Top Trending Finance & Stock Market News & Highlights
FBI Reports 53 Percent Increase in Crypto Investment Scams and Issues Warning
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) noted a notable increase in scams involving cryptocurrency investments in 2023. The FBI asserted in its most recent "Internet Crime Report 2023" that scams involving cryptocurrency investments increased by 53% in 2018. Investment scams involve con artists guiding prospective victims toward cryptocurrency investments and convincing them to purchase fictitious tokens, which ultimately returns all of the money to the con artists. The promises of large returns on investment used to lure victims of these scams. Scammers typically use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to look for possible victims. According to the FBI report, investment frauds involving cryptocurrency increased by 53 percent, from $2.57 billion (about Rs. 21,260 crore) in 2022 to $3.94 billion (about Rs. 32592 crore) in 2023. The majority of these scam victims were in the 30-to 49-year-old age range. On the other hand, elderly people were more likely to fall for tech support scams. Comparing figures from 2022, the FBI said it received 8,80,400 financial scam complaints last year with the amount of loss coming close to $12.5 billion (roughly Rs. 103428 crore). This marks a 10 percent and 22 percent rise in number of complaints and amount stolen compared to 2022.According to FBI data, in 2023, similar financial crimes were reported in 6,601 and 3,405 complaints from Canada and India, respectively, following the US. Cybercriminals appear to be stepping up their attempts to con members of the cryptocurrency community as the market gets closer to its previous all-time high capitalization of $3 trillion (about Rs. 2,48,20,350 crore). The FBI has issued a warning regarding the increasing number of these incidents from the previous year, but Scam Sniffer, a market research platform, has highlighted the scam situation for the cryptocurrency industry through 2024. According to its data, in February of this year, roughly 57,000 victims fell victim to crypto phishing scams that cost them about $47 million, or roughly Rs. 388 crore.
Published 11 Mar 2024 06:29 PM
Ether retreats after momentarily touching the $3,000 mark, while Bitcoin drops from the $52,000 mark.
On Wednesday, February 21, there was a tiny 0.31 percent gain for Bitcoin. At the moment, Bitcoin is worth $51,977, or about Rs. 43 lakh. Market analysts claim that the resistance level for Bitcoin is currently at $53,000, or approximately Rs. 43.9 lakh; a breach of this level would signal a significant increase in the value of the asset. The price of Bitcoin has seen a significant increase of $400 (approximately Rs. 33,160) in the last day. Wednesday's market volatility was reflected in the cryptocurrency chart, where altcoins fluctuated between gains and losses. For the first time since April 2022, Ether crossed the $3,000 (about Rs. 2.48 lakh) threshold. But at that point, the asset was unable to maintain a significant advantage. Ether's current value, after a 2.05 percent loss, is $2,870, or approximately Rs. 2.3 lakh. "Bitcoin is indicating overbought conditions in the current market environment, which is causing investor caution regarding possible consolidation. Ethereum, on the other hand, is showing an ascending channel pattern, driven by continuous developments in its ecosystem and flirting with $3,000 (about Rs. 2.48 lakh). Deviating from their customary daily routines, investors are being cautious because of a recent buying frenzy amid bullish momentum suggested by moving averages, according to Rajagopal Menon, Vice President of WazirX, who spoke with Gadgets360. Market observers are currently more interested in watching Ether's trajectory than Bitcoin's. "Ethereum has a huge following. For most Web3 developers, it is the default option when it comes to compute networks. This translates to increased traffic volume and road upkeep. Therefore, an update to make the highway much smoother is being shipped by developers. They are also doing it without causing any traffic hiccups. They port the upgrade to the mainnet highway after testing it on the testnets, or service road. Dencun's planned mainnet launch in March "can be seen as an internal catalyst for a better Web3 future," according to CoinSwitch co-founder Ashish Singhal.
Published 22 Feb 2024 02:33 AM
India Accepts All Foreign Investment In The Space Industry
In an effort to facilitate business in the nation, the Indian government approved an amendment on Wednesday that permits 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the space sector. The government stated in a statement that the FDI policy reform will encourage growth in investment, income, and employment. The government stated in a statement that the FDI policy reform will encourage growth in investment, income, and employment.
