Author: Christian Amanpour
Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesCoinbase is removing fees for purchases of PayPal’s stablecoin as part of a broader effort to increase the use of the coin, and an attempt to boost on-chain payment opportunities for consumers and institutional users. In a blog post Thursday, Coinbase said it aims “to accelerate the adoption, distribution, and utilization of the PayPal USD (PYUSD),” the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin that has lagged the market since it launched in 2023. With a market cap of only about $730 million, it PayPal USD controls less than 1% of the market for stablecoins tied to the dollar. Tether’s…
Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 7, 2019.Pedro Nunes | ReutersLONDON — British fintech firm Revolut on Thursday announced it topped $1 billion in annual profit for the first time, a major milestone for the company on the road to an eventual initial public offering.Revolut, which offers a range of banking and financial services via an app, said that net profit for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024, totaled £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion), up 149% year over year. Revenues at the company increased 72% year on year to £3.1 billion, driven by growth across…
A cartoon image of US President-elect Donald Trump with cryptocurrency tokens, depicted in front of the White House to mark his inauguration, displayed at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe $TRUMP meme coin jumped more than 50% on Wednesday after the top 220 holders of the token were promised dinner with the president.”Have Dinner in Washington, D.C. With President Trump,” reads a message on the front page of the Trump coin’s website. The dinner — black tie optional — is scheduled for May 22, with a reception for…
The Global Payments Company logo seen displayed on a smartphone.Igor Golovniov | LightRocket | Getty ImagesGlobal Payments shares tumbled 17% on Thursday after the company said it’s buying Worldpay for more than $24 billion while simultaneously selling its Issuer Solutions business to Fidelity National Information Services. The company said that in acquiring Worldpay, which FIS had purchased in 2019 before later selling a majority stake, it’s expanding its reach and will be able to serve over 6 million customers across more than 175 countries, enabling $3.7 trillion in annual payment volume. In selling its Issuer Solutions unit to FIS for…
Dutch digital bank Bunq is plotting re-entry into the U.K. to tap into a “large and underserved” market of some 2.8 million British “digital nomads.”Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesDutch digital bank Bunq on Tuesday said it’s filed for broker-dealer registration in the U.S. as it looks to further expand across the Atlantic.Bunq CEO Ali Niknam said the broker-dealer application will be an initial step toward securing a full banking license. He couldn’t offer a firm timeline for when Bunq will secure this authorization in the U.S. — but said he’s excited for its growth prospects…
AUSTIN — On a Friday morning last spring, Mark Suman called out sick from his job as a senior engineering project manager at Apple and made his way downtown to a place called the Bitcoin Commons, a sort of clubhouse for enthusiasts of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, situated a few blocks south of the Texas State Capitol.At the time, Suman was, in his words, “an active hobbyist,” tinkering with the technology in his spare time. “I actually played around with it a bit within Apple as well,” he says. “There’s not a lot I can say, other than we were…
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFintech’s relief rally is already losing steam.Shares of Affirm, Toast, Bill.com, PayPal and other consumer-focused fintech firms turned lower Thursday.The retreat followed a powerful bounce Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on dramatically higher import tariffs.While the administration simultaneously escalated duties on Chinese goods to 125%, markets took the broader delay as a sign that Washington may soften its stance — at least temporarily — on the more disruptive elements of its trade agenda.The sector still faces longer-term risks, from rising hardware costs to small business credit exposure and macro uncertainty.Affirm…
Thomas Fuller | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesThe fintech sector is rallying Wednesday following the Trump administration’s announcement of a 90-day pause on planned tariffs. Affirm was up 20%, Toast and Block rose 13% and PayPal increased 10%. The 90-day pause doesn’t eliminate the threat of tariffs — it just delays it. Investors are still pricing in risk, including inflation, discretionary pullbacks, hardware import costs and credit exposure.Legacy payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard, both up 6%, continue to benefit from inflation and their structural ties to nominal GDP. These companies take a percentage of every transaction. That makes…
Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 18, 2022.Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesThe U.S. Justice Department abruptly shut down its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, signaling a major shift in how the federal government will handle crypto-related crimes going forward, according to a memo obtained by NBC News Tuesday.The memo, sent Monday night by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, outlines a decentralized approach in which U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will now take the lead on digital asset cases, focusing primarily on crimes involving terrorism.The memo said efforts would focus on “prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset…
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesRipple on Tuesday said that it’s agreed to buy prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, in the crypto startup’s biggest acquisition to date.Founded in 2018, Hidden Road offers clearing, prime brokerage and financing services across foreign exchange, digital assets, derivatives, swaps and fixed income. It currently clears more than $3 trillion annually across markets with over 300 institutional customers, including hedge funds.The acquisition marks one of the largest deals in the digital asset space to date, topping Stripe’s $1.1 billion February deal to buy Bridge, a platform that makes it easier for…