zerohash Powers Visa Direct: Stablecoins Go Live
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Visa Direct just got a stablecoin upgrade.
zerohash is now powering stablecoin prefunding and payout capabilities for eligible Visa Direct clients, unlocking 18 billion endpoints across 195+ countries.
Think about what that means: businesses can now prefund accounts and disburse payouts in stablecoins through one of the world's largest payment networks. Cross-border liquidity, 24/7.
This isn't a pilot or a sandbox experiment. It's stablecoins plugged directly into core network infrastructure.
Every week, another major payments player moves from "exploring" stablecoins to actually shipping them. The pattern is unmistakable now.
And here's the thing about patterns: they show up in the talent data before they show up in the product roadmaps.
Case in point: Stripe hired from 760 different companies in the last six months. But its fiercest competition for talent isn't FinTech anymore.
Scroll down for the full breakdown and today's biggest FinTech stories. 👇
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
Cloud feeds Stripe. Stripe feeds AI 🔄
60 hires in from AWS. 49 out to Anthropic. Same six months, opposite doors. By Sarah Chan / Crustdata
FINTECH NEWS
🌐 Cloudflare gives AI agents an identity and a wallet with Cloudflare Wallets and cloudflare.pay. Agents deployed on its platform can now hold a stable identity and make purchases within spending limits set by their human operators.
🇬🇧 Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky in talks over a new pay deal that would boost his ownership if the company hits a $500bn valuation. The incentive structure follows his previous scheme, which awards share payouts as Revolut clears pre-agreed valuation thresholds.
🇺🇸 Webull launches ChatGPT, Claude and Grok connectors alongside a CLI and enhanced MCP skills. The tools let investors and AI agents access market data and account services through conversational AI.
INSIGHTS
📰 Taxbit: CARF vs. CRS 2.0: Which Framework Applies to Your Business. Taxbit explains how CARF and CRS 2.0 divide digital asset reporting asset by asset, and why businesses with a broad product set will likely need to comply with both. Read the full article here.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇧🇷 Pix is now operational in eight countries, including Portugal, Spain and France. Brazil's instant payment method will soon integrate with Portugal's MB Way, letting local merchants accept Pix via QR code with automatic currency conversion.
🇱🇺 Wero launch in Luxembourg pushed to 1 September, missing the June target set by participating banks. BGL BNP Paribas and other lenders will now roll out the European payment app later than originally planned.
🇺🇸 FIS deepens its banking push with payments and issuing, reporting continued traction with large financial institutions. Banks keep spending on payments, fraud prevention and modernization even as broader tech budgets face scrutiny.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇰🇷 KakaoBank posts record $230M first half profit, up 24.4% YoY on steady loan growth and higher fee income. Non-interest income reached 36% of total revenue as the bank's customer base expanded to 27.63 million.
🇺🇸 Varo Bank expands fee-free in-store cash add capabilities nationwide. Customers can now add cash to their Varo account at retail locations across the country without paying a fee.
🇲🇽 Revolut Bank México reaches 635,000 clients and over 7,200 million pesos in deposits after less than six months of operation. Deposits grew 94% QoQ driven by its yield-bearing personal account.
🇲🇽 Nubank posts $7M Q2 profit in Mexico, half the prior quarter's result as provisions jumped 20.1% to $130M. The NPL ratio rose to 11.3% while the credit portfolio matures and scales to $2.1B.
🇳🇿 Dosh pauses its New Zealand banking bid, after the Reserve Bank declined its registration application. The FinTech will focus on home loan advice and its One NZ partnership while awaiting new deposit-taker legislation.
🇳🇱 Rabobank to invest €2 billion in building an IT framework for AI. The Dutch bank plans to overhaul its technology infrastructure over the coming years to support large-scale AI deployment across its banking operations.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇦🇹 Bitpanda connects AI assistants to user portfolios via its API and Model Context Protocol. Investors can now ask supported assistants to review allocations, set up recurring workflows and initiate trades across crypto, stocks, ETFs and metals.
🇦🇹 Bybit secures an Austrian EMI license for EU payments. Austria's FMA granted Bybit Payments GmbH authorization to issue electronic money and offer regulated payment services across the EU, separate from its MiCA crypto entity.
🇺🇸 Circle's quarterly revenue rises as stablecoin circulation accelerates. USDC circulation and transaction volumes drove the gain, with Circle reporting stronger quarterly results ahead of a potential IPO.
🇺🇸 Binance claims RedotPay diverted users in $470 million lawsuit. The exchange alleges RedotPay steered customers away in breach of a partnership agreement, seeking damages in the $470M dispute.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇺🇸 zerohash powers stablecoin payout and prefunding capabilities for Visa Direct. The integration lets Visa Direct clients send and receive stablecoin payments across Zero Hash's network.
🇬🇧 Mastercard and PEXA partner to explore synchronised settlement, aiming to create greater certainty for UK homebuyers. The collaboration will test whether property and payment settlement can complete simultaneously rather than sequentially.
🇪🇸 ConnectPay and GenToo partner to launch compliance-first digital banking for Spain's retail market. The collaboration will bring e-money accounts and micro-cash advances to Spanish consumers, targeting 85% digital banking adoption by 2027.
🇬🇧 Trust Payments and felloh partner to connect payments and finance data for travel businesses. The integration links payment processing with financial reporting to streamline reconciliation for travel merchants.
🌍 Sumsub and Sumvin enable AI agents to transact using verified human identity. The partnership links agent activity to KYC-verified individuals, giving businesses a way to confirm accountability when agents act autonomously.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 Yellow Card raises $40M as its stablecoin group expands beyond Africa. Standard Chartered's SC Ventures and Sony Innovation Fund backed the round, which will fund Global USD Accounts for businesses in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
🇳🇬 Moove raises $250M at a $2.1B valuation to scale its autonomous mobility infrastructure. The Series C was led by Mubadala and co-led by Woven Capital and Ion Pacific, funding global fleet expansion.
🇫🇷 Rivo raises $3.1M to automate cash management for businesses. The seed round will support development of its platform that centralizes treasury operations and optimizes liquidity for growing companies.
🇩🇪 Moss raises €90M Series C at a €1B valuation, becoming Germany's latest B2B FinTech unicorn. The round was led by General Atlantic, with Moss planning to expand its spend management platform across Europe.
🇮🇱 Faye raises $50M Series C, valued at approximately $500 million. The round was led by Madrona, with BRM and existing investors Portage, F2 Venture Capital, Viola Ventures, and Lumir Ventures participating. Read more.
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