Paxos Labs Raises $12 Million
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Paxos Labs, the DeFi-focused spinoff from stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos, announced a $12 million funding round this Tuesday.
Modest in size, yet the round is notable for several reasons.
Bhaumik Kotecha, who started his career at Jack Dorsey’s FinTech, Block, is the co-founder of Paxos Labs.
While he and Charles Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos, believed the software cornered an untapped market, the initiative didn’t fit into Paxos’s short-term, institution-focused road map. Therefore, the two decided to spin off the project and raise outside capital.
A playbook that mirrors what we've seen across FinTech when regulated incumbents want to move fast in adjacent, riskier terrain without putting the core business at risk. Think of it as the "innovation subsidiary" model, now arriving in crypto infrastructure.
Paxos built its reputation as a white-label stablecoin issuer powering major players like PayPal and Nubank.
Paxos Labs is betting that the next phase is about making assets on-chain productive once they get there.
In a world where stablecoin legislation is gaining ground in Washington, and every major bank is quietly exploring tokenized deposits, the race to own the "what comes next" layer of crypto finance is just getting started.
The rest of today’s FinTech news is just a scroll away. Let’s dive in! 👇
Cheers,
POST OF THE DAY
📊 Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure Comparison 👇
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INSIGHTS
📈 dLocal’s latest earnings: $41B in volume. $1B+ revenue. 63% profit growth.
This is what FinTech scale looks like today:
FINTECH NEWS
🇮🇹 For all FinTech Fanatics in Milan: you’re up next. FRC lands in Porta Romana with Filippo Burello for a 5KM and FinTech networking on April 19th. 🏃♂️ Start your Sunday with movement, conversations, and good energy. 👉 Save your spot now!
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 Mastercard’s Touch Card™ design plays a key role in new UK accessibility standards, making card payments more inclusive. Mastercard’s Touch Card™ design helps shape the standard, providing the tactile notches that distinguish debit, credit, and prepaid cards.
🇵🇰 Pakistan engages Mastercard, Google on digital payments, AI, and FinTech development. The talks focused on strengthening FinTech infrastructure, enhancing cybersecurity, and expanding AI adoption across key sectors. Read more
🇲🇾 Airwallex expands Malaysian footprint with full suite of cross-border financial services. The expansion allows local businesses to access the platform’s complete range of capabilities, including payment collection, multi-currency wallets, competitive foreign exchange (FX) rates, and cross-border payouts.
🇬🇧 Hokodo shuts down after raising $177 million. European B2B buy now, pay later provider and trade credit MGA Hokodo is shutting down after eight years in operation, with founders citing strategic missteps and a changing market despite helping establish the category across the region.
🇧🇷 PayPal adds Pix to power growth for millions of small businesses in Brazil. With Pix now available through PayPal Complete Payments (PPCP), small businesses can offer Brazil’s most widely used payment method directly at checkout, reducing friction and meeting consumers where they already transact every day.
🌎 PagBrasil launches RoamingPay for international payments with Pix and QR Code. Users can pay in another country using the same app they already use daily, while the merchant receives the payment instantly in the local currency, without needing to adapt to foreign systems.
🇬🇧 PayDo launches customer-to-business settlement accounts, enabling faster pay-by-bank settlement for merchants. The new feature is designed to help merchants improve settlement speed, simplify payment operations, and gain greater visibility over incoming funds through a unified account structure.
🇺🇸 American Express debuts Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE)™ Developer Kit and announces industry-first protection for registered agent purchases. Designed for flexibility and interoperability with existing and emerging protocols, the ACE Developer Kit will enable intent-driven transactions with end-to-end visibility across the commerce lifecycle through Amex’s closed-loop network.
🇵🇰 Alibaba officially enters Pakistan: SECP grants license to launch buy now, pay later services. According to officials, Cocotech Pakistan is part of Alibaba’s international ecosystem and will now function under Pakistan’s NBFC framework, expanding the scope of digital financial services in the country.
🇸🇪 Lovable launches Lovable Payments to simplify monetization by letting developers set up and manage payments directly within their workflow, enabling them to describe what they want to sell, test it securely, and go live in one conversation, with built-in support for taxes, currency conversion, and global transactions across 200+ countries.
🇬🇭 Ghana is still in the planning phase of enabling payments via the national ID. While discussions continue around linking the card to banking and payment systems, the initiative remains part of a broader strategy to boost financial inclusion once fully implemented.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇮🇪 Monzo launches in Ireland after 100,000 customers sign up on waitlist. The company is starting with offers of free current and savings accounts for individuals and a selection of free business accounts. Its personal savings accounts allow individuals to save as little as €1 and access their money anytime, and get up to 1.6% annual interest.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🌎 Tether launches tether.wallet, the people’s wallet, extending its global financial infrastructure directly to billions of users left behind by the traditional financial system. tether.wallet is a self-custodial digital wallet that brings Tether’s global financial infrastructure directly into the hands of its users.
