ChainCatcher news, the fintech company HUB2 based in Côte d'Ivoire has completed a $8.5 million Series A funding round, led by the pan-African early-stage investment firm TLcom Capital, with participation from FMO, Enza Capital, Bpifrance, and Thunes founder Eric Barbier.HUB2 is dedicated to providing a unified payment infrastructure for the French-speaking African region, simplifying mobile payments, bank transfers, card payments, and cryptocurrency transactions, achieving payment interoperability through a single API.Founder Ashley Gauzere stated that the company aims to address the fragmentation of payments in French-speaking Africa, and has already served 55 fintech companies including Wave, Orange, and MTN. This year, HUB2's transaction volume is expected to reach €1 billion, a significant increase from €70 million in 2022. In the future, the company plans to launch cross-border payment and stablecoin-based remittance services, and expand its market coverage in Africa.

ChainCatcher news, CryptoBlox Technologies announced that it has signed a binding revised and restated share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Blockchain Fintech Unipessoal LDA, a blockchain fintech located in Portugal.According to the revised agreement, CryptoBlox will issue 25,000,000 shares of CryptoBlox common stock at a deemed price of $0.20 per share, valued at $5 million; however, this transaction is still subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange and due diligence requirements in Hong Kong.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, payment company Stripe Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire the fintech platform Bridge.Insiders revealed that Stripe has been negotiating to acquire the company, and no final decision has been made yet, with either party still able to walk away from the deal.A representative from Stripe declined to comment. Bridge CEO Zach Abrams did not respond to multiple requests for comment via email.Bridge's platform is designed to allow businesses to create, store, send, and receive stablecoins, such as Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. According to Fortune magazine, the startup has raised a total of $58 million, with investors including Sequoia, Ribbit Capital, Index, and Haun Ventures.Sequoia led Bridge's recent $40 million Series A funding round, during which it also highlighted the market opportunities for stablecoins, partly created by the initiatives of companies like Stripe.

ChainCatcher news, the cross-border trading fintech company Puntored announced the completion of a $2 million financing, with the Stellar Development Foundation participating through its Stellar Enterprise Fund.Puntored will use this new funding to expand its technological capabilities and enable accurate cross-border transactions in Latin America through the Stellar blockchain network, primarily exploring financial transaction services for users in rural, metropolitan, and remote areas of Mexico, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, focusing on digital wallets, embedded payment services for businesses, and credit for small and medium-sized enterprises.

ChainCatcher news, privacy-focused fintech company Biptap announced the completion of a $2 million Pre-Seed funding round. The names of the investors have not been disclosed, but it is reported that they include several Web3 decentralized investment funds, a travel service provider with a network of 2.5 million hotels, a crypto technology company that once owned a MotoG racing team, and a former founder of a crypto investment fund. Currently, its business mainly operates in the Web3 space, and the new funds will be used to expand its business into markets beyond Web3, ensuring that users can control their financial transactions with privacy at the core.

ChainCatcher news, fintech company Caliza has completed a $8.5 million funding round, led by Initialized.It is reported that Caliza offers an API and frontend payment system that uses cryptocurrency stablecoins (specifically Circle's USD stablecoin USDC) and existing real-time payment networks to enable instant transfers, providing international merchants with U.S. digital dollar accounts.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Argentine fintech company Tapi has completed a $20 million Series A funding round, led by Kaszek, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and others. Tomas Mindlin, co-founder and CEO of Tapi, stated that the company is expanding its operations in Mexico.It is reported that Tapi is a payment processor for major Latin American consumer platforms such as Mercado Pago and cryptocurrency exchange Lemon. The company expects to process approximately $400 million in payments across the five countries it operates in this year, growing fourfold by 2023. The company has about 70 employees, most of whom are based in Argentina. The CEO stated that total payment volume is expected to increase fivefold by the end of this year, reaching 10 million transactions per month. Tapi's payment processing technology is designed to help fintech companies serve customers in multiple countries.

ChainCatcher news, blockchain fintech company FreeBnk announced the completion of a $3 million financing round, led by Founderheads, with participation from ChaiTech Ventures, LVT Capital, Lavender Capital, and others.The new funding will be used to enhance its user interface and application experience, particularly for new users. The company focuses on tokenizing RWA and crypto financial services, with its technology based on multi-party computation (MPC) security to ensure the protection of users' digital assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, fintech company Pyypl has partnered with Visa to launch virtual and physical prepaid Visa cards through a mobile application. The collaboration aims to enhance financial inclusion in the region, providing more access to financial services for underserved populations.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Turkish fintech startup Colendi has raised $65 million in its latest Series B funding round, reaching a valuation of $700 million. This round was led by Citi Ventures, the venture capital arm of Citigroup, with other investors including Migros Ticaret AS, Sepil Ventures, Re-Pie Asset Management, Finberg, and Hedef Holding. Colendi co-founder and CEO Bulent Tekmen stated that existing investors also participated in this round of funding.It is reported that Turkish banking regulators have approved Colendi's application to establish a digital bank in 2023. Tekmen mentioned that the oversubscribed Series B funding round provides the necessary capital to establish Colendi Bank. The company plans to dual-list in Istanbul and London and expects to be ready for an initial public offering (IPO) by 2026. Headquartered in Istanbul, Colendi launched a new funding round in March, aiming to raise over $150 million by the end of this year. Tekmen anticipates that after this funding round, Colendi's valuation will reach $1 billion, thus becoming a "unicorn" company.Currently, Colendi has 17 million users in Turkey, with plans to expand into populous emerging markets such as Pakistan and Indonesia in the future, ultimately aiming for a target of 1 billion users. This funding will drive Colendi's mission to become a major digital banking entity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Turkic countries.

