Efi Pylarinou

Co-Founder and author

Top Global Fintech & Tech Influencer • Trusted by Finserv & Tech Global • Content & Influencer Services • Advisory for Digital Transformation • Speaking • connect@efipylarinou.com

Seasoned, credible, and independent services for your business.
As a Top Global Fintech & Tech thought leader, continuously recognized in multiple rankings of Who is Who, I offer Content and Influencer services to put your leadership and activities in the spotlight.
I take on advisory roles helping leadership stay ahead of Fintech trends in combination with their strategic objectives. 
I am also a Speaker and offer Workshops. 
I am also the Founder of the Financial Services Intelligence Hub. 

𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

My content services enhance your content strategy and include high-quality content - articles, videos, or white papers, shared on all my social networks (close to 250,000 followers). 

My Advisory services help you keep up and stay ahead of Fintech innovations and shape your digital transformation strategy. 
 
1.	Sponsor a series of Articles or Videos.
2.	Hire me as a Speaker. Currently speaking on `Thinking like an AI native Business` or `The Future of Money & Finance`.  
3.	Workshops: On the above topics or the broader topics shaping our future in collaboration with the faculty at the Fast Future Executive program.
4.	Advisory on a retainer basis plus project-based. 

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 - DM me. 

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐦

I am a seasoned Wall Street professional and ex-academic who has become a 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫.

I am a domain expert with a Ph.D. in Finance, a prolific Content creator, and a Faculty at Fast Future Executive. 

I am trusted by global Brands in Tech and Financial services (see brochure). 

I am a Top LinkedIn voice with 200,000 LinkedIn followers. Also included in:
-	Top 100 Tech Influencers - Awards Magazine
-	Top 20 Swiss Linkedin creators - Favikon 
-	Top 50 Digital Futurists, Top Linkedin & Twitter Voice - Engatica 
-	Top 20 Fintech Influencers & Top 20 in ‘ Who`s Who in AI’ influencers Onalytica 

I am a contributing author in these books
o	2025 Marshall Cavendish `Branch Tomorrow`
o	2024 Wiley `Fast Future Blur`
o	2021 Springer ` Theories of Change`
o	2019 `4IR, Reinventing a Nation`
o	2018 `WealthTech` Wiley

Follow me on: 
📌 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efipylarinou/
📌 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/EfiPylarinou
📌 Substack https://sifintechpulse.substack.com/
📌 Medium: https://efipm.medium.com/
📌 Twitter: https://twitter.com/efipm
📌 Apple Podcasts - https://buff.ly/3oSZ4CA
📌 Spotify - https://buff.ly/3xPyWaV
📌 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/efipm
📌 TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@efiglobal?lang=en

Founder of Pylarinou Advisory

B2B content campaign services (Blogs and Video). 
My global audience is close to 200,000 followers on Linkedin and an additional 20,000+ across other platforms.  

Speaking engagements & Education - Domain expertise includes Digital Banking, Capital markets, Wealth and Asset Management, Digital Assets, and innovative ways of using advanced technologies.

🔵 Day 1 at BIAN Banking Summit in Chicago: Why Standing Still OR Transformation Without the Right Architecture is the Riskiest Move in Banking 

I had an incredible conversation with two industry leaders about the future of banking architecture and AI-driven transformation:
‣ Steve Van Wyk, Chairman of the Board of BIAN Services GmbH– former CIO of HSBC
‣ Shanker Ramamurthy, Global Managing Partner for Banking & Financial Markets at IBM

Key themes we explored:
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 – Why doing nothing is riskier than deep transformation in today's banking landscape
🔷 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 – How BIAN has evolved beyond just setting standards to enabling actual adoption
🔷 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 – Decomposing legacy systems into vendor-agnostic, cloud-agnostic "Lego blocks"
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 – Why complexity grows faster than revenue in large banks, and how standards combat this
🔷 𝐀𝐈-𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 – BIAN leveraging GenAI to generate production-ready code from their reference models
🔷 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 – IBM's approach to translating boardroom strategy into executable transformation (using SLMs, heat mapping, and progressive modernization)
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚 – How projects that took months now happen in days, reducing complexity instead of increasing it

Shanker's closing words resonated deeply: "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟... 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒."

