Polymarket is reportedly set to raise $1 billion at a $21 billion valuation, marking a huge step up for the prediction-market platform. The round is expected to be led by 1789 Capital, giving Polymarket significant new capital as it expands its business. The valuation would put Polymarket among the most valuable companies emerging from the intersection of fintech, markets and crypto. Its rapid growth also reflects how prediction markets are moving beyond their niche origins and increasingly competing with established financial and information platforms. The enormous funding round could give Polymarket the resources to expand internationally, develop new products and push prediction markets further into mainstream finance.
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Insight of the Day
Revolut - The Dawn of Modern Banking
Key insights:
For the love of product.
Product is the growth engine. Every product must “deliver WOW”, and customers reciprocate: around two-thirds of new customers arrive organically or by referral, and every new vertical launches into an already engaged base at minimal acquisition cost, creating a flywheel where each product deepens retention and funds the next. The same discipline now extends to AI, with AIR putting the entire ecosystem behind a single conversational interface.
Complexity that feels simple.
Rivals, at best, focus on product breadth or monetisation depth; Revolut is successfully doing both, distributing institutional-grade, high-margin products to a 75-million-user base through the same daily habit that began with free FX. Three moats - distribution, in-house technology and the proprietary data those users generate - reinforce one another, and the combined advantage compounds with every launch.
Sustainable product velocity.
Each product launch reaches milestones faster than the previous one. New verticals inherit a base that is already at scale and infrastructure that the earlier products had paid for. Payments took eight years to mature, wealth took six, RevPoints is moving faster still. In the UK, the world’s most competitive fintech market, a new core vertical roughly every 18 months took Revolut from zero to 13 million customers by 2025.
Standardise to scale, localise to win.
One playbook, 48 countries. Revolut runs a single global technology stack and brand, but calibrates market entry, product sequencing and licensing to each geography. Having hard-won its home base in Europe, Revolut is now replaying that playbook across Latin America. With the biggest prize, the US, next in line.
Modular by design.
The legal architecture mirrors the tech stack: each business line independently capitalised, separately supervised, free to grow without constraining the others. The structure has earned top-tier standing: ECB supervision in the EU, full UK authorisation completed March 2026, and a US national bank charter filed. The domino effect has started.
Culture rooted in excellence.
Ownership, grit and a relentless pursuit of being number one. Hiring is treated as an engineering problem: 1.7 million applications in 2025, and only 0.15% accepted (comparable to the likes of Google and Goldman Sachs). The talent density shows up outside the company too, with Revolut now one of Europe’s most prolific founder factories, its alumni companies having raised over $1.2bn.
Financial outlook.
Best-in-class financials at scale. $6.0bn of revenue in 2025, up 46%, with $1.7bn net profit at a 29% margin - the fifth consecutive profitable year, on headcount up just 10%. And at only $86 of revenue per customer, monetisation is still largely uncaptured: we project a $29bn topline and $13.6bn of net profit by 2030.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Affirm and Shopify Expand Shop Pay Installments in Australia
Affirm and Shopify are launching Shop Pay Installments in Australia, bringing their BNPL offering to another major market. The expansion gives Australian shoppers access to installment payments directly through Shopify’s checkout ecosystem.
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Aleta Launches Hello Kitty Visa Debit Cards
Aleta has launched limited-edition Hello Kitty Visa debit cards, combining payments with a major consumer brand. The product shows how fintechs continue to use lifestyle and entertainment partnerships to differentiate payment products.
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Visa and Mastercard Resume Transactions in Syria
Visa and Mastercard have completed transactions in Syria following the U.S. decision to remove the country’s state-terrorism designation. The development could help reconnect Syrian consumers and businesses with international card-payment networks.
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Nium Enables USDC-Funded Cross-Border Payouts
Nium now allows businesses to use USDC to fund cross-border fiat payouts. The feature connects stablecoin liquidity with traditional payout rails, further blurring the boundary between crypto and conventional payments.
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HitPay and Superbench Bring AI to SME Payments
HitPay and Superbench are partnering to combine AI and payments for SMEs across Asia. The collaboration reflects the growing integration of intelligent automation into business payment workflows.
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🏦 Banking
Allica Bank Applies for Swedish Banking Licence
Allica Bank has applied for a Swedish banking licence as it expands into Europe. The application marks another step in the bank’s international growth strategy.
Source
TD Completes Tokenized Payments Testing Through Project Agorá
TD has successfully completed testing of tokenized payments through Project Agorá. The milestone shows major banks continuing to explore blockchain-based payment infrastructure and tokenized money.
