Crypto = Prison? Hungary Declares War on Crypto
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A few weeks ago, part of our team packed up the mics and headed to Miami to record three podcast episodes.
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#FINTECHREPORT
🇸🇪 Payments Report Sweden 2025.
FINTECH NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut is valued at up to $75B in a new round. U.K.-based neobank Revolut is in advanced talks to raise primary and secondary funding that could give it a blended valuation of about $65 billion. Keep reading
🇨🇭 Worldline Turmoil Hands Swiss bourse a $300 million headache. The exchange is facing a third writedown in as many years following the recent collapse in Worldline's share price as a result of fraud allegations. SIX is reviewing potential actions for the shareholding, including carrying out a test to determine if further impairment is required.
🇺🇸 Crypto asset manager Grayscale files confidentially for US IPO. The crypto asset manager announced that it had submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The number of shares to be registered, as well as the price range, have not yet been determined.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇨🇦 Checkout.com accelerates North America growth with Canadian launch and leadership refresh. To further drive this growth, it appointed Zack Levine as its Head of Revenue for North America. Direct acquiring in Canada offers customers more control over their transaction data, enhanced authorization rates, and greater payment performance.
🇬🇧 Ecommpay wins Special Judges Award at Financial Services Forum 2025 Awards for Innovation and Transformation. “Ecommpay is on a mission to deliver inclusive and innovative solutions to merchants and FinTechs, and this latest Award underlines our commitment to innovation,” said Max Ryzhov, Chief Product Officer at Ecommpay.
🇦🇺 New payment platform QwikPay launches in Australia. QwikPay is promising to eliminate the friction, fees, and outdated infrastructure that have long held back innovation in the way Australian consumers pay and businesses get paid. Read more
🇨🇴 LatAm FinTech Cobre to support real-time interbank B2B payments in Colombia. This functionality will allow companies to use payment keys to receive instant and interoperable transfers without altering their existing accounting flows or payment systems, eliminating operational friction and making it easier to adopt this new financial infrastructure.
🇬🇧 Bank of England Governor warns banks not to issue stablecoins. The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, would prefer that banks stick to tokenized deposits, in part because they are blockchain equivalents of conventional deposits. These support bank lending activities.
🇪🇺 MoonPay adds single-click crypto payments for Revolut users in the UK and EU. By allowing Revolut users to confirm crypto purchases with biometric ID or a passcode, it eliminates some of the common friction points faced by crypto buyers, particularly the card declines and identity verification delays.
🇺🇸 Zelle's payment network grows beyond its big bank owners. Zelle added more community banks to its ranks over the last six months than it did in the prior year, feeding the peer-to-peer payment network's need to reach a wide range of financial institutions.
🇧🇷 Bradesco launches Pix via voice command on WhatsApp. The feature, which allows transactions of up to R$300 per transaction, is already being tested with 1,000 selected customers. According to the bank, the next step is to integrate the tool with the institution's other digital channels.
REGTECH NEWS
🇮🇳 India’s FIU probes Binance crypto transactions amid suspicious activity. According to a recent report by Money Control, these wallets, not tied to exchanges, have raised alarms that some transactions could fund illegal or terror-related activities in India, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir.
🇹🇼 Taiwanese digital wallet JKOPay hit by asset seizure fallout. JKOPay, a major digital payment platform in Taiwan, is facing operational uncertainty after several businesses cut ties with the service. Read more
🇺🇸 Coinbase sues Oregon Gov. Kotek for public records over crypto policy shift amid charges brought against the firm. Coinbase said the state "changed course" when suing the exchange as part of a "securities enforcement action" in April after previously stating that the state did not regulate cryptocurrencies as securities.
🇯🇴 Valu receives regulatory nod to launch BNPL services in Jordan. Valu’s advanced BNPL platform offers flexible installment plans for everyday purchases. For merchants and businesses, the BNPL solutions provide an opportunity to expand sales, attract new customers, and build loyalty through seamless integration.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 British crypto FinTech firm Ziglu collapses and users face $2.7 million in losses. According to administrators, the firm used users’ funds to run its day-to-day operations before the FCA forced it to halt withdrawals. Administrators will now look to sell the company as users keenly anticipate the fate of their funds.
🇺🇸 Crypto companies race to get banking foothold in US. Cryptocurrency companies are racing to expand into traditional banking in the US, as they seek to capitalise on a friendlier regulatory environment under President Donald Trump and become more embedded in the financial system.
🇮🇳 After raising $137 mn, neobank Fi Money battles existential crisis. The startup now faces a weakening runway, product cutbacks, and an uncertain future. It is still operating under a loan distribution model where it disburses loans on behalf of RBI-registered lenders. And scaling this up has become a challenge.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇱🇹 Lithuania’s crypto Wild West is over; licensing is now mandatory for operation. Lithuania is shifting its focus, aiming to attract only the largest and most reputable global FinTech firms, including Robinhood, which is setting up its first European cryptocurrency hub in the country.
