A Big Day for Brazilian FinTech: PicPay IPOs in the US as Nubank Secures US Bank Approval

Hi FinTech Fanatic!

Brazil 🇧🇷 just rang the bell in the US 🇺🇸

Literally.

After a few snow-storm curveballs and flight cancellations, I finally made it to freezing NYC, just in time to watch PicPay ring the bell at Nasdaq.

Seeing a FinTech go public from the inside never gets old. Huge congrats to the founders and the entire PicPay team. Big moment. Big milestone. Big coat required.

But wait, there's more Brazil in America today: Nubank just received conditional OCC approval to establish a US national bank.

If fully approved, Nubank can launch, directly in the US:

• Deposit accounts
• Credit cards
• Lending
• Digital asset custody

No shortcuts, no acquisitions, this is a de novo bank, built from the ground up.

A few things that stand out:

• Boots on the ground: co-founder Cristina Junqueira is leading the US push
• Regulatory firepower: former Brazilian central bank president Roberto Campos Neto as board chair
• Serious timeline: capitalized within 12 months, operational within ~18 months (pending FDIC & Fed).

Brazil isn't just exporting talent anymore.

It's planting a flag on US soil 😉

More FinTech goodness below, and I'll be back next week with fresh updates straight from the Big Apple.

Cheers,

Marcel

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