Published 22 Feb 2024 01:45 AM
The Price of Bitcoin Exceeds $48,000
At the time of publishing, the price of the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, was $48,101 (approximately Rs. 39.9 lakh), having seen a slight increase of 0.74 percent on Monday. The digital asset gained $1,826 in value over the course of the weekend (about Rs. 1.5 lakh). The next target, according to market analysts, would be $50,000 (about Rs. 41.5 lakh), which is a milestone that Bitcoin hasn't been able to reach since December 2021, if the price of the cryptocurrency rises above $48,970 (about Rs. 40 lakh). Ether's value fell by 0.55 percent on Monday as it was unable to keep up with Bitcoin's gains. At the moment, ether is worth $2,498 (about Rs. 2.07 lakh). Due to large net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs the week before, Bitcoin surged above $48,000 (about Rs. 39.8 lakh) over the weekend, hitting its highest level in 26 months. The CEO of Mudrex, Edul Patel, told Gadgets360 that Ethereum also reached its highest point since January 19 at $2,540, or roughly Rs. 2 lakh. It is currently consolidating around $2,500, or roughly Rs. 2.07 lakh, with resistance at $2,620, or roughly Rs. 2.17 lakh, and support at $2,440, or roughly Rs. 2.02 lakh.The majority of cryptocurrencies saw losses on Monday, including Ether. These comprise Avalanche, Dogecoin, Cardano, Ripple, and Binance Coin. On Monday, the values of other altcoins, including Uniswap, Shiba Inu, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Solana, and Binance Coin, also decreased. In the past day, the value of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole fell by 0.76 percent. According to CoinMarketCap, the current value of the cryptocurrency market is $1.8 trillion, or approximately Rs. 1,49,40,576 crore. Ether's market share is currently 16.7%, while Bitcoin's dominance is currently 52.5 percent.This week, there will probably be a few notable token unlocks, such as the release of SAND from Sandbox worth over $96 million (about Rs. 796 crore), or roughly 9% of the total supply. We plan to do this on Valentine's Day. Additional unlocks include Aptos, which released more than 7% .
Published 13 Feb 2024 01:20 AM
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ETtech Deals Digest: This week, startup funding dropped 70% to $102 million.
In the second week of 2024, investments in startups fell by around 70% year over year to a total of $102.1 million across 26 different agreements, indicating that the funding crunch was not going away. According to data from Tracxn, companies in seed, early, and late stages raised around $288 million between January 6 and January 12, 2023.At roughly $49 million, or 48% of the total deal value, the early stage saw the largest amount of capital raised throughout the week. $35.2 million in late-stage finance, representing 35% of the total, came next.Funding increased sequentially in the most recent week, rising more than three times in volume and nearly three times in value terms. These cutting-edge businesses closed eight deals for $35.8 million last week.The latest numbers come after a busy spell of dealmaking in December, which came as a twist at the end of 2023 – one of the weakest years for venture capital activity in the country.The financial shortage persisted as evidenced by the fact that, in the second week of 2024, investments in startups plummeted by over 70% year over year to a total of $102.1 million across 26 separate agreements. Tracxn data indicates that between January 6 and January 12, 2023, companies in seed, early, and late stages raised approximately $288 million.In the second week of 2024, investments in startups fell by around 70% year over year to a total of $102.1 million across 26 different agreements, indicating that the funding crunch was not going away. According to data from Tracxn, companies in seed, early, and late stages raised over $288 million between January 6 and January 12, 2023.
Fireside Ventures leads a 50 crore Series A fundraising round for mental health firm Amaha.
On Wednesday, Amaha, a company focused on mental health, announced that it has raised ₹50 crore in a Series A financing round led by Fireside Ventures. ₹15.6 crore more was contributed by other angel investors.Amaha, the former InnerHour, intends to expand and improve its mental health offerings with the help of this investment. Serving more than 600 Indian locations, the Mumbai-based organization provides a range of therapies and care programs for mental health issues like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, OCD, schizophrenia, and addictions.The portfolio of Fireside Ventures, an investment firm that focuses mostly on consumer-focused startups, comprises businesses in the food and beverage, personal care, kids & education, lifestyle, and home products industries. It made investments in various wellness firms last year, including The Good Bug and Inito.A portion of the increased awareness and support for mental health and wellness in recent years has come from celebrities, including actors and cricket players, as well as from a number of organizations and social media platforms. Amaha was established in 2016 and offers digital services via an app that provides self-care tools and resources, in addition to operating physical centers in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. The founder and CEO of Amaha, Amit Malik, stated in an interview with Mint that "we're looking to go beyond digital at this stage because I think there is a lot of unmet need within the industry." Amaha has been aggressively investing in infrastructure, including physical clinics and technical advancements, despite growing losses in 2023 and maintaining a positiveAmaha obtained $5.2 million from Lightbox Ventures, a venture capital firm, in 2021. Additional angel investors that took part were Hitesh Oberoi, CEO & MD of Info Edge India Pvt. Ltd., Pankaj Sahni, CEO of Medanta-The Medicity Hospitals, and Capricorn Ventures & Micasa Investments (Singapore).
