What The FinTech #96: 15 May 2022
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Since 2014, DBS Foundation has been supporting social enterprises (SEs) to grow their businesses and create a positive impact. With our grant funding and access to the bank’s resources, which include skills- and capacity-building, networking, and business opportunities, many SEs have deepened their social and environmental impact.
Recognizing that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial engines of growth in many economies, we are extending our DBS Foundation Grant Programme to help SMEs transform their existing businesses into sustainable and inclusive models to drive impact.
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What was the FinTech this week in: 📰
SINGAPORE
Coinhako receives licence to provide crypto payment services in S'pore
S’pore ride-hailing firm Ryde CEO on launching NFTs, ‘ride-to-earn’ model and crypto payments
New fund gives S'pore-based start-ups a shot at Web 3.0 stardom
YouTrip Rolls Out New Corporate Card With Credit Facility for SMEs
Coinhako receives licence to provide crypto payment services in S'pore
Coinhako, a Singapore cryptocurrency platform, received official approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday (May 6) to formally operate as a regulated provider of digital payment token services under the Singapore Payment Services Act. The Singapore startup was granted a major payment institution (MPI) licence, allowing it to provide payment services without being subject to specific thresholds. It is so far the fourth digital token services provider to receive the coveted MPI licence.
S’pore ride-hailing firm Ryde CEO on launching NFTs, ‘ride-to-earn’ model and crypto payments
Singapore’s premier ride-hailing and carpooling app, Ryde recently announced its very own NFT collection called RydePals. Users can sign up for a Ryde+ subscription plan for a chance to win a RydePals NFT with different rarities, each with a corresponding rewards system. Holders will soon also receive benefits such as priority booking, cashback, and selected premium services. The NFTs will be freely tradable on NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. The founder believes that NFTs can be used for community-building and engagement. Along with the launch of its NFT collection, Ryde is also expanding its crypto payment options. Users will soon be able to pay for their trips with 70 different cryptocurrencies.
New fund gives S'pore-based start-ups a shot at Web 3.0 stardom
Dubbed Moonshot Fellowship, Asia's first funding and incubation scheme for Web 3.0 innovations has been launched. The scheme is aimed at funding and mentoring Singapore-based start-ups that can solve real-world problems with tools in the Web 3.0 space, characterised by a decentralised Internet and artificial intelligence-driven services. Singapore-based venture capitalist Insignia Ventures Partners and Seoul-based fintech firm Terraform Labs, which are behind the scheme, will inject US$200,000 (S$278,000) seed capital into each qualifying local start-up for a start. There are plans to seed up to 10 companies every three months.
YouTrip Rolls Out New Corporate Card With Credit Facility for SMEs
Singapore’s neobank YouTrip announced that it has launched its new corporate card “YouBiz” that is powered by Mastercard for SMEs. YouBiz enables SMEs to generate physical and unlimited virtual cards for payments in over 150 currencies at more than 80 million Mastercard merchants worldwide, online and in-store. Integrated with the card is also a unified control center bringing together multi-currency accounts, local and domestic transfers, corporate expense management and credit features. The corporate card enables enterprises to earn unlimited cashback and save with zero foreign exchange fees. YouBiz is also introducing a credit facility that offers flexible business financing to SMEs.
CHINA
China digital currency: leading mobile payment apps Alipay, WeChat Pay install new features to help widen e-CNY roll-out
Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service platform Apollo Go begins operations in Wuhan
China’s sovereign digital currency, known as e-CNY, is on track to achieve greater exposure across more mainland cities, as leading domestic mobile payments providers Alipay and WeChat Pay install new features to support its wider roll-out. Alipay announced on Thursday it enabled users to open an e-CNY wallet account and make purchases on the app. It also said that nearly 6 million digital yuan wallets have been “pushed” to merchants on Alipay’s platform, a process that enables a new e-CNY user to initiate that payment option. Alipay, which has about 900 million users, activated the payment option last year. WeChat Pay last month set up a similar e-CNY wallet function on its app, about three months after it adopted digital yuan as a payment option and have 900 million users.
Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service platform Apollo Go begins operations in Wuhan
Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service platform, officially began offering its services in Wuhan’s Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ). The company will provide autonomous driving services for city residents. The move indicates that Apollo Go is extending its reach into other new first-tier cities in an orderly manner after fully deploying its services in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The introduction of Apollo Go in Wuhan will further promote the development of the intelligent and connected vehicles automobile industry in the city. In its initial stage, Apollo Go plans to put 10 Apollo Moon Arcfox autonomous cars on the streets of Wuhan. Users can the hail cars with one click through the Apollo Go App and can be used for commuting and short-distance connections in the region.
ASIA
Alternative payments to disrupt Philippines e-commerce payments market
South Korea’s Asset Management FinTech Akros Lists on NYSE
Vietnam pilots cash withdrawal at ATMs with chip-based ID cards
SoftBank Ventures Asia leads US$5.8m round in maritime tech startup Seadronix
Alternative payments to disrupt Philippines e-commerce payments market
Alternative payment tools have emerged as mainstream for e-commerce payments in the Philippines and accounted for 30.7 percent of total e-commerce value in 2021, with mobile and digital wallets displacing traditional payment methods like cash and cards. The e-commerce market in the Philippines, which grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8 percent between 2017 and 2022, is expected to further grow at a CAGR of 15.8 percent over 2022-25 to reach PHP495.2bn ($9.7bn) in 2025. The share of alternative payments in the total e-commerce payment value in the Philippines stood at 30.7 percent in 2021, up from 21.0 percent in 2017. Alternative payments were followed by cash and payment cards, which accounted for 29.8 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively. The Philippines e-commerce payment market is crowded with several domestic and international alternative payment solution providers with GCash, Maya (formerly PayMaya), PayPal, and GrabPay leading the space.
