FreeAgent and Fathom Partner to Help SMEs Better Manage Finances
UK accounting software provider FreeAgent has announced a partnership with Australian reporting platform Fathom, integrating real‑time profit‑and‑loss reporting, cash‑flow forecasting and KPI dashboards into its ecosystem. The automatic data sync enables small‑business owners and their accountants to generate interactive management reports and scenario modelling without leaving FreeAgent. Fathom’s enterprise‑grade corporate performance management tools, used by over 90,000 firms, will now be available to FreeAgent’s 200,000‑plus users. The collaboration aims to elevate advisory services and help SMEs scale beyond basic bookkeeping.
Brazil’s Central Bank Orders Liquidation of Fintech Firm Despite Mubadala’s Acquisition Attempt
Brazil’s central bank ordered the extrajudicial liquidation of Will Bank, a fintech formerly tied to the collapsed Banco Master. The decision came after failed attempts to sell the lender, including a bid from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Regulators...
Juniper Square Report Highlights Major Fundraisers Amid Evolving Private Markets Ecosystem
Juniper Square released its 2025 Fundraisers market update, adding private credit to the analysis of top capital raisers for the first time. The report spotlights GPs across private equity, real estate, venture capital and private credit that leveraged the firm’s...
IXOPAY Launches ‘Token-First’ Packages to Tackle Payment Stack Fragmentation
IXOPAY introduced three TokenEx tokenization packages—Core, Connect and Alternative Payments—to make token‑first payments the default for enterprise merchants. The bundles aim to curb payment‑stack fragmentation, lower PCI‑DSS scope and eliminate processor‑owned token lock‑in. Core provides universal tokens, Connect adds 20+...
Quantum Trading Achieves 34% Accuracy Increase, Applications Expand Says WEF
Quantum‑enabled algorithmic trading debuted at the World Economic Forum, delivering a 34% boost in forecasting accuracy. The breakthrough marks the first practical quantum deployment in finance, moving the technology from theory to market. Organizers highlighted the potential to overhaul risk...
RBC and SILAC Partner with Bloomberg to Set a New Standard for FIA Index Design
RBC Capital Markets and SILAC Insurance teamed with Bloomberg to launch the Bloomberg VERSA 10 (BVERSA10) index, a volatility‑targeted, multi‑asset benchmark for fixed indexed annuities. The index addresses insurers' need for adaptable, low‑volatility benchmarks by targeting 10% volatility and incorporating long/short...
Bitwise Launches Actively Managed ETF Pairing Bitcoin with Gold
Bitwise Asset Management launched the Bitwise Proficio Currency Debasement ETF (BPRO) on the NYSE, offering an actively managed mix of Bitcoin, precious metals and mining equities. The fund mandates a minimum 25% allocation to gold and carries a 0.96% expense...
Understanding Prepaid Solar Leases as a Long-Term Energy Option
Prepaid solar leases let homeowners pay a single upfront fee to use a solar system for many years, offering cost predictability after federal tax credits decline. The model blends ownership benefits—lower electricity rates and provider‑handled maintenance—with lease‑like simplicity, avoiding monthly...
5 Phrases That Should Make You Run From Any Investment Offer
Scammers targeting forex and cryptocurrency investors rely on five common phrases to lure victims into fraudulent schemes. The article breaks down each red flag—guaranteed returns, invincible AI algorithms, forced urgency, extra withdrawal fees, and recruitment commissions—explaining why they signal Ponzi...
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC to $150,000 in Q1 2026, But Pepeto Could Deliver 100x Returns First
Analysts project Bitcoin could reach $150,000 in the first quarter of 2026 as institutional ETFs pour billions into the market, lifting the cryptocurrency’s valuation to roughly $1.8 trillion. While the upside represents a 67 % gain from current levels, seasoned investors view...
Treasury Prime Adds I3 Bank and Coastal to Network
Treasury Prime, the AI‑native embedded finance platform, announced the addition of i3 Bank and Coastal to its Bank Network, now exceeding 20 financial institutions. The two new members will use Treasury Prime’s AI Marketplace to locate fintech partners that match their...
