The FCA moves to clarify the rules for DeFi and crypto
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
The UK is getting closer to its new crypto regulatory framework, and the FCA wants the industry to help shape the rules before they take effect.
The regulator has launched two consultations: one on how existing requirements around operational resilience and financial crime apply to firms using DeFi, and another clarifying which crypto activities will fall inside or outside the upcoming regulatory perimeter.
What I find interesting is that the FCA isn’t proposing a separate rulebook for DeFi in this guidance. Instead, it’s explaining how existing obligations can apply even when financial services rely on smart contracts, distributed ledgers, and fewer traditional intermediaries.
Both consultations are open for feedback until November 18, 2026, with final guidance expected in January 2027. The broader UK crypto regime is scheduled to take effect on October 25, 2027.
For FinTechs and crypto businesses, this is an important opportunity to understand where regulation will apply and what they need to prepare for before the new framework arrives.
Anyway, plenty more happened in FinTech today.
Let’s dive in, and I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
💡 Incognia: Beyond AI Agent Detection - Verify the Human Behind the Agent. We’re getting closer to a world where AI agents can make purchases and carry out transactions for us. But knowing an action came from an AI agent doesn’t tell us whether the person behind it authorised that action. Incognia explores why businesses need to verify the human behind the agent, too, especially as agentic commerce grows and the stakes around fraud and trust get higher. Explore Incognia’s take on verifying the human behind the agent.
FINTECH NEWS
🇵🇷 TransPerfect brings the first college football bowl game to Puerto Rico. The TransPerfect San Juan Bowl will pit ACC and Sun Belt teams on December 16. TransPerfect owns and sponsors the game at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
🇨🇦 Wealthsimple targets C$1 trillion in assets under administration, aiming to become Canada's largest financial institution. The company now holds over C$155 billion in AUA and serves 4+ million Canadians.
HOW FINTECH PERFORMED LAST WEEK
📈 A snapshot of last week’s stock moves across public FinTechs:
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇭🇰 Hong Kong Government selects Unlimit as a Strategic Enterprise. Unlimit joins the OASES programme, which offers tailored government support to selected companies in strategic sectors. The company plans to expand across the Asia Pacific region from Hong Kong after obtaining its MSO licence in August 2026. Its proprietary payment network spans more than 180 countries.
🇦🇪 Mastercard unveils its Experience Center in Dubai as it marks 40 years in the UAE. Located at its Dubai Internet City headquarters, the center serves as a customer engagement hub for 81 EEMEA markets. It features three connected zones: Discovery, Experience and Engagement.
#FINTECHREPORT
💡 Maple generated $4.41M in Q3 revenue. Here’s where some of it went. Its buyback programme purchased 2.9M SYRUP tokens over the quarter, with the buyback rate rising from 10% to 20% in September as monthly revenue climbed to $1.57M. By quarter-end, the treasury held 76.5M SYRUP alongside $5M in stablecoins and liquid assets. The Q3 ecosystem update breaks down how the buyback programme works.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇮🇹 BBVA surpasses one million customers in Italy on its fifth anniversary. Since launching in October 2021, the fully digital bank has combined deposit remuneration and card cashback with loans, mortgages and investment products. BBVA now aims to become the primary bank for its Italian customers.
🇹🇿 NMB Bank goes live on Oracle Flexcube to support digital banking. The Flexcube 14.7 platform replaces a core system used for about 15 years. NMB now serves 10 million accounts and targets 20 million by 2030.
🇺🇸 Sezzle applies for a national bank charter from the OCC. Sezzle would offer checking and savings accounts to digitally native consumers if approved. Review by three federal agencies is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇬🇧 UK FCA launches consultations on DeFi guidance and crypto regulatory guidelines. The two parallel consultations seek industry input on DeFi and the boundaries of its crypto regime. The full crypto framework is scheduled to take effect on 25 October 2027.
🇨🇳 China launches DCEPS and e-CNY SMART Contract at Beijing forum. DCEPS combines digital yuan issuance, retail and wholesale payments, and blockchain services, while the e-CNY SMART Contract framework enables financial institutions to offer standardised smart contract services.
🇺🇸 J.P. Morgan Asset Management brings its tokenized money market funds to Solana. MONY and JLTXX are now available on Solana to qualified U.S. investors. Investors can subscribe and redeem through Morgan Money and receive token balances at their blockchain addresses.
🇰🇿 Payward secures initial approval for Kraken Kazakhstan expansion. The AFSA granted in principle approval to Payward Kazakhstan, moving the unit closer to an AIFC licence. Once licensed, it plans to run a digital asset trading facility and offer custody of digital assets.
🇰🇷 South Korea will require crypto firms to report overseas transfers from December. Rules taking effect on December 3, 2026 introduce registration for cross border crypto transfer businesses. Transfers between exchanges and private wallets will be reported to the Bank of Korea, and public comments close on October 26.
🌐 Bloomberg enables crypto asset exposure classification under the Basel framework. Its Crypto Exposure Analytics now helps customers assess compliance with BCBS crypto standards. The tool has identified about 1,700 potentially relevant funds, and roughly half of them do not explicitly target crypto in their stated strategy.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🌏 Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank of Thailand join the BLOOM initiative. Alongside MAS, the central banks will develop common approaches for cross border digital money. BLOOM has also added Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa and the World Bank Group as participants.