The message is clear: 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆-𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍.

Full conversation in the video 👇
𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑶𝑹 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 

#IBMambassador #Banking #FinancialServices

Talks about #fintech, #innovation, #digitalassets, and #artificialintelligence

🔴 The 23rd edition of the Agentic AI newsletter for financial services is out with news and insights from Asia, India, the Fed, and more. 

Capgemini's latest research exposes a stark reality: while 60% of banks and insurers prioritize AI agents for customer onboarding, only 10% have deployed at scale. That 80% still in ideation or pilot stages represents both massive opportunity and competitive vulnerability.

Here's what's happening right now:
‣ India's NBFCs double loan throughput and cut approvals from 7 days to hours using agentic AI integrated with Aadhaar and UPI
‣ Wealth managers find AI's killer app isn't flashy—it's breaking data silos, automating reconciliations, and giving advisers time for high-value client work
‣ Universal banks leverage integrated strengths: combining wealth, insurance, and asset management data to deliver personalized advice and AI-powered ESG analysis that processes satellite imagery to detect greenwashing.
‣ Agentic AI rewrites banking economics at software speed: instant refinancing, fluid deposits, and algorithm-driven attrition create new margin pressures
‣ Fed Vice Chair Barr issues urgent call: build guardrails now—model concentration, vendor dependencies, and cascading failures pose systemic risks.
‣ 96% of executives report real-time decisioning benefits, 91% see improved accuracy, but nearly half are creating new roles just to supervise AI agents.

The strategic divide is clear: leaders embed governance, vendor oversight, and lifecycle model risk management into deployment architecture. Laggards treat these as afterthoughts and face operational vulnerabilities that compound at scale.

The question isn't whether to deploy agentic AI—it's whether you're building the trust infrastructure, interoperable APIs, and risk frameworks required to compete at software speed without creating systemic vulnerabilities.

Read the full analysis in this week's edition—the only newsletter curating AI developments in financial services.

#AgenticAI #fintech #banking

🔵 94% of core banking transformations get derailed.

Not because banks lack technological expertise. Not because they lack budget. But because complexity grows faster than revenue, and most institutions remain trapped in product-centric thinking when customers need lifestyle ecosystem orchestration.

At the BIAN Banking Summit, I witnessed the convergence of AI-powered tools and standardization that compresses transformation timelines from years to weeks—but only for those willing to fundamentally rethink their approach.

I spent three days at the 2025 BIAN Banking Summit in Chicago as a guest of IBM, and several insights stood out:

🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 – Steve Van Wyk (former HSBC CIO, now Chairman of BIAN) made it clear: doing nothing is now riskier than deep transformation. Standing still means falling behind irreversibly.
🔷 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 – Banks must evolve from delivering smooth transactions to orchestrating customer lifestyle experiences. Think mortgages that include home services, insurance, and landscaping.
🔷 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 – IBM demonstrated how their end-to-end AI toolkit (CBM.ai, BIAN Industry SLM, Service Generator) translates CEO strategy into executable code in weeks instead of months or years.

The question isn't whether to transform. It's whether you'll join the 6% who succeed and lay the foundations to thrive in the AI era. PNC Bank, SBI Bank, DBS, and Bradesco are successful examples.  

Read the full article below 👇
#Banking #AI #BIAN #CoreBanking #IBMAmbassador
BIAN Services GmbH IBM

🔴 The week that separated AI-ready from AI-aspiring.

94% of core banking transformations derail — the #BIAN Summit exposed why complexity crushes revenue when architecture stays product-centric.

Meanwhile, Stripe demonstrates what "architecturally AI-ready" actually means: cloud-native, API-first, stateless services that make AI capabilities reusable, not retrofitted.

This week I also put the spotlight on World App's USDC payroll play in the US (frictionless or trust gap?), Cash App's Agentic AI MoneyBot launch as fraud hits $50B, and our upcoming Fintech Book Club session diving into Brett King's Peak Branch theme.