Source
Shinhan and Visa Explore Stablecoin Infrastructure
South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group is teaming up with Visa to test stablecoin issuance and B2B settlements. The partnership highlights growing interest among major banks in using stablecoins for regulated financial infrastructure.
Source
BIS Says Tokenized Deposits Could Outpace Stablecoins
The BIS sees tokenized deposits playing a larger role than stablecoins in future payments. The view underscores the potential importance of bank-issued digital money as financial institutions move toward tokenized payment infrastructure.
Source
💼 Fintech
PayPal Shares Fall After Stripe-Advent Takeover Collapse
PayPal shares sank following reports that the Stripe-Advent takeover deal had collapsed. The development removes a potentially transformative transaction from the fintech M&A landscape.
Source
Socure Reaches $5.2B Valuation With Fravity Acquisition
Socure has acquired fraud-fighting startup Fravity as its valuation reaches $5.2 billion. The deal strengthens Socure’s position in AI-powered identity verification and fraud prevention.
Source
Avanza Challenges Banks With Algorithmic Portfolio Management
Avanza has launched algorithm-driven discretionary portfolio management for stocks at half the price of major-bank alternatives. The move brings automated wealth management deeper into mainstream investing while putting pressure on traditional banks’ pricing.
Source
MAS Commits S$220M to Singapore’s Next Fintech Push
Singapore’s Monetary Authority is committing S$220 million to support the country’s next phase of fintech development. The funding is designed to accelerate innovation and strengthen Singapore’s position as a global fintech hub.
Source
Swivel Lands on Temenos Digital Collector
Swivel has joined Temenos Digital Collector, expanding its presence within the banking-technology ecosystem. The integration supports continued modernization of digital financial services.
Source
🪙 Crypto
Grok Adds Crypto Buying and Lending Through MoonPay
X’s AI tool Grok now allows users to buy or lend crypto through a MoonPay integration. The move brings crypto functionality directly into an AI platform and highlights the emerging convergence of AI agents, fintech and digital assets.
Source
Bitmine Buys $131M of Ethereum
Tom Lee’s Bitmine has purchased $131 million worth of ETH, its largest Ethereum acquisition since June. The purchase reinforces the growing trend of corporate treasuries accumulating crypto assets at scale.
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Hyperliquid Eyes U.S. Crypto Perps With Kraken Parent
Hyperliquid is reportedly in talks with Kraken’s parent company to bring crypto perpetuals to U.S. traders. The potential expansion could give U.S. users access to one of the most prominent derivatives markets in crypto.
Source
Sberbank Sees $46B in Crypto Trading and Plans Crypto-Backed Loans
Russia’s Sberbank says it sees $46 billion in crypto trading and plans Ethereum- and USDT-backed loans. The move signals growing interest from a major traditional bank in providing lending products tied to digital assets.
Source
OSL Reports 66% Revenue Growth
Hong Kong digital-asset firm OSL has reported 66% revenue growth to $7.1 billion. The results highlight the rapid expansion of institutional digital-asset activity.
Source
📈 WealthTech
Mirae Asset Leads $20M Round for Indian Wealth Manager Nexedge
Mirae Asset has led a $20 million funding round for Indian wealth manager Nexedge. The investment highlights continued institutional interest in India’s expanding wealth-management technology market.
Source
DBS and ttb Expand Wealth Services in Thailand
DBS and Thailand’s ttb are teaming up to expand wealth-management services in the country. The partnership aims to strengthen wealth offerings as demand for sophisticated investment services grows.
Source
⚖️ Regulation
Bank of England Warns AI Models Could Disrupt Financial Markets
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that AI models could disrupt financial markets. The comments underscore growing regulatory concern around the potential systemic effects of increasingly powerful AI systems.
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Britain Plans New Bank of England Payments-Innovation Objective
The UK is planning a new Bank of England objective focused on supporting payments innovation. The proposal signals greater regulatory emphasis on keeping the country’s financial infrastructure competitive.
Source
🌍 Other
Ajaib Raises $270M Series C to Expand Indonesian Fintech
Indonesian fintech Ajaib has raised $270 million in Series C funding, backed by SBI Holdings. The large round gives the company substantial capital to expand its financial-services platform in Southeast Asia.
Source
ABHI and NOX Group Launch Earned Wage Access in Saudi Arabia
ABHI and NOX Group are partnering to launch earned-wage access for Saudi employees. The service gives workers greater flexibility over when they access already-earned income.
Source
TransUnion Finds Debt Settlement Can Hit Credit Scores Hard
New TransUnion research finds debt-settlement enrollment is associated with greater credit-score declines than bankruptcy. The findings could influence how consumers and financial advisers evaluate different approaches to managing debt.
Source
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