Coinbase's Biggest Pivot Yet: Beyond Crypto
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Coinbase wants to be your bank, broker, and financial advisor. All in one place.
The company's latest System Update signals a major strategic shift: beyond crypto, toward a full-service financial platform. Three moves stand out.
The first one is that stocks go on-chain. Which means Coinbase is integrating tokenized real-world assets alongside crypto, letting users manage traditional and digital investments from a single account.
The second one is about AI getting a seat at the table. Coinbase Advisor is a new natural language assistant aimed at making investing guidance more accessible, starting with Coinbase One members in the US.
Third, the everything-finance app. Payments via stablecoins, a travel booking platform with 5% Bitcoin back, and social features. Coinbase is building an ecosystem users never need to leave.
If you want to go more into detail of what Coinbase is doing, here is a deep dive I did on how they are pivoting beyond crypto.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong talking about the "Everything Exchange"
If you scroll down, you'll see what else is shaping the FinTech industry. 👇See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
🇦🇿 Mastercard SME Confidence Index: Azerbaijani SMEs embrace digital transformation while seeking greater access to finance. A new Mastercard study found that 84% of Azerbaijani SMEs see digital payments as a key growth driver, while 53% believe better access to financial services and credit offers the biggest opportunity for expansion.
FINTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 PayPal is reportedly winding down PayPal Ventures as part of a broader strategic review. The company is also exploring the sale of some venture portfolio holdings, despite the fund having invested more than $850 million across over 80 startups, including companies such as Plaid and Anchorage Digital.
🇵🇭 GCash parent Mynt moves closer to a Philippine IPO with board approval. The company said that the board of directors and shareholders authorised the filing of a registration statement with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a listing application with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in connection with a potential IPO.
🇦🇺 OSL Group secures an Australian Financial Services Licence. The licence enables OSL to provide payment and custody services and facilitate OTC transactions to wholesale clients under ASIC oversight, as Banxa COO Sean Moynihan joins Visa, Coinbase and EY at the Australian Digital Economy Conference to discuss agentic commerce and the future of stablecoin payments.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇦🇪 Alaan launches UAE's first AI-native business bank account, powered by ruya. The account gives UAE businesses access to seamless, Shariah-compliant digital banking capabilities embedded directly into Alaan’s spend management platform.
🇺🇸 Mercury has launched Mercury Command. The tool allows customers to analyze cash flow, categorize transactions, prepare payments, generate banking documents, and manage finances through natural-language prompts, with all actions remaining subject to existing account permissions and approval controls.
🇦🇪 Revolut secures UAE payment licences, paving the way for a local launch. This allows the global FinTech firm to offer digital payment services and stored-value products in one of the world’s fastest-growing FinTech markets. Keep reading
🇪🇸 N26 launches eSIM-based local mobile plans, expanding its telecommunication offering in Spain. Customers in the country can now subscribe to a local mobile plan directly through the N26 app and gain instant access to Orange’s 5G network, all without the need for a physical SIM card.
🇬🇧 Plasma has launched Plasma One, a stablecoin banking product that enables users to spend, send, and earn with stablecoins through a single account. The platform aims to simplify stablecoin banking by combining payments, liquidity, and blockchain rails into one integrated experience.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇬🇷 Binance is set to lose permission to operate in the EU. Binance could face a major setback in Europe as reports suggest its MiCA licence application in Greece is set to be rejected. If confirmed, the decision would prevent Binance from using the EU’s new regulatory passporting framework, creating uncertainty around its ability to continue serving customers across the bloc.
🇮🇹 Italian FinTech Conio secures an EU licence for crypto services. CEO Christian Miccoli said the licence helped Conio's efforts to become a partner for integrating digital assets into regulated portfolios, as the company expands its role in blockchain and tokenisation projects.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇺🇸 Airwallex and Taxbit have partnered to help marketplaces combine global payments and tax compliance in a single workflow. The integration enables seller onboarding, automated W-8/W-9 collection, multi-currency wallets, global payouts to more than 200 countries, and automated tax reporting powered by real-time payment data.
🌍 HSBC and Google’s AI partnership is set to add over $128 million in gains. The multi-year partnership will enable more than 200 new AI use cases at HSBC over the next two years. The company will work with Google Cloud and Google DeepMind engineering teams to build new AI tools and programs.
🌏 Visa and Mintoak join forces to bring merchant SaaS capabilities to acquirers across Asia Pacific. The partnership enables banks and financial institutions to move beyond transaction-led acquiring towards platform-led models, allowing acquirers to deliver a digital-first merchant experience that integrates omnichannel payment acceptance.