The pattern is unmistakable: infrastructure decisions made now determine who leads the agentic economy. The deployment gap isn't closing — it's widening.
Plus, don't miss this week's Agentic AI Newsletter (#25) on how winners pair agentic deployments with governance scaffolding from day one.

#fintech #AI #banking

🔴 When AI Agents Start Banking: From APIs to Agentic Finance

Generative AI is no longer just answering questions; it is changing banking at all levels. 
In our latest FS i-Hub session, Shaul David and David Jarvis (CEO, Griffin Bank, the first Baas provider to build an MCP) revealed how AI agents are moving from chatbots into the very fabric of banking systems, and why this changes everything we know about embedded finance.

The breakthrough? Griffin Bank's Model Context Protocol (MCP)—a machine-readable interface that lets AI agents prototype financial applications and interact with real banking systems.

Think about it: Your AI assistant doesn't just tell you about savings rates anymore—it has the tech capability to open accounts, move money, and manage investments on your behalf.

As Jarvis brilliantly noted: "AI agents will change distribution and access models, bringing financial services closer to the customer.

👇 Read the key insights from the session 

🎥 Watch the replay (link included in the article) 
🔔 Join our next FS i-Hub discussion and be part of the future of finance

#FSiHub #AgenticFinance #AI #Banking #MCP

🔵 Day 2 at the BIAN Summit in Chicago, and this conversation is a must-watch for anyone leading banking transformation.

I sat down with Saket Sinha (Senior Partner & VP of Financial Markets and Banking, IBM) and Billy Quinn (Product and Platform Architect Lead, Truist Bank) to discuss why transformation initiatives are falling short—and what actually works.

Here's what we cover:
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 IBM's latest research reveals 94% of banks are failing to see benefits from their core banking transformations despite billions invested. What's going wrong?
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 Required Why banks need to stop being inward-looking and start thinking about customer lifestyles and ecosystems—not just frictionless experiences.
🔷 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 How Truist is architecting transformation from front-to-back, treating both clients and internal employees as customers.
🔷 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 Real example: Reimagining mortgage not as a banking product, but as a 10 year lifestyle solution that orchestrates everything for the customer.
🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 How standardization provides a solid foundation while enabling strategic differentiation in niche products.
🔷 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐈 Why structured knowledge bases built on consistent standards are critical for faster AI training and confident outputs.

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠' 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠.

Watch the full conversation 👇 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝟗𝟒% 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟔%)

#Banking #CustomerCentric #transformation #IBMambassador

🔴 The $100M bet is in: financial giants are deploying agentic AI at production scale while regulators recalibrate.

Welcome to the 24th edition of 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐈 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬!
 
We're witnessing nine-digit production deployments alongside regulatory frameworks being written—and rewritten—in real time:
 
1️⃣ Intuit commits $100M+/year to OpenAI - users can now link accounts to ChatGPT for tax refunds, personalized product search, and business summaries
2️⃣ Grasshopper & Narmi launch first US MCP server for AI banking - ChatGPT and Claude get secure, consent-based access to SMB accounts
3️⃣ RBC's Aiden platform scales to 8,000+ users - 10x document throughput, 60% faster reports, C$700M-$1B projected enterprise value
4️⃣ Kaspersky warns: AI-enabled malware and blockchain C2 infrastructure accelerate threats - 1.3M banking trojan attacks this year
5️⃣ #EU delays AI Act enforcement - high-risk credit scoring and hiring rules postponed under competitiveness pressure
6️⃣ #MAS issues comprehensive AI risk guidelines - governance, lifecycle controls, and third-party oversight for all financial institutions
 
The gap between AI capability and governance has never been more visible. Organizations deploying at scale are building compliance into architecture from day one, while regulators navigate the tension between innovation velocity and fundamental rights.
 
#AI #banking #regulation
 
Read the full analysis in this week's newsletter, the only dedicated weekly publication curating AI developments in financial services 👇

🔴 The agentic finance paradox: Cash App is rolling out MoneyBot—an AI agent that can move your money with simple confirmations—while banks remain cautious about liability. Yet payment fraud now exceeds $50 billion annually, costing institutions $4.41 per dollar lost in remediation.

