☆ How to make your money work for you over the next decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( James Faris | William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

"If there is a regime shift, then what has worked could be quite different from what does work," McLennan said. That means the growth stocks that dominated for years may come back to earth in the mid-2020s. He also recommends that investors diversify away from growth stocks that thrived under low rates and instead broaden out to value-oriented names. Valuations explain 80% of a stock's returns over a decade, according to Bank of America. Smead sees energy in stocks in Canada also outperforming in the coming decade, as well as European banks.

Persons: —, Peter Bates, Rowe Price, Damanick Dantes, We're, Dantes, you've, He's, Matt McLennan, McLennan, Kimball Brooker, Morningstar, Nicola Stafford, Stafford, it's, Molina, Bates, Russell, Cole Smead, that's, Phillip Colmar, Colmar, Bob Doll, Doll, Smead, Michael Sheldon, Sheldon, who's, there's, Chris Chen, Chen, Roth Organizations: Service, Business, Global, International, McLennan, First Eagle Global Fund, Eagle Investments, Goldman, Asset Management, Stock, Molina Healthcare, Vanguard Value, Healthcare, Bank of America, Comerica Wealth Management, MRB Partners, Canadian, Crossmark Global Investments, BlackRock, Energy, P Bank ETF, RDM Financial, Social Security, Social, Insight Financial, Trust, IRA Locations: Canada, Colmar, United States, Canadian, Europe, Treasuries

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Boeing, Affirm, Crocs, Carlyle Group and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Affirm -- The fintech provider of "buy now pay later" services rose 2% after an upgrade to hold at Jefferies on Tuesday. Boeing -- The maker of 737 Max jetliners gained about 2% premarket after an upgrade to outperform at RBC Capital Markets. Carlyle Group -- The private equity asset manager with almost $400 billion under management climbed more than 5% premarket after S & P Dow Jones Indices added it to the S & P SmallCap 600 index effective premarket Thursday. Shopify -- Shares of the e-commerce platform fell nearly 3% premarket after Piper Sandler cut it to underweight from neutral. The Wall Street firm said the shares hold "an untenable valuation" because consensus growth and profit expectations are too aggressive.

Persons: Max jetliners, Ken Herber, Raymond James, Rick Patel, Carlyle, Dow, Samuel Brodovsky, Glaukos, Piper Sandler, —, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Jesse Pound Organizations: Jefferies, Boeing, RBC Capital Markets, Dow Jones, Glaukos

☆ Ray Dalio hails the Gulf's 'renaissance states' amid a period of 'greater disorder' globally
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ray Dalio speaks during the 2023 Forbes Iconoclast Summit at Pier 60 on June 12, 2023 in New York City. We're now talking about a renaissance state here that happens within this greater geopolitical and economic environment," Dalio told CNBC's Dan Murphy on Tuesday. The UAE "is a renaissance state," Dalio said. Amid higher oil prices in recent years, the region's mammoth sovereign wealth funds had ever more to spend. The region's combined 10 largest sovereign wealth funds managed some $4 trillion in early 2023, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

Persons: Ray Dalio, ABU, Dalio, CNBC's Dan Murphy, Dalio's Organizations: Forbes, Getty, United, United Arab Emirates, Bridgewater Associates, United Arab, CNBC, Abu, Abu Dhabi Finance, GCC, Gulf Cooperation, Dalio's Bridgewater Associates, Pensions & Investments, The, Dubai International Financial, Sovereign Wealth Fund, —, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Locations: New York City, Taylor, ABU DHABI, United Arab, Gulf, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, U.S, Singapore, The UAE, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, London, New York, France

☆ Big banks should have been investing in fintech growth businesses, says Jim Cramer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBig banks should have been investing in fintech growth businesses, says Jim Cramer'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer looks at financials and the sector's impact on the broader market.

Persons: Jim Cramer Locations: financials

☆ Fintech Clara launches payment account in Brazil eyeing $1 bln in transactions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Latin American fintech Clara has launched a payment account in Brazil that it expects will help it reach 6 billion reais ($1.23 billion) in transactions in 2024, the firm said on Tuesday, as it eyes growth in the region's largest economy. Clara, which also provides corporate cards and expense management solutions, said the new product would allow clients in Brazil to expand their payment methods, adding bank slips and express wire transfers (TEDs) to its traditional credit card. Clara announced in August it was moving its headquarters from Mexico to Brazil after obtaining a central bank license to operate as a payment institution there, allowing it to launch the so-called 'Clara Conta'. Clara's credit card already accounts for annual transactions of over a 1 billion reais in Brazil alone, and the company says operations have been doubling in size every six months. ($1 = 4.8964 reais)Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Clara, Clara Conta, Gabriel Araujo, Sonali Paul Organizations: SAO PAULO, Banco, Thomson Locations: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia

☆ Cramer examines why bank stocks performed poorly this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday explained why the regional and national banking sector has performed poorly this year. Cramer said part of traditional banks' issues stem from fear of regulators, who have become more aggressive. He added that regional banks should consider mergers to cut costs. But Cramer also stressed many banks' inability to modernize, saying they "simply missed an entire generation of customers." Cramer also wondered why banks "ceded" point-of-sale business to companies like Toast , a cloud-based restaurant management outfit.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, they've, Cramer, Banks, Heck Organizations: PayPal

