Spain to Prediction Markets: You’re Just a Casino 🎰
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
If you’ve been tracking the explosion of FinTech over the last couple of years, you already know that prediction markets have graduated from a niche internet corner into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
But as they try to position themselves as sophisticated forecasting tools, global regulators are asking a much blunter question: Is this actually just unlicensed gambling?
Spain gave us its definitive answer this week by throwing down a temporary ban on both Polymarket and Kalshi. The government’s gambling watchdog opened a probe because these platforms lack a mandatory gambling license, arguing that they bypass crucial consumer safeguards like robust identity verification, protecting minors, and preventing access for vulnerable gamblers.
To Spanish authorities, the logic is simple: if you are placing money-staked bets on an uncertain future outcome, you are running an illegal casino.
We are witnessing a major philosophical divide where the U.S. treats these platforms like regulated financial derivatives, while the rest of the world treats them like unregulated betting shops.
Let’s make it a productive Wednesday! Here’s your FinTech rundown 👇
Cheers,
#FINTECHREPORT
📊 Starling Bank: Five Years Profitable, and Now Focused on Scale. Starling Bank reported its fifth consecutive year of profitability in 2026, with customer growth reaching 6.2 million and net profit rising despite a decline in revenue. The bank also highlighted strong momentum in its software division, Engine by Starling, and is targeting £100 million in annual recurring revenue within the next year. Read the full breakdown
INSIGHTS
📰 The Growth Illusion: Why Europe's finance leaders are optimising for the wrong thing. Alex Grach, General Manager EMEA at AppsFlyer, said Europe’s financial sector is entering a new competitive phase where embedded finance platforms may have a structural advantage over both traditional banks and neobanks. Read the full article here
FINTECH NEWS
🌎 Easyjet founder bets on World Cup in prediction markets pivot. The platform aims to offer market-driven betting odds, similar to those of services such as Polymarket, reflecting the growing popularity of prediction markets tied to sports and real-world events.
🇦🇺 Kiwi FinTech Indus launches in Australia to unlock access to the A$6 trillion Indian stock market. Indus enables people without an Indian bank account to invest in Indian mutual funds and stocks through a regulated, end-to-end digital investment platform.
🇲🇽 Mercado Pago requests a license to operate investment funds in Mexico. With this, Mercado Libre seeks to build a broader financial ecosystem around Mercado Pago, its FinTech arm, which currently operates electronic payment, credit, and insurance services.
🇪🇸 Spain blocks prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi over lack of gambling licences. In a statement, the ministry said its gambling watchdog had opened a probe into the U.S.-based companies for allegedly breaching local rules by failing to obtain mandatory administrative authorisation.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇧🇷 Novo Desenrola attempts to block the use of Pix credit for online betting payments, aiming to curb gambling-related debt as household indebtedness reaches record levels. While several major banks have already restricted Pix credit for gambling-related transfers, some institutions were still allowing the payment method during testing.
🇸🇬 Alipay delivers full-stack AI payments infrastructure. Alipay AI Pay allows consumers to make secure and seamless transactions through AI agents via voice commands, while Alipay’s AI payment processing product enables businesses and developers to monetize their services on a pay-per-use basis through simple integration.
🌎 Ant International’s Alipay+ enables mobile payments for global travellers in Latin America. The collaboration enables users of dozens of international wallets and banking apps to pay local merchants seamlessly in local currency through QR-based mobile payments.
🇮🇳 Pine Labs Q4 Results: Payments solutions provider Pine Labs turned profitable in the March-ended quarter, posting a consolidated net profit of Rs 59 crore versus a net loss of Rs 29 crore in the year-ago period. Read more
🇮🇳 MobiKwik gets RBI’s in-principle nod for offline payment aggregator licence. In a statement, the company said that the PA-P licence strengthens its ability to build a compliant, secure, and scalable payment acceptance infrastructure for offline commerce in partnership with banks.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Monzo hiring slows as FinTech refocuses on tools for business. A new report from Morgan McKinley shows FinTech hiring shifting from consumer neobanks toward SME payments and infrastructure firms. While Monzo and Starling Bank are expected to slow hiring in 2026, companies like SumUp and Ebury are projected to expand recruitment.
🇬🇧 Monzo spends heavily on ‘refer a friend’ rewards to boost market share. The bank spent nearly £30 million on referral rewards and increased marketing spend to £143 million, helping deposits rise 55% year over year. Additionally, the bank has received 3,000 applications on its waiting list in Spain in the first few days. The UK neobank plans to offer Spanish IBANs, payroll deposits, direct debits, and Bizum integration as it expands into one of Europe’s most competitive digital banking markets.
