Plaid Reaches $8 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round
Plaid has secured fresh funding that values the open banking and financial data platform at $8 billion, signaling renewed investor confidence in API-driven financial infrastructure. The raise comes amid a broader rebound in fintech funding and highlights continued demand for embedded financial connectivity across banking, payments, and wealth platforms. Plaid’s network effects—linking thousands of financial institutions with fintech apps—position it as critical middleware in the digital finance stack. The new capital is expected to support product expansion, international growth, and deeper partnerships with enterprise clients. After a volatile valuation cycle in recent years, this milestone suggests infrastructure-focused fintechs are regaining strategic premium. As open finance adoption accelerates globally, Plaid remains central to data portability and ecosystem interoperability. The funding round reinforces the long-term thesis around financial data as core infrastructure rather than ancillary tooling.
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Agentic Commerce Market Tracker
Across the top 10 US and top 10 EU companies per vertical, customer-facing Generative AI is now widely deployed, most often in Q&A chatbots, image searches, and product support. The more differentiated story is the step-up into agentic commerce (multi-step journey orchestration) and the relative scarcity of agentic payments (checkout execution by an agent).
Key observations:
- Most top US & EU merchants have deployed customer-facing GenAI for Q&A, guided discovery, and product support.
- Agentic commerce is still early-stage, deployments are concentrated in a smaller cohort where agents can plan and orchestrate multi-step journeys (discover → compare → assemble cart/itinerary) but still stop short of executing payment.
- Payments is the hard boundary to cross; the market is beginning to standardize on network tokenization and delegated authorization models (via emerging protocols such as UCP / AP2, ACP, and x402) to make agent-led checkout feasible.
- AI-driven visits to merchants are up 10x over October 2024 but growth tapered or retreated during late 2025, which may be a sign that expansion beyond early adopters may require deeper integration with web browsers, search, social platforms, or other experiences beyond LLM chat.
- While data on agentic payments is not available, we believe they are still de minimis given Adobe’s data on AI-driven visits.
- New standards like Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol should help companies across the commerce value chain collaborate more effectively on monetizing agentic traffic.
Flagship Commentary & Highlights
- Intelligent Copilots & Agents (29%) and Infrastructure & Enablement (26%) account for more than half of total token use, showing that most consumption supports the systems and tooling behind AI applications rather than end-user interfaces.
- Workflow & Orchestration (17%) forms the connective layer, driving automation and integration across agents, networks, and APIs.
- Digital Merchants (15%) are actively leveraging LLMs, introducing AI into the checkout page and assisting during the checkout flow.
- Research / Academia (8%) organizations are applying generative AI to technical exploration and innovation.
- Payments (3%) and Commerce Enablers (1%) are a small share of company count but play a key enabling role for others, especially platforms like Shopify and Mercado Libre which enable millions of SMBs.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Apple Explores Launch of Payment Service in India
Apple is reportedly in discussions with Indian banks to introduce a new payment service in the country. The move would deepen its financial services footprint in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payments markets. Expansion into India could significantly strengthen Apple’s ecosystem-based payments strategy.
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Cashflows Partners with fumopay for Instant Merchant Payouts
Cashflows has teamed up with fumopay to enable instant payouts for merchants. The collaboration enhances liquidity management and settlement speed for businesses. Faster payouts remain a competitive differentiator in merchant acquiring.
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Rainforest Launches Embedded PayPal Integration
Rainforest has introduced embedded PayPal capabilities for vertical SaaS platforms. The solution enables software providers to natively integrate payments within their ecosystems. Embedded finance continues to blur the line between software and financial services.
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OpenPayd Delivers Multi-Currency Settlement for LMAX Group
OpenPayd is providing multi-currency settlement infrastructure to LMAX Group. The partnership strengthens cross-border clearing and treasury capabilities. Institutional-grade payment rails are becoming foundational to global trading platforms.
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Ant International and CIMB Expand Cross-Border Payments in Malaysia
Ant International and CIMB are collaborating to enhance cross-border transaction capabilities in Malaysia. The initiative aims to streamline trade payments and regional connectivity. Southeast Asia remains a key growth corridor for digital payment innovation.