UAE Group Pensions: Designing Digital-First Savings
Insurers, employers, and technology providers in the UAE are transitioning from discussion to deployment of digital‑first group pension programmes as recent gratuity reforms shift end‑of‑service benefits toward funded pensions. Kidbrooke’s analysis shows that flexibility, modularity and user‑friendly design are now...
Trump-Linked World Liberty Financial Partners with Spacecoin on Satellite-Powered DeFi
World Liberty Financial, the Trump‑family‑linked crypto firm, announced a strategic partnership with Spacecoin that includes a token swap linking their ecosystems. Spacecoin has launched three low‑Earth‑orbit satellites to deliver permissionless internet to remote, underserved communities. The collaboration aims to enable...
Hawk Launches Analytics Studio to Streamline AI Model Governance
Hawk has introduced Analytics Studio, an AI lifecycle management platform aimed at banks and payment firms tackling anti‑money laundering and fraud. The solution bundles pre‑built financial‑crime model templates, copilot‑guided creation, performance dashboards and automated documentation to speed regulator‑ready deployments. It...
NASAA Wants to Stop Non Exchange Secondary Trading Under Reg A
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has publicly opposed the Restoring the Secondary Trading Market Act, which seeks to pre‑empt state regulation of off‑exchange secondary trades for Regulation A and Regulation CF securities. The bill, currently in markup, aims to improve...
FDIC Adds Banker to Regulatory Appeals Board in Final Rule
The FDIC issued a final rule revamping its supervisory appeals process, mandating that the three‑member panel include at least one former banker alongside a supervisory‑experience member. The rule also broadens banks' appellate rights, allowing challenges to supervisory determinations that underpin...
Inside the Explosion of Banking Charter Applications
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) saw a surge of charter applications in 2025, matching the volume of the previous four years combined. Driven by fintechs and non‑bank firms seeking de novo, national‑trust, and industrial‑loan‑company charters, six applicants...
Stablecoins Could Reach 20% of Bank Deposits in Some Emerging Markets: S& P Global
S&P Global Ratings projects that foreign‑currency stablecoins could surge to $730 billion across 45 emerging‑market economies, up from roughly $70 billion today. In its most aggressive scenario, stablecoins would account for 10‑20% of bank deposits in the 15 countries where inflation erodes...
Bitcoin Hits Federal Reserve’s 2026 Stress Tests, Creating a Massive Capital Risk for Banks
The Federal Reserve’s 2026 supervisory stress‑test proposal still omits Bitcoin, but rising bank exposure through custody, ETFs, and derivatives could make the cryptocurrency a material risk factor. Pierre Rochard’s call to add Bitcoin highlights four criteria—materiality, repeatability, balance‑sheet mapping, and...
Pave Finance Integrates with Fidelity to Automate RIA Workflows
Pave Finance announced a direct integration with Fidelity, enabling registered investment advisors to link client accounts to Pave’s platform without moving assets. The connection automates portfolio construction, ongoing management and trade execution, leveraging Pave’s ten‑year‑tested Asset Intelligence Layer. Advisors can...
Italy’s Axyon AI Teams Up with Asset Management Firm Eolas Capital
Italy’s Axyon AI has teamed up with Boston‑based Eolas Capital to accelerate the rollout of its AI‑driven investment tools across North America. The partnership leverages Eolas’ marketing, sales and distribution expertise to introduce customizable signals, forecasting models and AI‑generated indices...
Safeguarding Autonomous AI Agents: Accertify’s Conrad Kennington Discusses Issues, Opportunities
Accertify’s AI chief Conrad Kennington warns that autonomous shopping agents erode traditional fraud signals, creating new vulnerabilities. As agents automate purchases, token‑based transactions strip away behavioral context, making fraud detection harder. Kennington stresses the need for fresh data points, device...
Crypto for Advisors: Will 2026 Be the Year of Crypto Regulation?
U.S. policymakers have reached bipartisan agreement on core crypto market‑structure reforms, shifting focus from intent to implementation in 2026. The proposed framework treats non‑security tokens as commodities for secondary trading while retaining SEC oversight of fundraising activities. Regulators aim to...
Here Is the List of Bills Being Reviewed in House Financial Services Committee Markup Hearing
On January 22, 2026 the House Financial Services Committee held a markup hearing reviewing ten bipartisan bills that span artificial intelligence, financial reporting thresholds, small‑issuer capital formation, cyber‑money‑laundering enforcement, community‑bank regulation, ESG disclosure, secondary market rules, and the Terrorism Risk...