ChainCatcher news, according to PRNewswire, Turkish fintech startup Midas has completed a $45 million Series A funding round, led by Portage, with participation from the International Finance Corporation, Spark Capital, Earlybird Digital East Fund, Revo Capital, and others.It is reported that Midas will use the funds from this round to launch new products, including cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds, and savings accounts, with plans to double its workforce to over 400 people and expand into emerging markets.

ChainCatcher news, fintech company Kemet Trading has completed a $5 million financing round, led by Further Ventures, with participation from Deribit, QCP, Falcon X, Flow Traders, and Hyperithm. The funds raised will be used to expand Kemet Trading's platform capabilities and further optimize the trading experience for institutional clients.It is reported that Kemet Trading aims to change the way digital asset options, futures, and perpetual options are traded.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S.-based fintech company Figure Technologies today announced the establishment of an independent company named Figure Markets, which is the "first step" in developing a single platform for investors to trade various blockchain-native assets, including cryptocurrencies, stocks, and alternative investments.Figure Markets has completed a $60 million Series A funding round, led by Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Lightspeed Faction. Other participants include Distributed Global, Ribbit Capital, and CMT Digital.Figure stated that the company is also committed to developing a registered secure alternative to stablecoins for its ecosystem.

ChainCatcher news, local fintech company AnchorX has officially announced its establishment and will explore the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin AxHKD. AnchorX aims to become the most trusted digital currency issuer in Asia, empowering global transactions and communications reliably and efficiently.The establishment of AnchorX has received strategic support from top enterprises in traditional finance and blockchain technology. China's leading investment management group Hony Capital manages over $16 billion in assets, providing resource support and business synergy for AnchorX. Additionally, Conflux Network provides AnchorX with foundational technology that boasts exceptional scalability, security, high speed, and low cost.AxHKD will utilize globally leading distributed ledger technology, backed by robust cybersecurity support. AxHKD ensures a 1:1 peg to the Hong Kong dollar through high-quality, highly liquid asset reserves. These reserve assets are protected through a separate trust structure and held by financial institutions regulated in Hong Kong. AnchorX's strategic partner OKLink Trust will provide trust custody services.AnchorX plans to promote the application of AxHKD based on two main use cases. First, as a catalyst for global cross-border payments, facilitating cross-border business between Hong Kong and global markets, especially with "Belt and Road" partners where banking infrastructure is underdeveloped. Second, as a reliable on-chain fiat tool, applied in virtual asset trading while paving the way for innovations in Real World Assets in Hong Kong, bridging traditional financial assets and digital assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to TechCrunch, Singapore-based crypto packaging company Xalts has acquired the digital trading platform Contour Network, established by eight major banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered, and BNP Paribas. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the acquisition price is up to several million dollars, including cash and stock.Data from the crypto data platform RootData shows that in October 2022, Xalts completed a $6 million seed round financing, led jointly by Citi Ventures and Accel, with participation from Polygon co-founder Sandeep Naiwal and others.

ChainCatcher news, according to TechCabal, Nigerian blockchain payment startup Bitmama is in acquisition talks with African fintech company Payday, and has now offered PayDay investors equity worth $1 million, with a valuation of $30 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong 01, Hong Kong fintech company K Cash has announced its plan to list on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, intending to raise up to HKD 281.8 million by offering 125 million shares on November 27. K Cash will become the first company to be listed using the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's new stock settlement platform (FINI).In addition, K Cash's Chairman and CEO Li Gengtai revealed that K Cash has established a cooperation agreement with River Square, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New World, intending to join its blockchain platform Riverchain and will be operational by the end of this year.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, Nigerian fintech company Vella Finance will stop providing cryptocurrency-related services starting October 30 and will focus on providing banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

ChainCatcher news, Finnish fintech company Membrane Finance has announced the launch of the euro stablecoin EUROe on Solana. According to the introduction, EUROe is a euro stablecoin compliant with MiCA, allowing the conversion of fiat euros into blockchain-supported digital currency. Anyone with a EUROe account can create and redeem euros for free at a 1:1 ratio, with no fees.Among them, the UK crypto trading platform Wirex has announced support for EUROe on Solana. Previously, EUROe has been available on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Avalanche.

ChainCatcher Highlights, according to Nikkei Asia, the Japanese fintech company Soramitsu will establish a stablecoin trading platform in Japan to provide cross-border payment services. For example, if a consumer in Thailand wants to make a QR code-based payment to purchase goods from a Japanese e-commerce site, the payment will be sent to the trading platform in the form of a dollar-denominated Bakong and converted into a yen-denominated stablecoin.It is reported that Soramitsu supports the Bakong payment system developed by the National Bank of Cambodia and the digital Kip (the official currency of Laos). Bakong has been used for QR code-based digital payments between Cambodia and Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The company is working to provide similar cross-border payment services for countries like India and Laos, and hopes to include Japan in this network.