News
Each day, DailyAlts tracks major developments across the alternative investment world. Our content is procured from primary contacts in the industry and secondary sources across the web. Our goal is to give readers the most up-to-date news and engaging experience to open new doors and areas of knowledge. Our stories cover nine separate verticals of the alternative investment industry.
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The Panxora Group announced Monday its launch of a DeFi-focused hedge fund. The Cayman Island-based fund will offer investors the opportunity to invest in DeFi tokens and is already accepting subscriptions.
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Venture Capital: Sneaker-Focused, Online Platform Goat Grabs $100M
Goat Group, which specializes in selling sneakers on its Goat.com online marketplace, announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million in a Series E funding round from D1 Capital Partners. The round valued Goat at $1.75 billion. The startup, therefore, turned unicorn, having previously been valued at $550 million. Goat Group operates the GOAT, Flight Club, and alias brands.
Artificial Intelligence: Adobe’s Liquid Mode Uses AI To Make PDFs Readable On Phones
Adobe’s (NASDAQ: ADBE) newly-launched “Liquid Mode” deploys artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically reformat documents, such as text- or image-heavy PDFs. The result: users can quickly view or navigate these documents despite their size or complexity.
FinTech: Tech Giant Yandex To Acquire Pole Position In Russia’s Fintech Industry
Investors made a bee-line for the stock of Russian technology giant Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX) after it bid Tuesday for Tinkoff, a leading online bank in the country. Yandex shares touched a record high after analysts and investors apparently thought it was a marriage made in heaven.
Liquid Alternatives: Retail Investors Can Use Alternative ETFs To Their Advantage
Krista Hicks, senior vice president of business development at Horizons ETFs, will speak at the WP Advisor Connect virtual event on Thursday, September 24, 2020. The virtual event is themed “The Rise of Alternative Investments” and aims to deliver a comprehensive view of the world of alternative investments. Hicks will participate in the workshop “Why alternatives should have a place in your portfolio” led by Women in ETFs.
Venture Capital: Robinhood, The ‘Go-To’ Trading App For Millennials, Snags $660M
According to an exclusive report today by Reuters, Robinhood Markets Inc. the trading app so popular with millennials, raised $660 million in its latest Series G funding round. Robinhood previously announced its Series G funding with a $200 million investment by D1 Capital Partners. A company spokeswoman told Reuters Tuesday that the round was expanded to $660 million at a valuation of $11.7 billion.
Digital Assets: Bithumb, South Korea’s Largest Crypto Exchange, Is On The Block
Korean media outfit, Herald reported Tuesday that Bithumb, the country’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange with more than 50% market share and 4.77 million members, is up for sale. The Herald quoted sources in the investment banking industry to say that the holding company of the exchange, Bithumb Holdings, had appointed Samjong KPMG to conduct the disposal of its stake.
FinTech: Triterras’ Kratos Blockchain Platform Clocks $5B Trade Finance Volume
Triterras Fintech launched its Kratos blockchain-enabled, end-to-end global trade and trade finance platform in June 2019 with the Trade Discovery module. In February 2020, Triterras added the Trade Finance module to Kratos. Triterras has already handled about $5 billion of trade finance on Kratos over the six months ended August 31, 2020.
Artificial Intelligence: FuzeDrive, The First-Ever AI-Enabled SSD
Enmotus Inc. focuses on innovations in PC storage using its patented Artificial Intelligent algorithms. It announced Tuesday the launch of FuzeDrive, the first-ever AI-powered Solid State Drive (SSD). FuzeDrive blends high endurance static SLC (Single Level Cell technology) with QLC (Quadruple Level Cell technology) on the same M.2 board.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Bermuda Green-Lights World’s First Bitcoin ETF
Brazilian asset management firm Hashdex and Nasdaq have collaborated on the development of a new ETF product dubbed the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. The ETF will track a blockchain index that will comprise bitcoin as well as several other crypto assets. The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) approved the new ETF for listing on September 18.
Venture Capital: Playco Wins Unicorn Status At Series A
Playco pulled off a unicorn valuation with the company still on the drawing board. It raised $100 million in a Series A round led by technology investor Josh Buckley and Sequoia Capital Global Entities. Will Smith’s investment firm Dreamers VC, venture firms Sozo Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, the Makers Fund, the Angel Fund, and Digital Garage also participated.
Digital Assets: Crypto Exchange bitFlyer Integrates Platform With PayPal
Digital exchange bitFlyer Europe announced Monday its launch of a new payment option for its users through integration with PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). This bridge between the two organizations will enable PayPal users to easily fund an account with the crypto exchange and thereafter commence safe and secure transactions in various cryptocurrencies.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Inside The New iPad Will Boost Low-Resolution Pics
The ML Super Resolution is a new tool inside Pixelmator Photo 1.4, a powerful photo editor created exclusively for the iPad. The new tool increases the size and resolution of images intelligently and automatically. This functionality, which was available in Macs, now comes to the iPad Air.
