Ex-Amex and Visa Execs Raise $4M to Bring Stablecoins to Mainstream Brands

Ex-Amex and Visa Execs Raise $4M to Bring Stablecoins to Mainstream Brands
Ex-Amex and Visa Execs Raise $4M to Bring Stablecoins to Mainstream Brands

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

Two former American Express and Visa executives just raised $4M to take stablecoins beyond crypto natives.

Their startup, Rhythmic, wants to embed stablecoin-powered financial products directly into consumer brands.

The model is well-structured and intuitive...

Partner with mid-to-large brands. Offer stored-value accounts, co-branded Visa cards, rewards, and cash back. Stablecoins handle the infrastructure quietly in the background.

“We are giving everyday users the power of stablecoins through brands that they already know and trust,” said CPTO Joseph Hayes.

Instead of asking users to download another crypto wallet, Rhythmic wants stablecoins to live inside ecosystems people already use. Think Starbucks loyalty. Think Walmart’s OnePay. But cheaper to implement.

The $4M seed round was led by Dragonfly, with Mirana Ventures and The FinTech Fund also backing the bet.

The thesis? Stablecoins don’t go mainstream through exchanges. They go mainstream through brands.

Scroll down and check out the stories that are shaking up the industry today👇 I’ll be back tomorrow with more signals.

Cheers,

Marcel


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FINTECH NEWS

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🌍 Noah’s just-in-time treasury: replacing pre-funding with stablecoins. Around $150 billion in liquidity is locked due to pre-funding, slow settlement, and high fees. Noah’s stablecoin rails enable just-in-time treasury, moving USD, EUR, and GBP into local currencies like NGN and KES in minutes, unlocking working capital and accelerating cross-border flows.

🇺🇸 FinTech Clear Street withdraws US IPO filing amid market volatility. Clear Street slashed its targeted raise and price range, as Wall Street brokerages were swept up in a broad selloff on fears AI could upend their business models. Read more

🇬🇧 Chrysalis looks to drop managers as UK FinTech fund sells assets. The board plans to divest Chrysalis’ holdings and return cash to shareholders over the next few years, it said. As part of the move, the board is looking to end the current advisory arrangement with its investment manager, which receives £4.5 million ($6.1 million) per year.


PAYMENTS NEWS

🇧🇷 Brazil banks want 'free ride' access to iPhone NFC payments. The Administrative Council for Economic Defense in Brazil has been pursuing Apple on antitrust claims surrounding the App Store. The result was alternative app stores and external payment methods coming to Brazil, but now Apple's NFC rules are under fire.

🇫🇷 Worldline unveils One Commerce, powering the Next Generation of Omnichannel retail. By unifying in-store and online payments within a single continuous experience, merchants will gain full control to design ecosystems tailored to their customers’ evolving expectations.

🇺🇸 Tether’s USDT set for biggest monthly retreat since FTX collapse. The total amount of Tether’s USDT in circulation has fallen by about $1.5 billion so far in February, according to Artemis Analytics. The drop follows a smaller contraction in January and puts the stablecoin on track for its biggest monthly decline since December 2022.


REGTECH NEWS

🇬🇧 Sumsub debuts AI Copilot to transform compliance workflows and fraud investigations. Summy AI Copilot (Summy) transforms complex, real-time case data into clear, actionable insights within existing workflows, enabling investigators and compliance officers to make faster, smarter decisions without leaving the platform.

🇪🇸 Sumsub launches SEPBLAC-aligned Video KYC to support regulated onboarding in Spain. The solution supports real-time recording of the entire verification process, ensuring auditable evidence, human oversight, and regulatory alignment for Spanish and EU-regulated entities.


DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🇺🇸 Anchorage Digital launches stablecoin solutions for banks to modernize cross-border USD settlement. Stablecoin Solutions for Banks is a purpose-built offering under U.S. federal oversight for licensed international banks to access secure, efficient U.S. dollar cross-border transfers and settlement using stablecoin rails.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank expands Ripple partnership to modernize cross-border payments. The Frankfurt-based lender plans to embed Ripple-powered solutions across payments, foreign exchange operations, and digital asset custody, signaling a structural shift in how international transactions are processed.

🇺🇸 State Bank of Texas launches new digital banking platform powered by Alkami. Customers now have access to features like mobile check deposit, real-time alerts, card controls, and straightforward tools for business banking, making it easier to bank securely and stay in control.

