January 31 2023

Media Coverage 2023

January 10 2022

Media Coverage 2022

2022 Nov 15th - Reuters - Regulators circle FTX as rival exchanges try to calm investors
2022 Nov 13th - Aljazeera - What future do cryptocurrencies have after the fall of FTX?
2022 Nov 9th - CGTN - China Singles Day:" We are seeing a growth from last year's experience"
2022 Nov 9th - Kickoff Sessions - The digital world is changing
2022 Nov 8th - Financial Times - Hong Kong takes on Singapore for Asia’s crypto crown
2022 Oct 27th - CNA - Expert Zennon Kapron on safeguarding retail investors from risk of trading cryptocurrencies
2022 Oct 21st - SCMP - China’s cryptocurrency market still among world’s strongest despite Beijing’s crackdown on trading, mining of digital assets
2022 Sep 27th - EuroMoney - China crises threaten Xi Jingping's Legacy
2022 Sep 15th - New Research: The Evolving Needs of the Asian Retail Investor
2022 Sep 10th - SCMP - Will Singapore’s new digital banks like GXS and Trust be a ‘game-changer’? Experts aren’t so sure
2022 Sep 9th - Bloomberg - Sea’s Retail Arm Pulls Out of Argentina in Latin America Retreat
2022 Sep 6th - Financial Times - Singapore’s biggest bank DBS backs crypto despite market slump
2022 Aug 29th - S&P Global - Cryptocurrency crash to reinforce Singapore's resolve to keep retail at bay
2022 Aug 3rd - INSEAD Knowledge - Margin Call on Overleveraged China
2022 Aug 3rd - SCMP - China’s economic sanctions on Taiwan over Pelosi visit ‘symbolic’, but could hit billions if tensions escalate
2022 Aug 3rd - SCMP - China ramps up trade sanctions on Taiwan in wake of Nancy Pelosi’s visit, bans sand exports, fruit and fish imports
2022 July 19th - SCMP - Singapore distances itself from troubled crypto firms as it plans tighter regulations
2022 July 2nd - SCMP - Why crypto fans in Singapore, Malaysia and elsewhere are upbeat despite the crash and looming regulation
2022 June 29th - Euronews - Volt, Australia's first online-only bank, shuts down due to fund-raising woes
2022 June 22nd - CNA - MAS issues in-principle approvals to 3 more cryptocurrency firms
2022 June 6th - Al Jazeera - Can cryptocurrencies make a comeback?
2022 June 1st - Channel News Asia - Money Mind - S2E3: 5 things you need to know about the crypto market crash
2022 April 14th - SCMP - Will Indonesian tech giant GoTo, backed by Richard Li, buck downtrend faced by Grab and Sea?
2022 April 11th - Nikkei Asia - Indonesia's GoTo shares close up 13% in stock market debut
2022 April 1st - Inquirer.net - Why a ‘President BBM’ is bad news for OFWs and their remittances
2022 March 17th - Taiwan Business Topics - Taiwan's Virtual Banks Make a Solid Debut
2022 March 17th - Euromoney - Can a digital yuan challenege dollar dominance in trade finance?
2022 March 4th - Euromoney - China’s CIPS trapped in Swift's shadow
2022 February 22nd - SCMP - China’s trade disputes with Australia, US and Japan push Beijing to alter course and plan accordingly
2022 February 16th - Capital.com - China looks to create an NFT market on its own terms
2022 February 3rd - The Ken - Vietnam’s top e-wallet MoMo’s uphill battle against all-you-can-eat super apps
2022 Janurary 19th - Deal Street Asia - Vietnamese payment unicorn MoMo readies for retail banking play
2022 Janurary 12th - South China Morning Post - China’s digital yuan: e-CNY wallet tops download charts in Apple and Xiaomi app stores ahead of Lunar New Year
2022 Janurary 5th - Deal Street Asia - SE Asia is en route to becoming a global DeFi hub as greed fuels innovation
2022 Janurary 4th - Voice of America - China’s Economy Could Overtake US Economy by 2030