Following board approval, Fino Payments Bank requests an SFB licence from the RBI.
The Reserve Bank of India has received an application for a small finance bank (SFB) license from Fino Payments Bank, a division of Fino Paytech Limited (RBI). The RBI announced in a statement on Monday, January 8, that Fino Payments Bank had submitted an application in accordance with the SFBs' "Guidelines for on-tap licensing."The bank's board gave its approval in July 2023 to the application for an SFB license and instructed the creation of a committee to move forward with the evaluation of a reverse merger with Fino Paytech Limited, the bank's parent company. "Our SFB will be a Payments Bank++ model, different from existing players," stated Chief Financial Officer Ketan Merchant at the time. "In the first few years of operation, fee-based income will constitute 75% – 80% of the revenue."Fino's net worth is estimated to be over INR 600 Cr, but small financing banks currently need INR 200 Cr to meet their minimal capital requirements. On June 30, 2017, Fino Payments Bank commenced its business activities. Among its notable investors are Bharat Petroleum, ICICI Group, Blackstone, IFC, Intel, and LIC.
SentinelOne, a US-based company, purchases PingSafe, a Bengaluru cybersecurity startup.
SentinelOne, an AI-powered cybersecurity startup based in the United States, said on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to purchase Bengaluru-based PingSafe for an undisclosed sum.The Mountain View, California-based business said in a statement that it will buy PingSafe for a mix of cash and stock, and that the deal is anticipated to close in SentinelOne's first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, contingent upon customary closing conditions and any necessary regulatory approvals.The Mountain View, California-based business said in a statement that it will buy PingSafe for a mix of cash and stock, and that the deal is anticipated to close in SentinelOne's first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, contingent upon customary closing conditions and any necessary regulatory approvals.Bengaluru: The $100 million purchase of Bengaluru-based cloud security platform PingSafe by NYSE-listed SentinelOne is hailed as the greatest acquisition in the history of Indian cyber security startups. According to Barclays' report, the transaction is made up of both cash and stock.Companies won't have to deal with the complexity of multiple-point solutions, triage and analyze cases with insufficient context, or stream data between different data silos thanks to this new approach to cloud security. Rather, companies can manage their whole attack surface from a single platform that offers all the analytics, real-time interaction, and full context required to correlate, detect, and thwart multi-stage attacks in a straightforward manner—unlike old CNAPP and standalone solutions.
For FY23, Unacademys revenue jumps 26% to Rs 907 crore while its loss cuts
The test-prep startup Unacademy reported that, despite constant layoffs at the company, its losses in FY23 decreased by 41% to Rs 1,678 crore. In FY23, employee-related expenses decreased by 28% to Rs 1,281 crore.The test-prep startup Unacademy reported that, despite constant layoffs at the company, its losses in FY23 decreased by 41% to Rs 1,678 crore. In FY23, employee-related expenses decreased by 28% to Rs 1,281 crore.In what was a difficult year for the startup environment, many modern businesses, like Myntra, ZestMoney, and Curefoods, reported stronger revenues for FY23, but their losses also increased.Revenue at Myntra rises to Rs 4,375 crore: The apparel retailer Myntra, which is owned by Flipkart, reported a 25% increase in operating revenue to Rs 4,375 crore in FY23, despite a 31% increase in losses to Rs 782 crore. The online fashion platform's largest expense, amounting to Rs 1,758 crore, was spent on advertising and promotional activities, representing a 35% increase over the previous year.Unacademy reduces losses to Rs 1,678 crore, or 41%: Unacademy, a startup providing test preparation, reported that its losses in FY23, which included several layoffs at the company, decreased by 41% to Rs 1,678 crore. The Bengaluru-based firm saw a 26% increase in sales to Rs 907 crore during the year, while costs associated with payroll decreased by 28% to Rs 1,281 crore.ZestMoney reports a loss of Rs 412 crore. ZestMoney, a troubled startup that has been searching for a buyer, declared a net loss of Rs 412.4 crore for the fiscal year 2023. On the other hand, while total expenses increased by 21% to Rs 662.2 crore, overall revenue for the buy-now-pay-later platform increased by 72% to Rs 250 crore.