FinTech: Glint It! A P2P Gold Transfer Service Inside An App
Glint customers can use their mobile phones and the Glint app with its new Glint It! Feature to instantly send or receive gold or other currencies to their fellow Glint users. The person-to-person (P2P) service currently transacts gold, Euros, GBP, and USD.
Alternative Investments/Digital: “Front-Running Opportunity Of A Lifetime”
Former Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) employee and hedge fund manager Raoul Pal cites recent developments as a regulatory thaw that may augur the approval of a bitcoin ETF.
FinTech: Indian FinTech Paytm Takes On Google, Alleges “Arm-Twisting”
Paytm, a major Indian payment app and fintech, said Friday that its app had been pulled from the Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Play Store because its recently launched “Paytm Cricket League” was allegedly violating policies regarding gambling. On Sunday, Paytm hit back with a strongly worded, and a detailed, blog post on the fracas. It alleged that Google arm-twisted the company to remove a UPI cashback scheme.
Digital Assets: MicroStrategy’s Labor of Love On Bitcoin
Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s (NASDAQ: MSTR) CEO, made waves with his bold decision to invest $425 million of the company’s cash reserves in bitcoin. He invested the money in two tranches of $250 million and $175 million, announced on August 11 and September 15, respectively. On Friday, in characteristic style, he tweeted what it took (apart from the money) to buy $175 million of BTC.
Venture Capital: Mobile-Based Banker Chime Raises $485 Million At $14.5B Valuation
According to an exclusive report Friday by CNBC, Chime, the branchless bank that delivers its services through mobile phones, has achieved a valuation of $ 14.5 billion in its latest funding round. Chime raised a monster $ 485 million in its Series F round, and its valuation has now leapfrogged past the $ 11.2 billion sticker garnered by fee-free trading app Robinhood.
Artificial Intelligence: Cameras Powered By AI Help Save Elephants
RESOLVE is a Washington, DC-based NGO that seeks sustainable solutions to critical environmental, social, and health, challenges. It has partnered with AI software company CVEDIA to develop WildEyes AI, a camera-based solution to detect elephants and alert wildlife managers and communities. These warnings would prevent conflict situations between elephants and human settlements before they occur.
Alternative Investments/ESG: The COVID-19 Pandemic Spurred ESG Investing To New Records
Sustainalytics Founder Michael Jantzi says people now want to do sustainable investing. And “they’re putting their money where their mouths are,” said Jantzi at the virtual Morningstar Investment Conference on Wednesday. The COVID-19 pandemic boosted an already strong movement in favor of sustainable investing.
FinTech: Buy-Now-Pay-Later Lender Affirm Raises $500M
Affirm announced Thursday its raise of $500 million in a G Round led by GIC and Durable Capital Partners LP. Other investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Wellington Management Company, Baillie Gifford, Spark Capital, Founders Fund, and Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC.
Venture Capital: Tonal, The Smart Home Gym Startup, Taps $110M
Tonal, a startup that makes compact, AI-powered, wall-mounted home fitness equipment, announced Thursday its raise of $110 million. Returning investors L Catterton, Sapphire Sport, Shasta Ventures, Mayfield, Evolution Media, and THVC, participated in the round along with new investors Delta-v Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund, and Mousse Partners.
Artificial Intelligence: An AI-Controlled House Built By A Computer Scientist
It’s a striking, futuristic residence that commands panoramic views, combines home with a place to work, and is controlled by artificial intelligence having its own data center. Based outside Prague, Chechoslavika, the 5100-square-foot house is done up inside in stark white and has concrete-grey and glass exteriors. Named Villa Sophia, it’s home to a family of four and is purposely low-slung so as not to block the city view for the neighbors.
Digital Assets: Kraken Digital Exchange Wins U.S. Bank Charter
The State of Wyoming greenlighted Kraken’s application to form the world’s first Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI).
Kraken Financial, the new entity, can operate as a fully independent bank and is the first digital asset company in the U.S. to receive a bank charter recognized under both federal and state laws. As an SPDI, it can offer the full range of deposit-taking, custody, and fiduciary services for digital assets in a fully regulated manner.
Alternative Investments/Real Estate: Homebuilder ETFs In A Bull Grip
The NAHB/Wells Fargo National and Regional Housing Market Index (HMI) for single-family homes for the month of September rose from 78 in August to 83 in September. The reading indicates that homebuilder confidence and sentiment is at a record high – the highest in the survey’s 35-year record. It is a reflection of the strong demand for housing, particularly in the suburbs or exurbs.