Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has announced today it will launch Ether futures contract on May 20, further diversifying its offerings of the leading altcoin.

ETHUSD0625 will start trading on May 20 at or after 10AM UTC if liquidity conditions are met; ETHUSD0924 will start trading on May 24 at or after 10AM UTC if liquidity conditions are met. Ether futures will not require funding fee; so as long as the contracts are valid, traders can hold their positions free of charge.

The previously announced Bybit Cloud Mining, a mining-as-a-service (MaaS) product that gives users instant access to ETH mining from as little as $100, will arrive with ETHUSD0924 on May 24.

"As the Bitcoin price continues to stagnate, traders and investors are increasingly looking towards alternatives," said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. "We are pleased to launch our new Ether futures contract as rising retail and institutional demand paves way for a new alt season. Ether futures contract and Bybit Cloud Mining join our existing ETHUSD and ETHUSDT perpetual contracts in the ETH product lineup, and will create new opportunities for our clients, whether they are looking to hedge their positions or to further capitalize on future price movements of ETH."

ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has seen its price explode 20-fold over the last 12 months, four times that of Bitcoin during the same period. The Ethereum gas fee has stabilized after April 15's Berlin Upgrade, even as the upcoming EIP 1559 (London) fee market overhaul, expected in July, promises further gas cost reduction and a deflationary monetary policy.

Avast, a global leader in digital security and privacy, announces the official launch of Avast Business Hub, a new state-of-the-art security platform designed to streamline how Avast’s channel partners, managed security service providers (MSSPs), and business customers manage their cybersecurity solutions. 

With growing remote workforces, increasing number of ransomware, phishing, supply chain and BEC (business email compromise) attacks, and expanding compliance needs, the risk that end-user devices in business networks face has never been higher. Avast is introducing a modern, holistic and innovative platform – one with enhanced security, functionality, and capabilities - to tackle these fast growing threats. 

Avast Business Hub consolidates a number of critical security and availability capabilities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It consolidates endpoint protection, patch management, backup and recovery, and remote access and support solutions into an integrated security platform that enables organizations to easily manage and protect their devices, applications, data, and networks. The platform combines cloud-based endpoint protection and network security solutions that are easy to deploy and manage, reducing overhead and cost while delivering the most comprehensive protection.

“With technology rapidly adapting to support the extensive remote working required today, we are seeing additional cyber threats emerging. Avast Business Hub has been built to allow businesses and IT service providers to streamline the way they manage their cybersecurity solutions. This is a one-in-a-kind platform which combines all the features and services that organizations need today” said Filip Hlinka, VP of Product, Avast Business. 

The new Avast Business Hub is a single agent solution for better performance and faster operations. It allows for increased usability and productivity: 

• Fast and easy to use: Lightning fast and modern user interface that’s intuitive and easy to use for faster deployments and monitoring.
• Mobile interface: Responsive design that works well on tablets. Compliant with the latest accessibility standards.
• Remote access and support: Incorporates Avast’s free Remote Control service that allows IT admins to easily and efficiently provide remote support to their users from anywhere, instead of having to manage a separate tool for remote support.
• Comprehensive reporting: Generate and schedule easy-to-read, detailed activity reports with the click of a button.
• Multi-tenant support: Allows to easily manage multiple sites or customers and streamline the responsibilities across teams.

Avast Business Hub incorporates a centralized dashboard to monitor threats and set up alerts and notifications, and provision device and policy management tools, antivirus, patch management, and other services. Avast Business Hub also includes a Master Agent to manage, schedule and distribute updates to all endpoints in the network, and Real-time Commands, which instantly apply or can automate commands based on policy settings across devices like scans, restarts, and more. The Hub will be constantly updated and built-upon with the new features regularly.

Avast Business Hub also includes Cloud Backup, a backup and recovery solution that safeguards businesses’ critical data, helps protect them from ransomware and avoid costly downtime. It ensures business continuity by protecting an unlimited number of devices with an automated backup process that is easy to deploy and manage from anywhere, with no hardware requirements. The solution possesses unlimited data retention and version history, allows to precisely define the backup criteria and schedule it as often as every hour, and has automatic encryption, which protects data during every stage of the backup and restore processes. This service is centrally managed and deployed from the Avast Business Hub and is sold as a storage-based subscription in 100GB increments. 

