Daily Fintech Podcast - March 16th, 2022

Sign up for my Daily Fintech or Daily Digital Banking Newsletters here. Check out my latest podcast episode below: Welcome to another episode of our Daily Fintech Podcast. This podcast episode is sponsored by MoneyLion. MoneyLion provides an all-in-one mobile banking experience. You choose the tools you need when you need them — and they complement the financial accounts you already have. They’ll help you decide what’s right for you, but the choice is always yours. THE NEWS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY IS Ethereum application and infrastructure builder ConsenSys has closed a $450 million funding round that values the New York City-based blockchain company at $7 billion. The hefty Series D round, led by ParaFi Capital, more than doubles ConsenSys’ valuation based on its previous $200 million fundraise in November 2021. JUST IN: Parpera, a money management platform for sole traders, freelancers, and startup founders, has launched Australia's first embedded finance business experience using a debit card linked directly to deposit accounts, in partnership with Railspay (the Australian arm of Railsbank) and Volt Bank. ALSO: Last week, €495m was raised across 11 FinTech deals. Geography-wise, most deals came from the UK followed by Sweden and Denmark. Most deals were in Payments followed by Banktech, Insurtech, and Regtech. FURTHERMORE, Brazil's central bank announced tougher rules for fintechs on Friday, saying that payment institutions will be subject to regulations based on their size and complexity and raising standards for required capital. WHAT ABOUT CRYPTO? Blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform provider mintBlue has secured €2 million in a round led by Two Hop Ventures Fund, with additional support from a Dutch angel investor and Ayre Group Ventures.