Short Takes: JPM competes with Square/PayPal and re-launches blockchain unit; Brazillian 60 million consumer bank IPO; Ant Group $35B IPO and Alibaba $4B acquisition of retailer; Bahamas CBDC

Hi Fintech Architects --

Welcome back to the subscribers-only letter! Here are the top updates hitting our radar:

1. JPMorgan Chase takes on Square and PayPal with smartphone card reader, faster deposits for merchants (link here)

2. Curve taps Thought Machine for new credit product (link here)

3. Brazil is prepping an IPO for its state-run digital bank with 60+ million users (link here)

4. PayPal in Talks to Buy Crypto Firms Including BitGo (link here) and PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending (link here)

5. The Bahamas Launches Its Central Bank Digital Currency (link here)

6. JPMorgan creates new unit Onyx for blockchain projects, says the technology is close to making money (link here)

7. Early bitcoin miner Bixin allocates $100 million proprietary fund for scaling DeFi projects (link here)

8. Ant Group to launch $35 billion IPO after final nod from China regulator (link here)

9. Alibaba intensifies China retail rivalry with Tencent on back of US$3.6 billion SunArtdeal (link here)

10. Goldman Sachs Open Sources Data Mod…