This week, the President’s Executive Order dominated the news on digital assets. The crypto industry breathed a collective sigh of relief as it was mainly positive news. We also had more news from Russia, Better.com laying off half their staff, Marqeta announcing 2021 earnings, and more. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Biden just put out an executive order on cryptocurrencies — here’s everything that’s in it from CNBC – While the executive order on crypto this week did not provide much in the way of details, the tone was generally supportive. Hence, most people thought it was positive news.
American Express, PayPal join payments industry boycott of Russia from American Banker – Traditional finance and fintech continue to pull out of Russia.
Coinbase Touts Blacklist of 25K Russia-Linked Addresses Allegedly Tied to Illicit Activity from CoinDesk – Coinbase published a blog post this week detailing some 25,000 addresses they have identified as potentially tied to illicit activity. I liked this quote: “Digital assets are traceable, permanent, and public,” so illicit activity is much easier to detect on blockchains.
Better.com plans to lay off about 4,000 people this week, sources say from TechCrunch – Better.com became infamous for their CEO’s Zoom call laying off 900 people, and now we hear the company has laid off another 4,000 people. The one-time fintech darling has had a rapid fall from grace.
Marqeta Q4: Top Line Revenue $144 Million, Net Loss of $37 Million from Crowdfund Insider – Marqeta reported earnings this week, and the losses continue to mount, but they are still growing rapidly. The markets were happy when the company reported positive guidance on revenue for Q1.
Acorns squirrels away $300M Series F after scrapping SPAC, now worth nearly $2B from TechCrunch – Acorns’s savings and investment app was supposed to be going public in a $2.2 billion SPAC. They nixed that in January and announced a significant new funding round at a slightly lower valuation this week.
Exclusive: Marlette Announces a $225 Million Series E from LendIt Fintech News – Another significant funding round announced this week was Marlette’s $225 million Series E. One of the market leaders in personal loans has recently launched a credit card and free financial health tools.
Roofstock snaps up $240M for accessible single-family rental investing from FinLedger – I am a big fan of what Gary Beasley and the team are doing at Roofstock. They have made it so easy to invest in single-family homes around the country. Now, they have $240 million in fresh capital in a round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
Nilson Report: Upgrade Card is Recognized as Fastest-Growing US Credit Card from Crowdfund Insider – The Nilson Report just released their latest publication on the largest card issuers, and Upgrade is ranked #27 on the list of cards with the largest outstanding balances. It was also the fastest-growing card in the country.
Software Provider MeridianLink to Acquire FinTech StreetShares from PYMNTS.com – MeridianLink has acquired the one-time marketplace lender for veteran-owned small businesses. StreetShares had become a SaaS provider as they closed down their lending operation last year.
Every Thursday, the LendIt Fintech News team and a special guest discuss the news of the week live on LendIt TV, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We have now made the show available in podcast format – click on the audio player below.