Welcome to the 25th edition of the Agentic AI Newsletter for Financial Services!

A weekly edition with the essential intelligence on the AI-powered transformation of Financial Services. AI agents are working tirelessly 24/7 to curate global news and articles, which are enhanced with my human insights.

This week captures the tension between convenience and control as agentic AI becomes operational:
1️⃣ 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐁𝐨𝐭 - agentic chatbot that analyzes transactions and moves money with simple confirmations
2️⃣ 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 - privacy-by-design, risk scorecards, and audit trails for production AI
3️⃣ 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 $𝟓𝟎𝐁 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲  - institutions spend $4.41 per dollar lost as AI enables sophisticated schemes
4️⃣ 𝐔𝐊 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬 - Which? finds systematic errors in financial advice across leading platforms
5️⃣ 𝐄𝐔 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 - Digital identity reforms promise €150B in annual savings from streamlined KYC
6️⃣ 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 - PayPal cuts latency 50%, CrowdStrike hits 98.5% accuracy, Synopsys gains 72% productivity

Banks hesitate on agentic features while Cash App moves ahead. Meanwhile, fraud accelerates and chatbot advice proves unreliable. The institutions succeeding are those building governance frameworks alongside deployment.
Which development signals the biggest shift in your business dealings—the convenience of agentic AI or the escalating risk landscape? Share your thoughts 👇

This is the 25th edition of my 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 - the only dedicated publication where I curate the most important AI developments in financial services. If you haven't subscribed already, hit the Subscribe button.

#fintech #banking #AI

🔴 When AI agents start banking, the game changes completely.

Griffin Bank's Model Context Protocol enables agents to go beyond chatting. Google launched agentic shopping that autonomously completes purchases through Google Pay (without their own AP2 protocol). And Coinbase's cancelled $2B BVNK acquisition exposed the real tensions in stablecoin infrastructure valuations.
At UCLA's Fast Future Summit, I explored how money's meaning is being rewritten—from dissolving industry boundaries to AI agents as new economic actors.
My latest Agentic AI Newsletter #23 reveals the deployment divide: 60% of banks prioritize AI agents for customer onboarding, but only 10% have deployed at scale. That 80% gap represents both massive opportunity and competitive vulnerability.

The infrastructure built today determines who leads the agentic economy tomorrow.

#fintech #AI #banking #stablecoins #payments

🔴 World App (founded by Sam Altman & Alex Blania) just launched virtual bank accounts in the U.S. that auto-convert payroll deposits into USDC. 

But here's the reality check nobody's talking about:
The combination of "𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬" + "𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨" is quite a leap for mainstream adoption.

Let me break down what's actually happening here:
📍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒: World (formerly Worldcoin) partnered with Lead Bank—a state-chartered bank with money transmitter licenses in 46 U.S. states—to offer virtual account numbers that automatically convert traditional payroll deposits into Circle's USDC stablecoin. No employer blockchain interaction required. No gas fees. Sounds frictionless, right?

📍 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊: Lead Bank as a BaaS provider is only about 3 years old, despite their century-old charter. Founded in 1928 as Garden City Bank, it was acquired in August 2022 for $56M by former Square Capital executive Jackie Reses and her team (including co-founders who built Square's in-house bank). They've since transformed it into a fintech infrastructure powerhouse serving Affirm, Ramp, Branch, and now powering Stripe + Visa's stablecoin card platform! The bank has grown from $779M to $1.7B+ in assets in just three years.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓: World's Orbs only launched in the U.S. in May 2025—just 6 months ago—after deliberately avoiding the American market since 2023 due to regulatory concerns. They're currently in just 6 cities with plans to deploy 7,500 Orbs by year-end.
Meanwhile: South Korea fined them $800K+ for privacy violations. Hong Kong ordered operations to cease entirely. Spain, Portugal, Germany, Kenya, and the Philippines have all taken legal action or issued cease & desist orders.

📍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: World claims 37.6M World App users globally. But notably absent? Any U.S.-specific verification numbers. 

On incentives: World has distributed 847M WLD tokens to users (worth approximately $517M at today's price of ~$0.61 per token). The token peaked at $11.74 in March 2024 but has since crashed 94%. Users who scan their iris receive free WLD tokens—a massive airdrop to drive adoption.