Vestmark and T. Rowe Price Launch Custom Premier for RIAs
Vestmark and T. Rowe Price have unveiled Custom Premier, a personalized model‑portfolio solution for registered investment advisors. The offering blends Vestmark’s tax‑aware implementation engine with T. Rowe Price’s model‑portfolio design, allowing advisors to construct ETF and mutual‑fund blends that reflect client risk,...
Bitcoin in a Deep Bear Market Against Gold, History Suggests Downside May Persist
Bitcoin has fallen 55% against gold since its December 2024 peak, dragging the BTC‑to‑gold ratio down to 18.46. Gold is near record highs, up roughly 12% year‑to‑date, while Bitcoin is barely positive and remains under $89,000. The ratio sits about 17%...
Open Banking Limited Marks 8 Years as Usage Surges to 33 Million Monthly Payments
Open Banking Limited celebrated its eighth anniversary, highlighting that open banking has moved from a regulatory mandate to a core UK financial infrastructure. The latest data shows 33 million account‑to‑account payments in November 2025 and more than 16.5 million active user connections. The...
Financial Advisers Face Rising ML/TF/PF Risk Pressures
Financial planners and investment advisers are under mounting pressure to address money‑laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks. Regulators now require defensible, evidence‑based risk assessments rather than periodic checklists. Arctic Intelligence has introduced a sector‑specific ML/TF/PF Risk and Control Assessment...
Crypto Regulation to Become Global Reality This Year, PwC Says
PwC’s 2026 Global Crypto Regulation Report predicts that 2026 will see crypto rules solidify worldwide as draft legislation becomes law. Jurisdictions with transparent frameworks, such as the EU under MiCA, the UK’s FSMA‑based regime, and emerging hubs in the UAE...
Crowdfunding: The ACCESS Act Targets Lower Compliance Costs for Small Reg CF Raises
Bipartisan senators introduced the ACCESS Act to raise the independent accountant review threshold for Regulation Crowdfunding offerings from roughly $124,000 to $250,000, with the SEC empowered to lift it further to $400,000. The bill, already passed by the House and...
Tokenization Firm Superstate Raises $82.5 Million to Bring Wall Street Onchain
Superstate, a tokenization startup founded by DeFi veteran Robert Leshner, closed a $82.5 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Crypto. The capital will fund its Opening Bell platform, which lets SEC‑registered firms issue digital shares and run shareholder processes on public...
The Base Token Should Give Holders Voting Power over Coinbase Itself
Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum‑based layer‑2, is reportedly planning a native token that could grant holders direct voting power over Coinbase itself. The proposal envisions a Base Foundation acquiring up to 50% of COIN shares, turning the token into an on‑chain proxy...
The Future of the Wallet: 5 Surprising Ways Mobile Banking Is Quietly Changing Your Life
Mobile banking has evolved from a simple utility to a core component of the intelligent wallet, embedding financial services directly into smartphones. The article highlights five emerging trends: AI‑driven budgeting, biometric security, instant peer‑to‑peer payments, integrated loyalty rewards, and open‑banking...
Treat Generative AI as Intelligence, Not Deterministic Software
We often talk about LLMs as another tool to tack onto a workflow, but that framing isn't quite right. In this clip, Naeem Abraham (Senior Director of Product Strategy at C&R) presents a ... better perspective. Generative AI doesn't behave like a...
The Term “Seed Round” Is Officially Retired
We are now officially retiring the term "seed round". Thank you for your attention to this matter. https://t.co/NzL2sy9dUJ
Why Shift4 Targets Big Merchants
Shift4 Payments is deliberately courting large, multi‑location merchants and venues because they face fewer payment‑processor alternatives. CEO Taylor Lauber highlighted the appeal of complex software environments, citing the New York Yankees, Hilton Worldwide, and Caesar’s Entertainment as prime examples. The...