☆ Morning Bid: Stocks stall after VIX hits pre-COVID low
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 17, 2023. As U.S. markets return in earnest from the long Thanksgiving weekend, Friday's shortened session threw up a remarkable milestone. Ten-year Treasury yields hovered just under 4.50% first thing, about 10 basis points up from Wednesday's intraday low. Deutsche Bank on Monday said it expected a whopping 175bp of Fed rate cuts in 2024 as a mild recession there hits - leaving the policy rate at just 3.63% at yearend. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Mike Dolan, Wall, Friday's, Jerome Powell, MSCI's, Christine Lagarde, Bernadette Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Mike Dolan Global, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Fed, Deutsche Bank, Property, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Chaoyang Public Security, Health, Beijing, Exchange, Reuters, Beijing Stock Exchange, Dallas Fed, . Treasury, Central Bank, Sciences, Share, Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, China, yearend, Asia, European, Gaza, Beijing

☆ Safi just raised $19.5 million for its B2B recycling marketplace. We got an exclusive look at the pitch memo it used to secure the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A London-based startup using AI to increase recycling rates has just raised a $19.5 million Series A funding round. Safi, which was founded in 2021, has built a B2B marketplace for trading recyclable materials such as plastic, paper, and metal. Only then will buyers move to use recycled materials whenever possible, he added. Using recycled material to make things creates significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions versus virgin sources, Stocker noted. That's thanks in part to pressure from manufacturers, consumers, and policymakers to use more recycled material, Stocker said.

Persons: Rishi Stocker, Revolut, Stocker, Safi Organizations: Business, Europe –, Italy –, Nosara, Lowercarbon Capital Locations: London, WhatsApp, Europe, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, India

☆ VIEW Turkey central bank ramps up interest rates to 40%
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A logo of Turkey's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. Below reaction from analysts to the decision:LIAM PEACH, CAPITAL ECONOMICS, LONDON"(Turkey's central bank) suggested that it is very close to the end of the tightening cycle. For the central bank to have any chance of achieving single digit inflation this decade, rates will need to stay at this level for some time." BARTOSZ SAWICKI, CONOTOXIA FINTECH, WARSAW"In October the annual inflation rate inched lower and external price dynamics have turned a tad more favourable. The risk of a sharp slowdown in activity points to less aggressive continuation of the tightening cycle.

Persons: Cagla, LIAM PEACH, CONOTOXIA, Karin Strohecker, Ezgi, Susan Fenton Organizations: Turkey's Central, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, CONOTOXIA FINTECH, WARSAW

☆ Alphabet wants to invest in British fintech bank Monzo before it goes public
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Monzo, a British fintech bank, is in talks with Alphabet's private investment arm Capital G to raise what is primed to be its last funding round before a public listing. The bank touts around 8.5 million customers in the UK and is best known for its bright coral pink bank cards. Fintech funding in Europe dropped 70% to $5 billion from $17.1 billion in the first half of 2023, compared with 2022, according to Finch Capital. The prospective funding round is set to be the fintech's last private raise before a mooted public debut that would likely take place in late 2024 or 2025. The British bank reported £116.3 million in losses last year despite more than doubling its revenue.

Persons: Monzo, Catalyst, Monzo's, Cash, Conor Walsh, Anil Organizations: Business, Sky News, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Silicon, VC, fintech, Finch, London, Starling Bank Locations: British, London, Abu Dhabi, New York, Europe, Monzo, Starling

☆ AI poster child Altman back at OpenAI, may have fewer checks on power
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, arrives for a bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insight Forum for all U.S. senators hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2023. "Altman seems awfully powerful and it is unclear that any board would be able to oversee him. The board fired Altman last week with little explanation and attempted to move on by naming an interim CEO twice. "The fact that Summers and Taylor will join OpenAI is quite extraordinary and marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes in the company," Valle said. Sutskever, Altman and Taylor could not be immediately reached for comment.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Chuck Schumer, Craig Hudson, Sam Altman's, Altman, Mak Yuen Teen, " Altman, Beatriz Valle, Bret Taylor, Salesforce, Larry Summers, Summers, Taylor, Valle, Jack Dorsey's, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo, Sutskever, Sam, Gartner, Jason Wong, Aditya Soni, Mark Porter Organizations: Intelligence, Senate, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Microsoft, National University of Singapore Business School, Wall, Elon Musk's, Twitter, ., Harvard, Democratic, OpenAI, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Bengaluru

