In yet another shakeup, leading financial institution UBS Group removed Sergio Ermotti as its Chief Executive Officer and will replace him with ING Group’s Ralph Hammer. It is already the second major lender after Credit Suisse to replace its leading figure this month.Banks and major financial institutions are making structural and strategic changes this year and Switzerland-based UBS Group is joining the queue. The financial institution giant replaced CEO Sergio Ermotti and immediately announced ING Group’s Ralph Hamers as his successor and will resume his duties on November 1.Sergio, who has been with the bank for close to ten years, will be replaced by someone who many consider being a finance guru, a veteran who has dedicated 30 years of his life to ING and is currently acknowledged by

Tesla (TSLA) stock is moving higher and regularly conquers new peaks despite all the negative expectations. One of the reasons is the fact that top investors believe in it.Amidst rumors of experiencing a fatal collapse in its stock, a technology giant Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) proved critics wrong once again that it is still gaining momemtum. Its shares doubled what was initially projected by market analysts. But this record-breaking achievement would have been a pipe dream, if not for the loyalty of some investors. And one of the biggest of them is billionaire James Simons.Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock is experiencing a very good time right now, all thanks to the surge in its shares supported by investors. Now the price is over $900 which could have seemed unbelieveable even a month ago. Sources

In the framework of his campaign, U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg offered to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.Billionaire entrepreneur, who turned politician, Michael Bloomberg is currently the U.S. presidential candidate 2020. As the U.S. Democratic party presidential campaign enters its closing stages, aspirants are throwing all they have in the ring to gain the support of democrats nationwide and Michael Bloomberg is not one to be left out.The billionaire entrepreneur campaign team published a financial reform plan advocating for greater consumer protection measures and a stronger financial system. He proposed creating a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in a new financial plan. The new regulation is expected to go a long way in helping crypto

German-based mobile banking giant N26 last week left its customers really angry and dejected after it announced that it would be leaving the United Kingdom due to Brexit.As part of its decision to leave the European Union, foreign firms in the United Kingdom have lost their operating license and thus are forced to leave. Among them is German-based online bank N26 whose decision to leave the country due to Brexit left a bitter pill in the mouth of its teeming customers who now feel betrayed and abandoned by the financial institution.The fintech firm further revealed that it would be closing all of its U.K accounts on April 15, just two years after storming the United Kingdom’s market. It’s important to understand that during that time the bank was able to gain a sizeable amount of loyal

BlockFi has raised $30 million from a group of investors, including Morgan Creek Digital, Winklevoss Capital, Arrington XRP Capital and others.New York-based cryptocurrency-lending firm BlockFi has bagged up to $30 million from a host of investors during its Series B funding. The list of them includes Winklevoss Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, and Morgan Creek Digital among others. The company aims to use the funds it received to enhance its staff and expand its offerings, reports revealed on Thursday, February 13, 2020.According to the reports, United States-based capital fund Valar Ventures led the Series B funding round which also had other firms such as Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Castle Island Ventures, Akuna Capital, CMT Digital, Avon Ventures, and Hong Kong-based HashKey

Ripple-backed MoneyGram launched a new service called FastSend to help customers to send money directly to the phone numbers of recipients. Meanwhile, Ripple has entered into a partnership with the National Bank of Egypt.In its bid to digitalize the entire financial ecosystem, leading P2P cross border Ripple-backed payment platform MoneyGram has announced today the launch of MoneyGram FastSend. It is a new service that is geared towards sending money to a recipient’s phone number through the MoneyGram website and mobile application.Moneygram Offers Revolutionary Financial ServicesTechnology is changing the face of the world and mobile money transfer should not be left out in this revolution. In other to meet the yearning and aspiration of its teeming users, MoneyGram is bringing the money

Samsung has wowed the public with its new Galaxy S20 family. One of the devices that definitely deserves your attention is the Galaxy S20 Ultra.One of the most proliferated industries in the technology market is the mobile phone industry. The market is flogged with a lot of mobile phone products with features meant to wow potential customers, but with the introduction of the latest Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, the South Korean technology giant is changing the face of photography with modern features specifically made for the 21st century.South Korean mobile giant Samsung announced the unveiling of the new Galaxy S20 Ultra, a device equipped with a revolutionary 8K video snap, which is designed to change how you capture images, an ultra-fast 5G network, a Samsung Knox security, an intelligent

Samsung has unveiled a new foldable phone called Galaxy Z Flip. Its price will be $1,379.99. And the pre-orders start just in a couple of days, on February 14.In order to meet the teeming demand of users and to compete favorably with major rivals, South Korean Technology giant Samsung debuted a premium foldable smartphone with a flexible glass screen. So, it is the second smartphone with a flexible display in its franchise. Mobile communication giant Samsung has unveiled a new folding phone called Galaxy Z Flip and it will go for a paltry $1,380 when the pre-orders start from February 14.Samsung Is to Beating the Competition with its Galaxy Z FlipThe mobile phone market is one of the most competitive in the technology industry, with firms churning out new products every day with amazing

Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield believes that big traditional banks are killing the changes that ambitious companies are trying to bring to the fintech industry.The CEO and co-founder of Monzo Bank Ltd, a financial institution based in the United Kingdom, Tom Blomfield, has stated that big banks are set up to prevent fintech change. He also claimed that they are hunting out change and attempting to kill it.The British fintech entrepreneur does not believe big banks will ever experience a digital transformation. According to him, the banking heavyweights are saddled with outdated technology and a risk-averse culture, which is designed to fend off change owing to their approach to tackling the threat of rising competition.Blomfield sheds more light on his words by adding that fintech giants such as

The launch of Ethereum 2.0 is expected to happen just in a few months. Experts believe that Ethereum price may reach $360.The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum is set to witness a further 60% rally after breaking a key resistance that saw it leap from yearly lows of $120 to highs of just under $230. ETH has been one of the top-performing cryptos since the turn of the year and it is expected to maintain and continue its steady rise, reports revealed on February 9, 2020.At the moment of writing, ETH price is around $220 (-3.75%).The year 2020 has been an explosive one for the crypto so far as it keeps rising in momentum. This massive growth has enabled the crypto to create a highly bullish market structure, holding over $225 within the past couple of days and it is expected to

Warner Music Group is now the latest high-profile company that has taken a decision to go for a public listing in 2020.American multinational entertainment and record label, Warner Music Group, has announced that it has filed a registration statement for an IPO to sell shares of its common stock which are proposed to be sold by certain of Warner Music Group’s stockholders.Warner Music Group became the latest big-name company to opt for a public listing since the turn of the year. The number of common stock shares that will be offered and the pricing levels for the said offering are yet to be specified, although a place-holder amount of up to $100 million was set.The record label, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, USA, is one of the top companies in the global music industry. Precisely

Verizon Media, that is dedicated to transforming the way people stay informed and entertained, has announced the launch of a new site for generation Z. The site is called Cashay.Verizon Media (a division of Verizon Communications) in its quest to capture the attention of millennials launched an entirely new site called Cashay. It is dedicated to inculcating millennials into the intriguing world of finance and make the tricky process look easy and seamless.The new site will feature a mixture of content, including original stories from guest authors, editorial staff, over 400 collections from Financial Fitness Group, series from Yahoo Finance Team and a host of other exciting topics from professionals in and around the financial sector.Verizon’s Cashay Is an Exciting New ConceptThe idea

Qualcomm (QCOM) stock positively reacted to the optimistic figures in the company’s Q1 earnings report. The net income in that fiscal quarter was $925 million.Leading Technology Firm Qualcomm Inc. shares experienced a new rise, as QCOM stock has managed to top the earning table on Wall Street, making the firm one of the most valuable at the moment in the stock exchange market.Mobile technology firm and one of the very few proponents of the 5G network Qualcomm Incorporated shares rose steadily in the extended session on Wednesday as its earnings top Wall Street estimates. The technology outfit’s shares rose 3% after hours, following a 2.2% rise in the regular session, to close at $90.91Steady Increase Qualcomm shares have been enjoying one of the best rides on wall street lately, as its

Venture divisions of Salesforce and Samsung joined a second Series C funding round for a startup called Digital Asset that had already gathered $35 million from investors.Digital Asset, a New York-based financial technology company that builds products based on distributed ledger technology for regulated financial institutions, has acquired investments from Salesforce Ventures and Samsung Venture Investment Corp in the second closing of its Series C funding round. It was revealed on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.Following the $35 million raised in its first Series C raise that concluded in December 2019, the company behind the open-source DAML smart contract language, Digital Asset ran another round, which it announced via a press release on its website on Tuesday.The first round bagged

Just recently BitMEX has launched XRPUSD swaps. At the very beginning Ripple’s XRP price hasn’t reacted, staying stable. However, now XRP seems to be climbing up.The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap XRP is now supported for perpetual swaps with the United States Dollar on the crypto derivatives exchange, BitMEX. The XRP price at first failed to react positively. It stayed at the same level. However, now the situation has changed. The price seems to be climbing up. BitMEX confirmed its support for controversial altcoin XRP in a tweet on February 3, authenticating the earlier notion that the crypto derivative giant will be supporting the altcoin in a perpetual swap against the United States Dollar.We at BitMEX are proud to announce that trading of a new perpetual swap on the XRP

