Hi All,
Let’s talk FinTech. FinTech and Blockchain almost go hand-in-hand. I wrote a pretty detailed piece about FinTech in September of 2020 on my personal blog, which I will quote below:
FinTech is eating up the world. I think my first introduction to the word FinTech was when I started learning about companies like Square and Coinbase. If I were to define FinTech in my own simple way, I would define it as the modernization of traditional financial services.
The emergence of the Blockchain and Crypto has accelerated the number of FinTech companies that are popping up. Most of these companies live by the same ethos, which is to serve the unbanked and for everyone to be their own bank in a way. The traditional financial markets has never really worked for the people, especially if you think about all the hoops you have to go through just to take your money out, transfer money to someone, or borrow money.
There are 3 occasions that unlocked my mind to the full potential of FinTech and how it will revolutionize the world. In fact, I truly believe this could be the next technological revolution since perhaps the Internet.
The use of peer-to-peer payments like CashApp (owned by Square) and Venmo (owned by PayPal).
The ability to trade Crypto assets in a market that runs 24-7-365 blew my mind. Compare that to the traditional financial market which only runs 5 days a week (excluding holidays) at 9:30am – 4pm. This seems so archaic now compared to crypto.
Reading about how China sent stimulus money to citizens electronically via AliPay and WeChat wallets instantly. Meanwhile the U.S. was and is still struggling to fully get the stimulus money out.
The exponential growth in FinTech is still unrealized. Leveraging the use of this technology is the future of finance. To break things down into more detail, the traditional financial markets offer 3 core services for the most part: (1) Banking (2) Lending (3) Payments.
I’ll link to the rest of the full write-up in the links section at the end of this post. I currently hold no positions in any of these companies. I used to a while back, but sold last year during all the market turmoil. I wish I never did, because my entry point for all of them were in the $30-$40 range. I am not planning to buy into any of them yet, unless we get a significant market drop. My picks include:
Square (SQ) - Square is a FinTech company although it was also in the Blockchain post I did last week.
StoneCo Ltd (STNE) - StoneCo in short is the Square of Brazil.
Blackline Inc (BL) - Blackline is pioneering Financial Close processes in the B2B space. I also admire the Founder/CEO Therese Tucker, who is an absolute innovator.
🔥 IPO Hotlist
Nothing jumps out at me for the IPO list this week. The only thing I’ll mention is around the fact that there are rumors circulating that Lucid Motorcars might IPO via a SPAC Merger with Churchill Capital Corp IV (CCIV). This will be something to look out for this week.
⚖️ Watchlist
Stocks I will be watching for potential upside/downside swing plays:
Churchill Capital Corp IV (CCIV) - this may spike if the rumors turn out to be true.
Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR) - Palantir seems to be having a lot of good news lately around new business contracts.
BioNano Genomics Inc (BNGO) - There’s a lot of chatter around this company regarding their diagnostic tool for Cancer detection. It’s already run up a lot, so not sure how much more room is left.
🍯 Bitcoin
Bitcoin seems to be maintaining a $35K price zone.
🗺 One More Thing…
Monday is a holiday, therefore markets are closed which also makes this a short week. Then Wednesday is Inauguration day which adds to a heck of an interesting week.
🔗 Links
FinTech | Beyond 2020 – Part 3 - Dig or Sink
Churchill Capital IV (CCIV) SPAC gains amid Lucid Motors deal speculation - Seeking Alpha
BioNano Genomics (BNGO) Stock $8! Time To Buy Now - Or Wait? - Tom Nash
BNGO is Extremely Misunderstood (and Undervalued) - Tom Nash
As always, this is not financial advice. I use this as a way to journal my thoughts and share with anyone else interested enough to want to read this, as well as for educational purposes only.