Benzinga | Dec 20, 2020 10:33PM EST

Fintech Focus For December 21, 2020

Quote To Start The Day: When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place.

Source: Paulo Coelho

One Big Thing In Fintech: Seed and angel deals are projected to fall to 37% of total deal activity in 2020, down from 42% in 2019. We expect Series B rounds to finish the year with the greatest increase in share, up 3 percentage points to 19% by year-end.

Source: CB Insights

Other Key Fintech Developments:

* FinCEN proposing new KYC rules.

* N26 to fundraise before 2023 IPO.

* Paxos taps $142M Series C funds.

* Mettalex added to Binance's Chain.

* Treasury weighing new crypto rule.

* Making money in fintech is difficult.

* NerdWallet has hired eBay's CFO.

* ABN Amro app breaks login record.

* Finicity introduced Brex agreement.

* Citi builds new fintech marketplace.

* ESMA opens consult on algo trade.

Watch Out For This: [C]onstructing a massive amount of new infrastructure that achieves a cohesive set of national goals is impossible if we simply allow cities and citizens to prioritize their individual concerns.

Source: MIT

Interesting Reads:

* The impact of financial stress in US.

* Tiny reactor yields lots of hydrogen.

* MX: The State of Banking into 2021.

* Space Force discusses partnerships.

* D91: The Personal Finance Survey.

* Amazon Halo tracker raises concern.

* Hedgeye CEO on models, investing.

* Eliminate wasteful worker spending.

* Apple Pay draws antitrust attention.

Market Moving Headline: U.S. index futures auctioned to new all-time highs last week, before weakening into Friday's derivative expiry.

Key Takeaways:

- Financial markets are priced to perfection.

- Vaccine progress, stimulus both positives.

- Innovation gains traction, softens inflation.

- Depth, breadth of recovery remains rough.

- Sentiment and positioning levels elevated.

- Higher-time frame breakouts remain intact.

As BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) said in one Q1 2021 commentary, "a rising tide lifts all boats"; though financial markets have largely priced in positive news surrounding vaccines and stimulus, the rally remains intact, bolstered by a drive for yield -- technical factors as a result of resurgent systemic and hedge fund strategies, among other things.

Source: Physik Invest