📍𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒? 
The value proposition targets: 
• Cross-border workers needing fee-free international transfers 
• Underbanked populations seeking 24/7 access to digital dollars (ex-US)

But here's the trust equation they're asking users to solve: New fintech platform + stablecoin dependency + automatic payroll conversion to crypto + biometric identity verification + volatile token incentives =❓

The regulatory climate has clearly shifted—CEO Alex Blania cited "growing political clarity" as enabling the U.S. launch. But political clarity doesn't automatically translate to consumer comfort with iris scanning for banking access.

Will American consumers Trust❓

News source in the comments. 

#Fintech #Banking #Stablecoins

🔴 November's FS i-Hub lineup is here—and it's about making financial services innovation work in the real world.

After October's conversations on VRPs, AI for thin-file lending, and banking efficiency, we're shifting focus and starting November with Quantum Readiness and we continue with the topics below:

🔹 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐬 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥: 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤
 Nov 13 | 5pm CET | 11am EST
 Hugo Pacheco and Rob Sanford (CEO, SafeBoda) explore how local African platforms are competing—and winning—against global giants, reshaping gig work and financial inclusion through embedded finance.
🔹 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?
 Nov 14 | 5pm CET | 11am EST
 Marie Walker (Raidiam) and Jane Barratt (MX) tackle the ultimate test for any innovation: moving from policy to practice. What's working, what's not, and where collaboration needs to go next.
🔹 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭: 𝐀 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚
 Nov 27 | 2pm CET | 8am EST
 Marie Walker and Liz Brandt (Ctrl-Shift, UK Smart Data Council) unpack how the UK is transforming consumer empowerment through Smart Data—and what other markets can learn.

Three critical conversations. Real practitioners. Direct Q&A.
Register via the links in the FS i-Hub.

#fintech #openbanking #embeddedfinance #smartdata #Africa

🔴 94% of core banking transformations get derailed.

I spent most of this week in Chicago at the BIAN Summit, where IBM, BIAN, and Truist Bank didn't sugarcoat it: doing nothing is now riskier than transformation. 
Building AI-ready architecture on standardized foundations and rethinking banking from the customer's life outward, is the ony way forward.

Meanwhile, Sierra just hit a $10B valuation by introducing enterprise AI pricing—pay only for fully resolved cases. 

My 24th Agentic AI newsletter covers how Intuit, RBC, and other giants are placing $100M+ bets on production-scale agentic AI, while regulators sprint to balance innovation velocity with systemic safety.

Also this week: Open Finance adoption insights from Raidiam and MX, revealing why Brazil's blueprint matters, and why value beats regulation every time.

#fintech #banking #AI

🔴 This week in Review - what I covered. 

Larry Fink didn't talk about tokenization for retail hype. He signaled the future of the $15 trillion collateral market—where settlement risk and liquidity friction finally meet their match. 

Meanwhile, quantum readiness is a strategic imperative, AI is redefining banking's composability pyramid, and agentic authentication is exposing the frontier where speed collides with security.

These aren't trends. They're infrastructure shifts happening now—from BlackRock's boardroom to quantum-safe protocols, from BIAN frameworks enabling true modularity to AI underwriting that's rewriting approval timelines.

#Fintech #AI #Tokenization #QuantumComputing

🔵  The global "Peak Branch" phenomenon is reshaping banking worldwide – and 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 is the ONLY book documenting it. From East to West, North to South, Branch Tomorrow takes you around the world exploring each region's unique story of branch and ATM closures.

But first – 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 to all my US friends, colleagues, and followers! 🦃 Wishing you a wonderful day filled with gratitude, family, and good food.

Now, a special invitation and mark you calendars...
📚 Fintech Book Club –Friday, December 12, 2025 
🕐 10:00 EDT |16:00 CET LinkedIn LIVE

This one is more personal.
We're discussing 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 by Brett King – and I'm honored to be one of the contributing authors alongside an extraordinary global group: Bruno Diniz, 💯 Jim Marous, Paolo Sironi, and Richard Turrin.