South Korea’s Asset Management FinTech Akros Lists on NYSE
Asset management FinTech startup Akros Technologies is listing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) — Akros Monthly Payout ETF — on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker MPAY. Akros Technologies develops financial technologies for data-driven investments and explores falsifiable hypotheses with quantitative approaches powered by machine learning. The indexes use proprietary data infrastructure from Akros that processes over 10TB of point-in-time data dating from 1910. The distributed computing environment also leverages AI models trained to compete with the same models used at global quantitative hedge funds.
Vietnam pilots cash withdrawal at ATMs with chip-based ID cards
People will be able to withdraw cash from ATMs by scanning their chip-based ID cards under a new pilot service provided by the Ministry of Public Security. The department has organised the withdrawal of money using chip-based ID cards at several banks. After people scan ID cards at the ATM, the banking system immediately checks and verifies the information on the chip and allows them to withdraw money. At the moment, just bank cards and QR codes can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs. The use of chip-based ID cards will help minimise the risks of card forgery and ensure safety in financial transactions. Instead of using a PIN, the banking system will check and verify the information via biometric data, including face and fingerprint recognition.
SoftBank Ventures Asia leads US$5.8m round in maritime tech startup Seadronix
Softbank Ventures Asia, the early stage venture capital arm of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group, has led a US$5.8 million funding round in maritime technology startup Seadronix. Seadronix provides AI-based solutions for the maritime industry, such as autonomous navigation and a berthing monitor system. The South Korean startup will use the fresh funds to grow its team from the current estimated headcount of 30, recruiting experts in AI, sensor fusion and navigation. It also aims to expand overseas, from its 3 offices in South Korea to countries with global ports and heavy industries, with an eye for Singapore first.
BLOCKCHAIN - CRYPTO - DIGITAL ASSETS - DE FI
Cryptocurrency luna now almost worthless after controversial stablecoin it is linked to loses peg
Binance halts Luna and UST trading across most of its spot pairs following meltdown
Nomura Starts Offering Bitcoin Derivatives to Clients in Asia
BIS data shows unstoppable CBDC momentum
Question of centralization faces growing crypto insurance industry
Cryptocurrency luna now almost worthless after controversial stablecoin it is linked to loses peg
Luna, the sister cryptocurrency of controversial stablecoin TerraUSD, has collapsed to nearly $0. TerraUSD, or UST, has been dragged into the spotlight in the last few days after the so-called stablecoin, which is supposed to be pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar, fell sharply below the $1 mark. UST is an algorithmic stablecoin which uses code to maintain its price at around $1 based on a complex system of minting and burning. A UST token is created by destroying some of the related cryptocurrency luna to maintain the dollar peg.
Binance halts Luna and UST trading across most of its spot pairs following meltdown
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is moving to put a stop to trading of Terraform Labs’ Terra (Luna) and TerraUSD (UST) tokens on its platform following one of the industry’s biggest meltdowns. The exchange indefinitely suspended the trading of Luna and UST across most of its spot pairs Thursday evening after the tokens lost nearly 100% of their value in a span of days. Additionally, it is freezing Luna trading across all of cross margins and isolated margins pairs. The move, which follows the exchange pulling support for trading of futures contracts for the Luna token earlier on Thursday, comes as Terraform Labs has increased the circulating supply of Luna tokens to over 6.5 trillion, up from 386 million three days ago (according to Terrascope, a tool that tracks Terra stats) in an attempt to push its sister token, a supposed stablecoin, to regain its 1-to-1 peg to the dollar.
Nomura Starts Offering Bitcoin Derivatives to Clients in Asia
Nomura Holdings Inc. has started offering Bitcoin derivatives to clients in Asia after increased institutional demand for cryptocurrency products. Nomura brokerage is offering non-deliverable forwards and non-deliverable options settled in cash and can now trade Bitcoin futures and options. It has carried out its first digital trade on CME Group Inc.’s platform this week with Cumberland DRW LLC, a market-maker in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
BIS data shows unstoppable CBDC momentum
Research by the Bank for international Settlements into central bank thinking on the prospect of issuing bank-backed digital currencies (CBDC) shows growing momentum, with fully 90% of central banks dipping their toes into the water. In its 2021 survey of the world's central banks, the BIS found that nine out of ten banks are actively exploring CBDCs and more than half are now developing them or running concrete experiments. Compared with last year, the share of central banks currently developing a CBDC or running a pilot almost doubled from 14% to 26%. Also, 62% are conducting experiments or proofs-of-concept.
Question of centralization faces growing crypto insurance industry
With demand for cryptocurrency insurance growing, such as crypto exchange Crypto.com that expanded its insurance program to cover $750 million in 2021, and decentralized solutions based on DAO like Nexus Mutual have been created. Crypto custodian banks and clearer defined industry regulations and compliance created, have started to reinforce consumer confidence in the crypto assets. Crypto insurance covering users’ holdings in a centralized platform would provide familiarity in traditional coverage against hacks and cyber-attacks. While the crypto ecosystem needs insurance, it is in its early stage of development and most participation will come from centralized institutions. As the industry develops, decentralized alternatives are gradually improving and platform decentralized, will depend on the development and improvement of the crypto environment at large.
Articles that may interest you on this subject:
California governor signs blockchain executive order => here
Google's cloud group forms Web3 team to capitalize on booming popularity of crypto => here
EU Digital Markets Act delayed until 2023 => here
Instagram starts testing NFTs => here
Binance labs invests in pSTAKE Finance => here
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