Global Finance Leaders Back Bitcoin as Reserve Asset
Marcel van Oost - FinTech News USA
Connecting the dots in FinTech...
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Wall Street watchers were cheerfully surprised as Nasdaq Inc. scored strong fourth-quarter results, passing all earnings and revenue expectations, boosted by strong growth in financial technology and indexes business.
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NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
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?? Binance’s CZ Invests $16M in Blockchain Platform Sign.
?? X teams with Visa on new digital payments tool.
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FINTECH
Current joins American FinTech Council (AFC) to expand consumer access to innovative, affordable, and responsible financial services. The platform aims to create a safer and more inclusive financial system. Continue reading
We keep an eye on Brex and Ramp': Amex CEO on FinTech rivals. Steve Squeri said his firm is keeping watch on the progress of rivals, such as small-business-focused FinTechs and potential competition that would result from Discover's acquisition of Capital One.
SoFi CEO: ‘We’re Not Just a Lender Anymore’. CEO said on a conference call with analysts that the company’s current membership roster of more than 10 million individuals is up 34% year over year and a multiple of 10x through the past five years.
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PAYMENTS
DEUNA’s Aware AI: transforming data chaos into commerce growth. The platform enables merchants to automate data preparation, systematize insight discovery, and deliver proactive, actionable strategies that boost customer lifetime value, streamline operations, and optimize payment performance in real time.
JetBlue announced it is the first airline to accept Venmo, offering customers an easy and secure payment option when booking flights directly with JetBlue online. U.S. customers can conveniently purchase flights using their Venmo balance or linked bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards when booking travel.
REGTECH
Persona unveils significant advances in detection of AI-based face spoofs. The new updates bolster Persona's ability to detect and prevent AI-driven fraud through: a comprehensive signal library, improved detection of visual artifacts, compromised hardware detection, and scaled pattern detection.
Lawyer group urges overhaul to ease US process for setting up new banks. U.S. regulators must simplify the authorization process for setting up new banks, a group of lawyers wrote in a letter to the incoming leadership of banking agencies, emphasizing the industry's need to adapt in the FinTech era.
KuCoin to exit US amid resolution of lawsuit. The cryptocurrency will exit for at least two years after its operator, Seychelles-based Peken Global Limited, pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Peken will also pay monetary penalties totaling more than $297 million.
DIGITAL BANKING
Method is helping FinTech companies like SoFi build repayment functionality into their apps. Method works by leveraging consumer credit access protections enacted into law. By tapping into identity verification data from credit bureaus and telecom companies and combining it with data from core banking systems.
CRYPTO
Crypto’s richest man CZ turns VC Firm into giant family office. Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, recently released from prison and worth $70 billion, is transforming Binance's venture capital arm, Binance Labs, into a family office. The new name will be YZi Labs, overseeing $10 billion in crypto assets. Read on
Musk reportedly weighs blockchain to track federal spending. The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk, aims to update federal software and technology to enhance efficiency and productivity within the federal government. The group is expected to present its recommendations for cuts by July 4, 2026.
Trump boosts Tether, Circle by tying stablecoins to dollar. He signed an executive order to protect the dollar, “including through actions to promote the development and growth of lawful and legitimate dollar-backed stablecoins worldwide,” and, barred any further work on a central bank digital currency, blocking an instrument seen as a potential competitor to stablecoins.
Ondo Finance brings 24/7 access to Tokenized U.S. Treasuries on the XRP Ledger. Through this collaboration, institutional investors will gain access to Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Treasuries, backed by the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, which can be instantaneously minted and redeemed 24/7 using Ripple USD, an enterprise-grade, USD-denominated stablecoin.
PARTNERSHIPS
Wells Fargo and Derivative Path bring global payments to regional banks. The partnership marks a major evolution in capabilities for these smaller banks, enabling them to overcome traditional market barriers to provide competitive, secure, and transparent FX payment services, akin to those offered by the largest financial institutions.
DONEDEAL
Affirm gets big financing check from Liberty Mutual. Affirm has lined up $750 million in funding, the asset-management unit of insurer Liberty Mutual, bringing in additional capital to fuel its consumer-lending activities. Liberty’s new commitment to buy Affirm loans runs through June 2027.
Foyer unlocks $6.2M to help people save up to buy homes. Users can create target savings goals and access personalized guidance on the best ways to save for a home, information about mortgage rates, and choosing a real estate firm. The company has a subscription model, offering memberships to users looking for more support.
Method raises $41.5m Series B. The start-up plans to “accelerate its delivery of end-to-end loan refinance automation and expand into use cases unlocked by deeper card network integrations”, according to a statement. Continue reading
M&As
Abrigo acquires Integrated Financial Solutions. The integration of IFS and IFSLeaseWorks will see Abrigo add equipment and vehicular financing capabilities to its existing loan origination offering, while also expanding its suite of automation and asset management tools.
Priority Technology buys payroll platform Rollfi. With the backing of Priority, Rollfi partners can now tap into financial infrastructure, including money movement rails that power over $1tn in commerce, connections with over 20 Tier 1 and regional processing banks, and nationwide money transmitter licences.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Nymbus appoints Ed Gross as CPO to lead product and innovation. Gross has a proven track record of leading product management and innovation strategies for the financial services industry and has been the thought leader and evangelist behind Nymbus’ award-winning user experience.
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