Brett's perspective is clear: the branch is done, other than as support to digital banking. But what does this mean for the future of banking, finance, and the global economy?

Join me and my fellow Fintech Book Club hosts Stessa Cohen and Jim Perry as we unpack Brett's insights and the contributors' perspectives.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 – especially as AI meets mature cloud and mobile cycles.

🔗 Mark your calendar and join us LIVE https://lnkd.in/dtJQXsTX

See you on December 12th!

Grab your copy at BranchTomorrow.com

#Banking #Fintech

🔴 Open banking isn't “coming soon” — it’s already here.
But adoption depends on far more than APIs. In this FS i-Hub conversation, Marie Walker (Raidiam) and Jane Barratt (MX) broke down the real drivers of adoption across countries, industries, and everyday users — and why value, trust, and usability matter more than regulation alone.

🔑 Top 3 Takeaways
1️⃣ 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 = 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲.
Despite decades of data sharing in the U.S., adoption only scales when users feel the benefit. Tax filing, mortgage applications, credit access, money management — real, immediate outcomes drive behavior, not infrastructure.

2️⃣ 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 & 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬.
Even with clear consent flows, tokenization, and interoperable standards, users hesitate when they don’t understand where their data is going or why. A uniform experience — or even a cross-industry trust mark — could unlock the next wave of adoption.

3️⃣ 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
From 7,000+ U.S. financial institutions to thousands of fintechs, adoption varies not because of demand, but because of scale and maturity. Markets like Brazil saw explosive SME adoption thanks to digital ID, instant payments (PIX), and unified regulatory direction — a blueprint for “leapfrog” markets worldwide.

Read more highlights from the discussion in the article below and if you care, check out the recording of the conversation. 

#banking #fintech #openfinance

🔵 Last month, I had the privilege of delivering a power talk at the UCLA The Fast Future Executive Summit on "The Great Money Remix: Breaking The Rules of Economic Activity."

We've evolved from hand-written IOUs to the current evolving remix.  

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐱: 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲.

My talk highlights:
📍 The boundaries of the financial services sector have dissolved.
📍 New business models of FS work without banks.
📍 The double-spending problem is solved, and digitally native is redefined.
📍 AI agents are the new upcoming economic participants.
📍 Money flavors are on the rise.
📍The sky is the limit in redesigning the money industry.

Money continues to evolve based on our shifting beliefs. Our imagination is the limit.

The question isn't whether this transformation is happening—it's whether you're positioned to understand and navigate it.

Enjoy the full 15 min talk 👉 https://lnkd.in/dDQKaaDz

#fintech #money #banking

🔵 The Real World Asset Tokenization Boom: $35.8B and Accelerating 🚀

While Stablecoin surging c. 50% YoY to ~$300B continues to dominate 2025 headlines, Real World Assets (which include tokenized money market funds) more than doubled to $35.8B (↑125% YoY).

Together, they represent over $335B in tokenized `assets`—and the how and where reveals the real story about institutional blockchain adoption.

📍𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲:
• Private Credit: +91% to $18.8B (still 52.5% of market) 
• US Treasury Debt: +126% to $9.2B (MMFs proving product-market fit) 
• Commodities: +194% to $3.1B (tokenization beyond financial instruments) 
• Institutional Alternative Funds: +672% to $2.7B (sophisticated capital entering the tokenization space)
What's changed in 2025? The top 3 categories dropped from 93.9% to 86.7% of total RWA market share. This is diversification into a maturing asset class infrastructure.

📍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬:
The network data from RWA.xyz reveals a critical distinction in how institutions are approaching tokenization:

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐬 (𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝-𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠): 
• Canton Network: $372.7B across 8,460 assets (95.2% market share) 
• Provenance: $13.9B (the Figure Technologies Blockchain – 3.56% market share)
• Purpose: Immutable records, legacy custody systems
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐬 (𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐧-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭): 
• Ethereum: $11.8B across 303 assets (64.2% market share) 
• BNB Chain: $1.6B (↑99.56% in 30 days! – 8.53% market share) 
• Solana: $757M across 88 assets (4.14% market share)
Purpose: Transfer, custody, programmability, composability

📌 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:
Stablecoins proved crypto-native payment rails work at scale. Now RWAs are proving the same for yield-bearing assets, lending, and complex financial instruments.