🇸🇪 Sweden's FSA to probe Swedbank compliance with money-laundering regulations. The investigation will cover the period from December 2023 to November 2025 and will include the bank's due diligence measures, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) said in a statement.

🇬🇷 AADE gains access to Revolut, Viva, and foreign banks via BANCAPP. Greece’s Independent Public Revenue Authority (IPA) has expanded its BANCAPP system to require not only Greek banks but also foreign bank branches, payment institutions, and electronic money institutions operating in Greece to submit taxpayer banking data.


BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🇦🇪 Binance Junior adds new family features: payments, red packet gifts, and the ABCs of crypto. It now offers payments to supported merchants, with parent-enabled controls and restricted categories. Also, parents can send crypto to their children through Red Packets or P2P transfers, with the option to allow transfers from non-parental adults.


PARTNERSHIPS

🇳🇿 Mastercard completes New Zealand’s first authenticated agentic transactions with Westpac. By enabling fully recognized and authenticated agentic transactions, Mastercard’s trusted agentic framework process brings AI agents into the payment flow as visible, governed participants, ensuring that every transaction is secure, transparent, and trusted.

🇩🇪 Verifone and Unzer deepen partnership to simplify in-store payments. The partnership aims to make in-store payments faster, easier, and more seamless. Together, the companies offer merchants a full payment ecosystem that goes beyond the terminal.

🇮🇳 PhonePe leverages Microsoft AI to launch voice and text payment features for users. Powered by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the tools aim to enhance accessibility and reduce navigation friction in digital payments. Keep reading

🇮🇳 Razorpay and NPCI bring agentic payments to Claude at the India AI Impact Summit. Backed by UPI Reserve Pay, users can approve a single spending limit for a merchant and then make multiple secure purchases without repeated PIN prompts. 

🌏 BitGo named Issuer of FYUSD, bringing U.S.-aligned stablecoin standards to Asia. FYUSD is structured in alignment with the GENIUS Act framework and is intended to provide institutional users with a dollar-backed stablecoin that emphasizes transparency, reserve protection, and operational compliance.


DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇲🇽 FinTech EFEX raises US$8M in a seed round to consolidate its global treasury platform in Mexico and the US. This new investment will accelerate the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across its operational infrastructure and further simplify treasury workflows for companies transacting in both countries.

🇺🇸 American Express and Visa alumni raise $4 million for Rhythmic, which partners with brands to provide financial products for their customers. The new capital will also allow the company to invest more in compliance. Continue reading

🇺🇸 FinTech firm Newity raises $11 million. The funds aim to support its plan to bring small business loans on-chain. Founded in 2020, the FinTech provides a fully digital process for SBA-backed loans and has facilitated over $12 billion in funding to more than 125,000 businesses.

🇧🇷 99Pay raises R$700 million to expand digital credit. The company stated in a press release that the fundraising strengthens its position in the digital financial services ecosystem and allows it to offer more accessible credit solutions aligned with users' needs.

🇮🇳 FinTech SaaS Startup Roopya raises ₹4 Crore in seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The capital infusion is set to accelerate the company's mission of revolutionizing how financial institutions process credit through its superior no-code, AI-powered lending stack.


M&A

🇺🇸 Polymarket buys fresh prediction market API startup Dome, marking the second official acquisition. Dome offers a unified API for prediction markets. In other words, it allows developers to build apps, bots, dashboards, or trading tools that work across platforms like Polymarket, Kalshi, and other platforms.

🇺🇸 Finovifi acquires Turner Software Technologies, Inc. and launches FrontLine Sentry, a real-time teller fraud prevention platform for community banks. The acquisition brings more than 50 community bank clients into the Finovifi ecosystem and advances the company’s strategy to embed real-time fraud detection directly into teller operations.


MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🇰🇾 WalletConnect recruits Checkout.com Veteran Riaz Bordie to take crypto payments mainstream. Bordie will drive the technical development of WalletConnect Pay, the company’s payment method that allows the acceptance of crypto and stablecoin payments on a widely adopted wallet network, and the integration of that product into existing payment service provider payment stacks.

🇺🇸 Robinhood welcomes Dr. Naomi Boyd as Chief Economic Advisor. Dr. Boyd will focus on advancing research and analysis to enhance understanding as the industry continues to evolve. She will maintain her position as the Dean of the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.

🇬🇧 Finseta appoints Andrew Richards as CFO. Andrew Richards has been serving as Interim CFO of the company since 6 February 2026 and brings 25 years of experience, primarily within the financial services and insurance industries. Read more


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