🇯🇵 Rakuten Wallet has officially integrated XRP as a payment method, enabling millions of users to bridge loyalty points with blockchain-based transactions. Rakuten Wallet now permits users to purchase XRP directly using Rakuten Points. Subsequently, holders can spend this digital asset at a growing network of affiliated merchants across Japan.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇮🇹 AC Milan and Corpay extend their cross-border partnership. The collaboration focuses on supporting the club’s global operations with cross-border payment and FX solutions. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Visa, Stripe, and Zodia Custody by Standard Chartered become validators on Tempo's payments blockchain. Validators run the infrastructure that verifies, orders, and finalizes transactions on-chain, a role that lends itself to established, well-capitalized institutions capable of operating global, always-on systems.
🇵🇱 Worldline and YouLend bring cash advance to Poland. This solution allows entrepreneurs to obtain additional financing in a quick and easy manner, which can be used for unexpected expenses or business development. Keep reading
🇺🇸 Barclays and FIS extend partnership supporting the bank's online deposits growth. As part of the agreement, Barclays will deploy the FIS Profile service, a cloud-ready, high-performance core banking platform that manages money at rest, deposits, accounts, and balances, while delivering real-time, multi-currency processing that reduces risk, costs, and time to market.
🇵🇭 UAE-Philippines cross-border payments to improve under new MoU. The agreement outlines further cooperation in key FinTech areas, specifically open finance, digital assets, and the Islamic banking sector. It is expected to make financial services more efficient for Filipinos residing in the UAE while supporting a more inclusive financial ecosystem.
🇺🇸 OneAZ Credit Union extends strategic digital banking partnership with Lumin Digital, reinforcing a long-term collaboration focused on delivering scalable, cloud-native digital banking experiences. The renewal supports OneAZ’s continued investment in innovation and member-centric digital services.
🇺🇸 Priority Partners with Texas Rangers on payables and sponsorship. Through the partnership, Priority will support the Rangers’ accounts payable operations, helping streamline vendor payments, improve visibility into cash flow, and reduce manual processes.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
💰 Over the last week, there were six FinTech deals in Europe, totaling €74.1m in disclosed funding, including two transactions in the UK, one in Spain, one in Poland, and one in Czechia.
🇬🇧 Finseta raises £1m to boost B2B payments capacity and European expansion. The funds will be used to increase transaction capacity for larger business-to-business payments and to support European regulatory permissions, underpinning its shift toward recurring corporate revenue, growth in alternative banking services, and stronger performance in Dubai.
🇬🇧 London-based Ralio raises €2.1 million to make it safe and easy for AI agents to make payments. This funding will allow Ralio to accelerate its product development and ensure that, as AI begins to transact, it does so within a framework of total accountability.
🇺🇸 Paxos Labs raises $12 million after startup spins off from veteran stablecoin issuer. Paxos Labs lets developers use a single software suite to not only create their own branded stablecoins but also allow their customers to earn interest on their holdings and borrow money using those tokens as collateral.
🇺🇸 Deutsche Börse has invested $200 million in Payward, the infrastructure behind Kraken, acquiring a 1.5% stake and implying a $13.3 billion valuation. The move strengthens their partnership to bridge traditional finance with digital assets and build a unified market infrastructure.
🇬🇧 Wamo raises €10m in Series A funding. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts. The solution is used by over 15,000 customers across Europe, along with cards, invoicing, expense management, and other embedded financial tools within a unified platform designed for SMEs.
🇳🇿 FinTech Caruso’s valuation soars in new funding round. Caruso will use its new funding for product development and to expand its AI agent capabilities. It will also grow its headcount to 80 and move its headquarters to Sydney from Auckland.
M&A
🇪🇸 Euronet expands omnichannel payment solutions with strategic acquisition of PaynoPain. The acquisition strengthens Euronet’s direct merchant acquiring footprint in Spain and Portugal and supports the global expansion of omnichannel online payments and alternative payment methods.
🇺🇸 Cable has been acquired by Synctera, bringing its automated financial crime compliance testing platform into the Banking-as-a-Service ecosystem. The deal aims to help more banks streamline compliance processes and scale safely through automation.
🇿🇦 Payfast Founder Jonathan Smit acquires iVeri, aiming to combine its long-standing payment infrastructure with innovation to power the next generation of African commerce. Continue reading
🇺🇸 OpenAI acquires Hiro Finance to expand ChatGPT finance. This acquisition adds a small team of experts in financial modeling, accelerating OpenAI's ability to ship ChatGPT features that must balance natural language fluency with deterministic math and regulatory constraints.
🇦🇪 PayTabs Group acquires TAPn’GO to create unmatched check-out experiences across the region. Under the terms of the transaction, TAPn’GO will become part of PayTabs Super App, enabling faster, real-time, contactless checkouts for businesses across the MENA region.
🇳🇿 Cuscal enters an agreement to acquire Paymark. The Acquisition expands Cuscal’s market position in New Zealand, providing immediate national‑scale relevance in an on-strategy economy and supporting Cuscal’s ability to serve clients operating across Australia and New Zealand.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Tether hires Jeremy Pollack, a JPMorgan executive, for U.S. stablecoin expansion. The company aims to strengthen its collaboration network with banks, payment systems, and large institutional clients. Read more
🇬🇧 Konstantinos Adamos moves from Revolut to Winston & Strawn. His main focus is translating technical requirements into actionable business-oriented advice that enables his clients to easily navigate the regulatory landscape and achieve their business objectives.
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