Co-founder

Jan 21 2021

InsurTech NY Teams Up With the Bermuda Business Development Agency for InsurTech Early Stage Competition 2021

InsurTech NY, a global InsurTech hub, announced on Thursday it has joined forces with the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), Bermuda’s independent economic development public-private partnership, to launch the 2021 InsurTech Early-Stage Competition. According to the duo, this competition attracts up to 100 promising startups from around the world with an opportunity to showcase their business and market potential to early-stage investors and insurance leaders.

“Adding to the existing prize pool of $200,000, the BDA will award the winning team with a four-night stay in Bermuda, a business concierge service to connect startup founders to professional advisors, and pay the fees associated with participating in the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) regulatory sandbox or innovation hub. The winning team’s proposal will be subject to the BMA’s formal application review, and once approved, will benefit from the Regulator’s extensive guidance.”

Susan Pateras, a BDA board member and an insurance industry expert with more than two decades of experience, will join the list of investor and insurance carrier judges. Judges comprise angel investors, venture capitalists, and insurance carriers including New York Angels, Park City Angels, Anthemis, Six Thirty, Sure Ventures, Luge Capital, Transverse, Nationwide, GreenlightRe, and Grange Insurance. While sharing more details about the competition, David Gritz, co-founder of InsurTech NY. stated:

“Finding an initial regulatory sandbox and access to reinsurance partners is one of the biggest challenges for new digital MGAs. The Bermuda market represents an exceptional opportunity for new InsurTechs and our partnership with the Bermuda Business Development Agency is one example of how we strive to be an international gateway for InsurTechs to find global opportunities for growth.”

Jasmine DeSilva, the BDA’s Business Development Manager responsible for Risk and Insurance Solutions, added:

“The InsurTech Competition will connect some of the brightest InsurTech founders to Bermuda’s world-leading and innovative insurance and reinsurance market. We encourage those looking to accelerate innovation in the industry to apply and look forward to welcoming the winning team to Bermuda, the world’s risk capital with over $100 billion in reinsurance premium, access to specialty market carriers, and a friendly regulatory environment for quality startups.”

Early-stage companies eligible for the competition are InsurTechs that generated less than $250,000 in annual revenue in 2020. The top 10 finalists will be invited to present at the InsurTech Spring Conference and will be announced in early March 2021. The deadline for submissions is January 29th.

Source

Jan 19 2021

3 key reasons why Polkastarter (POLS) price rallied 500% since December

Polkastarter (POLS) is a cross-chain token pool and auction protocol built on the Polkadot (DOT) blockchain. It launched in October of 2020 as a way for projects to raise capital in a decentralized environment and since January the token has rallied 500% to a new high at $1.78.

Three possible reasons for the recent growth of POLS are the strong rally seen from Polkadot, strategic partnerships and exchange listings and an expanding list of token launches via auctions.

*POLS/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The rise of Polkadot

The rising popularity of the Polkadot network is arguably the most significant influencer on the price of POLS. Similar to Kusama, Polkastarter’s association with Polkadot could attract additional user and investor attention.

*POLS price vs. Social engagement. Source:* *LunarCrush*

Polkadot’s rally began on Dec. 27, 2020, and it culminated on Jan.15 as DOT saw a 75% price increase in one week. POLS strong rally also reignited on Dec. 27 and followed a similar trajectory to DOT.

Now that DOT has flipped XRP to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, further price strength for Polkadot has the potential to have a positive impact on the overall performance of Polkastarter.

Exchange listings and partnerships

Prior to Jan. 14 POLS was only available on Uniswap and Poloniex. At the time its liquidity was limited and high ETH gas fees also complicated matters for those thinking about trading the token.

After the Huobi exchange announced plans to list POLS on Jan. 14, its trading volume increased from an average of $2 million to $22 million overnight.

Now the POLS community is working on being listed at OKEx and a recent tweet from the project informed supporters that the project only needs 2,000 more votes to qualify.

Listing POLS on another high-volume exchange has the potential to further boost the token’s price as more people will have access to one of the fastest-growing Polkadot based projects.

