Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fifty-second edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy birthday to Emperor Naruhito 🎂 It's conference week again! If you would like to meet, you will most likely find us at the N.Avenue conference, the Credit Saison Blockchain Summit, the Yield Summit, and MoneyX.
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fifty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. "AI is killing SaaS", or "software will be abundant and free" are the latest taglines of the AI prophets, after the path to AGI via LLMs has been discredited. Whether or not that will
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fiftieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The Japanese election completely overshadowed our monumental achievement of the 150th edition of the Japan FinTech Observer, while crossing 15,000 subscriber (on LinkedIn alone, ~20,000 across platforms) 😀 we remain humble, and truly appreciate your spending time
broker/dealer
Penguin Securities has completed its Pre-Series A financing round, bringing the Singapore-based group’s cumulative funding to USD 18 million. The announcement signals a continued appetite among investors for infrastructure plays that bridge the gap between the burgeoning digital asset economy and traditional financial markets. The funding round was structured
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-ninth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The one hundred-fiftieth edition will arrive in your inbox post the February 8 election. If you are looking to meet in person this week, you will find us at the Japan Stablecoin Summit No. 2, the JBA Meetup
blockchain
Sumitomo Corporation, one of Japan’s leading general trading houses, is deepening its footprint in the digital asset infrastructure space. The conglomerate announced the launch of its Blockchain Node Operation Initiative, a move designed to integrate decentralized technology into its core business lines, ranging from trade finance to energy. In
corporate venture capital
Talos has successfully closed a $45 million extension to its Series B financing, bringing the total round to $150 million. The injection of capital propels the company’s valuation to approximately $1.5 billion, underscoring the market’s appetite for institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure. For the Sony Innovation Fund, joining
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. As widely expected, the Bank of Japan did not change the policy rate at the Monetary Policy Meeting last week. Amir Anvarzadeh of ASYMMETRIC ADVISORS commented on CNBC that the Bank of Japan should raise interest rates by
prime broker
In a move to modernize Japan’s securities infrastructure, SBI Holdings has announced a strategic partnership with U.S.-based FinTech infrastructure firm Clear Street Group. The agreement includes a $50 million strategic investment by SBI into the New York-based firm and outlines plans to establish a joint venture in
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. A unicorn was born through Alpaca's latest funding round. As if we knew this was coming, we are pleased to announce that Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Hitoshi Harada will join the next Tokyo FinTech Meetup
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. According to Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Japan is running hot. Can you feel it? Here is what we are going to cover this week: * Venture Capital & Private Markets: Credit Saison supports Mylapay's USD 1m bridge
mergers & acquisitions
Coincheck Group N.V. (Nasdaq: CNCK) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian alternative asset manager 3iQ in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $111.8 million. The deal will see the Nasdaq-listed holding company purchase a 97% controlling interest in 3iQ from its own majority shareholder, Monex