January 14 2021

Media Coverage 2021

2021 December 13th - capital.com - China DeFi sector booms despite regulators' crypto crackdown
2021 November 26th - Voice of America - COVID-19-era Border Closures Stunt Business, Befitting China's Aim of Self-Reliance
2021 November 24th - Bloomberg - Singapore Central Bank Weighs Action Over DBS Service Glitch
2021 November 19th - Deal Street Asia - BNPL is booming in SE Asia but faces regulations, crowded market
2021 November 15th - Business Insider - A patent filed by China's central bank shows the country hasn't given up on crypto trading
2021 October 27th - SupChina - DeFi: Can decentralized finance defy China's crypto controls?
2021 October 26th - Financial Times - Fintechs and traditional lenders do battle across south-east Asia
2021 October 25th - S&P Global - Payments to continue to drive finance M&A in Asia Pacific
2021 October 24th - Voice of America - Zoom Gets More Popular Despite Worries About Links to China
2021 October 15th - Nikkei Asia - Fintechs and traditional lenders do battle across Southeast Asia
2021 October 2nd - Voice of America - How China’s Ban on Cryptocurrency Will Ripple Overseas
2021 September 29th - Tech In Asia - Indonesia fintech hits hurdle with new rules on foreign control
2021 September 29th - Quartz - China's answer to crypto is the digital yuan
2021 September 28th - KrAsia - ‘Buy now, pay later’ is taking off in Indonesia, but risks are high
2021 September 24th - Deal Street Asia - Why Alibaba-owned Lazada is doubling down on payments in Southeast Asia
2021 September 20th - Tech In Asia - Stripe readies Indonesia entry, but the road just got rougher
2021 August 26th - Nikkei Asia - Singapore's Razer gives up costly ASEAN e-wallet battle
2021 August 26th - IG - Are Razer shares worth buying?
2021 August 24th - Al Jazeera - What is driving Bitcoin's rise?
2021 August 19th - Finextra - APAC holds fertile ground for burgeoning regtech sector
2021 August 7th - SCMP - Singapore to grant licences to digital payments services providers in ‘momentous’ move for cryptocurrencies
2021 July 31st - SCMP - Malaysia gears up for the future of finance as AirAsia, Sea Group, Grab face off in bid for digital banking licences
2021 July 29th - The Ken - BRI Agro’s push to make ‘big bank’, not ‘big tech’ write Indonesia’s digital bank playbook
2021 July 27th - Protocol - Who should be scared of China’s big, bad digital yuan?
2021 May 24th - SCMP - Gojek and Tokopedia's holding group GoTo plans fundraising ahead of blockbuster IPO this year
2021 May 21st - Deal Street Asia - GoTo can propel Bank Jago's growth, but it has incumbents to contend with
2021 May 17th - Financial Times - Indonesia's Gojek and Tokopedia agree $18bn merger
2021 May 10th - Straits Times - China's much-hyped digital yuan fails to impress early users
2021 April 14th - S&P Global - Ant Group's revamp to hit biggest revenue source as regulators nix cross-selling
2021 April 12th - Reuters - China's Ant Group to restructure under central bank agreement
2021 April 9th - KrASIA - AirAsia's new services take flight in bid to form Southeast Asia's next super app
2021 March 10th - Business Times - Google Pay shaping up to be serious contender in South-east Asia
2021 March 9th - Sifted - Fintechs, Chinese investors are coming for you
2021 March 8th - Deal Street Asia - Fintechs feel the heat as Indonesian lenders lead country's digital banking transformation
2021 February 16th - NIKKEI Asia - China's New Year digital yuan tests hasten Asia e-currency race
2021 February 5th - KrASIA - Too big to fail: Are Gojek and Tokopedia about to merge?
2021 January 22nd - Deal Street Asia - Gojek, Tokopedia, explore holding company structure as merger talks move forward

