Industry Overview - Fintech is transforming the global financial landscape by embedding financial services into everyday experiences, enabling programmable money, and leveraging AI for personalized interactions and risk management [1] - The rise of embedded finance integrates payments, lending, insurance, and investments into non-financial platforms, reducing distribution costs and enhancing customer loyalty [2] - Open banking and open finance empower customers with control over their data, fostering faster onboarding and customized products [2] - Programmable money powered by stablecoins and real-time payment rails is revolutionizing treasury, payroll, and cross-border transfers through instant settlement [2] - AI is becoming the new operating system for the financial industry, driving decision-making in underwriting, cybersecurity, and compliance [3] Future Trends - The future financial system will be open, data-permissioned, AI-native, and instant in settlement, with long-term winners being fintechs and incumbents that master interoperability and trusted customer relationships [4] - Stocks like Upstart Holdings, Affirm Holdings, and Nu Holdings are gaining investor attention as they adapt to these trends [4] Company Insights: Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) - Upstart is an AI-driven fintech that uses machine learning to evaluate non-traditional data points for lending, allowing broader loan approvals while maintaining strong credit performance [6][7] - The company acts as an intermediary, earning revenues through referral fees, loan servicing fees, and income from loan sales and securitization [7] - Upstart's direct-to-consumer platform enables individuals to apply for loans directly, leveraging automation and data analytics to disrupt traditional lending [8] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UPST's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 51.4% and 930%, respectively [9] Company Insights: Affirm Holdings, Inc. (AFRM) - Affirm operates in the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and embedded finance space, allowing consumers to split purchases into installments at the point of sale [10] - The company uses data-driven underwriting and real-time credit assessment to manage risk dynamically [11] - Affirm differentiates itself by focusing on larger-ticket purchases and flexible repayment options, supported by a robust capital model [12] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AFRM's fiscal 2026 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 23.9% and 473.3%, respectively [14] Company Insights: Nu Holdings Ltd. (NU) - Nu Holdings targets underserved and digitally native consumers in Latin America with a suite of app-based services across lending, banking, and investing, amassing 123 million customers as of June 30, 2025 [15][16] - The company has reduced operational costs while boosting efficiency and accessibility, promoting financial inclusion in underserved markets [16] - Nu's diversified revenue streams from lending, interchange fees, and marketplace services offer resilience and scalability [17] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NU's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 32.2% and 24.4%, respectively [19]

Wirex, a UK-based digital payments platform and principal member of Visa and Mastercard, released a whitepaper on Oct. 29 forecasting that Europe’s stablecoin market could reach €1 trillion this decade. The company, which has over 6 million customers across 130 countries, projects growth driven by euro-denominated tokens compliant with the EU’s new MiCAR regulation. The stablecoin market shows 90-95% of global circulation in USD-denominated tokens, while EUR-backed tokens represent less than €350 million, ...

RT Circle Developer (@BuildOnCircle)Bitcoin proved money could be programmable.Stablecoins proved money could be programmable and are designed to maintain a stable value.In this episode of Stablecoin 101, @corey__cooper from the Developer Relations team explains:✅ What stablecoins are and why they were created✅ The main models: fiat-backed, crypto-backed, algorithmic✅ How developers can build with them for real-world applications ...

Crypto Adoption & Market Position - Brazil ranks in the Top 5 globally for crypto adoption [1] Technological Advancements - PIX facilitates instant payments in Brazil [1] - Ethereum enables programmable money and assets [1] Future Outlook - The future of finance is emerging, linked to events like ETHLatam & EFDevcon [1]

