Five Crypto Firms Win Trust Bank Approvals, Including Ripple, Circle, and BitGo
Hey FinTech Fanatics!
Ripple, along with Circle and BitGo, just received conditional approval from the OCC to become federally chartered trust banks in the US.
Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos were also included in the approvals. If finalized, the firms would join roughly 60 institutions with national trust charters, bringing stablecoin issuance and crypto custody deeper under federal oversight.
What I’m watching closely is the shift at the OCC itself. The regulator has moved from a crypto-resistant stance to an openly supportive one, signaling a broader change in how digital asset infrastructure is treated in the US.
For issuers like Circle, this strengthens oversight of reserves backing $78B+ in USDC. For others, it opens the door to federally regulated custody and fiduciary services, though without full deposit or lending powers.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the move “huge news.” And it’s easy to see why. Stablecoins tied to RLUSD, USDC, and PYUSD now sit one step closer to the traditional banking perimeter.
Compliance, custody, and trust are moving center stage as regulation finally catches up with scale...
If you're keeping an eye on where FinTech is heading, dive into today’s updates 👇
Cheers,
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
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FINTECH NEWS
🇮🇹 Tether’s bid to buy Italian soccer Club Juventus was rejected. Exor has unanimously rejected Tether’s all-cash offer to buy its 65.4% stake in Juventus, stating it has no intention of selling any shares despite Tether’s proposal to invest an additional $1 billion in the club.
🇺🇸 Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Paxos have obtained conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert into national trust banks. The move sets up firms to follow in the footsteps of Anchorage Digital, the first to get a federal bank trust charter in the U.S.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 Ecommpay presents Festive Payment Mixers, a playful, limited-edition eBook that reimagines 12 classic holiday cocktails through the world of payments. Each drink pairs festive flavours with core payments concepts, offering a light-hearted way to reflect on the systems behind secure transactions and smooth customer experiences.
➡️ Payments modernisation: How PSPs and acquirers are accelerating global merchant growth. The Finextra webinar, in association with ACI Worldwide, explores how payment service providers, acquirers, and FinTechs can drive global merchant growth through payments modernisation, focusing on integrated, flexible, and scalable payment strategies. Join this webinar
🇮🇳 Paytm infuses Rs 2,250 crore into payments arm amid investor churn. The capital infusion strengthens PPSL at a time when Paytm has seen notable reshuffling among its institutional shareholders. Continue reading
🇨🇳 Alipay and Rokid open smart glasses ‘look-and-pay’ to developers, allowing them to integrate hands-free transactions into apps via the Model Context Protocol for the Rokid Spatial Joy 25 competition, accelerating immersive payments by enabling interaction with Alipay QR codes and tap-to-pay terminals on AR glasses, building on Ant International's push for AI payments, including iris authentication.
🇦🇪 Visa expands global travel program with Dubai launch, offering curated experiences for cardholders. The program is designed to give Visa cardholders access to exclusive benefits, premium offers, and unique opportunities, showcasing the very best of Dubai’s hospitality, culture, and lifestyle.
🇺🇸 Visa unveils new global stablecoins advisory practice. The new value-added service offering by Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) provides actionable insights and recommendations to guide banks, fintechs, merchants, and businesses of all sizes on market fit, strategy, and implementation.
🇺🇸 MassPay integrates Visa Direct for global B2B instant payout solutions, to enable faster payouts to cards, bank accounts, and digital wallets through MassPay's proprietary orchestration platform. Read more
🇺🇸 Klarna launches Agentic Product Protocol. The protocol enables AI systems to find, compare, and recommend real products with current pricing and availability, while allowing merchants to connect once via a hosted API and reach multiple AI platforms without reformatting feeds.
🇩🇰 Customers in Denmark can now access ViaBill’s Pay Later installment plans with Apple Pay. With Viabill Pay Later, eligible customers can split purchases into predictable monthly installments with clear pricing and a full overview of the payment schedule before they confirm their purchase.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇮🇩 KakaoBank is deepening its partnership with Indonesia’s Superbank to drive global expansion, building on its 10% stake acquired in 2023 by supporting the bank’s launch, product development, and UX design, including the recent rollout of the Kartu Untung financial product. Additionally, Kakao’s headquarters in Pangyo was temporarily evacuated after a bomb threat was reported through the company’s customer service center, but police found no explosives following a search involving around 70 officers.
