Key Takeaways Visa beats fiscal Q1 EPS and revenue estimates, driven by resilient payments and cross-border volumes.Visa's Value-Added Services surge 28%, strengthening revenue diversification and margin quality.Visa flags limited consumer fit for stablecoins, despite rising cross-border settlement adoption.Visa Inc. (V) , the global payments technology leader, opened fiscal 2026 with another resilient quarter, reinforcing its status as one of the market’s most dependable compounders. Powered by higher paym ...

Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly provide an overall investment rating for the fintech and payments industry, but it highlights mixed performance among recent IPOs and varying investor sentiment towards growth and profitability metrics. Core Insights - The report indicates that public fintech companies are underperforming compared to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, with a noted shift in investor focus from raw growth to growth unit economics and margin quality [7][10]. - Structural growth deceleration is becoming evident, with many mature fintech companies facing competitive pressures and entering multi-year investment cycles that limit near-term revenue acceleration [10][8]. - Companies are increasingly leveraging AI to drive operational efficiencies, with examples of firms like Klarna and SoFi implementing AI-driven models to enhance profitability and reduce costs [7][10]. Summary by Sections Key Takeaways - New listings in the fintech sector have shown mixed performance, with some companies like Circle and Figure seeing significant share price increases, while others like eToro and Navan have experienced declines [7]. - The earnings visibility discount is growing, leading to reduced investor confidence in near-term earnings and a focus on the quality of earnings as a valuation driver for 2026 [7][10]. Stock Returns - The report provides a detailed overview of stock performance across various fintech segments, indicating that neobanks and neobrokers have seen median returns of -3% over the past year, while high-growth fintech cohorts have shown more resilience [11][12]. Revenue - Revenue growth estimates for neobanks and neobrokers are projected to decline from a median of 36% in 2025 to 20% in 2026, reflecting a broader trend of recalibrated growth expectations across the fintech landscape [10][14]. - The report highlights specific revenue figures for key players, such as Coinbase with $55 billion in revenue and Robinhood with $102.8 billion, showcasing the significant scale of operations within the sector [14].

CoinDesk is hosting its second annual Consensus Hong Kong conference, and as always, we'll have a number of policy-focused sessions. Are you in town? Find me on stage or around the show floor and say hi! You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Hong Kong's role The narrative CoinDesk's annual Consensus Hong Kong conference will kick off this Wednesday with a speech from Hong Kong Chief ...

Federal Reserve Nearly 30 comment letters were filed in response to the Federal Reserve's proposed "skinny master account" that would give certain eligible institutions limited access to the central bank's payment services.  Comments were due Friday, drawing responses from crypto banks and community banks debating whether nontraditional financial firms should be allowed to connect to parts of the U.S. payment system. A master account allows institutions direct access to the Fed's payment systems and prov ...

In this articleMSTRSOL.CM=ETH.CM=BTC.CM=Nastco | GettyBitcoin tumbled toward $60,000 this week as investors reassessed its utility. And while there isn't one clear catalyst driving the bloodbath, one thing is clear: the crypto market is in crisis. "There's nothing going on in the marketplace that should have necessitated this type of a crash," Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of alternative investment firm SkyBridge, told CNBC. "And so I think that's made people, frankly, more fearful. ... Y ...

Tether, issuer of the stablecoin USDT, said it has made a $100 million equity investment in Anchorage Digital, deepening an existing relationship between the two firms. In a blog post, the firm said the investment is being made through Tether Investments and reflects growing focus between stablecoin issuers and federally regulated financial institutions as digital assets continue to integrate into mainstream finance. Strengthening Regulated Digital Asset Infrastructure Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. is th ...

Core Insights - AI agents are now hiring humans for real-world tasks, creating a new job market where humans can be "rented" by AI for various tasks [2][3] - The platform RentAHuman.ai allows humans to set hourly rates between $50 and $175 and get paid in stablecoins for their services [2] - The rapid adoption of the platform saw signups grow from 130 to over 50,000 within a day, indicating high demand and interest [3] Industry Developments - The launch of RentAHuman.ai represents a significant shift in the crypto space, as it seeks to find a practical use case beyond trading and speculation [5] - The integration of AI agents with blockchain technology is highlighted as a solution for instant, borderless payments, enabling efficient transactions between AI and human workers [7] - The current infrastructure of traditional payment systems is inadequate for the volume and granularity required for agent-to-agent commerce, which blockchain can effectively address [7] Technological Innovations - The platform utilizes the Multi-Call Protocol (MCP) to allow AI systems to access human labor with a single API call [3] - Circle's CEO has developed a prototype for an AI Agent x Human employment app that includes features like milestone-based projects and onchain treasuries [4] - The decentralized nature of these innovations, including dispute resolution mechanisms, showcases the potential for blockchain in facilitating AI-human interactions [4]

Stellar (XLM) has fallen below $0.20. This move has erased all of the recovery it achieved last year. However, several positive signals suggest that many investors are still staying within the ecosystem. In addition, real-world assets (RWA) and stablecoins could become key drivers of further XLM accumulation. Positive Signs for Stellar (XLM) Despite the Sharp Price Drop Data from DefiLlama shows that the amount of XLM locked in DeFi protocols on the Stellar network reached a new all-time high in early F ...

Core Viewpoint - Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has a market capitalization of $1.6 trillion, representing over half of the total cryptocurrency market valued at approximately $2.7 trillion [1] Group 1: Market Performance - Bitcoin reached a record high of over $126,000 last October but has since declined by roughly 40% as investors reduce exposure to speculative assets amid economic and political instability [1][2] - The cryptocurrency has experienced two significant crashes of at least 70% in the past decade but has recovered to set new record highs on both occasions [2] Group 2: Investment Perspective - Bitcoin is characterized as a unique, decentralized asset with a capped supply of 21 million coins, which creates a perception of scarcity [3] - Despite its potential to transform the financial system or serve as a store of value, Bitcoin struggles with its identity, with mixed opinions among investors regarding its future [4] Group 3: Historical Returns - Over the past decade, Bitcoin has delivered an extraordinary return of 20,810%, outperforming real estate, the stock market, and gold [5] Group 4: Adoption and Future Outlook - The case for owning Bitcoin may be narrowing, as there is little evidence to support its adoption as a global currency, with only 6,714 businesses accepting it as payment compared to 359 million registered businesses worldwide [6] - Even prominent Bitcoin advocates, such as Cathie Wood, have expressed doubts about its future, reducing long-term price targets due to competition from stablecoins, which offer lower volatility [7]

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2026) - Pineapple Financial Inc. (NYSE American: PAPL) ("Pineapple" or "the Company"), a leading fintech platform, today announced that members of its leadership team and Board of Directors will participate in two upcoming investor conferences in February 2026.On Thursday, February 5, 2026, Shubha Dasgupta, CEO, Co-Founder & Director of Pineapple Financial, will present at the Noble Capital Markets Emerging Growth Virtual Equity Conference. Noble Capital Mark ...