Core Viewpoint - Digital asset treasury (DAT) firms have the potential to evolve from speculative entities into sustainable economic engines for blockchain networks, as argued by Syncracy Capital co-founder Ryan Watkins [1][2]. Group 1: Current State of DAT Firms - DAT firms currently hold approximately $105 billion in assets across major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, a scale that has not been fully recognized by market participants [2]. - The focus has primarily been on short-term trading dynamics, such as premiums to net asset value and fundraising announcements, rather than the long-term potential of these firms [3]. Group 2: Future Potential and Operations - A select number of DATs may develop into durable operators that finance, govern, and build within the networks of the tokens they hold, potentially becoming for-profit, publicly traded counterparts to crypto foundations [3][4]. - DATs can exert influence within ecosystems due to their control over significant portions of token supply, allowing them to act as policy and product levers [4]. Group 3: Economic Models and Strategies - Access to large, permanent pools of native assets can enable DATs to bootstrap and scale their operations effectively [5]. - Unlike MicroStrategy's bitcoin-only strategy, which focuses on capital structure, DATs can utilize programmable tokens on smart contract platforms for various on-chain activities, such as staking for fees and providing liquidity [6][7]. - Winning DATs can be compared to a hybrid model that combines elements of closed-end funds, banks, and Berkshire Hathaway, with returns accruing in crypto per share rather than through management fees [7][8].

this growth trend is not a coincidence: https://t.co/1WGYwpxyneDiogo Mónica (@diogomonica):Stablecoins turn dollars into software. They are programmable, 24/7, globally transferable, and can execute conditional logic. Traditional dollars cannot run code. The explosion of cryptoneobanks proves that permissionless and programmable money is not hype, it is a superpower. ...

Market Position - WisdomTree's $WTGXX tokenized money market fund has reached over $919 million in onchain capital deployed [1] - WisdomTree's tokenized money market fund experienced a 91% growth in just the last 3 weeks [1] - WisdomTree Funds is now the 2nd largest tokenized treasury, only behind BlackRock's BUIDL ($24 billion) [1] Technology & Infrastructure - The fund is built and secured on Ethereum [1] - The industry anticipates the next wave of programmable money and finance [1]

BRRR Network Overview - BRRR is a universal settlement layer connecting blockchain networks with traditional payment systems, enabling programmable transactions at global scale [1] - BRRR aims to connect specialized stablecoins, dedicated payment networks, and sophisticated primitives [3] Key Features and Integrations - BRRR allows any financial institution or service provider to orchestrate payments onchain via API [2] - BRRR integrates with any network, token, or smart contract logic [2] - BRRR connects 20 networks and integrates with over 150 protocols [3] Achievements - BRRR powers the largest Web3 card [3] - BRRR has processed over $200 million in real-world payments [3]

Industry Concerns Regarding Data Access Fees - The financial industry expresses concern that charging high fees for consumer financial data access is technically backwards, economically short-sighted, and strategically dangerous, potentially breaking the infrastructure being built [2] - The industry believes this issue extends beyond fintech, impacting control over the future of programmable money, open finance, and digital ownership, and influencing where the next generation of innovation is built [3] - The industry views the attempt by some banks to turn APIs into toll roads as a privatization of what was intended to be a public good, hindering innovation by making access expensive [4] - The industry highlights that JPMorgan is charging some fintechs millions of dollars for data access that customers have authorized, which is seen as creating a moat rather than improving security [5] Legal and Ethical Considerations - The industry emphasizes that the right to access one's own financial data should not be for sale, citing Section 1033 of the Dodd Frank Act, which grants consumers the right to access and share their financial data [6] - The industry argues that data ownership without access is not true ownership, and restricting access slows down the sector without requiring new laws [7] Impact on Innovation and Competition - The industry warns that restricting or pricing access in a way that favors larger players kills optionality and forces developers to find workarounds, potentially breaking the system [9] - The industry notes that some fintechs are considering reverting to screen scraping, passing costs to consumers, or shutting down entirely due to these fees [9] Global Competitive Landscape - The industry cautions that the United States risks falling behind as Europe expands its PSD3 framework, the UK rolls out Open Banking Plus, and Brazil, India, and Singapore build real-time interoperable financial rails that treat access as a utility [10] - The industry stresses that if the US wants to lead in areas like programmable money, real-world assets, stablecoins, and self-custodial finance, it must defend the principle that consumer data access should be easy, safe, and free [11]