UK-based oil and gas company BP has released its full-year underlying replacement cost profit, which is used as a substitute for net profit. The company recorded a net profit of $10 billion in 2019, 21% below the $12.7 billion it made in 2018, reports revealed on February 4, 2020.According to data from Refinitiv, the expectation of analysts was that BP’s net profit would come in at $9.7 billion. Although it failed to match the figures it released in the preceding year, the company still managed to beat that expectation with its record of $10 billion net profit for 2019.Speaking about the statistics, BP’s CEO, Bob Dudley believes the company is in the right direction and has no doubt it will survive the rapidly-changing energy landscape even after he steps down from his office. He said in a

Payment platform Worldline SA in a bid to maintain its stronghold in the now competitive industry is set to acquire a rival firm Ingenico. The amount of the deal is already known. It will be $8.6 billion, which makes it the biggest deal in Europe so far in 2020. The sum is equal to 7.8 billion in euros.Global MergerBoth companies have been circling each other for years, but the reorganization of Ingenico last year gave Worldline SA the avenue to formally bid for the company. Worldline SA Chief Executive Officer Gilles Grapinet explained that the merger will further position the firm as one of the biggest players in the industry.The newest merger, which is currently the biggest in Europe so far continues last year’s spate of payments company mergers. That wave included a series of major

In an article, titled “The Sign of a Stabilizing Market: XRP Utility” that was published on Ripple‘s official website on Thursday, January 30, 2020, the company revealed that financial institutions are already utilizing the power of blockchain and digital asset technology. And there are tangible results to prove it.Ripple, the blockchain firm that actively uses the popular altcoin XRP in its solutions, has been in the news for a while now. Following a number of positive developments that surrounded its asset token and captured the attention of many people earlier this week, the firm has returned to the talks once again with the latest release on its website.Moving toward Mass AdoptionAccording to the article, the adoption of blockchain became widespread in 2019, with the rising

Ripple and XRP were directly mentioned at a United States Congressional Hearing that was held on Thursday 30, January 2020. The hearing, which was titled ‘Is Cash Still King?’, was set by U.S. lawmakers to decide the fate of cash with relation to the rise of XRP and other cryptocurrencies.During the hearing, Congress directly mentioned blockchain firm Ripple and the efforts it has made with the adoption of XRP. So, someone eventually got it to spot on by recognizing that there is a popular digital currency called XRP and the company behind it known as Ripple.In a video uploaded by Youtube channel BankXRP, Rep. Tom Emmer was seen throwing the question at Christina Tetreault, senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports, whether she knows about some of the top cryptocurrencies and she was

XRP, that is widely used by Ripple Labs in its advanced solutions, is on the verge of breaking out from the downtrend resistance that got it hooked at low prices for more than two full years of the bear market.The crypto world has been dominated by headlines of the imminent rise of the XRP within the last couple of hours. People are anticipating a breakout from the asset that could produce a huge shock to the crypto market with fast and massive gains that could raise the XRP price to as high as $14.XRP has always been placed among the most controversial altcoins on the market.It is believed that crypto investors dislike XRP because it is arguably more centralized than Bitcoin or Ethereum. The firm’s executives always challenge this, though. Nevertheless, whether it does align with the

The United Kingdom (including London) fintech ecosystem has reached a new record of $4.9 billion in investment. And as a result, it has managed to secure its position for another year as the number one destination for European fintech investment. Only the United States has a better record, according to the recent report from City AM, London.Exclusive data from Innovate Finance has revealed that the UK recorded a 38% increase in venture capital and private equity investment into its fintech sector. The figure more than tripled the $1.3 billion second-placed Germany received and six times ahead of the $778 million Sweden received in the third position.Nevertheless, the UK is still playing catch-up to the USA on the list of the top global destinations for fintech investment. The United States

As per reports on January 28, 2020, CEO of Apex Clearing, Bill Capuzzi, stated that it is interesting to witness how the investing habits of millennials have shifted over the past year, claiming that millennials have proven to be unique and differed from their generational counterparts.Apex Clearing has disclosed the fourth-quarter Millenial 100 report that analyzed over 734,000 portfolios possessed by U.S.-based investors with an average age in the region of just 31 years. The result was motivating and it quickly captured the attention of Apex CEO, Bill Capuzzi, who has wasted no time in reacting to it.In a release that came along with the revelation of the results, Capuzzi said:“It’s been encouraging to witness how Millenials’ investing habit has changed over the past year.”“From