🇬🇧 Thredd expands its partnership with ID DISTRIBUTION to power the next phase of employee benefits and expense innovation. The extended agreement runs through 2030 and includes support for a planned launch in Spain, a new corporate expense card solution, and enhanced fraud monitoring and 3D Secure capabilities.
🇺🇸 Thredd and Sutton Bank partner to power U.S. card program expansion for global brands. Together, Thredd and Sutton Bank will support companies looking to bring modern prepaid and debit card programs to market across the U.S. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Precoro launches Precoro Payments, a new capability that allows finance teams to pay invoices directly inside the procurement workflow. With Precoro Payments, users can initiate ACH, same-day ACH, wire, and international invoice payments directly from approved invoices, with all payment data automatically synced to ERP systems.
🇬🇧 OakNorth and Fintex Capital launch a specialty finance partnership. Under the partnership, the firms said they will target lending opportunities across specialty finance, real estate credit, asset-backed finance and cash flow lending, as well as more complex credit situations requiring bespoke underwriting and structuring expertise.
🇬🇧 Volt partners with SysPay to bring Pay by Bank to its hospitality, travel, and e-commerce merchants. The partnership makes Volt’s Pay by Bank solution available to SysPay’s merchant base, giving hotels, vacation rental operators, and e-commerce platforms access to open banking-powered real-time payments.
🇺🇸 Veem expands its virtual card program with stablecoin support. Businesses can now receive funds, convert and store value, fund card balances through supported stablecoins or Veem’s global fiat network, and spend worldwide using USD virtual cards accepted at Visa merchants.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇬🇧 Monument scores £18m seed for cloud banking platform. The group plans to use the capital to expand its end-to-end banking technology platform, scale internationally, and enhance its offering for financial institutions, while already moving ahead with a Series A fundraising round.
🇬🇧 Flagright raises US$12.5 million in Series A funding. The funding will support new explainable AI capabilities for investigations, alert intelligence and audit-ready compliance workflows across its financial crime compliance operations and strengthen its presence in the United States.
🌎 Trace Finance raises a $32M Series A led by CoinFund to scale regulated banking and stablecoin infrastructure across Brazil, the U.S., and emerging markets. The funding will support Trace's expansion as it scales transaction capacity and extends its regulated infrastructure across additional high-growth corridors globally.
🇸🇬 Choco Up secures a $15m credit facility for Singapore SMEs. The funding is expected to support around 500 businesses with growth and working capital solutions, as demand for alternative financing continues to rise, particularly for AI and technology-related investments.
🇫🇷 Green-Got raises $9M in 52 minutes to build sustainable banking infrastructure. The company will use the funds to build proprietary banking infrastructure and launch new products, including instant transfers, virtual cards, and automated savings features.
M&A
🇮🇱 GMT is acquired by Western Union for NIS 200 million. The acquisition strengthens Western Union’s presence in Israel and adds GMT’s money transfer, payment services, and nationwide distribution network to its global cross-border payments business.
🇬🇧 Access PaySuite acquires Ordo's Open Banking infrastructure, turning payments into a driver of real outcomes. The acquisition gives Access PaySuite full ownership of its core payment infrastructure and, with it, the ability to combine payment initiation with real-time account data in ways that go beyond transaction processing.
🇺🇸 MANTRA to be acquired by Inveniam, deepening a strategic partnership focused on real-world asset tokenization and AI-enabled financial infrastructure. The deal follows Inveniam’s previous $20 million investment in MANTRA and is expected to close later this year, with both companies continuing to develop the NVNM blockchain for regulated AI and digital asset applications.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇪🇺 Kraken has promoted Stavros Vassiliades to COO and Executive Director of its European Union business. The appointment reinforces Kraken’s strategy of building its regulated European operations with experienced executives from the CFD and FX industries as it expands its crypto derivatives and regulated services across the EU.
🇺🇸 Oportun appoints Sean Rowles as Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Rowles brings more than 30 years of experience in global financial services, with a career spanning consumer credit, fraud and seller risk, compliance, and collections infrastructure across both FinTech and traditional banking.
🇺🇸 Royal Bank of Canada has hired Brian Mulcahy to lead digital asset strategy within its global markets division. The newly created role reflects RBC’s growing focus on digital assets and blockchain-based finance as traditional financial institutions continue expanding their presence in the sector.
Want your message in front of 275.000+ FinTech fanatics, founders, investors, and operators?
Comments ()