This week’s news was dominated by the crypto meltdown, or more specifically, the rapid demise of stablecoin TerraUSD and its paired token Luna, that impacted the entire market. Also making news was a Coinbase regulatory filing, Tiger Global has been a big loser this year, Chainalysis closed another big round and more. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Terra’s $45 Billion Face Plant Creates a Crowd of Crypto Losers from Bloomberg – This was the biggest meltdown the crypto world has ever seen (and it has seen a few), with $45 billion removed from the market with the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna.
Stablecoin TerraUSD crashes past $1 alongside crypto market from LendIt Fintech News – Our own coverage from Kevin Travers traces the movements of the past week of TerraUSD as it slowly and then rapidly collapsed.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pushes for stablecoin regulation by end of year from TechCrunch – Not surprisingly during weeks such as these regulators are calling for action. Treasury Secretary Yellen said that stablecoin regulation is needed and Congress should pass legislation to create a consistent federal framework by the end of the year.
Coinbase Says Users’ Crypto Assets Lack Bankruptcy Protections from The Wall Street Journal – In a regulatory filing this week Coinbase made it clear that, in the event of a bankruptcy, the crypto assets held on its platform could become general liabilities and investors treated as unsecured creditors.
Tiger Global, hit by $17B in hedge fund losses, has nearly depleted its latest VC fund from TechCrunch – One of the largest fintech investors, Tiger Global, has had a rough year so far, down $17 billion during the tech selloff, erasing two-thirds of its gain since its launch in 2001.
Chainalysis Raises $170M at $8.6B Valuation from CoinDesk – During the tumult of this week’s crypto meltdown, Chainalysis revealed it had raised $170 million in new funding at an $8.6 billion valuation. Chainalysis is the leader in investigatory crypto tools, a niche that is exploding in popularity as governments and private companies look to track illicit crypto flows.
FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Buys 7.6% Stake in Robinhood from The Wall Street Journal – The billionaire founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has invested around $648 million for a 7.6% stake in Robinhood which would make him the trading app’s number three shareholder. Shares jumped 25% on Friday as the market digested this news.
Chopra’s expansive vision for CFPB authority is facing industry pushback from American Banker – The CFPB under Director Chopra has seen a large number of policy changes and enforcement actions, now bankers and fintechs are pushing back.
How Higher Interest Rates May Upend The Fintech Business Model from Forbes – All digital banks today have come of age in an environment of zero interest rates. As that changes will traditional banks have an advantage over their digital counterparts given they have been through rising interest rate environments in the past?
Visa’s top crypto executive Terry Angelos leaves for Softbank-backed brokerage start-up DriveWealth from CNBC – Terry Angelos has been the top fintech and crypto exec at Visa for many years. But now he has jumped ship to lead DriveWealth, one of the pioneers in embedded finance.
Every Thursday afternoon, the LendIt Fintech News team and a special guest discuss the news of the week live on LendIt TV, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We have now made the show available in podcast format – click on the audio player below.