For more information on Avast Business Hub, visit: https://www.avast.com/business/business-hub  

Astorg and Bridgepoint are pleased to announce that they have signed a definitive agreement alongside Fenergo’s management team to acquire Fenergo, the leading provider of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions, from Insight Partners. The acquisition follows a period of strong expansion for Fenergo and will drive investment in the firm’s SaaS strategy, product line development and support an expanding team through the next phase of growth.

Established in 2009, Fenergo’s award winning SaaS platform provides solutions to the world’s largest and most complex financial institutions, helping to fight financial crime and to enhance customer journeys while being compliant every step of the way. Fenergo currently helps top financial institutions including ICBC Standard Bank, Santander, Mizuho, ABN AMRO and BNP Paribas to digitally transform their end-to-end client lifecycle processes. Fenergo’s API-first ecosystem of channels, systems and data providers enables financial institutions to offer a truly frictionless customer experience.

The company operates in a specialised part of the highly regulated financial services sector, with strong potential for continued growth given the increasing importance of digitalisation and compliance. In the financial year ending March 2021, Fenergo’s revenue increased by 17% to USD$107 million.

Marc Murphy, Founder and CEO, Fenergo said: “We are delighted that Astorg and Bridgepoint have chosen to invest in our company, providing us with the financial strength required to pursue our ambitious high-growth strategy. Both Astorg and Bridgepoint have enormous experience and credibility in our sector, something I am keen to leverage over the coming years. Ultimately, we only exist to serve the needs of our customers. We are looking forward to partnering with them in the next phase of our development.”

Benoît Ficheur, Partner in charge of growth investments at Astorg, said: “We have tracked Fenergo for many years and have been impressed with its strong market position, innovative technology and consistent strong positive feedback from a customer base of large financial institutions. We are thrilled to partner with Bridgepoint to help shape the future of this unique company. Marc Murphy and his team have proven their strength year after year in this very demanding industry. This investment confirms our commitment to backing fast-growing and innovative software leaders.”

David Nicault, Partner responsible for Bridgepoint's investment activity in technology, said: “We are delighted to partner with Astorg on the exciting next phase for Fenergo. Continued pressure on financial institutions to improve their compliance work, while at the same time managing margins and increased regulation, has created the need for integrated digital solutions that enable reduced operating costs, improve capital allocation and comply with regulations. We are looking forward to working closely with the management team at Fenergo as they build on the company's success to date and realise its full growth potential.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Advisors involved included:

- for Fenergo: UBS, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, William Fry, and PwC

- for Bridgepoint and Astorg: Credit Suisse, William Blair, Torch Partners, Arma Partners, Paul Hastings, Allen & Overy, Ernst & Young, and GreySpark Partners

oneZero, a global leader in multi-asset enterprise trading technology solutions, today announced that Marc Reider joined the company as Director of Hub Product Management. Marc will be responsible for building the advanced execution and risk management capabilities of oneZero’s Hub technology to meet the needs of institutional clients.

Marc has spent the last 10 years at Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters), where he most recently served as Development Manager for the FXall product. He worked on a number of applications including building the FX Options product for FXall and the multi-asset callouts platform. Marc also spent 15 years at Credit Suisse, where he was Director of Foreign Exchange IT and developed FX systems for cash and derivatives for risk management, transactions processing and e-commerce. Marc earned his PhD in Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been focused on using technology to improve the way the financial industry trades FX. Now at oneZero I’m thrilled to be a part of a team that’s developing cutting-edge solutions for the institutional market,” said Marc Reider.

“Marc’s background in product development for the institutional market is impressive. There is no doubt he will be a tremendous leader as we continue to bolster oneZero’s institutional offering,” said Andrew Ralich, Co-Founder and CEO of oneZero. 