Successful auctions and token launches

Similar to the initial coin offerings (ICO) that occurred in 2017 and 2018, Polkastarter is gaining momentum due to its ability to attract capital heavy investors looking for the opportunity to get first access to the newest blockchain projects.

Polkastarter’s protocol is designed to enable cross-chain token pools and auctions as a method of raising capital in a decentralized fashion. To date, the platform has conducted 12 separate Initial Decentralized exchange Offerings (IDOs) with 20 different pools consisting of both public and private offerings. To date, only one pool failed to sell out.

The strong rally seen from DOT has only increased the desire of projects wanting to develop on top of Polkadot in order to capitalize on its growing popularity as well as avoid the challenges associated with building on Ethereum.

*List of initial decentralized exchange offerings on Polkastarter. Source: Polkastarter*

Tosdis, the most recent IDO conducted on Polkastarter, tweeted the following after its successful auction as an example of the platform’s growing popularity:

“We are really delighted to announce that our IDO on Polkastarter is sold out. POLS pool was sold out in record 30 seconds. After fixing some overloading and gas issues, the public pool was sold out in 90 minutes. We are overwhelmed by the support. Thank you and Stay tuned.”

Polkadot’s rise, successful IDOs on the Polkastarter platform and the listing of POLS on new exchanges have helped propel the value of the token to new highs and investors are optimistic that these strong fundamentals will push the price higher.

In addition to these fundamental factors, Ether’s (ETH) recent surge to a new all-time high has many analysts calling for the start of a new ‘altcoin season’. According to Raoul Pal, the CEO and co-founder of Real Vision Group and Global Macro Investor, traders are likely to plow into “higher risk alts” after Ether secures a new all-time high.

If this prediction does come to pass, it could also mean even brighter days are ahead for the Polkastarter ecosystem.

3 key reasons why Polkastarter (POLS) price rallied 500% since December

Source

Jan 13 2021

Wall Street Veteran Howard Marks Reconsiders Bitcoin Stance Amid Bullish Run

Despite a few setbacks, it’s safe to say that Bitcoin is continuing its forward trajectory. At the same time, several skeptics are starting to change their tone concerning the leading cryptocurrency.

The latest skeptic-turned-enthusiast is Howard Marks, the co-founder, and co-chairman of asset management giant Oaktree Capital Management.

Son Convinces Daddy

Oaktree is the largest investor of distressed securities in the world. Based in Los Angeles, the company holds about $140 billion in asset management.

In an investor memo shared earlier this week, Marks explained that he was beginning to change his skeptical views on Bitcoin, with the asset showing considerable maturity over the past few years.

Marks was a staunch critic of Bitcoin in the 2017 bull run.

At the time, the investment guru warned that Bitcoin was no more than a fad, and that investors would eventually lose a fortune when its bubble popped. In his memo, Marks explained that Bitcoin was essentially a pyramid scheme, with enthusiasts ascribing it a value based on peoples’ willingness to pay for it.

The value investor turned out to be right as Bitcoin plunged after reaching almost $20,000 per token.

However, with Bitcoin now leaving its previous all-time high in the dust, even Marks has alluded that he could have been wrong.

In his recent memo, the investor explained that he had been talking with his son, Andrew Marks, about cryptocurrencies. He added that Andrew was a strong Bitcoin enthusiast and had “thankfully” bought up a few on behalf of the family. Apparently, Andrew had been able to convince him.

As Marks explained, he had not been fully pro-Bitcoin. However, he acknowledged that he would need to at least examine the asset and its potential.

“When innovations work, it’s only later that what first seemed crazy becomes consensus. Without attaining real knowledge of what’s going on and attempting to fully understand the positive case, it’s impossible to have a sufficiently informed view to warrant the dismissiveness that many of us exhibit in the face of innovation,” the value investor said.

Wall Street Loves Crypto

Marks is just the latest Wall Street giant who appears to be warming up to crypto.

Last month, Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, explained in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session that gold and Bitcoin provided the best alternative investment for people looking to divest from stocks and cash.

The billionaire hedge fund manager has previously criticized Bitcoin for its volatility and other failures as a currency.

With Wall Street stalwarts interested in crypto, there is hope that they will back some of that interest with investments. Institutional investment helped the crypto space grow last year, and with retail looking strong again, a push from top firms could take the leading cryptocurrency to unprecedented heights.