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🏦 Banking
Citigroup Forms AI Infrastructure Banking Team, Invests in Sakana AI
Citi has launched a dedicated AI infrastructure banking team while investing in Sakana AI. The strategy positions the bank at the center of financing next-generation AI compute and model development firms. It underscores how major banks are aligning capital markets expertise with AI sector growth.
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US Regional Banks Build Tokenised Deposit Network
A consortium of US regional banks is developing a tokenised deposit network to modernize interbank settlement. The initiative seeks to combine blockchain efficiency with regulated banking deposits. It represents a pragmatic step toward institutional digital asset integration.
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Latvia’s Novel Banking Licence Could Open Market Entry
Latvia has introduced a new banking licence framework aimed at lowering barriers to entry. The structure could attract fintechs and digital-first banks seeking EU market access. Regulatory innovation at the national level may intensify competition in European banking.
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📊 Fintech
Augmentum Fintech Agrees £185.7m Acquisition by Verdane BidCo
Augmentum Fintech has accepted a £185.7 million acquisition offer from a Verdane-controlled BidCo. The deal marks a significant exit in the European fintech investment space. It reflects ongoing consolidation across fintech-focused investment vehicles.
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Basis Raises $100m at $1.15bn Valuation
Basis has raised $100 million, reaching a $1.15 billion valuation, driven by adoption of AI agents across accounting, tax, and audit workflows. The funding signals growing enterprise demand for end-to-end automation in financial operations. AI-native fintech infrastructure continues to attract premium valuations.
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Facephi Enters Japanese Identity Market via Hancom
Facephi has expanded into Japan through a partnership with Hancom, targeting digital identity and fraud prevention services. The move strengthens its Asia-Pacific footprint. Biometric authentication remains central to compliance and fraud mitigation strategies.
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🪙 Crypto
MetaMask Launches Crypto Debit Mastercard in the US
MetaMask has introduced a crypto-linked debit Mastercard across the United States. The card enables users to spend digital assets directly through traditional payment rails. The launch reflects deeper integration between decentralized wallets and mainstream finance.
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‘Private Bitcoin’ to Launch on Starknet with Zcash-Like Features
A privacy-enhanced version of Bitcoin is set to launch on Starknet, incorporating features similar to Zcash. The initiative aims to improve transaction confidentiality while leveraging Layer 2 scalability. Privacy innovation continues to evolve within regulated crypto markets.
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Trump Brothers’ Bitcoin Mining Firm Reports $59m Q4 Loss
The Trump brothers’ American Bitcoin mining venture reported a $59 million fourth-quarter loss. The results highlight operational and market pressures within the mining sector. Profitability remains closely tied to volatility in crypto prices and energy costs.
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Circle Shares Surge Nearly 50% on Short Squeeze
Circle’s post-earnings rally approached 50%, largely driven by a short squeeze rather than improved fundamentals. The surge underscores persistent volatility in crypto-linked equities. Market structure dynamics continue to amplify price movements in digital asset firms.
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💼 WealthTech
Guardian Life Partners with Avantos to Accelerate AI Transformation
Guardian has announced a strategic partnership with Avantos to enhance wealth management capabilities through AI-driven solutions. The collaboration aims to modernize advisory workflows and client engagement. Wealth managers are increasingly embedding AI into portfolio and relationship management.
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iAltA Holdings Acquires Delio
iAltA Holdings has acquired Delio to strengthen its alternative investment technology offering. The transaction expands digital access to private market opportunities. Consolidation in wealthtech continues as firms compete to digitize alternative assets distribution.
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⚖️ Regulation
Kueski Appoints Pablo Baragiola as VP of Fraud
Latin American BNPL provider Kueski has appointed Pablo Baragiola as Vice President of Fraud. The move signals heightened focus on risk management and compliance amid BNPL sector scrutiny. Strengthening fraud leadership is critical as regulators increase oversight of installment lending.
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Verisave, Optimized Payments and Fee Navigator Launch AI Tool for Visa CEDP
Verisave, Optimized Payments, and Fee Navigator have introduced an AI-powered verification solution supporting Visa’s CEDP program. The tool aims to enhance compliance accuracy and reduce fee leakage. AI-driven verification is becoming integral to complex card network programs.
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