Canton's dominance shows institutions are comfortable with blockchain as a "source of truth" layer. But Ethereum's leadership in distributed RWAs—where assets are actually transferable and composable on-chain—signals where the real transformation is happening.

We're watching two parallel infrastructures emerge: one for institutional record-keeping at scale, another for genuinely programmable, liquid, interoperable assets.

The 672% growth in Institutional Alternative Funds and BNB Chain's near-doubling in 30 days suggests the distributed model is reaching an inflection point.

If stablecoins were 2025's proof of concept, RWAs are 2026's infrastructure play. Together, they're rewriting the rails of global finance especially at the institutional level.

What's your take? Is blockchain adoption settling into incremental record-keeping upgrades, or are we witnessing the early stages of a deep capital markets transformation that will take off in 2026?

#RWA #Tokenization #Blockchain

RWA Tokenization

🔵 Stripe is a textbook example of what Sangeet Paul Choudary calls an “architecturally AI‑ready” Fintech player.

Stripe started as a cloud‑native, API‑first platform, with stateless services, sharded data stores, and cell‑based architectures designed for horizontal scale and rapid experimentation.

               “𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐈‑𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲” 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡

It`s modular, API‑first platform lets AI sit across the whole payments lifecycle, not as an add‑on feature.That makes it relatively straightforward to plug AI models into fraud, authorization, revenue optimization, and developer tools as shared services across the platform.

To make this tangible for business leaders, three architectural aspects matter beyond the 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐏𝐈-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 aspects:
🔷 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 – 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝: Stateless services don’t “remember” past requests; each payment or fraud check brings the information it needs. That makes it easy for Stripe to spread AI workloads across many servers and simply add capacity when volumes spike, so AI‑driven fraud scoring and authorization decisions keep working smoothly even on peak days.
🔷 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 – 𝐀𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚: Sharding splits Stripe’s data across many databases so the platform can process huge global volumes without slowing down. This is what allows Stripe’s AI to detect subtle fraud patterns, improve authorization rates, and benchmark merchants against peers, because the models can learn from rich, high‑volume data without the system choking on it.
🔷 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥‑𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 – 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲: A cell‑based architecture is like running many “mini Stripes,” each serving a slice of customers. If a new AI model misbehaves, the impact is contained to a cell rather than the whole network. This lets Stripe roll out new AI capabilities for developers and customers (for Radar, Adaptive Acceptance, billing and revenue tools, or agentic commerce) with fast iteration and controlled risk.

These architectural choices explain why Stripe can expose AI as reusable capabilities: fraud prevention embedded in every payment, smarter approval optimization, AI‑enhanced revenue and billing, and a developer experience where AI is accessible through APIs, dashboards, and workflows—not as a bolt‑on.

🔗 You can watch the full discussion with Sangeet Choudary about his book “Reshuffle” and ` The AI Reshuffle: Revolutionizing Business Models, Work, and Industry Control`
Link in the comments

#AI #payments #fintech

🔵 Stripe just paid $1 billion for something it could have built. That tells you everything about the complexity and urgency of usage-based billing in the AI era.

The biggest shift in software monetization since SaaS is happening. Patrick Collison isn't mincing words: 𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 "𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐞𝐫𝐚," potentially as big as (or bigger than) the advent of SaaS itself.

UBB - Usage Based Billing

Payment processing is one layer; monetization logic is another. Stripe is focused now on both.

🔷 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭
Metronome's valuation doubled in less than a year (from $470M in February to $1B now), with 8x growth in platform volume during 2024. Their client roster speaks volumes: OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Nvidia—companies where consumption-based pricing isn't optional, it's essential.

The shift makes sense. AI value correlates directly with consumption: API calls, compute time, tokens processed. Traditional seat-based subscriptions simply don't capture how customers actually derive value.