🇭🇺 Hungary's crypto crackdown: prison time for digital trading. The country has enacted some of the world's most restrictive cryptocurrency legislation, forcing major FinTech companies to suspend services and potentially criminalizing digital asset trading for hundreds of thousands of citizens.
💰Aave reaches $50B in net deposits amid FinTech and TradFi integration. Aave allows users to lend and borrow crypto assets such as stablecoins, Bitcoin, and Ether through smart contracts that automatically adjust interest rates based on supply and demand.
🇺🇸 Remittix announces XRP-Compatible On-Ramp Solution as part of cross-border payment expansion. Users can trade Ripple's native cryptocurrency directly to fiat currencies in its cross-chain wallet. This innovation puts Remittix on the same level as digital payment giants but with a quick, hassle-free doorway to real-world transactions.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇬🇧 SmartSearch and Plannr partner to deliver seamless AML compliance. This integration brings together SmartSearch’s robust AML verification and monitoring technology with Plannr’s intuitive and customisable platform, enabling financial planning firms to carry out compliance checks and client onboarding processes seamlessly within their day-to-day workflows.
🇨🇳 Coins.ph and HashKey Exchange launch PH-HK remittance corridor. The collaboration allows near-instant transfers between Philippine Pesos and Hong Kong Dollars, reducing friction for remittances and digital asset flows. Continue reading
🇬🇧 Lloyds and Aberdeen tie up with crypto bourse Archax for FX trading. The partnership allows FX trades between Aberdeen and Lloyds using blockchain technology, which enables tokenized real-world assets to be used as collateral.
🇬🇧 NatWest Boxed and Saga Money launch seven-year partnership to deliver savings products for the over-50s. It will enable Saga to expand its range of financial services, initially through an improved savings proposition, with other financial services products expected to be added in due course.
🌍 OKX integrates PayPal to enable users to fund and purchase crypto across Europe. Users can fund their OKX accounts using a variety of funding sources made available by PayPal, including PayPal balance, linked bank accounts, debit cards, and credit cards.
🇸🇬 Almond FinTech expands its transfer network in APAC through Ample Transfers partnership to optimize its internal treasury and settlement operations for transfers from Singapore to Indonesia. Keep reading
🇺🇸 Stryd partners with Experian to launch Open Banking-powered loan-matching solution. Brokers will be able to access an up-to-date and accurate view of a customer’s financial situation from Experian, through the recently acquired Bankstatements.com solution, as well as a secure repository of bank loan product information from Stryd.
🇦🇺 SuperAPI and Payroo partner with Monoova. Monoova and SuperAPI’s offering will ensure that the employee gets paid correctly the first time by pre-validating worker and member details, as well as fulfilling the PayDay Super requirements for every employer from July 1st, 2026.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
📈 European WealthTech funding rebounded by two-thirds in Q2, driven by deals over $100M.
European WealthTech investment stats in Q2 2025👇
🇺🇸 Zerohash raises $100 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. The raised capital is expected to enhance Zerohash's infrastructure capabilities, potentially increasing its market integration and expanding its support for digital assets like ETH and BTC.
🇮🇳 UNLEASH leads USD 1.6mn investment in GenAI-powered FinTech infra startup Neurofin. The company aims to transform India's banking and finance sector. It uses AI to automate tasks like documentation and compliance. This helps in faster loan disbursal.
🇺🇸 Early Revolut and Klarna backers have inked a $15M deal with Murphy to replace debt collection call centres with AI agents. This funding will help scale Murphy’s product, grow its technical and go-to-market teams, and accelerate international expansion, particularly into the US market.
M&A
🇬🇧 Lloyds Banking Group is in talks to buy digital wallet provider Curve. Britain's biggest high street bank is in talks to buy Curve, the digital wallet provider, amid growing regulatory pressure on Apple to open its payment services to rivals. Read more
🇳🇱 Signicat buys NFC-based digital ID outfit Inverid. The acquisition strengthens Signicat’s offering with Inverid’s flagship solution, ReadID, which has set the global standard for NFC-based identity document verification. This integration supports Signicat's commitment to remain at the forefront of innovation.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇮🇳 Jupiter Money appoints Akhilesh Jha as Senior Vice President to spearhead banking and partnerships. In this strategic leadership role, Akhilesh will further strengthen the company’s mission to deliver intuitive and customer-first banking solutions.
🇸🇬 Crypto.com hires Saxo marketing vet Nicolò Pagliari as VP of Growth and Media. Nicolò comes from online broker Saxo Bank, where he spent the past seven years, beginning as a Digital Marketing Strategist in Saxo’s Copenhagen headquarters, where he has served as Head of Marketing.
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