{"id":22131,"date":"2019-03-04T15:15:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T13:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bondora.com\/blog\/?p=22131"},"modified":"2019-03-04T15:15:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T13:15:17","slug":"techcrunchs-startup-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/blog\/techcrunchs-startup-battlefield\/","title":{"rendered":"TechCrunch\u2019s Startup Battlefield, Brexit, fintech, and cryptocurrency news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News from around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications are officially open for TechCrunch\u2019s Startup Battlefield at this year\u2019s Disrupt SF 2019<\/a>. There\u2019s no fee for applying or for participating (TechCrunch doesn\u2019t take any fees or equity), and entries are open to early-stage startups from any country or vertical. The winning startup wins the coveted Disrupt Cup and an equity-free $100k prize. TechCrunch reports:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Source: TechCrunch<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With more than 10,000 attendees, hundreds of press outlets and top investors from around the world, your company will launch to the most influential players in tech.<\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After applications are received, TechCrunch editors carefully select the most promising startups to move forward and pitch to world-renown VC\u2019s on the main stage October 2\u20134 at Disrupt SF 2019. The Startup Battlefield contestants will get to work with the Startup Battlefield team over the course of a few weeks to \u201chone pitches, sharpen business models and perfect demos.\u201d Past notable winners include DropBox, Mint.com, and Vurb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, British regulators will give finance firms a 15-month regulatory grace period. Reuters reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Bank of England and Britain\u2019s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday published a \u201cnear final\u201d version of the rulebook that would come into effect if Britain leaves the EU without a transition deal…<\/em>
 <\/em>
…FCA executive director international, Nausicaa Delfas, said Thursday\u2019s announcement was a significant milestone in the financial sector\u2019s preparations for a no-deal Brexit.<\/em>
 <\/em>
\u201cThey ensure that there is a functioning regulatory regime from day one, and that firms are clear as to the requirements they need to meet by end March 2019 and beyond, so they can continue to meet the needs of their customers,\u201d Delfas said.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Although financial firms have been planning for \u201call forms of Brexit\u201d since the June 2016 vote for the U.K. to leave the EU, there is no assurance that the financial sector won\u2019t be disrupted in the case of a no-deal Brexit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a recent study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, the Swiss fintech market has a 62 percent increase in 2018. Cointelegraph reports:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences undertook an in-depth review of Switzerland’s fintech market for the fourth time. The report dubbed “IFZ FinTech Study 2019” reveals that on a global scale the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place for the best cities for fintech, respectively. The fintech sector inside the country grew 62 percent over the previous year.<\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, Switzerland had 220 fintech companies\u2014that number grew to 356 in 2018. Fintech distributed ledger technology (DLT) companies were the primary shove, as they tripled in number. Out of the 356 fintech companies, 122 are in DLT, 66 are in investment management, 56 are in banking infrastructure, 42 are in deposit and lending, 36 are in payments, and 34 are in analytics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.K.\u2019s Innovate Finance just published it Women Fintech Powerlist<\/a> for 2018. They have received an abundance of applications and nominations from around the world, and choose 150 women across 7 categories to honor. Crowdfund Insider reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Women highlighted in the 2018 Women in FinTech Powerlist include representatives from various FinTech firms and major banking\/professional services firms such as Allen & Overy, Accenture, BBVA, Barclays, Schroders, Transferwise, Monzo, Moola, OakNorth and Ovamba. Innovate Fintech is looking for more women FinTech leaders on the stage during its Innovate Finance Global Summit, which brings together over 2000 of the world\u2019s most influential innovators and leaders.<\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Innovate Finance\u2019s CEO Charlotte Crosswell stressed that statistics for women in fintech remain abysmal, and we can\u2019t just talk about inclusion and diversity\u2014we have to make moves toward action in order to see a change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. MoffettNathanson research firm\u2019s analyst Lisa Ellis said that while cryptocurrency isn\u2019t yet disrupting payment, it\u2019s worth watching. Ellis noted that it\u2019s unlikely to occur soon, but the possibility of cryptocurrency\u2014as a global payment system\u2014upending the big guys like Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and PayPal Holdings Inc., is worth watching. Bloomberg reports<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, the more possible scenario is emerging that cryptocurrency systems commoditize them instead of disintermediating them entirely, said Ellis, who rates each of the three as a buy. Plus, \u201cunless networks fully embrace these technologies themselves,\u201d another more imminent concern is the risk of ceding the cross-border person-to-person and business-to-business payments markets to players such as Ripple and Veem that are leveraging crypto, which is particularly well-suited for these kinds of payments, she said.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ellis noted that if banks embrace the technology (cryptocurrency and blockchain<\/a>), they could see new opportunities and new revenue streams open up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malta is leading the pack of EU states moving forward with their own cryptoassets regulation as the European Commission decides whether the EU needs to take action to address risks. The European Commission has yet to move toward cryptoassets and virtual trading regulation, as they fear hindering innovation. Reuter\u2019s reports<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Individual EU states are moving into the vacuum, despite risks that uncoordinated action could weaken the EU market. The French parliament is passing cryptoassets legislation, and Germany\u2019s finance ministry has begun a consultation on a blockchain strategy that will be published before summer.<\/em> <\/p>

Smaller states are ahead of them. Luxembourg passed its rules this year, and the Baltic countries have long been active in the sector, industry consultant Peter Moricz said.<\/em> <\/p>


The boldest is Malta, which has set up a broad regulatory framework and aims to become Europe\u2019s cryptohub.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Due to learning from past failures, Malta\u2014a major hub for online gambling and having a large financial services sector\u2014has learned how to take a stronger supervisory approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All about Bondora<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Have you published an article or video about Bondora<\/a> in the past month? Send your content to investor@goandgrow.eu and we\u2019ll publish it in next month\u2019s industry news series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News from around the world Applications are officially open for TechCrunch\u2019s Startup Battlefield at this year\u2019s Disrupt SF 2019. There\u2019s no fee for applying or for participating (TechCrunch doesn\u2019t take any fees or equity), and entries are open to early-stage startups from any country or vertical. The winning startup wins the coveted Disrupt Cup and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-financial-well-being"],"acf":[],"featured_image":null,"categories_names":["Financial Well-being"],"category_name":"Financial Well-being","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}