Santa Clara-based multinational semiconductor company, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) first-quarter estimate of revenue has raised a lot of eyebrows as it came in far below the estimates of analysts. Such a situation is a result of declining demand from gaming console makers despite its data center and PC chips business tracking a revival in the chip industry. It has become known from the reports of January 28, 2020.AMD saw its stock price decline as much as 4% after the company announced fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that slightly surpassed analysts’ estimates on Tuesday. During the last 365 days, the stock has risen over 150%, becoming the top gainer on the S&P 500 Index .SPX as well as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX within the period.According to a statement, the company’s

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a Dubai government-backed entity has teamed up with Switzerland’s Crypto Valley Venture Capital to establish a cryptocurrency valley in the free zone of the country where there are no personal, corporate or withholding taxes,  according to reports revealed on January 27, 2020.Cryptocurrency continues to gain more grounds in the digital world. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to witness a massive development and a new Dubai Bitcoin exchange is a forward-thinking manoeuvre indeed. The DMCC, with support from its partners from the Swiss crypto valley, will provide a number of services including incubation for new startups, training on the blockchain, coworking facilities, events, and education as well as mentoring and funding.At Davos 2020, a world

As per reports from Forbes on January 27, 2020, Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency experienced a 5% rise, briefly climbing as high as $9,142.80 per Bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based BitStamp exchange before slightly falling back afterward. At the moment of writing, Bitcoin price is $9,017. However, this price still demonstrates a more than 4% growth over the last 24 hours.Since Bitcoin enjoyed a tremendous boost in 2017, it has struggled to reach a similar height. The crypto is still half its all-time high. It suffered a huge setback in 2018 but had a slight improvement in 2019. The latest rise will come as a big boost to traders.Bitcoin isn’t the only crypto that experienced a boost this week. Other assets also recorded acceleration. Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index recorded a

Byte, a 6-seconds video-sharing app created by the co-founder of Vine, Dom Hofmann, has been launched on Apple‘s App Store and Google Play. Interestingly, Byte is now among the most downloaded apps in both stores despite the flaws it has. As such, the app could potentially meet its aim to rival ByteDance‘sTikTok, a video sharing platform valued at $75 billion.Byte Launches on Apple and Google StoresOn January 24, 2020, Byte was launched on Apple App Store and Google Play Store.Reportedly, the new application now ranks as one of the most downloaded free iPhone app on Apple’s U.S. App Store. On Friday, it was in the first position.Byte is also among the top 10 free iOS app in countries including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. And on Google‘s Play store, it is ranked

The Blockchain Association which represents some of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency industry announced the launch of a new Market Integrity Working Group. The group is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring fairness, equity and accountability in the crypto space. It will be co-chaired by senior executives of both the well-known blockchain firm Ripple and the Coinbase crypto exchange.The new group will be headed by Rachel Nelson, the senior director and associate general at Coinbase and Breanne Madigan, the head of the global institutional market at Ripple.Today we’re launching an important working group: Market Integrity.The group will work to support public policy that ensures the transparency and fairness of cryptocurrency markets.Chairs: @BreMadigan/@Ripple + Rachel

In its bid to create a seamless, effective and transparent ticketing experience for its fans this season, professional UK-based cricket team Lancashire cricket team, has joined forces with blockchain ticketing service provider, TIXnGO on a new ticketing experience.Tapping Blockchain Technology for Transparency and EfficiencyAccording to a report by industry magazine TheTicketingBusiness, the tickets would be unique in so many ways.Apart from being traceable to the owner, a ticket is also nearly impossible to counterfeit and very unique to the purchaser. The system is also built in a way that it simplifies the process involved in reselling or transferring singular and season tickets.The report also revealed that the new ticketing scheme is not an entirely new experience as it was tested in

Blockchain firm Bakkt stole the show at the sideline of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos Switzerland by announcing the launch of its new consumer application that would look very much like a fintech app such as PayPal offers. Moreover, it will support all forms of digital assets, in addition to cryptocurrencies.Bakkt, the physically-settled Bitcoin Futures exchange created by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is changing the way and manner in which crypto assets are perceived globally. The firm has stated clearly that its latest consumer app supports all forms of digital assets, as it sees them as a digital form of value, rather than a super volatile investment vehicle.Speaking at the event, the President of Bakkt, Adam White explained that the new application will treat

Bitcoin big whale and advocate, Tim Draper, has reiterated his stance that Bitcoin (BTC) is one of the best investment vehicles in the world and as such, has encouraged millennials to latch onto the Bitcoin movement and enjoy the many benefits of the digital currency.Millennials have been encouraged to key into the many benefits that abound in Bitcoin as it could be their wisest decision at retirement age.Billionaire Tim Draper who was one of the earliest investors in the virtual currency explained that Bitcoin is the future of money and the greatest beneficiaries will be millennials who invest at the height of their careers.The largest and the most popular cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin now has a market cap of $157.5 billion. At the time of writing, Bitcoin price is