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Last week was split between enforcement and infrastructure. The SEC charged securities crowdfunding platform Netcapital with fraud even as it prepares to vote on a new crypto asset offering regime, and the UK’s FCA opened its own review of gold tokenization. Underneath the regulatory movement, retail engagement stayed strong and diverse — a £30 million […]

Last week’s news operated on two levels at once: infrastructure and platforms. On the infrastructure side, tokenization kept merging with conventional finance rails and regulators started tackling crowdfunding’s oldest complaint — the lack of a secondary market. On the platform side, legacy names consolidated their business models while Southeast Asia’s lending sector grew and got […]

Ask a P2P investor what keeps them on a platform and they will talk about returns. Ask them what almost made them leave and you will hear a different story: the month they needed their money and could not touch it. Liquidity, not yield, is the quiet dealbreaker of this asset class, and it is […]

Regulatory status matters most when it’s specific — who regulates the platform, what exactly falls under that oversight, and which risks it actually covers. That question matters more than most marketing pages suggest — the regulatory architecture behind a platform quietly decides how exposed your money is if something goes wrong. Switzerland has built one […]

High yields in private credit often look straightforward — the underlying structure usually isn’t. From an investor’s perspective, the key questions go beyond returns: How are loans structured? Who stands behind them? What happens if payments are delayed? And how much protection does regulation really provide? Afranga offers one approach to answering these questions through […]

The global crowdfunding landscape has matured significantly in recent years. What once began as an experimental way to raise capital has evolved into an established part of the modern financial ecosystem. Today, crowdfunding platforms play an increasingly important role in connecting investors with entrepreneurs, innovators, and socially driven initiatives. Projects across many sectors now rely […]

Crowdlending continues to evolve. Investors today are less interested in aggressive yield marketing and more focused on structure, transparency, and downside protection. Against this backdrop, Swiss-based Maclear has positioned itself as a curated SME lending platform with centralized underwriting and a layered protection model. We spoke with Alexander Lang, CFO and Co-Founder of Maclear AG, […]

The calendar just turned, and European retail investors have already developed a January mindset shift, abandoning the reactive trading patterns of the prior year to a more strategic, disciplined investment stance.  January is typically not a simple continuation of year-end optimism. Instead, it marks a shift toward planning and reassessment. After markets finish December ‘25 […]

Personal-loan P2P lending is often described as an alternative investment, but in practice, it represents something more specific. It lies between traditional finance and direct lending, allowing investors to earn interest by funding consumer loans outside the banking system. Unlike bank deposits, bonds, or stocks, returns are driven not by market prices, but by how […]

Key Takeaways ● EU regulation is driving maturity and investor confidence in P2P markets.● AI and automation are transforming portfolio management and yield optimization.● Platforms like Lendermarket prove that innovation and compliance can scale together.● P2P investing is shifting from an “alternative” to a mainstream asset class. The Rise of P2P Investing: From Alternative to […]

As Ukraine continues its path through war and resilience, the question of how to rebuild the country stands at the center of international attention. On top of being a humanitarian requirement, reconstruction is a long-term economic goal that involves collaboration between governments, private companies, development organizations, and investors. For those who follow global investment trends, […]

The 5th International Conference for Alternative Finance Research (ICAFR 2026) is set to be an essential event for anyone engaged with the rapidly evolving field of finance outside of traditional banking. This international gathering, scheduled for April 8-10, 2026 in Málaga, Spain, will gather academics, fintech innovators, policymakers, platform founders, and investors together to investigate […]