The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | April 25th

By Gaia Lamperti

April 25, 2022

CBI
Commerzbank
Crypto

Monday

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Stepping into crypto

Germany’s Commerzbank is seeking to enter the crypto-assets market and has applied for a local crypto licence. The bank is the country’s first major institution to seek such a licence, and approval would enable the bank to offer crypto safekeeping services to its clients and to develop its crypto custody offering. Germany recently introduced a new licensing regime for crypto services in order to encourage regulated firms to enter the crypto market.

Stripe is piloting a new crypto payouts feature with Twitter, to enable creators on the social media app to collect their earnings in the USDC stablecoin. Payouts will take place over the Polygon network, which Stripe says was chosen for its low fees, speed, integration with Ethereum, and wallet compatibility with the likes of MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet and Rainbow.

Growing interest in UK’s FinTech

Confederation of British Industry‘s (CBI) president Lord Bilimoria has launched a campaign to get more businesses to use FinTech to fuel growth. The ‘Winning with FinTech’ campaign will call for business and government backing to promote the UK’s FinTech sector as a key opportunity, with a potential £32 billion additional revenues on offer by 2030. “Businesses need all the support they can get at present. Slow growth post-pandemic and supply chain struggles have been exacerbated by the terrible conflict in Ukraine,” said Bilimoria.”What firms need are fair winds and following seas, with fintech featuring a flotilla of benefits, making global trade smoother, payments easier and sustainability better.”

PitchBook data shows that FinTech investment in the UK totaled $14.35 billion across 662 deals, representing an increase of roughly 250% and 12% from the previous year, respectively. Already in 2022, there has been $2.72 billion invested across 71 deals. These data show that VC investment in the UK and Ireland continues to enjoy a purple patch, outpacing other European countries this year.

Where’s the buzz

Revolut has “paused” a referral scheme intended to help Ukrainian refugees, as it was getting exploited by users who could make up to £250 out of the scheme. The neobank launched the programme in March, making it easier for refugees of any nationality fleeing from Ukraine to set up accounts on the app without needing to meet all the documentation demands, like proof of a right to reside in Europe. Existing Revolut customers could refer as many as five people to these accounts for a referral fee of £50 in the UK.

April 25, 2022