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The week in Fintech
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Kalshi's Wisconsin challenge escalated into a New York lawsuit and a broader coalition of states opposing prediction-market expansion. Meanwhile, Robinhood, Binance.US, Wall Street firms, and sports partners pursued new event-based products, widening the conflict between federal commodities authority and state gambling law.
Upstart and Increase advanced strategies to own or directly control regulated banking infrastructure, while a state-led challenge to fintech-bank acquisitions and an FDIC action against a former fintech partner raised the cost of that model. The week's licensing discussion also showed that access to a bank charter remains a strategic dividing line for fintechs.
Visa, Lloyds, Chime, and Western Union tied AI investment to cost reduction, workforce changes, or weaker legacy performance. The pattern moved AI from a product feature toward a company-wide operating model.
The US Clarity Act lost momentum as bank and political opposition grew, prompting the SEC to prepare a fallback path for digital-asset rules. Policy proposals for crypto fundraising and a UK framework effort showed regulators continuing to build alternatives while legislation remains unsettled.
Stablecoin supply passed $300 billion as Circle expanded its regulated footprint, acquired blockchain patents, and supported enterprise payment infrastructure. Enterprise payouts and tokenized-deposit experiments pushed the technology toward operational use, while trust and security concerns remained visible.
Coinbase recorded a third consecutive quarterly miss as lower spot-trading activity weakened transaction revenue and pushed shares lower. The repeated shortfall increased pressure on the exchange to prove that its earnings can withstand softer crypto markets.
UK open banking passed one billion payments, while Project Agorá moved tokenized wholesale payments into roughly 80-second settlement and completed tokenized-deposit transactions. In parallel, the Federal Reserve weighed broader direct access for eligible fintechs, strengthening the case for payment infrastructure beyond traditional bank channels.
X Money moved from a US wallet and Visa card launch into a broader rollout for premium subscribers. The progression shows X testing whether its existing social distribution can become a recurring payments channel.
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