This news comes as oneZero has been making substantial enhancements to Institutional Hub, the company’s flagship technology platform for brokers and banks. oneZero recently launched the Algorithmic Pricing Module, an advanced price creation tool that facilitates the formation of  customized pricing using brokers’ own data constructs and algorithms.

MineHub and Contour have partnered to integrate their digital supply chain and trade finance technology solutions for the global metals and mining industry.

MineHub’s platform provides real-time visibility and collaboration of upstream and downstream supply chains, while Contour brings together banks, corporates and other ecosystem partners on a common, digital network for trade finance. Both MineHub and Contour are built on enterprise-grade blockchain technology.

Digital transformation is estimated to generate more than $320 billion of value in the metals and mining industry over the next decade, including $77 billion through integration of technologies^[1] such as Contour and MineHub that enable better data exchange amongst participants.

The partnership will enable trades on MineHub to flow seamlessly into the Contour network, where a digital Letter of Credit (LC) can be created using API connectivity. MineHub digitises the supply chain by allowing miners to capture mineral digital contracts with buyers and streamline post-trade operations, including document flow, financing, ESG reporting and logistics.

These trades can then be financed on Contour, which digitises traditional paper-based LC processes, improving transparency and reducing presentation time from up to two weeks to under 24 hours. The two firms also intend to roll out functionality that provides a time status on the progress of LCs within the MineHub platform.

Working together, MineHub and Contour will bring greater trust and transparency to fragmented metals and mining supply chains and trade finance processes, helping data flow across the world's trade routes, connecting buyers, sellers and their banks.

Carl Wegner, CEO at Contour said: “Partnering with MineHub is a natural fit as we are both striving to make doing business across borders better and smarter, reducing time, cost and risk. We both use cutting-edge enterprise blockchain technology to deliver on this goal, and the combined power of our offerings will greatly improve how information is shared throughout the lifecycle of a transaction in the metals and mining industry.”

Arnoud Star Busmann, CEO at MineHub said: “The Contour network is an excellent service to the global trade industry. The combination is a perfect example how network and platform interoperability creates exponential benefits for our shared trade ecosystem. MineHub is focused on digitising the end-to-end post trade management of physical commodity transactions. By connecting the Contour network, this now also includes seamless access to trade finance instruments like LCs from a fast-growing group of global banks.”

The second wave of the pandemic has had a significant impact on the handling and management of cash. This has in turn brought about substantial shift in behavioural patterns among the masses however cash still remains strong.  –

• ATM transactions have remained flat while the value of transactions have gone up. The ferocity of the second wave has scared people, forcing them to withdraw larger amounts from the ATMs with a view to avoid frequent visits which has resulted in increase in value of transactions. Average ticket size of ATM withdrawals earlier ranged between 2k-3k now its invariably gone up by 20% to 3k-4k across both rural and urban India.

• QR code based payments have picked up since retailers don’t have enough change and cash handling becomes a problem during peak hours. Early in the pandemic, consumers used QR codes more frequently for practical things and going contactless, for ex-  visiting a doctor’s office, buying things from Chemists or making payments at a super market. However latter, Consumers grew more comfortable with QR codes for financial purpose. Customers started noticing an increase in places where QR codes can be used for payments, and felt secure using a QR code to complete a financial transaction.

• With increase in e-commerce, COD has increased since customers want to see things before the purchase. Hence Cash stays strong with growth in Ecommerce. On the flip side, Digital payments have increased at the kirana store due to players who provide assisted digital services and Aadhaar

• Small ticket transactions are shifting towards UPI. For The average ticket size of transactions for UPI is around 1k

• Globally and now even in India, Cheque transactions are being replaced by digital. More and more people are now preferring IMPS instead of Cheque owing to which daily average transactions on IMPS was around 6-7k has now gone up to 9k

• In rural India however people prefer withdrawing through AePS vis-a-vis ATMs owing to which the average ticket size across ATMs is comparatively smaller. In rural and semi-urban India, while average withdrawals through AePS stands at Rs. 1500, at ATMs it is around 3k.

The above trend has been witnessed amid the ongoing second wave of the pandemic. If the same interests you, we can get you to speak to Mr. Mandar Agashe, MD, Sarvatra technologies who can share more insights on the same.

