

TROOPS Crypto Merger Bets a Nasdaq Micro-Cap on EFFORCE
TROOPS, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROO), a loss-making Hong Kong conglomerate that began life as a Chinese computer-monitor maker, has signed a merger agreement with EFFORCE, the Malta blockchain venture co-founded by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The TROOPS crypto merger, announced on 12 October 2026, carries no disclosed price, exchange ratio or completion date, and commits the enlarged group to digital-asset infrastructure, crypto trading and what the companies call the possibility


WealthTech This Week: Spiko's $90m Nod to Tokenisation and WealthAi's Agentic Onboarding Push
Two London and Paris based stories, one quiet message: WealthTech is done chasing shiny apps and is finally rewiring the plumbing. As of this week, WealthTech is doing something it has not done enough of in 2026: shipping real infrastructure. Two announcements, one in Paris, one in London, say more about where the sector is heading than any September conference panel managed to. Spiko, the European issuer of tokenised cash funds, closed a $90m Series B led by New Enterprise A


Fibank Adds Bitpanda Crypto Trading to My Fibank App
Fibank has signed a partnership with Bitpanda Enterprise, the institutional arm of Austrian crypto firm Bitpanda, to offer crypto trading inside its My Fibank mobile app. The deal puts Fibank crypto trading in front of the bank's more than one million customers and, the two companies say, makes Fibank the first bank in Bulgaria to embed digital-asset trading directly in its own app. Rollout to customers is expected in early 2027, with a €1 minimum and round-the-clock access o


Kraken Secures Full VARA Licence for UAE Launch in Dubai
Kraken will open to clients in the United Arab Emirates within weeks, and the Kraken UAE launch follows Full Market Approval for its parent, Payward, from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The approval is the final stage of VARA's licensing process and clears Payward to operate as a supervised Virtual Asset Service Provider for retail, professional and institutional clients. It completes a path that began with the regulator's preliminary approval in May 2026


A 95 Million Euro Deepfake, a 495% Fraud Surge, and DORA With Its Gloves Off
Following this week's reports of a near 95 million euro deepfake fraud at Intesa Sanpaolo's private banking arm, the identity layer is no longer the perimeter. It is the breach. The headline nobody wanted on a Friday As of this week, European private banking has its first public nine-figure deepfake loss. According to a FinanceX Magazine report sourcing FinTelegram, Fideuram, the private-banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, lost close to 95 million euros after attackers used synth


3iQ Secures Abu Dhabi Approval to Court Sovereign Crypto Capital
3iQ, the Toronto-based digital asset manager now majority-owned by Nasdaq-listed Coincheck Group, has cleared its first regulatory step into Abu Dhabi. Its UAE arm, 3iQ Middle East Ltd, has received in-principle approval for a Category 4 licence from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate's financial free zone. The approval signals intent rather than a finished permission: in-principle approval is a pre-authorisation,

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