☆ What US charges does crypto exchange Binance face?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. The agreement will resolve criminal charges that Binance conducted an unlicensed money transmitter business, conspiracy and breaching sanctions regulations, the U.S. Department of Justice said. UNLICENSED MONEY SERVICE BUSINESSThe U.S. said that Binance, Zhao and other executives "knowingly and willfully conspired" to operate as an unlicensed money services business (MSB) from August 2017 until October 2022. MONEY LAUNDERING CHECKSThe U.S. said that Binance facilitated "billions of dollars" of crypto transactions for its customers, including in the United States, without implementing so-called "know your customer" checks. From around January 2018 to May 2022, Binance processed 1.1 million crypto transactions worth at least $898.6 million between U.S. customers and those who lived in Iran, the U.S. said.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, ZHAO, Tom Wilson, Binance, Zhao, laundered, Crypto, Elizabeth Howcroft, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: ZHAO REUTERS, U.S . Department of Justice, Reuters, Binance, U.S, Treasury's, Palestinian, Hamas, Islamic, Palestine Islamic, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, U.S, United States, Russian, Iran, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Palestine, London

☆ Plaid taps Adyen executive to lead its European operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. financial technology firm Plaid has hired former Adyen executive Brian Dammeir as its new head of Europe, the company told CNBC exclusively. Plaid, which was last valued by investors at $13.4 billion in a funding round, offers technology that enables financial technology apps to retrieve data from people's bank accounts and initiate payments on their behalf. Dammeir told CNBC. Bandourian, a former Booking.com executive, was appointed the company's first head of Europe last year. Payments has been a big focus for Plaid beyond financial data, with payment volumes on the platform having climbed more than 90% in 2023.

Persons: Plaid, Brian Dammeir, Dammeir, Ripsy Bandourian, Keith Grose, Dammeir didn't Organizations: CNBC, San, Plaid Locations: Europe, San Francisco, fintech, Adyen, North America

☆ A Ransomware Gang Wanted Its Victim to Pay Up. So It Went to the SEC.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Ben Foldy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The call is coming from inside the hack. A ransomware gang claimed this past week that it broke into the systems of the fintech platform MeridianLink . The breach has been reported to regulators. The company didn’t report it, as new rules will require them to do. The hackers did.

☆ Singapore to pilot use of wholesale central bank digital currencies in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore, speaks during the Singapore FinTech Festival in Singapore, on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. SINGAPORE — Come 2024, Singapore will pilot the live issuance and use of wholesale central bank digital currencies, said Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. "I'm pleased to announce that MAS will pilot the live issuance of wholesale CBDCs to instantaneously support payments across commercial banks here," Menon said. MAS is the city-state's central bank and financial regulator. Wholesale CBDC is a digital currency issued by a central bank, that's used exclusively by central banks, commercial banks or other financial institutions to settle large-value interbank transactions.

Persons: Ravi Menon, Menon, I'm, that's Organizations: Monetary Authority of, Singapore FinTech Festival, Singapore FinTech, MAS Locations: Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore, SINGAPORE

☆ Alibaba’s U-turn casts dark clouds over China tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Alibaba (9988.HK) scrapped the spinoff of its prized cloud computing business, blaming U.S. curbs on advanced chips. The U-turn dashes market expectations of stability among technology companies after the end of Beijing’s years-long regulatory crackdown. Add in so-so results from Alibaba’s main businesses, also reported on Thursday, and it is hard to see a silver lining in the dark clouds gathering over China’s technology sector. The technology giant reported revenue of 224.8 billion yuan ($31 bln) in the three months to September, up 9% year-on-year, and in line with market estimates. Alibaba posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of 27.7 billion yuan versus a net loss of 20.6 billion yuan, due to an increase in the value of its equity investments.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Daniel Zhang, Zhang, Alibaba, Francesco Guerrera, Thomas Shum Organizations: IFA, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, HK, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, Rights SINGAPORE, Hong Kong, U.S, China

☆ Mastercard says wide adoption of central bank digital currencies would be ‘difficult’ right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 01: A view of the MasterCard company logo on their stand during the Mobile World Congress on March 1, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images)SINGAPORE — There isn't enough justification for the widespread use of central bank digital currencies right now, which makes broad adoption of such assets "difficult," Ashok Venkateswaran, Mastercard 's blockchain and digital assets lead for Asia-Pacific, told CNBC. A retail CBDC, which is the digital form of fiat currency issued by a central bank, caters to individuals and businesses, facilitating everyday transactions. This is different from a wholesale CBDC which is used exclusively by central banks, commercial banks and other financial institutions to settle large-value interbank transactions. But a lot of the central banks nowadays have gotten very innovative because they are working very closely with private companies like ours, to create that ecosystem," said the Asia-Pacific lead.

Persons: Joan Cros Garcia, Corbis, Ashok Venkateswaran, Venkateswaran, Kong's Organizations: MasterCard, Mobile, Congress, Getty Images, Mastercard, CNBC, Singapore FinTech, Monetary Fund, Atlantic Council, Hong Locations: BARCELONA, SPAIN, Barcelona, Spain, SINGAPORE, Asia, Pacific, Singapore, U.S, Hong Kong

☆ 'Not convinced' by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin: Former BOE advisor
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via Email'Not convinced' by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin: Former BOE advisorMichael Sheren, former advisor and co-founder of the Bank of England's fintech accelerator program, explains why he remains unconvinced by cryptocurrencies and why stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are the future of digital currencies.

Persons: BOE, Michael Sheren, cryptocurrencies Organizations: Bank of England's, Central Bank Digital

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