🇦🇪 UAE digital lender Zand plans expansion into the Gulf and Africa within three years. The digital lender has already been approached by several African banks and financial institutions in the Gulf region for joint ventures and partnerships. Keep reading
🇩🇪 German regulator orders oversight, limits on online bank N26. Germany’s regulator BaFin has tightened oversight of N26 by appointing a special monitor, restricting new mortgage business in the Netherlands, and requiring more capital, after a 2024 audit found serious compliance and risk management failures.
🇧🇷 Government and banks tighten the net on digital scams. A national alliance combines actions from the Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank to create barriers against fake accounts. The offensive includes 23 coordinated actions, in addition to measures to hinder the activities of criminal gangs.
🇺🇸 PNC Financial secures regulatory Nod for $4.1b FirstBank acquisition. Under the terms of the deal, FirstBank shareholders may elect to receive the merger consideration in either 13.9 million shares of PNC common stock and $1.2 billion in cash, subject to certain limitations.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 Coinbase selects Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive bridge infrastructure to supercharge Coinbase wrapped asset growth, enabling secure cross-chain transfers and expansion across blockchain ecosystems. The wrapped assets, including cbBTC, cbETH, and others, with a combined market value of about $7 billion.
🇺🇸 JPMorgan is jumping deeper into crypto with a new tokenized money market fund. The bank announced that its asset management arm will launch a tokenized money-market fund that will run on the Ethereum blockchain. My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY) will be supported by Kinexys Digital Assets.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇬🇧 Standard Chartered and Coinbase deepen partnership to expand institutional digital asset collaboration. The collaboration aims to develop a comprehensive digital asset solution offering for institutional clients globally, providing a seamless and secure experience for trading and managing digital assets.
🌎 Volt taps BVNK to add stablecoin acceptance to its checkout. The offering targets digital-native businesses with high transaction volumes, reflecting the growing demand from crypto-native consumers to spend directly from self-custody wallets.
🌎 Signicat and Markaaz partner to strengthen global SMB verification and onboarding. By integrating Markaaz’s advanced business entity data into Signicat’s compliance orchestration layer, the partnership accelerates decision-making and streamlines compliance operations for enterprises and financial institutions.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 The Stripe Mafia has raised more than $110 billion in total funding 🤯
And the alumni list behind that number is even crazier:
🇺🇸 FinTech Platform Esusu raises $50 million Series C at a $1.2b valuation. The funding will support Esusu’s goals to improve its rent reporting application programming interface and to develop a product that will permit renters to split their monthly rent into two payments based on their income.
🇺🇦 Ukrainian Diligent Capital Partners invests $12M in Tonik, the neobank of the former head of Platinum Bank. The $12 million raised is planned to be used for further business development and scaling up the bank's credit-oriented model. Read more
🇺🇸 Octane raises $100m in Series F funding round. The raise includes new equity capital to be used for growth initiatives, as well as amounts to be used for secondary share transfers. The capital builds on Octane's strong originations growth and enables the Company to further accelerate market penetration and deepen its product offering.
🇲🇽 Plata raises to $500 million as it readies Mexico bank. The licensed digital financial platform, which received authorization for a banking license in December 2024, is now in the final stages before starting operations. Continue reading
🇲🇽 Jeeves secures US$100 million to expand financial automation. This capital infusion aims to expand the company’s credit capacity and solidify its corporate financial automation platform within the Mexican market. The transaction increases Jeeves’ total credit facility with CIM from US$75m to US$175m, doubling the available financial support.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇩🇪 N26 welcomes Jochen Kloepper as the new Chief Risk Officer. In his new role, Kloepper will be responsible for risk, compliance, and governance. His appointment is a strategic move to further strengthen the bank's foundation, focusing on maintaining a safe and reliable banking experience for millions of customers in Europe.
🇬🇧 Currensea strengthens open banking expertise with ex-Ecospend hires. Currensea announces the appointments of James Hickman as Commercial Director and George Head as Head of Business Development. They bring deep commercial expertise and a strong track record of developing and scaling successful applications built around Open Banking.
🇺🇸 MassPay names co-founder Ran Grushkowsky as new CEO. Grushkowsky brings 20 years of experience to the role and has helped build and scale a number of businesses, having sold his first company at age 16. Read more
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