Fintech Focus For September 16, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.”

Source: Herb Kelleher

One Big Thing In Fintech: Goldman Sachs announced plans to acquire B2B2C lender GreenSky in a deal worth $2.24 billion.

The acquisition, which is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021, is positioned to bolster the firm’s consumer business and offer new products and new ways to attract consumers to its Marcus by Goldman Sachs brand of finance products.

Source: TechCrunch

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• OpenSea confirmed insider trading.
• Franklin Templeton files for a fund.
• Partners of GTS have added Radkl.
• TomoCredit secures $10M for card.
• Biconomy integrates with Showtime.
• Pagaya nearing a $9B SPAC deal.
• I2c, Solid team on fintech offerings.
• Paytm is facing pre-IPO challenges.
• Huobi launches $10M GameFi fund.
• Umbrella Network adds partnership.
• Canoe appoints Blackstone veteran.
• MX helping people get wages faster.
• Welcome Tech announces growth.
• Fireblocks opens Switzerland office.
• Talos continues leadership growth.
• Abra announces $55M in Series C.
• Mass Fintech Hub intros programs.
• Jump Trading names crypto leader.
• SpotOn secures $300M at $3.15B.
• Zegos, CheckAlt team on payments.
• Gate.io launches new $100M fund.
• ForwardAI introduces PreciseMatch.
• Ascend raises a $5.5M seed round.
• Zonos secures $69M in a Series A.
• Domination Finance closes $3.2M.
• Cboe FX growing with XTX Markets.
• Pier raises $20M, eyes expansions.
• Chiliz announces FTX partnership.
• Lightyear secures $8.5M in funding.
• Coinbase eyeing NFA membership.
• Brevan Howard adding crypto lead.

Watch Out For This: The Federal Election Commission ruled that Twitter acted lawfully when it restricted the distribution of a New York Post article with unverified claims about President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

Source: CNBC

Interesting Reads:

• Pence seeking new $18M war chest.
• Evergrande’s liquidity crisis deepens.
• Discord worth $15B after new round.
• Moderna is suggesting booster shot.
• SEC gave the second-biggest payout.
• Tax hikes approved by House panel.
• Discord is helping with relationships.

Market Moving Headline: Since January, stocks have lurched lower in the third week of most months. That happens to be in the run-up to the date on which most stock options expire, the third Friday of the month. While it’s not guaranteed to happen again, the turbulence around this event -- known colloquially as OpEx, for options expiration -- has become a source of fascination to many market observers, because it upends the traditional relationship between options and their underlying assets. What it suggests is that the stock market has effectively become a derivative of its own derivative -- a tail-wagging its dog.

Source: Bloomberg