Fraudsters are involved in an elaborate game of hide and seek to bypass payments companies’ fraud prevention systems to carry out their crimes. They are smart and know that Companies House does not have the remit or resources to check the accuracy of information that is submitted and merely records the required information provided. This enables fraudsters to hide the fact they are connected to other companies by simply registering, for example, as Mr J Smith, Mr John Smith and Mr Jon Smith and even though the same address is used these will appear as three different, unconnected companies.

Martin Pashley, Chief Commercial Officer at Kompli-Global, explains: “Companies House loopholes are almost single handily driving a huge percentage of UK fraud as the fraud is hardly ever in the first company a payment provider is taking on. It is cleverly buried in a complex web of connected companies and linked Directors. This is why we are launching a database that replicates Companies House data, but in an intelligent, complete and logical way that exposes potential wrongdoing.”

It is with this in mind that Kompli-Global, the leading FraudTech specialist, has today announced the launch of Kompli-Investigate™, a rich research utility, fraud prevention and detection system that allows for deeper investigation of corporate entities and the individuals connected to those organisations.

A key component of the Kompli-Investigate™ system is Kompli-Konnect™, the most complete and accurate corporate structure data available that has collated and reconfigured all of Companies House data since 1986. Kompli-Global linked and connected all directors, owners, companies and addresses to provide the most accurate and current entity resolution available. Furthermore, it updates all new and changed information and re-maps the entire database every night. In-house experts then overlay known fraud characteristics and suspicious Modus Operandi (MO) scenarios to give a totally unique risk prognosis for users, as well as alerting entities to criminal activity that fraudsters want to remain hidden.

With this in-house and technological expertise, Kompli-Investigate™ completes the potentially missing pieces of the fraud prevention puzzle by enabling payments and fintech companies to make connections, before conducting deep due diligence for convictions, allegations of criminality and associations to adverse events and activity. The end result is a report of the facts available in seconds so that entities spot fraudsters or investigate those companies or directors further to ensure they are legitimate and not criminally intent.

Additionally, if a newly registered company is looking to open an account, Kompli-Investigate™ can flag all connected businesses and individuals to that company. This added investigative tier, adds a unique predictive layer to due diligence and shows Companies that are potentially predicated to commit a crime.

“Today’s fraudsters know exactly how to work the system but Kompli-Investigate™ is designed to significantly enhance payment providers’ fraud prevention efforts by supplying them with the information they need to really question the business they are taking on. For example, why is this business registered at the same address as 3,000 other businesses, why is it linked to ten other businesses with the same Directors, including a number that have been disqualified and haven’t submitted accounts for years. These are red flags that otherwise wouldn’t be picked up if you cannot unravel a fraudster’s web of companies and relationships,” said Martin Pashley, Chief Commercial Officer at Kompli-Global. “Fraudsters have identified Companies House data as a weak link in the fraud prevention chain but Kompli-Investigate™, in collaboration with payment providers’ existing systems, is going to change the rules of their hugely profitable game of hide and seek.”

To find out more about Kompli-Investigate, visit: https://www.kompli-global.com/products/investigate/

To find out more about Kompli-Global’s suite of customer due diligence technologies, visit: www.kompli-global.com

Exactpro, a leading software testing services provider for financial market infrastructures, is pleased to announce the appointment of Hiroshi Matsubara (Matsu) as Director of Business Development for Asia-Pacific (APAC), with responsibility for leading the firm’s expansion in the region effective from 17 May 2021.

In his new role with Exactpro, Matsu will spearhead the company’s expansion through serving the company’s clients in Japan and the entire APAC region.

Matsu joins Exactpro after establishing earlier this year his own consultancy firm — Pine Grove Research — focused on new technologies in financial markets. Since 2007, Matsu has also been serving as Co-Chair of the Japan regional committee of the FIX Trading Community and has been taking an industrial thought leadership role.

Previously, he spent 17 years overseeing product marketing and communication activities in Fidessa (now ION Group) in Asia after holding various product marketing positions both in Japan and overseas (UK and US).