Wall Street Veteran Howard Marks Reconsiders Bitcoin Stance Amid Bullish Run

Source

Jan 13 2021

Plaid Has Decided to Terminate Pending Acquisition By Visa & Remain An Independent Company

Plaid, an open banking platform, announced on Tuesday it has decided to terminate its pending acquisition by Visa and will remain an independent company. The latest news on the acquisition was made just a little over two months after it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit in federal court pertaining to the acquisition.

As previously reported, Visa announced in January 2020 it was planning to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion. In purchasing Plaid, Visa was reportedly to jumpstart its push for digital prominence. Kelly called the acquisition a “natural evolution” as it connects consumers with digital financial services. At the time Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa, stated:

“The combination of Visa and Plaid will put us at the epicenter of the Fintech world, expanding our total addressable market and accelerating our long-term revenue growth trajectory.”

At the time of the lawsuit’s announcements, Visa refuted the suit:

“Visa strongly disagrees with the Department of Justice (DOJ), whose attempt to block Visa’s acquisition of Plaid is legally flawed and contradicted by the facts. This action reflects a lack of understanding of Plaid’s business and the highly competitive payments landscape in which Visa operates. The combination of Visa and Plaid will deliver substantial benefits for consumers seeking accessto a broader rangeof financial-related services, and Visa intends to defend the transaction vigorously.  As we explained to the DOJ, Plaid is not a payments company. Visa’s business faces intense competition from a variety of players – but Plaid is not one of them. Plaid is a data network that enables individuals to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they use to manage their financial lives, and its capabilities complement Visa’s. Together, Visa and Plaid will deliver better digital experiences and more choice for consumers in managing their money and financial data. Visa is confident that this transaction is good for consumers and good for competition.”

Speaking about Plaid remaining an independent company, Zachary Perret, Co-Founder and CEO of Plaid, shared:

“Since founding Plaid 8 years ago, we have been maniacally focused on expanding access and improving financial outcomes for consumers, developers, and financial institutions – and the intent of joining Visa was to accelerate that work. Unfortunately, the pace of a multi-year regulatory review is not compatible with the fast-moving realities of a startup – and delaying close another year or more is not in the best interest of our customers, the financial system, or consumers themselves.”

Perret further revealed despite the struggles that happened in 2020 globally, the past year has been one of exciting growth for Plaid, with hundreds of new banks joined the Plaid platform, and more than 4,000 companies turned to the platform’s service as the infrastructure to support their businesses, including many of the largest Fortune 500 companies who are focused on bringing digital financial products to their customers. In regards to his 2021 predicts, Perret added he expects the year to be more of the same as 2020.

“In addition to our ongoing focus on helping companies of all sizes deliver digital financial products, we have made significant progress in the ways that we work with financial institutions. Delivering on the promise of open finance is in everyone’s best interest, and we’ll be working in lockstep with our customers and financial institutions to bring this to fruition globally.”

Source

Jan 06 2021

Sorted and Salt Edge Partner Up to Help Small Businesses with Open Banking Solutions

Salt Edge, and open banking service provider, has partnered up with Sorted – a Germany based accounting app that targets freelancers and self-employed.

According to a blog post, by utilizing the Salt Edge Partner Program, Sorted is able to connect to the customers’ bank account to retrieve the business transactions in a clear and categorized format and automatically create accounting records. Additionally, Salt Edge enables Sorted to connect to major German banks via one platform.

Vasile Valcov, VP at Salt Edge, said:

“Living in the current uncertain conditions, it is truly important to build services that are useful and bring value to freelancers, being, in some ways, underserved members of the labour market. That is why it is crucial to introduce valuable data-driven digital services that today’s customers expect and create decent conditions for people who want to build a career in the freelancing field. Here at Salt Edge, we are excited to team up with Sorted, holding similar views to create something worthful and significant together.”

Tom Raz, Co-Founder of Sorted, said the partnership with Salt Edge will help to optimize the financial routine for their customers:

“Getting access to real-time banking data and obtaining all the transactions structured well in a pragmatic and visual way, help us to offer the best service for self-employed professionals and freelancers anywhere and at any time.”

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