On Nov. 18, Big Four auditing firm KPMG released its 2019 Fintech100 ranking, which lists the top 100 fintech firms in the world. The list saw a drop in Bitcoin-related companies but reinforced innovation in the payments industry. As was the case in 2018, AntFinancial — owned by Jack Ma of Alibaba — led the ranking. AntFinancial controls Alipay, one of China's leading payment systems, and is valued at $83 billion. Among the companies that offer innovation through blockchain and cryptocurrency, JD Finance was best placed in third place, surpassed by Grab, an Uber-like rideshare app that also functions as a payment ... (full story)