Venezuela 🇻🇪 lo prometido es deuda: Ranking de 18 billeteras y exchanges que funcionan hoy para Venezolanos en Venezuela.

Si viajas desde LATAM a EUROPA, te comparto algunas tarjetas que puedes cargar con USDT / USDC para pagar en euros sin problemas. @EthenaPay @ether_fi @coca_card @KASTxyz @MetaMask @arq_finance @Plasma @Uglycash @RedotPay @itstuyo @Bybit_Official Y el truco es siempre marcar EUR en el posnet al pagar y no USD porque vas a perder bastante por el tipo de cambio local.

Heading pretty soon 🔜 to europe so plz recommend me the best crypto cards to top up with USDT / USDC, obviously need the best rates.

Spent 4k in one of this flashy big neobanks and i only got 8$ on cashback. My bad for not using @ethena😂

being a fintech isn’t enough anymore. everyone wants to be a bank: a growing number of fintech companies want to own the banks behind their apps. the reason becomes pretty clear when you look at how these businesses work. you can build the app, acquire the customers and handle the entire user experience. but if another bank holds the license, that bank still has a say in which products you can offer, what risks you can take and how much it costs to serve each customer. owning a bank can give you more control over those decisions. it can also let you take deposits and use that funding to lend. that changes the economics of the business. it also changes what you’re responsible for. why companies are buying the bank @Chime is a useful example. it agreed to pay $590M for Stride Bank (@BankStride), a banking partner it has worked with for more than seven years. Chime projects more than $100M in net synergies from reducing partner-bank fees, expanding lending and lowering its funding costs. the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to approvals. those savings are still projections, but they explain why owning the bank could be worth the investment. a fintech that already has millions of customers has already done much of the work of building distribution. acquiring a bank can help it offer more products to those customers and keep more of the revenue those products generate. @Payward, the parent of Kraken (@krakenfx), is pursuing a similar opportunity through its agreement to acquire Saldo Bank. the acquisition would add European banking capabilities, including interest-bearing deposits and lending, to its existing infrastructure. closing is expected in 2027, subject to regulatory approval. the same interest in owning banking infrastructure is showing up across Latin America. @cocoscap completed its acquisition of Banco Voii (@banco_voii) in Argentina on June 29. @Revolut received BCRA approval to acquire Cetelem in September, although that approval is separate from closing the acquisition and launching services to customers. @nubank agreed to acquire Porto Real in Brazil. in that case, the acquisition also addresses rules around the use of banking names by adding a banking license to Nubank’s existing authorizations. the reasons vary by company and market. some want better economics. some want new capabilities. others have a specific regulatory requirement to meet. buying an existing bank is only one route companies can also apply to build a bank from scratch. Nubank, @mercury and Revolut received conditional approvals to establish national banks in the US. for digital asset companies, national trust banks are another route, with a different scope of activities. in December 2025, the OCC announced conditional approvals for new national trust banks for @circle and @Ripple, alongside conditional approvals for @BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets (@DigitalAssets) and @Paxos to convert their state-chartered entities to the federal regime. Agora (@withAUSD), the group behind AUSD, received preliminary conditional approval on September 18, 2026, to establish Agora National Trust Bank. its plan includes moving AUSD issuance into the bank once established. it still needs final authorization to open. this distinction matters when you’re evaluating what these companies will actually be able to offer. a charter focused on custody, stablecoin issuance or trust services does not automatically provide the same permissions as a full-service commercial bank. you have to look at the specific entity, its approved activities and the conditions attached. “received approval” also doesn’t necessarily mean customers can start using the bank. @Mercury continues to operate through partner banks while working toward final approval. Revolut’s announcement identifies remaining approvals from the FDIC, the Fed and the OCC. the economics have to work after the acquisition owning a bank can reduce some dependencies, but it brings costs that a fintech previously shared with, or paid to, its banking partners. the company needs capital, liquidity, experienced management, compliance systems and an operation that can meet ongoing supervisory requirements. regulators also assess the buyer. the ECB, for example, reviews financial soundness, reputation, management suitability, continued prudential compliance and money-laundering risk. LevelField (@LevelfieldEx) shows why the funding requirements matter. Burling Bank confirmed that its proposed acquisition did not close because the buyer missed the regulatory deadline to raise capital. the bank’s board decided to continue independently. even when a transaction closes, attracting deposits is only part of the job. if customers move their savings to your app because you offer the highest rate, you need to understand how much of that money will stay when the rate changes. you also need to earn enough from your permitted activities to cover funding, operating costs and credit losses. owning the license gives you more ways to build the business. it doesn’t make those economics work automatically. what this means for the next generation of fintech the acquisitions are happening in both directions. @CapitalOne completed its acquisition of @brexHQ in April. @Mastercard completed its acquisition of @BVNKFinance in August. established financial companies are also buying technology, distribution and stablecoin capabilities that would take time to build themselves. my read is that these companies want to handle more of the customer’s financial life within their own businesses. once someone uses your app to get paid, keep savings and make payments, there is an opportunity to serve their borrowing and investment needs too. i think this is where consumer fintech is heading: companies trying to become the place where you get paid, keep your savings, spend and borrow. owning the bank can make more of that possible within one business. whether it is worth doing comes down to how much customers use it, what it costs to run, and whether the company can manage the risks.