The FinTech Year in Stories: May

By Louis Thompsett

December 28, 2024

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We look at the articles that made the news in fintech in 2024. Today, it is May…

US SEC Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs: Crypto’s Rise Continues

In what is being called a surprising move, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the sale of spot Ether Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

The approval comes after the SEC combined proposals from the Nasdaq, NYSE and CBOE exchanges, which asked for changes to existing rules so that Ethereum Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) and ETFs are allowed.

The SEC’s approval of spot Ether ETFs follows the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and ETPs in January this year after a lengthy process, but one which saw Bitcoin’s price rise to an all-time high.

Despite the law change being granted for the trade of spot Ether ETFs, trading will not immediately begin. Issuers first need the SEC to approve individual ETF registration statements with details of investor disclosures.

It is not yet clear how long the SEC’s approval process might take.

Ethereum ETFs: Industry reaction

The swift approval of spot Ether ETFs comes as a surprise to many in the industry, given the SEC’s historic hostility towards crypto and the lengthy process it took for spot Bitcoin ETFs to be approved.

Reacting to the SEC’s first stage approval of Ethereum ETFs, Alex Saleh, Head of Partnerships at Coincover, says: “This is a welcome surprise given the challenges of the Bitcoin ETF approvals and the SEC’s historical hostility towards crypto.

“The US is the largest market for ETFs in the world, and where the US moves, others usually follow. The launch of Ethereum ETFs still needs to go through a second stage of approval, but if given the green light, would represent a major vote of confidence in the role that digital assets will play in our financial system and open the floodgates to more of these products.”

Wipro & Microsoft to Launch Gen AI-Powered VAs for Finserv

Wipro, the leading technology services and a Top 10 consulting firm for financial services, has announced its collaboration with Microsoft to launch a suite of generative AI-powered cognitive assistants: Wipro GenAI Investor Intelligence, Wipro GenAI Investor Onboarding and Wipro GenAI Loan Origination.

These new virtual assistants (VAs) will support financial services firms in efforts to improve productivity, accelerate client onboarding and enhance client engagement.

Wipro & Microsoft: Supporting finance professionals

By leveraging Gen AI, Wipro will be able to provide finance professionals with deep market intelligence, featuring timely insights on investment products and investor behaviour.

What’s more, Wipro says its new VAs can accelerate investor onboarding and loan origination processes by significantly reducing the time it takes to validate documents and respond to investor queries contextually.

Powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, Wipro's new cognitive assistants will integrate existing mobile and digital platforms to deliver a seamless user experience for finance professionals from a unified source of information.

Suzanne Dann, CEO of Americas 2 Strategic Market Unit at Wipro Limited, says: “Generative AI opens a new era of possibilities for exceptional client experiences and enhanced productivity in the financial services sector.

“This new solution set, powered by Microsoft, will help provide better and faster market and product intelligence to financial advisors and banking professionals, enabling them to deliver more personalised and timely service to clients.

“These solutions will also reduce the multiple—often repetitive—steps needed to onboard new investors or originate loans, cutting down the time spent on paperwork. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with Microsoft in this sector and continuing to deliver cutting-edge solutions to our financial services clients.”