Visa snags Currencycloud for $963M 🤯; Stellar Foundation could buy MoneyGram 👀; Zip goes crypto 😑
Good Morning FinTech. 7/30
Visa, when asked how many FinTechs it plans to buy…
Good morning Everyone,
And happy Friday! It’s the last day before the weekend. Bitcoin has rebounded and currently trades at $32,500, most of the stocks are green so life is good. To make it even better, let’s hit the 3 stories for today:
Visa snags Currencycloud for $963M 🤯
1.5 years later… ⏰ A year and a half after Currencycloud raised $80M in a round that included Visa, the London-based developer of APIs that power remittance and currency exchange services, got acquired by the same Visa in a deal valued at $963M (£700M).
Strong profile 📈 Currencycloud has some 500 customers in 180 countries that use its APIs to power multicurrency wallets, currency exchange services, and account management, including some of the biggest FinTech startups around, such as Monzo, Monese, Starling, Revolut, and Dwolla.
Good play 💸 This price is a very decent leap from that last funding round when sources told TechCrunch the startup was valued at around $500M. Not too shabby!
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
Visa is on the buying spree!💸 It’s the second major acquisition of the year for Visa, which last month agreed to buy Swedish FinTech Tink for $2.1B. Back in 2019, Visa has acquired Earthport in the UK, which effectively gave them a global bank payout capability and is one of the legs of their multi-rail strategy. Currencycloud follows the same path - it expands their FinTech offering (and gives more advantage against Mastercard), complements existing deals like the Earthport acquisition, and supports the bigger multi-rail strategy. Because ultimately, Visa wants to be the leading player when it comes to all things payments.
Stellar Foundation could buy MoneyGram 👀
The letter was sent 📧 Stellar Development Foundation has contacted MoneyGram International about a potential purchase of the 81-year-old remittance giant, Bloomberg reported.
Not alone 👥 Stellar is partnering with private equity firm Advent on a possible deal.
San Francisco-based Stellar is a non-profit that supports a blockchain-based platform enabling consumers and institutions to move money. Earlier this year it made a $15M investment in AirTM, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer exchange platform based in Mexico.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What a twist! 😬 A Stellar takeover of MoneyGram would be a cruel twist of fate for the regulators’ embattled Ripple given the two crypto projects’ historical rivalry. More importantly, it would be a move that could potentially start more upstarts’ taking over the incumbents. Some of it is definitely inevitable.
Zip goes crypto 😑
Crypto in 12 months 👀 Zip Co, an Australian buy now, pay later firm (BNPL), is reportedly looking to launch crypto services in the next 12 months in a bid to supercharge growth. Really? 😬
Demand, demand, demand 📈 Peter Gray, co-founder of Zip, said trading in crypto through the use of a native digital wallet developed by the pay-later firm was one of the most sought-after product features from users. Meh… 😑
Not convinced 🤷♂️ In afternoon trade on Thursday, the BNPL provider’s shares are down a sizeable 7.5% to $7.02 despite positive outlook and crypto news. Investors were definitely not convinced…
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
Crypto to the rescue? 🤔 Zip is following the early steps of Cash App, then Robinhood and PayPal, all of whom have added crypto to their offerings. And it paid off! Massively. In 2020, the company did 1.9 billion in transaction value, making it one of the largest of its kind in Australia behind rival AfterPay. The expectation is obviously to significantly increase this, and this is where the crypto might come into play. On the other hand, it’s an interesting diversification play against the upcoming Apple Pay Later. Though I’m not sure whether it will be enough… 🤔
🔎 What else I’m watching
Coinbase + Doge 🐶 Coinbase Commerce has just added support for Dogecoin payments. Funny enough, the memecoin is only the 6th crypto to be integrated with Coinbase’s e-commerce platform. Maybe Doge is not that meme after all? 😂
Robinhood fines 👀 Robinhood Crypto expects to pay a $30M fine to NY State Regulatory Body, according to S-1 filings. They revealed its crypto arm is under fire for inadequate cybersecurity and for breaking anti-money laundering laws.
Family offices + Crypto = 🖤 A Goldman Sachs survey of family offices found that 15% already invest in cryptocurrencies and another 45% are interested.
SpaceX crypto 😲 Elon Musk-led aerospace company SpaceX holds Bitcoin, the unpredictable chief executive said at the B Word conference on Wednesday.
No synthetics! 🙅🏽♂️ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler cautioned bankers to take heed regarding the proliferation of synthetic stocks on the blockchain, according to a Wednesday speech made before the American Bar Association’s Derivatives and Futures Law Committee.
💸 Following the Money
Paris-based FinTech Spendesk, which automates finance processes, has raised €100M in a Series C led by General Atlantic.
Dwolla, a modern payments platform, has raised a $21M venture round led by Foundry Group to drive innovation for today’s B2B payments.
Thesis, a crypto venture studio behind projects like tBTC, has raised $21M in a Series A funding round.
Decentralized identity startup Magic has raised $27M from Northzone, Tiger Global, and several others.
👋 That’s it for today! Thank you for reading and have a productive Friday! And if you enjoyed this newsletter, invite your friends and colleagues to sign up:
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