MiCA cliff: 210 firms authorised, 990 must wind down
MiCA's transition closed July 1. Only ~210 of 1,200+ EU crypto firms got authorised. The single market is real - and far more concentrated than intended.
Rick Steves
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011. He holds a degree in Business Administration and has experience producing real-time news, from both buy-side and sell-side, as well as for retail traders, brokers and service providers. Steves' work has appeared in a variety of online publications including FX Street, NewsBTC, FinanceFeeds, and The Industry Spread. Rick has great interest in the dynamics of the trading industry. The never-ending clash between technology, economics, regulation, and more importantly, the people.
July 2026
Indian fintech funding jumps 2.3x to $2bn on debt-heavy deals
Indian fintech raised $2bn across 48 deals in Q2 2026. But the flagship round was 84% debt - and that reframes the whole funding surge.
Mastercard explores Vocalink majority sale at £400m valuation
Mastercard is in early talks to sell 51% of Vocalink at a GBP400m valuation - half what it paid in 2016. Why it may be a willing seller of the UK's rails.
US fintech funding hits $16bn as small rounds shrink 17%
US fintech raised $16bn in Q2 2026 — the best quarter in five. But sub-$100m funding fell 17% year on year. The rebound is megadeals, not a recovery.
Why Hong Kong’s OTP ban resets crypto operational security
SFC Circular 26EC35 bars OTP logins for Hong Kong brokers and crypto platforms by July 8, 2027 — and makes senior management liable for client losses.
Nubank’s Visa-veteran CFO starts amid US bank charter push
Rob Livingston takes over as Nubank CFO on July 13, 2026. Hiring a Visa finance chief — not a banker — signals how the US charter push will be monetised.
Airwallex hits $11bn valuation as fintech funding rebounds
Airwallex raised $320m at an $11bn valuation. Payments is now just 30% of its revenue - which is exactly why the round priced at a software multiple.
FCA finalises UK crypto rules and refuses to copy MiCA
The FCA cut stablecoin capital to 1% and rejected MiCA alignment. Its regime bites in Oct 2027 - 16 months after MiCA's cliff. The gap is the story.
Riverty opens Luxembourg bank to serve 1,800 merchants
Bertelsmann's Riverty starts as a licensed EU bank in July, turning a BNPL book of 25m customers into a deposit-funded merchant lender. Why charters win.
Kord raises £6.4m to fight AI fraud in regulated sectors
UK RegTech Kord has raised £6.4m led by Guinness Ventures to unify onboarding, compliance and payments for regulated firms — a bet that AI fraud forces re-bundling.
REPAY closes $372m KUBRA deal to scale US bill payments
REPAY has closed its $372m cash acquisition of KUBRA, betting on recurring, non-discretionary consumer bill payments over the crowded checkout arms race.
Equifax buys Círculo de Crédito for $750m to expand Mexico
Equifax pays a $750m enterprise value — about 12x EBITDA — for Mexico's Círculo de Crédito, answering TransUnion's Buró de Crédito move in the LatAm data race.
CFTC’s no-deny reversal resets US enforcement settlements
The CFTC scrapped its 28-year no-deny settlement policy weeks after the SEC — firms can now settle and publicly deny. How the US, UK and Australia diverge.
JPMorgan taps SambaNova as AI chip maker raises $1bn
JPMorgan Chase picks SambaNova for on-prem AI inference as the chip maker closes a $1bn Series F at $11bn — and bank AI strategy visibly bifurcates.
Nuvei installs COO, CFO and CPTO ahead of Payoneer close
Nuvei names its first-ever COO plus a new CFO and CPTO three weeks after the $2.75bn Payoneer deal — the integration org chart arriving before closing.
FinCEN PPSI rules land July 18: stablecoin issuers become banks
Six US agencies face the GENIUS Act's July 18 deadline. Inside the FinCEN-OFAC PPSI framework — and how the US, EU, UK and Singapore regimes now diverge.
Klarna files for US bank charter to end partner-bank reliance
Klarna applies to the FDIC and Utah for an industrial-bank charter — deposit-funded BNPL, a Southwest Airlines tie-up, and what it means for BaaS banks.
FCA final crypto rules set up the UK’s October 2027 gateway
FCA final crypto rules: five policy statements, applications from September 30, 2026, regime live October 25, 2027 — and how the UK now splits from MiCA.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.