Absolute and First Option form equity partnership for growth

Ant International, a global provider of digital payment, digitisation, and FinAI solutions, has been granted a Payment Institution (PI) licence by the Central Bank of Brazil, the company announced on Friday. The licence is said to mark a further step in Ant International’s expansion in Brazil, where it already operates through Antom, its merchant payment…

The government’s decision earlier this week to impose merchant charges on some Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions has created confusion among digital payment players. One key question is who will be treated as a ‘small merchant’. Under the new framework, merchants receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month in eligible UPI payments fall in this…

A mulberry paper platform combines 3D-printed microneedles with wireless uric acid sensing, laying the groundwork for future wearable health monitor devices JEONBUK STATE, South Korea, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Researchers have developed an innovative breathable wearable patch combining 3D-printed microneedles and wireless uric acid sensing on traditional Korean mulberry paper. The patch demonstrated enhanced…

Bybit has secured full regulatory clearance in Dubai for spot trading, but the exchange’s core business – crypto derivatives – remains on the waiting list. While rivals Binance and OKX already hold local derivative permissions under the emirate’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Bybit’s newly activated licence limits its local footprint strictly to cash-market exchange…

The US Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on September 15, with Senator Elissa Slotkin calling its ethics provisions “simply too thin” as she cast one of the no votes. The tally stood at 50 senators voting yes against 49 no, short of the 60 affirmative votes required to advance the…

(Bloomberg) — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission unveiled a proposal Monday to regulate digital asset transactions and markets. If finalized, the measure would draw on the agency’s existing authority to regulate leveraged crypto trades offered to retail customers. It would also establish a new category for crypto exchanges offering the leveraged trades to register with…