Generative AI Promises Personalized, Pocket‑sized Insight Despite Hurdles
There will be mistakes, regulations, and challenges. But generative AI will make us more informed, better served, and more personalized than ever, all from a device in our pocket. https://t.co/7pJLU4gZ91
Tokenization Boosts Profits for BlackRock, Surveillance for Governments
BlackRock likes tokenization because it improves their bottom line Governments like centralized tokenization because improved their surveillance https://t.co/zYx9GYIia1
The “Insider Wallet” That Made over $100M on October Tariff Trade in Threat of Liquidation if One Asset Continues to...
A single Hyperliquid wallet now carries a $649.6 million ETH long position entered at $3,161.85, with a liquidation estimate near $2,268.37—about 22% below the current $2,908 spot price. The account has already absorbed $56.6 million in unrealized losses and $6.79 million in funding...
Seeking High‑quality Fintech, Finance, and Stablecoin Analysts
I've been re-calibrating who I follow on X, to reduce noise/shameless self promoters and increase signal. Who's posting original, fact-based analysis on fintech, banking, finance, stablecoins that I should be following?
Elon Musk Praises Lemonade's Tesla‑FSD Insurance Offering
Exciting to read @elonmusk highlighting the recent InsurTech offer Lemonade unveiled, targeting Tesla cars with a specific insurance offer (which leverages the FSD feature). https://t.co/sVKEyHPgn3
Ethereum Upgrade Sparks Activity Spike, but JPMorgan Doubts It Will Last
Ethereum’s December Fusaka upgrade expanded block data capacity, prompting a noticeable drop in transaction fees and a surge in both transaction volume and active addresses. The upgrade builds on the earlier Pectra upgrade and aims to ease congestion for layer‑2...
Senate Ag Committee Expands CFTC Power, Leaves DeFi Unclear
💥UPDATE: Senate Ag Committee updates crypto bill text, expanding CFTC authority while key issues like DeFi remain unresolved. Source: Senate Ag Committee https://t.co/ncqEe0tMym
Maple Brings syrupUSDC to Base, Targets Aave V3 Listing
Maple is extending its yield‑bearing token syrupUSDC to Coinbase’s Base layer‑2, providing institutional credit to a fast‑growing Ethereum ecosystem. The launch creates a direct conduit to Coinbase’s broader user base while moving yield opportunities off the mainnet. Concurrently, an Aave...
Should Banks Compete in the Credit Builder Card Market?
The episode examines the rise of fintech‑driven credit‑builder cards, which let users fund a demand‑deposit account instead of a traditional secured‑card deposit, and compares this model to legacy secured cards. Brian Riley explains that while fintechs can reach a large,...
BlackRock-Linked Wallets Move over $430 Million in Bitcoin, Ether to Coinbase Prime
On‑chain data shows wallets linked to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs transferred more than $430 million of crypto to Coinbase Prime. The transfers comprised roughly 3,070 BTC (≈ $276 million) and 52,800 ETH (≈ $157 million) and occurred amid the day’s heavy outflows from U.S. spot crypto...
Pantera Capital Sees ‘Brutal Pruning’ for Crypto Treasuries in 2026
Pantera Capital warns that digital asset treasury (DAT) firms will undergo "brutal pruning" in 2026 as the sector consolidates around a handful of well‑capitalized players. Large Bitcoin and Ether holders such as Strategy and BitMine continue to amass significant portions...
OnePay Partners Klarna to Let Shoppers Turn Debit Card Purchases Into BNPL Loans
Walmart‑backed fintech OnePay has announced a partnership with Klarna to embed buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) functionality directly into debit card transactions. The new service lets shoppers convert completed purchases into instalment loans, effectively offering retroactive financing. By leveraging Klarna’s established BNPL platform,...
Rethink Dispute Processes to Turn Fraud Into Advantage
Banks can turn first-party fraud from a hidden vulnerability into a competitive advantage if they rethink dispute processes. Join our conversation with @shanthi_peace, CEO of Casap. Watch the full episode: https://t.co/aCTj9YH63K https://t.co/vmuPbei31q
Russia-Linked A7A5 Stablecoin Processed $100B Before Sanctions Hit: Elliptic
Elliptic’s latest report reveals that the Russia‑linked ruble‑backed stablecoin A7A5 processed more than $100 billion in on‑chain transactions between March 2025 and January 2026. The token was engineered as a bridge between the Russian ruble and Tether’s USDT, allowing sanctioned entities to move...