Week in Digital Wealth

Just when it looked like the summer doldrums were upon us, Square saved the day, announcing a blockbuster deal in the buy now, pay later space. It is yet another sign that fintech continues to disrupt traditional payments. In addition, international M&A is afoot while the IPO pipeline continues to grow.

Financial technology continues to attract legacy finance players. Fintech IPO roadshows have gone digital, while big banks are also riding the digital wave. The IMF wants to know if CBDCs are the solution for the unbanked population, and Elon Musk is back on the good side of bitcoin investors.

Blockchain is all the rage these days, as evidenced by corporate America’s desire to pile in. Serena Williams backs a startup that gives the renters of the world a fighting chance. The Amazon.com and Netflix of the online mortgage lending industry made its listing debut, while Serena Williams scored on behalf of a segment of the population that is underserved in financial services. Let’s dive in.

What a difference a week can make! The SPAC deal pipeline continues to fill, while Wise tested the mettle of the LSE in a post-Brexit world and the Nasdaq provided a Shanghai surprise. One major Wall Street firm made a bullish call on a fintech consumer lending platform. Google is on the fintech prowl in Japan while the banks look on, plus traditional lenders are upping the ante to compete with their tech-savvy rivals.

JPMorgan is back on the fintech circuit with its second acquisition in the span of a few short weeks. Pop sensation Britney Spears and her conservatorship battle also made an appearance in this week’s roundup, while Robinhood is riding the IPO wave.

The deal pipeline is filling in the fintech space, chief of which includes Visa flexing its muscle in Europe’s open banking industry. Kids are gaining access to financial apps sooner than later, thanks to one UK-based challenger bank. In addition, a couple of German fintech startups are looking to gain a foothold in the US market while the IPO pipeline keeps growing. Andreessen Horowitz has made a key hire and is doubling down on crypto despite a murky regulatory environment.

Fintechs are increasingly coming into their own, with investment banks hunting ways to rub shoulders with the digital crowd. In the past week, JPMorgan made a splash with a fintech investment while the IPO pipeline is filling in the U.S., as well as globally. PayPal is upping the ante for merchants as it boasts its prowess in the competitive payments landscape, while central bank digital currencies are all the rage.

A bevy of deal activity kept the fintech space in the spotlight once again. The pipeline of startups set to hit the public markets after Marqeta made a splash on the Nasdaq last week is building, and SPACs are still hot to trot. Payments platform Stripe has launched its own AI-fueled identity product, while the buy now, pay later trend continues to gain momentum.

Fintechs continue to grab the spotlight on a global stage as venture capital chases startups and the pipeline continues to grow for more mature companies to list in the public markets, mostly through SPACs. The pace of deals does not appear to be slowing down as fintech billionaires are minted overseas while Asia and Latin America seek to raise their profile for tech innovation. The Robinhood of Pakistan’s investment app is one of two fintech related rounds just announced. And millennials are fueling a transformation in banks to a more digitized business model. Let’s dive in.

The fintech ecosystem has expanded to include offshoots, such as insurtech and auto fintech, for example. It gives companies a unique calling card, and it seems everybody wants a slice of the fintech pie these days. You can’t blame them, given the rate at which fintechs are reaching unicorn status as Silicon Valley and Wall Street alike pile into these names. This past week was no different.