🇭🇰 HSBC launches HSBC RedCoin, its first stablecoin, on PayMe in Hong Kong. Licensed by the HKMA, the coin is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. More than 3.3 million PayMe users can activate a wallet and pay over 100,000 merchants.
🇪🇺 Solidgate secures MiCA authorization as a crypto asset service provider. The payment orchestration platform received its CASP licence from CySEC, passported across the European Economic Area. The licence gives Solidgate its own regulated foundation for stablecoins.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇧🇷 Mastercard and Olist team up to support Brazilian SMEs with free ERP and AI tools. The partnership brings business management tools, including ERP and artificial intelligence, into an ecosystem designed to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. The initiative combines Olist’s platform with Mastercard’s SME expertise
🇺🇸 Aurionpro extends its Mastercard partnership to North American transit. The partnership will enable contactless, open-loop fare payments across public transit networks, combining Aurionpro’s transit technology with Mastercard’s payment network. The expansion brings tap-to-pay transit payments to more North American networks.
🇲🇽 Belvo and dLocal bring direct debit payments to more Mexican businesses. The partnership aims to help businesses with recurring payments, subscriptions and memberships collect payments more reliably, reducing failed transactions and operational friction. The companies are expanding bank debit as a payment option for recurring collections in Mexico
🇺🇸 Piermont Bank and MassPay partner to advance payments for growing businesses. The deal pairs Piermont's embedded banking with MassPay's payouts across 180 countries. MassPay's payout volume rose 510% YoY in the third quarter of 2026.
🇺🇸 American Express and Airbnb launch an exclusive partnership. The agreement brings over 1 million listings to American Express Travel, allowing eligible Card Members to book Airbnb stays directly through the platform. The companies announced the partnership on October 22, 2026.
🌐 LianLian Global and PayPal power cross border payouts for social commerce, marketplace and eCommerce customers. Clients can now pay creators and contractors directly to PayPal and Venmo wallets. PayPal Payouts is live in 96 markets and 24 currencies.
🇺🇸 Affirm signs an exclusive BNPL deal with Sam's Club covering several years. Affirm will launch on SamsClub com in the coming weeks and plans to reach Sam's Club locations in 2027. Affirm says it never charges late fees and its interest never compounds.
🇸🇬 Visa and Singapore Tourism Board partner to boost high value tourism. The three year MoU will bring Visa Destinations to Singapore in November 2026. Singapore becomes the programme's second Asia Pacific market after Thailand, with cardholder benefits across dining, attractions and retail.
🌐 Arf and Ripple bring RLUSD settlement liquidity to the XRP Ledger. Arf will provide short-term working capital in RLUSD to licensed cross-border payment firms, with financing typically repaid within one to five days as transactions settle.
🇰🇷 Chainlink partners with LG CNS to advance South Korea’s digital asset infrastructure. The collaboration will bring Chainlink’s oracle and cross-chain technology into LG CNS’s digital asset platform, supporting regulated solutions and the expansion of Korean stablecoins. The partners will also work on technical standards for the country’s tokenised asset market
🇺🇸 TEN Credit Union selects Bankjoy for digital banking as it moves to Corelation KeyStone. Both systems will launch on the same day, giving members access to consumer and business digital banking, real-time fraud prevention and advanced card controls.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇬🇧 Cognitive Credit raises $40M in growth capital. The funding will support U.S. expansion and the development of AI-powered credit research tools, including DealConnect, a platform designed to provide access to credit models for private companies.
M&A
🇦🇷 Nubank, Inter and BTG Pactual weigh buying Brubank for an Argentine banking license. The sale would give the buyer a bank license and about 5 million users. Sources name Inter as the frontrunner, though it says it is not negotiating.
🇺🇸 Ramp investors went "nuclear" against Airwallex after a doomed deal. According to The Information, Airwallex withdrew from a proposed payments partnership with Ramp in April 2025, partly amid investor pressure. Some of Ramp’s politically connected backers have since urged the U.S. government to investigate Airwallex’s potential links to China, in a clear sign of how aggressive competition in B2B FinTech has become. Airwallex disputes the allegations and says it ended the talks for commercial reasons.
🇬🇧 Fintel acquires Mortgage Brain to build a connected FinTech ecosystem. The deal adds mortgage sourcing, affordability and application tools to Fintel's software portfolio, helping financial advisers manage mortgage and wealth services through more connected workflows.
🇺🇸 Harlem Children's Zone acquires Goalsetter to drive national economic mobility through FinTech. The deal adds digital financial education tools for students and adults, covering savings, credit, debt and investing as part of HCZ's national economic mobility strategy.
AI DEVELOPMENTS
🇬🇧 Plum secures FCA approval for Targeted Support on its AI assistant. The approval lets Plum reach 23 million underserved UK consumers with investment suggestions. The rollout, expected in coming weeks, targets customers with large cash balances.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Raj Seshadri will join the Fiserv Board of Directors. Effective November 30, 2026, she will bring her experience in digital payments and financial technology to the board, following senior leadership roles at Mastercard, including Chief Commercial Payments Officer.
Trusted reach among senior decision-makers in FinTech, Payments & Banking.
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