Matsu’s extensive career experience, spanning over three decades, started in the marketing of financial information and electronic transaction products by joining Reuters (now Refinitiv, part of LSEG) as a graduate trainee in 1987.

Hiroshi Matsubara, Director of Business Development (APAC), Exactpro, said: “This is an exciting time to be joining Exactpro’s global team. As financial markets transform and face further digitalisation challenges, with the evolution of DLT and digital assets, it is now more critical than ever to ensure the highest levels of system quality assurance. I look forward to working with the team to drive Exactpro’s growth into Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region.”

Iosif Itkin, CEO and co-founder of Exactpro, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Matsu to the global Exactpro team. Matsu will be able to draw on his extensive industry experience to build on the success of Exactpro as we look towards growing our presence and expand our offering to clients in APAC.”

About Exactpro
Exactpro is a leading independent provider of software testing services for mission-critical technology that underpins global financial markets. The firm is experienced with trading, clearing and settlement platforms, market surveillance systems, market data systems, collateral and risk management systems, and post trade infrastructures. Exactpro provides functional and non-functional testing services to exchanges, clearing houses, securities depositories, trade repositories, digital exchanges, central banks, brokers and investment banks worldwide. Headquartered in the UK, Exactpro employs over 630 members of staff. Learn more at exactpro.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @exactpro.

Stephen Kelly, Chair of Tech Nation, comments on Alphawave’s first day of official trading on the London Stock Exchange: “The listing of Anglo-Canadian business Alphawave reflects a sector that is going from strength to strength, as it starts official trading today. The continuous listing of deep technology companies such as Alphawave in the UK is a glowing endorsement of the nation as a location with strong foundations to both develop and grow great global technology companies, and testament to both the depth of understanding British investors have of this pioneering business model, and the global investor base London has to offer.

“I am more excited now than ever about the state of UK technology, with Alphawave’s listing on the London Stock Exchange cementing technology as the highest growth sector in the UK, with a fantastic pipeline of scaleup companies and over 80 unicorns to boast. I look forward to more international technology companies following in these footsteps, and welcome our new Canadian entrepreneurs to Europe’s thriving tech nation.”

Mollie, one of the fastest-growing payment service providers in Europe, has appointed Julien Cordonnier, as its Chief Operations Officer. Julien joins from Uber where he held the position of Head of EMEA Community Operations, while also being a Supervisory Board Member of Uber Payments, and previously served as VP, International Consumer Products at American Express. Julien’s role will be to ensure exceptional customer experience & operations excellence remain at the heart of Mollie’s operations while scaling the business.

Joining Uber in 2015, Julien played a key role for Uber operations in EMEA throughout six years of exponential growth, enabling and delivering many product and market expansions. He was responsible for creating its customer operations department (including customer support, safety & compliance) from scratch to its current scale (1,500+ employees) and ensured customer success across 30+ markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. At Mollie, Julien will focus on ensuring Mollie’s customer experience can scale as the business grows whilst also protecting the company’s culture which has become a key pillar of its business. 

“Working at Uber was the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m very proud of all we’ve built,” comments Cordonnier. "However, Mollie presented a unique opportunity to join a fintech unicorn active across Europe. The pandemic has spearheaded rapid growth in the e-commerce sector and this has taken Mollie to huge heights in a very short period. It's an exciting time to join and I’m looking forward to helping Mollie achieve its mission of becoming ‘the most loved’ PSP in Europe."

Following a 90 million Euro Series B round, which valued the company as a unicorn, Mollie has since announced several new hires including Shane Happach as CEO, Eli Leenaars as Chairman, Muz Ashraf, as a member of its supervisory board and Rogier Schoute as CPO. 

“It is great to have Julien on-board as the team and wider business expands,” said Happach. “Julien’s tenure at Uber and American Express has given him the expertise to understand the world of tech and financial services, and how the two interconnect. This insight will be critical in ensuring Mollie can deliver on its mission for customers whilst ensuring Mollie remains a place we all love to work. I look forward to Julien bolstering the operations team, and watching it grow over the coming months and years.”