📢 Send Your Scoops to TWIF Breaking (TWIF 3/28)
Hello Fintech Friends,
Welcome to the 2,561 new readers who’ve joined us since last week. You’re joining 165,000+ other subscribers who want to launch their own stablecoin.
📰 We're up to something new at TWIF – Breaking news stories.
This week, staff writer Maria Najjar wrote up our first breaking story about Interledger Foundation's $5 million in new funding for interoperable payments companies. You can check out the full scoop here:
Maria Najjar
Want us to write up and share your news to 165,000+ subscribers? Send us the exclusive to scoops@thisweekinfintech.com. (Note: must be an exclusive.)
🪙 This week's news also features stablecoin announcements from Fidelity, the state of Wyoming, Sam Altman's World Network, and Trump's World Liberty Financial.
If you're thinking about stablecoins, curious about them, actively building them, or helping others build them, there's no better place to go than Stablecon in New York on May 29th.
🎟️ Quick reminder: Ticket prices go up a week from today 👇
Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.
(đź‘Ťđź‘Ž Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)
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🏦 Financial Services & Banking
🚀 Product Launches
​Fidelity Investments is planning to launch its own stablecoin, marking a significant expansion into digital assets by the $5 trillion asset manager. Fidelity also filed to register a blockchain-based version of its U.S. dollar money market fund, seeking to offer an "OnChain" share class utilizing blockchains as a transfer agent, pending regulatory approval.
Wyoming announced that it will introduce a state-issued stablecoin, aiming for a launch as early as July. The proposed stablecoin, named WYST, would be fully backed by U.S. Treasury cash and repurchase agreements, with capitalization maintained at no less than 102%. The state wants to generate new revenue streams from WYST through interest income derived from reserve assets, earmarked for funding education and infrastructure projects.
Experian introduced a new product leveraging open banking to provide a 'Cashflow Score' for Americans. It allows consumers to share their transaction data, enabling lenders to gain a clearer view of an applicant's financial behavior, including income, expenses, and cash reserves.
đź“° Other News
World Network, co-founded by Sam Altman, entered discussions with Visa to integrate stablecoin payments into its self-custody crypto wallet, potentially enabling Visa card functionality and stablecoin transactions with merchants in Visa's network.
BlackRock expanded its tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, to the Solana blockchain, increasing its presence to seven blockchains and aiming to manage $2 billion in assets.
The FDIC announced its intention to eliminate the use of "reputational risk" in its supervision of financial institutions, following a review of policy documents and a shift in regulatory focus. The SEC is considering revising or withdrawing a proposed rule that would extend investment advisers' custodial requirements to crypto assets, responding to concerns about the broad scope of the proposal.
Goldman Sachs is taking a measured approach to implementing artificial intelligence across the firm, providing access to AI tools to half of its 46,000 employees while carefully assessing additional controls needed for effective and safe use.
President Trump issued an executive order to phase out the use of paper checks for federal disbursements, directing government agencies to transition to electronic funds transfer methods by September 30. ​World Liberty Financial, a company backed by the Trump family, unveiled plans to launch a new stablecoin called USD1, backed by U.S. Treasurys, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents, aiming to maintain a 1:1 exchange ratio with the U.S. dollar. ​
The full draft of the STABLE Act of 2025 was released yesterday. Thread will a few takeaways below
— Nick Cannon (@inkymaze) March 27, 2025
No yield-bearing stables pic.twitter.com/2Jj03cDCG8
đź’¬ Quote of the Week
New leak of Stripe data!
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) March 26, 2025
FCF:
Stripe +~100% to $2.2B
Adyen +27% to $1.7B
Revenues
Stripe: +28% to $5.1B, TPV +38% to $1.4T
Adyen: +23% to $2.1B, TPV +33% to $1.34T https://t.co/cVWkM7iRkv pic.twitter.com/84sn4oPChW
đź’» Fintech
🚀 Product Launches
​Finix introduced new payment features for the first quarter to better serve businesses with improved payment processing capabilities.​
Charm launched an AI-powered platform designed to help banks combat scams and human-centric fraud, utilizing artificial intelligence to assess vulnerabilities and deliver tailored mitigation strategies.
Former developers from Block launched Stable Sea,* a startup focused on developing technology to support stablecoin payments, addressing challenges in converting stablecoins to local currencies for businesses.
Ubyx announced plans to launch a stablecoin off-ramp network via banks, facilitating the redemption of stablecoins directly into recipient bank accounts and enhancing the integration between digital currencies and traditional banking systems.
Modern Life* introduced Express Decision, a fully digital solution enabling advisors to secure life insurance instantly for eligible clients, offering coverage up to $2 million without the need for medical exams or interviews.
Yahoo Finance launched a private markets hub in partnership with EquityZen and Forge Global, providing users with information on U.S. late-stage growth equities, including pricing, valuation, and the ability to transact directly through the platform. wsj.com
HoneyBook added artificial intelligence into its business management platform to help entrepreneurs save time and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Robinhood launched an AI-based financial advisor, Robinhood Strategies, for $250 per year.
$HOOD JUST LAUNCHED A NEW FEATURE THAT LETS YOU GET CASH DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR -- NO ATM NEEDED 🤯 pic.twitter.com/q10LLOhhuq
— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) March 27, 2025
🍻 Upcoming Events
đź’Ľ Jobs of the Week
Ankur Nagpal
đź“° Other News
Google Wallet introduced an update allowing children with parental consent to make contactless in-store payments using their Android devices, expanding the app's functionality to younger users.
Ripple, in collaboration with Warwick Business School's Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology, funded research to investigate the risks associated with stablecoin de-pegging and its impact on financial market stability.
eToro now enables users in the UK and Europe to transfer cryptoassets from external wallets or exchanges into the eToro Crypto Wallet, facilitating conversion to local currencies for reinvestment or withdrawal.
🤝 Partnership Corner
​Walmart partnered with JPMorgan Chase to provide embedded financial services to its online marketplace sellers, enabling them to accept and make payments and manage cash flow through JPMorgan's systems.
BNY Mellon expanded its collaboration with Circle, allowing select clients to transfer funds to and from the stablecoin company to facilitate the purchase or sale of Circle's stablecoins. ​
đź‘Ž The Bad News
11x, an AI-powered sales automation startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Benchmark, faces allegations that it misrepresents its customer base by claiming partnerships with companies that were not actual clients.
Massachusetts regulators initiated an investigation into Robinhood's newly launched 'Predictions Hub,' which allows users to bet on various event outcomes, including college basketball tournaments, raising concerns about its potential appeal to younger investors.
Block, the merchant payments company led by Jack Dorsey, announced layoffs affecting 931 employees and the closure of 748 open positions as part of a significant organizational restructuring aimed at enhancing strategic focus and performance. ​
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