The Front Page of Fintech

The largest fintech community in the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest in news opinions, and all things financial technology.

Image Description

The Front Page of Fintech

The largest fintech community in the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest in news opinions, and all things financial technology.

Image Description

Grayscale, Starling, and Figure Line Up for IPOs (TWIF 7/20)

Grayscale, Starling, and Figure Line Up for IPOs (TWIF 7/20)
Earth Day from the American West

Hello Fintech Friends,

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by our friends at HSBC.

We're hiring a Global Operations Manager to join the team at Stablecon and This Week in Fintech. Come work with us!

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)


💡
A Message From our Partner

Fintech is evolving fast — are you keeping up? HSBC’s 2025 Fintech Report delivers critical insights into the trends shaping financial technology worldwide.

Find out where the industry is headed.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.


📖 Read (Listen) of the Week

☯️ Exits
💻 IPOs & SPACs
  • Grayscale, a crypto asset manager known for its Bitcoin Trust and digital currency investment products, filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO to transition into a publicly traded company.
  • Figure Technologies, a blockchain-based lending and financial services platform, plans an IPO to capitalize on public market interest in fintech and digital assets.
  • Starling Bank, a UK-based digital bank serving consumers and SMEs, is eyeing a potential listing on the NYSE as it explores global expansion.

🤝 M&A - Fintech
  • Ageras, a fintech providing financial tools for small businesses, made its 8th acquisition by buying Danish payroll company Salary to expand its accounting suite.
  • Lloyds Banking Group, one of the UK’s largest retail and commercial banks, entered talks to acquire Curve, a digital wallet startup known for consolidating multiple cards into one platform.
  • Doorvest, a platform for real estate investing and property management, acquired Wreno, a real estate operations platform, to enhance its infrastructure and pursue further acquisitions in the property management space.
  • DealMaker, the $2 billion retail capital-raising platform, acquired Rally On, the video creative agency that has driven $250 million in online investments
  • Elliott Management, an activist investor is building a stake in Global Payments, signaling potential takeover or board attempt.
  • Computershare emerged as a potential buyer for equity platform PrimaryBid.
  • Wagestream acquired pension technology provider Zippen to expand its financial wellbeing offerings.
  • Coda signed a definitive agreement to acquire Clearword, aiming to enhance AI-powered meeting and documentation capabilities.
  • Talos, an institutional crypto trading platform, acquired blockchain analytics firm Coin Metrics to bolster its data capabilities; the deal involved backing from a16z, General Atlantic, and Coinbase.

🏦 M&A - Banks and Financial Institutions
  • Citadel Securities bought Morgan Stanley’s electronic options market making business, underscoring how high-frequency trading firms now dominate an industry once ruled by Wall Street banks.
  • Huntington Bancshares, a U.S. regional bank, announced its acquisition of Capstone Partners, a middle-market investment bank, to expand its advisory and capital markets services.
Stablecoins M&Ms: Myths & Misconceptions
I wrote an intro article about stablecoins several weeks back. The last year has been a massive one for stablecoins, especially since Trump’s return to the White House.

💡
A Message From our Partner

Fintech is evolving fast — are you keeping up? HSBC’s 2025 Fintech Report delivers critical insights into the trends shaping financial technology worldwide.

Find out where the industry is headed.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.


🌎 Fintech Around the World

Why Africa’s emerging markets need their own stablecoins

China’s Bid for ‘Global Yuan’ Finds Double-Edged Sword in Stablecoins

Bank of England: stablecoins are no substitute for commercial bank money

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

Crypto companies race to secure banking foothold in US

Fintechs blast JPMorgan over data fees

Central banks face dilemma over rise of dollar-backed stablecoins

Stablecoin Has Long Road to Mainstream Payments, Mastercard Says

Puppy power: canine in new Superman movie spurs pet adoption interest