The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Feb 28th

By Gaia Lamperti

February 28, 2022

Bitcoin
Blockchain
BNPL

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

Italy’s FinTechs hit records

Italian BNPL company Scalapay just joined the unicorn club, the first company to hit the status in the country, following a $497 million Series B round that led to a $1 billion valuation. Tencent and Willoughby Capital led the round, with participation from Tiger Global, Gangwal, Moore Capital, Deimos, and Fasanara Capital. Scalapay offers payments in instalments across Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands and Austria.

Italy’s FinecoBank posted its full-year net profit of 2021 which hit a record €349.2 million ($399 million) driven by stronger net commissions. The Milan-listed bank, is one of Europe’s leading digital banks specialised in online brokerage which is already active in the UK and plans to start offering financial services in Germany by the end of 2022. FinecoBank said that it expects 2022 net financial income to at least match 2021 when it was €280 million.

Crypto is fighting the war too

Ukraine’s government raised almost $8 million in cryptocurrencies after posting appeals on social media for donations of bitcoin and other digital tokens on its official Twitter account, blockchain analysis company Elliptic reported. The government posted digital wallets addresses for tokens on the social media on Saturday, following the country’s invasion by Russia. “Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations,” wrote Vice-Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is also minister of digital transformation.

Bitcoin, ethereum, and other digital currencies prices have swung over the last week as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shattered global markets. Bitcoin’s price fell under $35,000 per coin this week and then rebounded sharply. Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have been equally volatile. Now, traders expect more gyrations after the announcement that Russia will be cut off from the world’s main international payments network SWIFT.

Where is the buzz

Sanctions hitting Russia’s central bank. Following the armed invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the EU, the US, the UK and Canada have announced that the assets of Russia’s central bank will be frozen. Additionally, some Russian banks will also be excluded from the SWIFT payment system. People in Russia hurried to withdraw money and the country’s central bank was forced to increase the money supply to ATMs after demand for cash reached the highest level since March 2020. The financial institution issued an appeal for calm saying that it has “the necessary resources and tools to maintain financial stability and ensure the operational continuity of the financial sector”.

February 28, 2022