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This Week in Fintech

🥴 And well... we said a couple weeks ago that there will be surprises, and here we are.

Argentina's president, Javier Milei, a prolific social media user, accidentally promoted a scam memecoin to his followers, promising that the project would help the country’s economy and small businesses. The coin - $Libra - reached a $4 billion market cap before insiders sold their stake and tanked the value by 99%. Now, Milei is facing calls for impeachment. The scandal involves two serial rug-pull brothers (who also helped launch the pump-and-dump $Melania token), the president of Barstool Sports, and significant insider trading – tanking the price of Solana by over 40% and leading the founder of Meteora to resign ahead of an investigation.

The fallout has been so bad that even the crypto lobby is lining up against memecoins. (Though we've been here before.)

I'm trying to do justice to how stupid this story is, but Lex Sokolin provided the best summary in Is Kelsier's $200MM insider trading scandal the next FTX?

In a related story, the SEC this week announced the launch of a new division to protect investors against fraud in crypto and AI. It will be impossible for this space to mature without rulemaking and enforcement, and enforcement begins with punishing bad actors. We'll see if regulators have the appetite to pursue them in this cycle.

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.

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

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🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🚀 Product Launches

Visa expanded its 'Tap to Add Card' service to Ukraine, Georgia, and South Africa. This feature allows cardholders to effortlessly add their bank cards to mobile wallets by simply tapping the card against their mobile devices.

Mastercard unveiled 'Trace,' an artificial intelligence-driven service designed to combat money laundering and financial crimes in the Asia Pacific region. The Philippines became the first country in the region to implement this service, with local interbank network BancNet onboarding 36 domestic lenders. Mastercard also introduced 'One Credential,' a unified digital credential that provides consumers and businesses with a variety of scheduled payment choices, including debit, credit, prepaid, and installment payments.

📰 Other News

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced plans to establish NYSE Texas by relocating and rebranding its NYSE Chicago market to Dallas. This may be a move to counter the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), backed by prominent investors like BlackRock and Citadel Securities, revealed intentions to commence operations in Dallas by 2026.

Companies in the US are falling behind on loan repayments at the highest rate in nearly eight years.

The Federal Reserve Financial Services announced a postponement of the ISO 20022 implementation for the Fedwire Funds Service. Originally scheduled for March, the rollout was rescheduled to July

JP Morgan is gearing up for its trial against the founder of fintech Frank, which the bank says fabricated its users before being acquired by the bank.

The CFPB went through significant layoffs, with approximately 20 technologists dismissed. The affected team had been focused on monitoring the tech industry's expansion into financial services. Former employees expressed concerns that these layoffs could impair the CFPB's capacity to effectively oversee technology firms' financial products, potentially exposing consumers to harm

💬 Quote of the Week

💻 Fintech

🚀 Product Launches

Wildfire launched its Benefits & Loyalty Amplifier to enhance cardholder engagement and drive revenue growth for financial institutions. This tool enables companies to integrate cashback rewards and shopping benefits into their existing offerings.

Armalytix unveiled a bank statement scanning tool designed to assist professionals in efficiently analyzing client financial data.

Small business 401k platform Carry* launched on-platform tax filing.

Ticket prices go up at MIDNIGHT! ⏰

Don't miss out on your last chance to get tickets at $500 off the full rate, and make sure that you secure your spot to register for meetings at Fintech Meetup 2025! The process begins on Monday, so time is running out to take part in the biggest and most valuable meetings program in fintech!

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📰 Other News

Robinhood reported a record $1 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, marking a 115% increase from the previous year. This surge was largely driven by a 500% year-over-year increase in cryptocurrency transaction fees.

Coinbase modified its accounting treatment for digital tokens held on behalf of customers, moving these assets off its balance sheet. Previously, the company reported $291 billion in assets and $282 billion in liabilities, which reduced to $23 billion and $12 billion, respectively, following the change. It also announced plans to re-enter the Indian market after ceasing operations over a year ago.

Sujata Bhatia, COO of Monzo, announced her departure after five years with the UK-based digital bank.

🤝 Partnership Corner

TransUnion collaborated with Credit Sesame to provide direct-to-consumer credit scores in the United States.

Mastercard joined forces with Feedzai to address the growing threat of AI-powered scams. By integrating their technologies, the companies aimed to enhance fraud detection and prevention capabilities.

👎 The Bad News

Varo Bank founder Colin Walsh stepped down from his leadership role. The bank has faced financial difficulties, including struggles to achieve profitability and secure additional funding, leading to significant organizational restructuring.

Carta, a platform for managing equity and ownership, settled two lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and discrimination.

Zepz, the parent company of remittance firms WorldRemit and Sendwave, announced plans to reduce its workforce by 200 employees.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched investigations into Apple and Google's control over mobile ecosystems, focusing on their dominance in digital wallets.

Nvayo, an electronic money institution authorized by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, was declared insolvent and entered special administration. The firm had faced regulatory restrictions due to concerns over anti-money laundering compliance.