Hi fintech friends,

In-keeping with our "10 reads" theme, here are the 10 Signals writeups from last year that got the most engagement.

Want to add to the list in 2025? Reply to this email, let us know what you want to write about, and we'll send it out to 150,000+ fintech enthusiasts.

Also, if you're interested in the stablecoin ecosystem, check out Day Zero, a virtual conference I'll be moderating brought to you by the team at Brale*:

Ben Milne on LinkedIn: New Year. New Conference. Webinars are the worst. Well run events with…

New Year. New Conference. Webinars are the worst. Well run events with superb demos and curated breakouts are the best. Introducing Day Zero, where anything is…

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I'll be back from the honeymoon the week of Jan 13th. Until then, enjoy the reads!

1. Plaid: Stitching Together the Future of Finance, by Jas Shah

Plaid: Stitching Together the Future of Finance

Hey Fintechers and Fintech newbies 👋🏽 Regular TWIF readers and those who caught my 1st write-up on PayPal a few months back should already know me, but for those who don’t, Hello! I’m Jas Shah, a reformed engineer and now fintech product consultant and advisor helping fintechs, banks, and others create

This Week in FintechJas Shah

2. TWIF Index FTW by Jevgenijs Kazanins

Signals: TWIF Index FTW

Hello, Fintech Friends! When we first introduced the TWIF Index in July, it was underperforming the Nasdaq Composite. With just a couple of weeks left in the year, the TWIF Index is up 57.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 are up 36.9% and 30.

This Week in FintechJevgenijs Kazanins

3. The Stablecoin Revolution: Replacing BaaS as the New Infrastructure Layer, by Helghardt Avenant

The Stablecoin Revolution: Replacing BaaS as the New Infrastructure Layer

In 2020 Angela Strange wrote that Every Company Will Be a Fintech Company. The thesis set the stage for the rapid growth of financial infrastructure as a service. While much of this prediction still holds, the fintech landscape is evolving in two significant ways—through stablecoins and self-custodial wallets, which

This Week in FintechHelghardt Avenant

It’s a New Year and a New Era for Fintech. If you’re ready to take the leap and start a business or are ready to supercharge your startup, Restive Ventures is ready to help. They’re pulling together leaders from across the industry for a free event for founders in San Francisco on Feb 5th. Apply to join and Go Restive! https://www.gorestive2025.com/

4. The lost art of “F*ck around and find out”, by Jake Gibson

Signals: The lost art of “F*ck around and find out”

In its first year in 2009, NerdWallet made $75. The second year, that rose to about $60,000. In the first nine months of 2023, the company generated $465.7 million in revenue. That exponential rise in fortunes was a direct result of those first lean years, when my co-founder

This Week in FintechJake Gibson

5. What’s in your wallet?, by Sophie Vo

Signals: What’s in your wallet?

The answer: “Discover”, if Cap One and Durbin 2.0 have anything to say about it.

This Week in FintechSophie Vo

6. PayPal: A Fintech OG rejoining the Fastlane, by Jas Shah

PayPal: A Fintech OG rejoining the Fastlane

A detailed look at PayPal’s origins, early success factors, current product stack, latest releases and reasons to be bullish A quick intro to kick this special Signals edition off: I’m Jas Shah, a reformed engineer and longtime product guy with around two decades of experience building products for and

This Week in FintechJas Shah

7. Why is there so much idea recycling in fintech? (by yours truly)

Signals: Why is there so much idea recycling in fintech?

Once or twice a quarter, for the last half-decade, I’ve opened my inbox to the same email: “I’d like you to invest in my new app, a financial advisor that will put people’s money on autopilot.” This email has come from 50 or so different people, working

This Week in FintechNik Milanović

It’s a New Year and a New Era for Fintech. If you’re ready to take the leap and start a business or are ready to supercharge your startup, Restive Ventures is ready to help. They’re pulling together leaders from across the industry for a free event for founders in San Francisco on Feb 5th. Apply to join and Go Restive! https://www.gorestive2025.com/

8. Transforming tweets into transactions with MTLs, by Snigdha Kumar

Signals: Transforming tweets into transactions with MTLs

What X’s new money transmitter licenses tell us about Elon Musk’s all-in-one fintech app ambitions.

This Week in FintechSnigdha Kumar

9. "Fintech is back" has become the consensus, by Jevgenijs Kazanins

Signals: “fintech is back” has become the consensus

Hello, Fintech Friends! Many things happened since the previous Signals issue on publicly traded fintech companies. Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential election and the Federal Reserve cut the federal fund rates by another 25 basis points. U.S. banks and fintech companies also reported their third-quarter results (for

This Week in FintechJevgenijs Kazanins

10. The stablecoin adoption journey: how (and why) fintechs are integrating stablecoins, by Chris Harmse

The stablecoin adoption journey: how (and why) fintechs are integrating stablecoins

Slowly, slowly: then all at once – Hemingway’s ‘law of motion’ explains how big changes often unfold. It’s a familiar story in fintech. Consider digital wallets or contactless payments: what began as cautious, incremental adoption eventually reached a tipping point, changing the way many of us pay. In 2024,

This Week in FintechChris Harmse