Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 4 September 2018
Announcement of Acquisition of everybody’s bitcoin Inc.
Rakuten, announces that it decided to acquire everybody’s bitcoin Inc. through its subsidiary, Rakuten Card Co., Ltd.
The acquisition is based on a stock purchase agreement between Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. and Traders Investment, Inc. which is the parent company of everybody’s bitcoin.
The Rakuten Group currently does not limit its activities to e-commerce, but offers over 70 diverse services, from internet services such as travel, digital contents and communications, to FinTech (financial) services such as credit cards, banking, securities, insurance, and electronic money. These various services cover a wide range of life scenes and are organically linked together around membership, centering on Rakuten members, enhancing cross use activity by users within the Group’s services, and expanding our own unique Rakuten Ecosystem.
Under such an environment, the Rakuten Group established Rakuten Blockchain Lab which is a dedicated research and development organization in Belfast, UK in 2016, and has been researching blockchain technology. We expect that the role of cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments will grow in the future. In order to provide cryptocurrency payment methods smoothly, we believe it is necessary for us to provide a cryptocurrency exchange function, and have been considering entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry as the Rakuten Group.
In addition, a growing number of customers, in particular foreign exchange customers, of Rakuten Securities, the securities company of the Rakuten Group, have been calling for the provision of a cryptocurrency exchange service, which is also part of the background of the Rakuten Group considering entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry.
Swarm Fund Joins the OpenFinance Network
Swarm Fund, the blockchain for private equity, has entered an agreement to list security tokens on OpenFinance Network (OFN), the trading platform for tokenized securities.
OFN continues to establish key partnerships throughout the digital asset and blockchain industries while serving a global network of investors across various securities offerings types, including Regulation D, Regulation S, Regulation A+ and Regulation CF.
“OpenFinance is an industry leader and we are thrilled to bring liquidity to all SRC20 tokens through their trading platform,” said Philipp Pieper, CEO of Swarm Fund. “Their focus on traditional alternative assets and token-based securities is a perfect fit for Swarm’s investors and the tokens issued using our technology. OFN will also be the first trading platform to integrate with Market Access Protocol (MAP), which is an important step not just for Swarm, but for the entire security token industry.“
“Our agreement with Swarm Fund connects OFN to a pipeline of security tokens representing real-world investments,” said Juan Hernandez, founder of OpenFinance Network. “Their commitment to democratization and open infrastructure makes this a great relationship, and we’re excited to welcome their diverse investments to the platform.”
Starling Bank and Anorak team up to provide impartial life insurance advice through the Starling Marketplace
Starling, the mobile-only bank, and Anorak, the smart life insurance adviser, join forces to offer Starling customers fast and easy access to personalised, transparent, impartial and regulated life insurance advice.
Anorak is on a mission to make life insurance advice accessible to millions of unprotected families across the UK. Anorak’s platform and APIs use advanced data science and machine learning to offer customers tailored advice based on their unique circumstances and their individual risk profile – within minutes.
Through the in-app Marketplace, Starling customers are now able to connect their accounts with Anorak’s service. With the customers’ consent, Anorak analyses their bank transactions to offer advice on how much life cover they need (if any), for how long and why. Based on this, Anorak matches the user with the best policy from the major insurers, to suit the person’s unique circumstances. The service helps people make the right choice, not just the cheapest.
Starling’s Marketplace offers its customers direct access to financial services and products directly through the Starling app. Starling has existing partnerships with pension provider PensionBee, digital investing services Wealthsimple and Wealthify, mortgage broker Habito, travel insurance provider Kasko and receipts and loyalty partners Tail and Flux.
