Hex Trust, a leading digital assets financial service provider specializing in custody, staking, and market services, has acquired Byte Trading. The acquisition will enable Hex Trust to expand and scale its markets and prime services offering to institutional investors.

The recent closure of HSBC’s Zing has sparked strong discussion about banks’ ability to compete in the challenging cross-border payments market. Some view it as proof that banks simply can’t keep up. But this narrative misses the mark. 

The truth is, banks can succeed in cross-border payments. In fact, they’re probably the ones that will. 

Vouch, the leading business insurance provider for high-growth companies, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the team and book of business of StartSure Insurance Services, Inc., an insurance provider that simplifies how small businesses get insurance.

Vouch is also announcing the first close of its Series D funding round, led by Allegis Capital with all other major investors participating, reinforcing its position as the go-to insurance platform for high-growth companies.

Soter Insure, a provider of specialized insurance products tailored to the digital asset economy, has successfully closed its Series A funding round, led by Galaxy, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Karatage, Token Bay, Pharsalus and others.

ShopMate is proud to announce its partnership with DNA Payments, a leading provider of advanced payment solutions.

Affinity Africa announces it has raised US$8 million in an oversubscribed Seed Round led by Grazia Equity and BACKED VC to accelerate its mission of delivering affordable and accessible financial services to the underserved and unbanked communities.

Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has obtained a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency. The official licensing now enables Bitget to offer a comprehensive suite of crypto services within Bulgaria, including the exchange, trading, transfer, custody, and public offering of crypto assets, as well as wallet services.

Mastercard today officially announced the launch of TRACE (Trace Financial Crime) in Asia Pacific, a sophisticated network-level solution that harnesses artificial intelligence to identify and prevent money laundering and financial crime. Powered by timely and large-scale payments data from multiple financial institutions, TRACE provides holistic intelligence beyond an individual financial institution’s siloed view, enabling tracing of financial crime across a payments network.

Recent research by Aqua revealed that nearly one-third of Brits (30%) say that financial mistakes have caused increased stress, and that 41% of Brits feel negatively about their financial situation. With a challenging financial backdrop in the UK, it’s more important than ever to ensure that people receive financial information from trusted sources.

Pipe, a fintech company partnering with software platforms to deliver embedded financial solutions for SMBs, today announced its expansion to Canada through a partnership with Housecall Pro, the go-to software platform for over 45,000 home service companies.