January 14 2020

Media Coverage 2020

2020 December 11st - NIKKEI Asia - Singapore ushers ASEAN into new digital banking era
2020 December 9th - Reuters - Hiring rapidly, U.S fintech startup Stripe plots Asia expansion
2020 December 8th - KrASIA - Singapore’s new digital banks will be operating at a loss for a long time, expert says
2020 December 7th - The Paypers - Tracking Asia's progress with Open Banking
2020 December 5th - The Star - Ant, Grab win Singapore digital bank licenses along with Sea
2020 December 4th - Financial Times - Singapore grants digital bank licences to major Asian tech companies
2020 December 4th - NIKKEI Asia - Asia upstarts await word on Singapore digital banking licenses
2020 November 11th - Global Finance - Banking Pacesetters: Stars of China 2020
2020 November 10th - WTVB - U.S. to see more Chinese listings as Biden will make art of deal easier, advisors say
2020 November 6th - Business Insider - Financial experts say the shift from cash to real-time payments in Asia has accelerated, but the real challenge will be connecting those infrastructures across borders
2020 November 5th - The Business Times - Ant's Asean ambitions may take backseat to battles at home
2020 November 4th - S&P Global Market Intelligence - Ant Group’s dramatic listing halt may chill other fintech IPO hopefuls
2020 November 4th - S&P Global Market Intelligence - Ant Group’s dramatic listing halt may chill other fintech IPO hopefuls
2020 November 3rd - 247wallst - Was the Ant Financial IPO Delayed by a Regulatory Clampdown?
2020 October 27th - S&P Global Market Intelligence - World's biggest IPO attracts strong demand despite lofty price tag
2020 October 27th - KITV - Jack Ma is making history again with the Ant IPO, and getting even more wealthy while doing it
2020 October 26th - South China Morning Post - China’s digital currency will not compete with mobile payment apps WeChat and Alipay, says programme head
2020 October 20th - Forbes -Jack Ma’s Ant Group Wins Approval For Dual Listing That May Raise $35 Billion
2020 October 12th - S&P Global Market Intelligence -Digital yuan poses threat to Alipay-WeChat online payments duopoly
2020 October 8th - S&P Global Market Intelligence -China payments giants may face limited risk, tweak growth plans as US mulls ban
2020 October 8th - Financial Times - China’s Lufax files for US IPO against backdrop of rising tensions
2020 September 26th - CNN Business -How Jack Ma built China's money supermarket into a $200 billion company
2020 September 17th - S&P Global -Ant Group's close ties with Alibaba to endure post-IPO
2020 September 15th - S&P Global - Ant Group's lack of strong messaging platform concerns investors as IPO looms
2020 September 14th - Technology Times - Tiktok Payment Licence A Ticket To E Commerce Success
2020 September 4th - Nikkei Asian Review - China's Ant eyes Southeast Asia e-payment dominance with IPO
2020 August 25th - The New York Times - Ant Group, the Alibaba Payment Affiliate, Files to Go Public
2020 August 5th - The Business Times - Grab to launch retail investment product, consumer loans platform
2020 August 3rd - Warrior Trading News Articles - Chinese government may investigate top non-bank payment setups
2020 August 1st - Yahoo Finance - How China's Ant is evolving from a payments app into a technology champion
2020 July 31st -THE VOICE OF BRANCH COUNTY - Exclusive: China's central bank urges antitrust probe into Alipay, WeChat Pay - sources
2020 July 10th - KrASIA - Will China’s digital yuan pose a threat to the country’s fintech giants?
2020 July 2nd - News Heater - RIDING THE TREND OR PROTECTING PROFITS: ACI WORLDWIDE, INC. (ACIW)
2020 June 24th - Business Wire - Southeast Asia’s Cross-Border Real-Time Payments Network Emerges with Payments Innovation as Driving Force, New Research from ACI Worldwide and Kapronasia Reveals
2020 June 16th - The Washington Post - AmEx May Find China Can Live Life Without It
2020 June 14th - The Wire China - PayPal Picks Up the Crumbs in China
2020 May 27th - Taiwan Business Topics - Enhanced Anti-Money Laundering Controls Pay Off For Taiwan
2020 May 24th - Forbes - China’s Central Bank Digital Currency Will Strengthen Alipay And WeChat Pay, Not Replace Them
2020 May 22nd - AmCham - Japan’s LINE Banks on Fintech in Taiwan
2020 May 17th - Inveszz - Facebook’s Libra project: where do we stand?
2020 May 15th - Financial Times - Singapore’s Temasek throws weight behind Facebook’s Libra
2020 May 14th - the Ken - The Covid wedge for Alibaba, ByteDance’s productivity tools in Southeast Asia
2020 May 8th - The Economist - The financial world’s nervous system is being rewired
2020 May 5th - Tech in Asia - Covid-19 presents an opportunity for banks to go fully digital
2020 Mar 26th - The Fintech Times - The Asia Pacific Digital Banking Opportunity
2020 Mar 18th - SupChina - Why Did Ant Financial Invest In A Swedish Fintech Unicorn?
2020 Mar 17th - The Paypers - A glimpse into the flourishing online marketplace ecosystem of Southeast Asia
2020 Mar 3rd - SupChina - Will China’s Government-Controlled Cloud Rain On Fintech Innovation?
2020 Mar 2nd - Finews.Asia - Banks Shave Rewards Through GrabPay Top-Ups
2020 Feb 27th - Nikkei Asia - Grab's tie-up with MUFG signals serious move into fintech
2020 Feb 24th - CGTN - Could COVID-19 push the proliferation of digital banks in Singapore?
2020 Feb 24th - SupChina - Why Is Tencent Investing In European Fintechs?
2020 Feb 20th - SupChina - Prepare To Be Underwhelmed: Mastercard Makes A Belated Arrival In China
2020 Feb 14th - SupChina - Chinese Fintech Giants Expand Across The Belt And Road
2020 Feb 13rd - SupChina - Chinese Blockchain Is Booming, But Can The Industry Survive Government Support?
2020 Feb 12nd - HeraldSheets - Electroneum (ETN) to Aid the Fulfillment of Cashless Future Expectation of Many Cambodians
2020 Jan 23rd - Financial Times - Singapore’s new digital banks face uphill struggle
2020 Jan 22nd - KrAsia - Singapore’s digital bank license: Is it just for major league players?
2020 Jan 17th - Forbes - China’s $7.6 Trillion Online Payments Market Is No Longer Enough For Jack Ma’s Ant Financial
2020 Jan 17th - Technode - Ant Financial rumors gather pace as tech IPO fever rolls on
2020 Jan 9th - Nikkei - Chinese tech giants use Singapore as catapult into SE Asia

