Weekly Roundup
Rise of Retail: Individual investors are investing in the stock market at a pace similar to the 2021 meme-stock frenzy, buying stocks worth $76 billion during a three-month period ending on May 24, compared with net purchases of $80.6 billion between January and March 2021, Vanda data showed.
World Economic Forum: Crypto took center stage in Davos as firms encouraged faster adoption of the technology, with Tether even giving away free pizza on the Promenade to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day.
MiamiCoin: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is working with the operator of the city’s digital currency to resolve glitches after it was reported that the digital currency has fallen below 95% of its original value.
Market Data Ruling: A U.S. appeals court ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission can proceed with its overhaul of the way essential stock market data is collected and disseminated, holding in favor of competition and transparency.
Fintech Funding: Fintech startup and alternative credit asset manager Viola Credit closed its latest $700 million fund, which will provide asset-based lending capital to FinTech, PropTech and InsurTech startups.
Credit Trading Algorithms: It was reported that credit trading algorithms are better equipped to price bonds during periods of market stress, in part because of data gathered during the 2020 turmoil.
In the Mix: This Week’s Top FinTech Thought Leader
Doug Cifu, CEO, Virtu, delivered a keynote discussion on the growth of retail investing, execution quality, price improvement, payment for order flow, and other market structure topics at the Bloomberg Market Structure 3.0 Conference.
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce remarked that the US has dropped the ball on crypto regulation at the DC Blockchain Summit, noting, “there’s a lot of fraud in this space, because it’s the hot area of the moment. …The other piece that does concern me is the way that we’ve sort of dropped the regulatory ball.”
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and Co-Founder, Klarna, said that the company will focus less on growth and more on short-term profitability, after cutting 10% of Klarna’s more than 7,000-strong workforce.