🇲🇦 Attijariwafa Bank launches ‘Simple,’ Morocco’s First Full-Scale Neobank. The fully mobile platform replaces L’bankalik and targets a broader customer base with subscription-based banking tiers ranging from basic digital accounts to premium concierge-style services.
🇬🇧 Plum launches new easy access savings account. The new account is designed for customers who don’t want their money to sit idle in non-interest-bearing accounts, while ensuring it stays accessible, whether for an emergency fund or spare cash between goals.
🇮🇳 Digital bank Slice swings to profit in Q4. Digital bank Slice reported a net profit of ₹20 crore in the fourth quarter of FY26, marking a turnaround from a net loss of ₹89 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at ₹399 crore, reflecting continued growth in the company's lending and banking operations.
🇭🇺 Revolut is launching Hungarian IBANs to all customers, allowing eligible customers in Hungary to receive local HU IBANs. The move is designed to support salary payments, direct debits, and utility bill payments while reducing friction often associated with foreign IBANs.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇰🇾 Polygon surpasses $2.5 trillion in stablecoin transfer volume. Polygon says its network has officially surpassed $2.5 trillion in cumulative stablecoin transfer volume, marking a major milestone for blockchain-based payments and highlighting the accelerating growth of digital financial infrastructure.
🇺🇸 Coinbase pushes further into AI payments with new MCP for Base network. The new tool, called Base MCP, makes it easier to use AI for conducting crypto transactions such as trading and lending, and comes as part of a broader push by Coinbase and payments giant Stripe to redefine the technical underpinning of online commerce.
PARTNERSHIPS
🌍 Marqeta expands account and money movement offering in Europe, building on strong regional momentum. The company’s expanded offering enables businesses across Europe to enrich their card programs with embedded virtual accounts and multi-rail payment capabilities, creating more personalized experiences that drive deeper customer engagement.
🇹🇿 Vodacom M-Pesa and PayPal partner to expand global digital payments in Tanzania. The integration allows eligible M-Pesa customers to securely deposit funds into their PayPal wallets and withdraw money from PayPal directly into their M-Pesa accounts, expanding access to international digital commerce and cross-border payments.
🇺🇸 BitGo and Silence Laboratories complete first post-quantum MPC transaction simulation by a regulated custodian. The demonstration highlights a new approach to quantum-safe wallet infrastructure designed to help banks, custodians, exchanges, and other institutional digital asset platforms prepare for a post-quantum security transition.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇫🇷 Otomato raises $2M from Improbable to build a real-time intelligence layer for DeFi users. The French-founded startup helps DeFi users track risks and important changes across multiple crypto platforms through real-time personalized alerts. The funding will be deployed into product development, expanded multi-chain and multi-vertical coverage, and go-to-market.
🇬🇧 Luffa secures strategic investment from GoFintech Quantum at US$220 million valuation, pioneering the AI + FinTech frontier. The two parties will engage in deep strategic collaboration across artificial intelligence, quantum security, blockchain, and compliance FinTech to jointly explore the new AI + Quantum Blockchain FinTech track.
🇺🇸 Flexprice raises $1.5 Mn seed round led by Shastra VC. The fresh capital will be used to expand in the US and Europe and build products beyond billing, including metering, revenue recognition, and financial reporting tools. Read more
🇲🇽 RedGirasol, a crowdfunding FinTech company, seals an alliance with Credit Saison Mexico and receives an initial investment of US$5.8M to boost financing in Mexico. Both institutions have expressed their intention for this synergy to be long-term, with the possibility of accelerating and increasing the investment amount in the coming months, according to market demand.
M&A
🇨🇦 WonderFi announces CIRO approval for acquisition by Robinhood. WonderFi and Robinhood expect the Arrangement to close on or about June 1, 2026, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Continue reading
🇧🇷 Laqus has acquired 100% of goLiza as part of its strategy to build an integrated capital markets infrastructure platform in Brazil. The deal expands Laqus’ capabilities into onboarding, registration, and formalization processes, strengthening its position as a challenger to B3 in Brazil’s financial infrastructure market.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Robinhood Crypto COO Tanya Denisova is leaving the company amid a revenue slowdown. The departure comes as the company faces weaker crypto trading activity, with crypto-related revenue declining sharply year over year in its latest quarterly results.
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