We have talked about the trend before, but starting to see more and more cooperation between fintech companies and banks. China Construction Bank Wenzhou Branch is now in cooperation with Alipay for a hospital payment service channel, ICBC is supporting WeChat’s QR code payment and JD finance and Citic Bank have issued over 2 million co-branded credit cards called the ‘White Card’. We're also starting to better understand the potential business models for both sides.

China's tech giants are increasingly focused on positioning themselves as technology providers rather than financial services providers. A recent 3-second blockchain remittance from Hong Kong to the Philippines, was supported by Alipay HK and Philippine's GCash, cleared by Standard Chartered. Caifu Hao, a wealth management platform launched by Ant Financial, opened their AI-functioned investment tools to fund companies. Tencent recently signed contracts with a few banks to provide a financial cloud structure for acquiring and managing growing clients.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published revised ‘Guideline on Authorization of Virtual Banks’ on May 30th, 2018, opening the gateway of a new banking type – virtual bank.

Cryptocurrency control in China seems to be getting stronger since the ban on September 4th, 2017. In a bid to further limit the use of crypto in China, the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security Technology (IFCERT) is now monitoring 56 platforms that offer over the counter (OTC) cryptocurrency transactions.

The (Qingdao) Blockchain Research Company released a set of ratings for various blockchain projects on May 17th, 2018. The company is related to China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), led by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), part of the national government, but it would be wrong to read that this is any sort of acceptance of crypto by the Chinese government.

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