Circle Puts USDC on Chelsea’s Shirt in a Premier League First
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know about my passion for sports — so this story immediately caught my attention. Circle’s USDC is becoming the main shirt sponsor of Chelsea FC, marking the first time a crypto financial services company has taken the front-of-shirt spot at a Premier League club.
The financial terms haven’t been disclosed, but it’s a fascinating move for a stablecoin brand into one of the biggest global sports stages. And with the FCA already warning Premier League clubs about crypto partnerships, there’s an interesting regulatory angle to watch too.
This is exactly the kind of FinTech-meets-sport story I like to follow, and you’ll find plenty more like it on FinTech in the Arena.
And now, a quick look at last week’s FinTech stock moves, plus Affirm wrapping up FY26 with $14.1B in GMV and 33% revenue growth.
Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
HOW FINTECH PERFORMED LAST WEEK
📈 A snapshot of last week’s stock moves across public FinTechs:
FINTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 SoLo Funds surpasses $100 million in revenue on just $53 million in equity funding raised. The company says it reached the milestone without traditional Silicon Valley backing, claiming the most capital efficient result at this stage in FinTech history.
🇳🇬 OPay eyes NGX listing, giving Nigerians a chance to buy shares in the FinTech giant. The company reported revenue growth to $536.3 million and is also pursuing a $4 billion US IPO.
🇺🇸 Affirm reports fourth fiscal quarter 2026 results. The BNPL provider closed FY26 with record profitability and $14.1B in Q4 GMV, showing rising consumer engagement. Read more
🇺🇸 Experian launches a Credit Cards App on ChatGPT, offering users a new way to discover card offers through conversational AI. Continue reading
🇺🇸 OutSystems expands agentic systems for consumer lending, combining customer-facing applications with governed AI agents. The pre-built system layers over existing banking infrastructure to modernize loan origination while maintaining auditability.
#FINTECHREPORT
🚨 Affirm wrapped up FY26 on a highnote.
GMV reached $14.1 billion, and revenue climbed 33%. Here are the key figures 👇
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇺🇸 LBank launches a physical Visa crypto card with up to 10% cashback for real-world Web3 payments. Cardholders can spend crypto at any Visa-accepted merchant and earn cashback rewards on everyday purchases.
🌍 Swift extends the structured address migration deadline for ISO 20022 payment messages after a community request. The extension gives financial institutions additional time to adopt structured address formats.
🇳🇬 Spendin launches an alpha API for cross-border payments, targeting businesses sending money across Africa and beyond. The API enables developers to integrate cross-border payment capabilities into their platforms.
🇯🇵 Coincheck completes registration as an electronic payment instruments transaction service provider, marking Japan's second such license under the revised Payment Services Act.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇭🇰 Ant Bank and Bettr join Hong Kong's GenAI sandbox to test AI-powered liquidity forecasting. The regulator-led initiative allows both firms to pilot generative AI tools within a supervised environment.
🇮🇳 India's Federal Bank launches a new digital loan origination system developed with M2P Fintech. The platform automates back-office workflows and supports customer onboarding across the bank's FinTech lending partner network.
🇮🇳 Barclays is targeting India's richest 1% in a private banking push, ramping up wealth management hiring across the country. The bank is expanding its private banking team to capture high-net-worth clients.
🇺🇸 Wells Fargo steps up wealth hiring after a $1.5 billion revamp of its wealth and investment management division. The bank is adding advisers to grow its share of the US wealth market.
🇺🇸 OCC acts to improve transparency and consistency in bank enforcement and supervisory standards. The agency revised its policies to focus examiner attention on material financial risks over documentation concerns.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 MoonPay adds AI access to Solana lending through its PayBox vault service. Users can instruct AI tools like ChatGPT in natural language to deposit tokens or borrow against crypto collateral via Kamino.
🇺🇸 Ripple Prime launches a Delta One business, expanding equity derivatives capabilities for institutional clients. The new unit offers institutional clients access to structured equity derivative products.
🇸🇻 Monetae launches Monetae Markets to expand access to tokenized US equities and ETFs in El Salvador from as little as $5. The platform uses Alpaca for custody and settlement of the underlying securities.
🇺🇸 The Clarity Act slipped to September; banks are building anyway. The Senate pushed the market structure bill into recess without a final vote, leaving digital asset rules unsettled. Matter Labs' Vassilis Tziokas argues that every month without settled rules quietly rewards the walled garden.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇺🇸 Circle's USDC takes over Chelsea's jersey in Premier League first, marking the first time a crypto financial services firm becomes a principal shirt sponsor of a Premier League club. Financial terms were not disclosed, though Chelsea was reported to be targeting £65 million ($88.3 million) per year for the slot, vacant for three years. Chelsea debuts the USDC-branded kit in its first home game against Brighton on Sunday.
🇬🇧 Fiat Republic and ClearBank partner to support MiCA safeguarding for European digital asset platforms. The collaboration aims to help crypto firms meet MiCA client fund safeguarding requirements through regulated banking infrastructure.
🇦🇺 Affirm and Shopify launch Shop Pay Installments in Australia, marking Affirm's return to the market. Eligible shoppers can split purchases into fortnightly or monthly payments with no late fees through the Shop Pay button.
🇰🇷 Dunamu and Visa partner on stablecoin payments, global remittances, and AI commerce. The companies unveiled a detailed roadmap combining Dunamu's digital asset technology with Visa's global payments network.
🏴 eToro and Leeds United FC announce a multi-year partnership. The investment platform becomes a partner of the English football club. Read more
🇺🇸 Brookwood Investment Group partners with Amplify to launch the Brookwood Intelligence Platform, a new investment research and analytics tool. The platform combines Brookwood's research capabilities with Amplify's technology infrastructure.
🇺🇸 Para partners with Centrifuge to support tokenized asset exposure. The integration enables tokenized S&P 500 exposure on Base through Centrifuge's deRWA framework for existing and new Para wallet integrations.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 RQD Clearing secures $74 million strategic growth investment, led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities with ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and Nyca Partners participating. The clearing firm will expand across North America, Asia and the Middle East and accelerate digital asset capabilities.
M&A
🇸🇪 Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski acquires 692,506 shares for $10 million. The purchase, made through an associated entity on August 26, was filed with the SEC on Form 4.
🇺🇸 Advent and Stripe consortium has dropped its pursuit of PayPal, ending takeover talks for the payments giant. The consortium had been exploring a potential acquisition of PayPal.
🇺🇸 BitGo acquires NYDIG's institutional trading business, expanding its derivatives and financing capabilities. The deal adds NYDIG's trading infrastructure to BitGo's suite of institutional crypto services.
🇨🇿 RockawayX acquires Relayer Capital, planning a $150M liquid opportunities fund targeting undervalued tokens and crypto equities. Relayer's strategy has delivered roughly 70% net return YTD, and founder Austin Barack joins as CIO of the new fund.
🇿🇦 Apis Partners to acquire 75% of Korridor as ECP nears its exit from the South African company. Keep reading
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇳🇬 MoMo PSB taps ex-Flutterwave COO Abifarin to drive its next growth phase. Mrs Bode Abifarin brings over 23 years of experience and will lead efforts to expand digital financial services and deepen financial inclusion starting September 1.
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