🔷 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦

This isn't a one-company phenomenon. This market has exploded with specialized players, each carving out territory. Here are four infrastructure players comparable to Metronome:
‣ Orb – Usage-based billing and pricing infra with strong adoption among modern SaaS and AI companies; Metronome itself positions Orb as its primary direct comparator.
‣ m3ter – Purpose-built usage metering and rating engine for complex B2B SaaS and hybrid models, often grouped with Metronome and Amberflo as the core UBB infra cohort.
‣ Amberflo.ai – Developer-first consumption billing that focuses on metering at scale and “AWS-style” usage pricing; regularly listed alongside Metronome and m3ter as leading UBB startups.
‣ Lago – Open‑source usage-based billing and metering, explicitly branded as a Metronome alternative and highlighted as the strongest choice when teams want control and self-hosting.

Stripe chose to acquire rather than build. That signals how complex and critical this capability has become.

🔷 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Usage-based pricing aligns revenue with value delivery in ways subscriptions never could. It's more transparent for customers, more scalable for providers, and infinitely more adaptable to hybrid models.

For financial services and fintech, this is an infrastructure-level transformation. We're not just talking about billing—we're talking about how companies capture value in real-time, optimize pricing dynamically, and build monetization as a competitive advantage.

The question isn't whether to consider usage-based models. It's how quickly you can implement them before your competitors do.

#Fintech #AI #monetization

🔴 BEYOND THE HEADLINES -- When Vanguard capitulates and BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF becomes their #1 revenue generator, Wall Street crypto businesses are printing money irrespective of the ups and downs of the underlying crypto assets. #AndTheIronyIs that while Jamie Dimon still calls Bitcoin a "pet rock," he continues to build a crypto empire.

📍 Vanguard's Historic Reversal
Starting December 2nd, 2024, Vanguard opened its $11 T platform to crypto ETF trading—a stunning reversal from the firm that triggered #BoycottVanguard campaigns when it blocked Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.

🖍️ Which ETFs? Which cryptos? Vanguard will allow trading of ETFs holding BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL from major issuers: BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, etc..

Vanguard won't launch its own crypto products but can no longer ignore 50+ M clients demanding access. The catalyst? New CEO Salim Ramji, who helped launch BlackRock's IBIT before joining Vanguard in July 2024

📍 BlackRock's IBIT: The Revenue Machine
Launched January 11, 2024, IBIT now holds $88B
🖍️ The fee math:
IBIT charges 0.25% annually = ~$220M in fees
BlackRock's S&P 500 ETF (IVV): $624B AUM but only 0.03% fee = $187M

IBIT earns MORE revenue than an ETF 7X its size. It became BlackRock's top revenue source across 1,400+ ETFs. It holds 3%+ of Bitcoin's supply.

📍 JPMorgan: The Quiet Crypto Conglomerate

While Dimon calls Bitcoin worthless, JPMorgan has built a crypto business without directly holding Bitcoin:
🖍️ Crypto-Backed Lending (launching end-2025)
Accepts Bitcoin & Ethereum as loan collateral
Also accepts crypto ETFs as collateral (since June 2024)
Uses third-party custodians
Counts crypto in client net worth alongside stocks, cars, art
🖍️ Crypto Trading Services (launching 2025)
Will facilitate client crypto trading without custody
Focus on liquidity provision and execution
🖍️ Structured Products 
JPMorgan: Bitcoin-linked notes indexed to IBIT with 1.5x leveraged upside (uncapped) through 2028. Early call: 16% guaranteed return if IBIT hits target in 2026. 30% downside protection if held to 2028.

Morgan Stanley: Offers "dual directional autocallable trigger plus" 2-year notes—enhanced payouts if Bitcoin ETF stays flat or rises, modest gains if it falls less than 25%. Already brought in $104 million in sales.

Both target high-net-worth clients seeking sophisticated crypto volatility plays.

BEYOND THE OBVIOUS:

Wall Street isn't making directional bets on Bitcoin. They do what they do well: structure volatility products, earn fees, and let clients take the price risk. 😉

📌 Three Wall Street crypto revenue streams:
‣ ETF management fees 
‣ Crypto-backed lending 
‣ Structured products 

𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰!
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤.
Links to the actual headlines in the comments.
#fintech #crypto #ETFs

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