Crypto Winter takes another victim - a crypto exchange turned neobank??; The future of Real Estate: NFTs? ??

???Hey,?Linas here!?Welcome to a????weekly free edition????of my daily newsletter. Each day I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it’s the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech.

If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this week:

1. Welcome to Apple Bank - your everyday Banking from Apple, NOT a Bank ????
2. Revolut's big e-commerce push and the Super App play ??
3. One of the biggest funding rounds in the decentralized finance sector's history & what it means for the future of DeFi ??
4. The real winner of the Crypto Wars is… Mastercard? ??
5. Rising living costs as the golden opportunity for BNPL ??
6. Commerce 2.0: a Social Evolution ????
7. Is Ethereum finally becoming the ultrasound money? ??
8. The latest nail to Meta's Metaverse coffin ??
9. How much is Bitpanda really worth? ??

and more! Don't miss out and join the community here????

Last week (17-21 October) was another super thrilling and hot week in the world of #Blockchain and #Cryptocurrency.?We will look at Crypto Winter taking another victim - a crypto exchange turned neobank ?? (I still had hope!); question whether the future of Real Estate could be all about #NFTs (this one is super exciting!), and other interesting news and developments.

Without further ado, let us dive into what happened in the Blockchain & #Crypto sector last week. Let’s connect the dots.

Crypto Winter takes another victim - a crypto exchange turned neobank ??

Another one… ???Berlin-based?Nuri?(previously?Bitwala) is shutting down its business as the digital bank failed to raise funds or find an acquirer. It cited the “tough economical & political environment of the past months” behind the drastic decision.

I covered this earlier and being a client, was still hopeful until I received this:

More on this ???Originally known as Bitwala, the company was established in 2015 as a crypto exchange and later entered into other digital banking spaces with the rebranding. Bitwala raised €42.3M in funding over the years, as per Crunchbase. It closed the last extended Series B funding round in mid-2021, raising €9M.

We can remember that Nuri filed for insolvency in August this year after letting go of 20% of its workforce as the firm struggled with the rout in cryptocurrency prices. Now it told its 500,000 users to withdraw funds from their accounts as the firm prepares to shut down and liquidate the business, marking it as another victim of the 2022 bear market.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

What can we learn? ???Ultimately, it’s all about risk management. While Nuri didn’t specifically name its insolvent business partner which was one of the key drivers that led to insolvency, Celsius appears to be the prime candidate as it had partnered with Nuri to offer Bitcoin interest accounts to its customers. These accounts were halted when Celsius went into bankruptcy. The fact they were so reliant on Celsius should be a good lesson for everyone in FinTech - risk management and due diligence should be your key priorities, not the other way around. Because sooner or later they will strike back. Furthermore, major cryptocurrency sell-offs, small scale (let’s be honest, 500k customers over 7 years isn’t a lot), and limited product offerings meant that they could operate only for so long without outside funding. On top of that, the fact that nobody wanted to acquire even their user base, just strengthens the abovesaid hypothesis. Zooming out, it’s a huge warning sign for every other FinTech/crypto firm that has similar operations. If they don’t reach profitability, bankruptcies and M&As are inevitable.

Bonus reads:?Monzo’s crypto ambitions & challenger banks’ strategy triangle ??

Future of neobanks: some will swim & others will sink. Here’s how to survive the wave ??

Celsius is Luna 3.0? ????

The future of Real Estate: NFTs? ??

The deal ???Forget Bored Apes, NFTs are coming to the house near you! A real estate investor purchased a three-bedroom house in South Carolina via an NFT marketplace over the weekend for $175,000 paid in USDC, The Block reported.

More on this ???The purchase of 149 Cottage Lake Way, Columbia was made possible via Roofstock onChain, the Web3 subsidiary of real estate company Roofstock .

Founded in 2015, Roofstock specializes in single-family rental properties and has facilitated more than $5B in investment transactions to date.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Could this be the future? ???Although this marks only the first NFT sale by the company, the thing that got my attention was that the buyer was able to buy a fully title-insured, rent-ready property with one click. If you ever bought or sold any property, you know how difficult and frustrating it is, not to mention lots of paperwork. This is where NFTs could make a huge difference. How? Well, in this case, given that buyers' names need to be made public due to legal requirements, there is an initial set-up process for would-be buyers joining the site of Roofstock onChain in which they mint a non-transferable membership token. This marks the membership token with a "verified buyer" flag, after which buyers can connect to an NFT marketplace and purchase a Home onChain NFT with a single click, resulting in a sale and settlement. How cool is that?! The future is now.

Bonus: a gentle reminder that NFTs are more than pixeled art:

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??

• Not an orange season ???French telecom?Orange?is reportedly weighing its options for its online banking division in the wake of media reports that the company was considering the sale of Orange Bank. “In a very highly competitive environment in the banking market, Orange is considering all opportunities to develop Orange Bank’s activities and support its growth,” a spokesperson for Orange told Reuters. Earlier the same week, France's Les Echos — citing unnamed sources — said Orange had instructed investment bank Lazard to embark on a new sale or possible alliance. Orange would not confirm those reports, Reuters said. The Reuters report said that Orange had previously shown a willingness to give up control of its banking operations, with BNP Paribas seen as the top candidate among French lenders.?Although it’s mostly rumors right now, I’d guess the sale is more likely than not. FinTech is hard, and banking is harder. I think it’s about time to revisit?the lessons of yet another failed neobank.
• The GS Reorg ???Banking giant?Goldman Sachs?GS 4.52%↑?is reportedly moving forward with one of the most extensive reorganizations in its 153-year history - and the Wall Street bank’s 4th restructuring in 3 years. The bank is planning to streamline its organization into 3 divisions — investment banking and trading, asset and wealth management, and transaction banking — with consumer banking arm Marcus folding into the wealth unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources with insider information.? 高盛 currently has 4 businesses — investment banking, global markets, asset management, and consumer and wealth management.?It was inevitable. Read this again:?Goldman Sachs' Marcus shows just how difficult FinTech really is ??

Money Moves??

• Celestia Foundation?raised $55M in a funding round to build infrastructure that will make it easy for anyone with the technical know-how to deploy their own blockchain at minimal expense.
• UK open banking and request to pay FinTech?Ordo?raised ￡10M in a Series A funding round led by Equinox Systems. Founded in 2018 by the former management team of the Faster Payments scheme, Ordo enables businesses to request payments for single and recurring bills - via call centers, email, text, or any other messaging platform a business uses - by orchestrating open banking over the Faster Payments rails.
• Yoloyolo, a new platform connecting NFT owners with brands to sell partnered merchandise,?raised?$3.5M in a seed round to help build the team and onboard new brands.

Continue reading by subscribing to?Linas's Newsletter.?You will receive fresh news about FinTech, Blockchain & Crypto with hot takeaways every day.

P.S.?You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? Bitcoin in 2021: a story in 5 graphs, and what might come in 2022

???A Wise pitch deck that led to London’s biggest and most successful direct listing ever

***

About: I am?a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

If you've enjoyed this piece, don't hesitate to press like, comment on what you think, and share the article with others. Let's spread the knowledge together!

For more, hit the?subscribe?button, and follow me on?LinkedIn?&?Twitter. I'm building the best community the social world has ever seen!????