fintech

The Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau issued opinions on promoting the quality and efficiency of technology finance in Shanghai's banking and insurance industries. This includes leveraging new technologies such as artificial intelligence to innovate and empower technology finance, encouraging qualified financial institutions to build enterprise-level artificial intelligence platforms, and comprehensively utilizing digital technologies such as big data, blockchain, the Internet of Things, and quantum computing to empower product research and development, business decision-making, risk management, and other aspects, thereby enhancing the intelligent operation level of technology finance.Support financial institutions in strengthening the innovation of technology enterprise evaluation mechanisms, shifting from a traditional focus on financial indicators to an emphasis on innovation capabilities, relying on databases in the field of technology finance, making good use of "Shanghai Science Points," and constructing a dedicated evaluation system for technology finance to accurately portray technology talents and technology-based enterprises, accelerating the development of suitable technology finance products.

According to Crypto Briefing, Colombian fintech company Plenti has completed a $3 million seed round financing, led by Tether with participation from Verda Ventures. The new funds will be used to support existing operations in Colombia and expand into Peru and Bolivia.Founded in 2022, Plenti provides multi-currency account services for freelancers and remote workers, allowing users to hold US dollars, euros, and Colombian pesos, earn balance yields, and invest in US stocks, ETFs, digital gold, and crypto assets. The company has served over 150,000 active users, with an annual transaction volume exceeding $3.1 billion, and has processed over 680 million USDT since 2023.

According to Bloomberg, investments received by British fintech companies in the first half of this year have fallen to the lowest level since at least 2016, as funders are shifting towards AI-related companies that can demonstrate long-term growth.

According to Bloomberg, Prosus NV plans to invest $100 million in Indian fintech company Navi Ltd., marking Navi's first introduction of institutional capital. This round of investment requires regulatory approval, including from the Competition Commission of India, to be completed.Navi is headquartered in Bangalore and operates in payments, credit, insurance, and mutual funds. Its UPI payment application ranked fourth in India by scale for the fiscal year ending in March; its subsidiary Navi Finserv has surpassed an asset management scale of approximately 130 billion rupees.

According to market news, Ant Group plans to sell 3% of its shares in the Indian digital payment and fintech company Paytm for $309 million.

The real-time cross-border capital flow platform OpenFX announced the acquisition of Global Ledger, with its founder Tyler McIntyre appointed as the head of banking. At the same time, it launched a multi-currency account service. McIntyre previously co-founded the new bank Novo, which serves over 300,000 businesses and is valued at over $700 million.The account allows customers to make payments in local currency, and companies can hold received funds directly without the need for immediate conversion. OpenFX has launched the USD account in its first phase, which can receive and send funds to over 100 countries through ACH, Fedwire, and SWIFT, and supports instant connection with stablecoins like USDC.

According to Cointelegraph, South Korean fintech giant KSNET will integrate Solana Pay into its network of over 330,000 merchants, with a monthly payment processing volume exceeding $4 billion.

Solana tweeted that the South Korean fintech company KSNET has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to integrate Solana Pay into its payment network. This network covers over 330,000 merchants and processes approximately $4 billion in transactions monthly.

Hong Kong, July 23, 2026 - PhotonPay, a next-generation global financial operating system built on a stablecoin-native architecture, has been recognized in the CNBC 2026 World's Top Fintech Companies rankings, Payments category. The list, compiled jointly by CNBC and Statista, covers 500 leading fintech companies worldwide. PhotonPay supports unified fiat and stablecoin transactions with real-time settlement, serving tens of thousands of enterprises globally. Customers have reduced fund transfer costs by over 75% and improved finance team efficiency by 60% (as of December 2025).

According to Bloomberg, Venezuela's largest fintech company Cashea recently completed two rounds of financing totaling $100 million, including a $60 million Series B round led by FinSight Ventures in June this year, and a $40 million Series A round completed in March led by Spice Expeditions, which included $20 million in debt provided by Architect Capital. Several U.S. donor funds and Latin American investment institutions participated.Founded in 2022, Cashea provides "buy now, pay later" services for Venezuelan consumers who have long been credit-constrained. Users can make a down payment via the app or by scanning a code offline and then pay in interest-free installments. The company claims to have processed over 110 million transactions, serving more than 10 million accounts, with partnerships reaching 40,000 merchants. The new funds will be used to expand credit products and support post-disaster reconstruction.

South Korean fintech company Toss announced a partnership with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to jointly explore a stablecoin pegged to the Korean won.In the coming months, the three parties will conduct a proof of concept (PoC) test to assess the feasibility of building compliant blockchain digital financial infrastructure based on the OP Stack, providing technical validation for applications related to the Korean won stablecoin.

The Italian fintech company Hodli has been authorized by the Bank of Italy to become the first licensed crypto asset portfolio management institution in the country under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). It is reported that this authorization allows Hodli to break through the traditional limitations of single custody services and directly provide clients with active crypto asset portfolio management services.

Early space fintech company Nebex, founded by former Axiom Space CEO Tejpaul Bhatia, announced the completion of a $30,000,000 seed round financing, led by Google Ventures, a subsidiary of Alphabet.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the changing roles of banks and fintech companies, with one focus being the "streamlined master account" proposal that the Federal Reserve is considering, which would allow certain crypto banks and fintech companies limited direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment system. A Federal Reserve master account allows financial institutions to directly use the Federal Reserve payment network and gain the most direct access to the U.S. dollar monetary system. Institutions without this account typically need to rely on partner banks that have master accounts to provide services.The so-called "streamlined account" is a limited-function version intended to provide limited access for new financial institutions. Republican Congressman Dan Meuser stated at the hearing that access to the Federal Reserve payment system is no small matter, and the core issue is which institutions should be allowed to directly use these critical payment channels. Traditional institutions like community banks are concerned that crypto and fintech companies are not subject to equally stringent regulation, and direct access could pose risks to security and stability. The crypto industry generally supports the proposal, arguing that direct access to the Federal Reserve payment system should have been opened long ago, as it would help reduce reliance on intermediary banks and promote innovation.In May of this year, Trump also signed an executive order requiring the Federal Reserve to assess policies for opening central bank payment channels to fintech companies, including crypto companies. Previously, the Kansas City Federal Reserve had approved Kraken's parent company Payward for a "limited purpose account" in March, sparking discussions in the market about the extent to which crypto and fintech companies should have direct access to Federal Reserve services. A representative from Anchorage Digital stated at the hearing that if the U.S. wants to continue as a global financial center, it needs to allow for innovative federal and state regulatory frameworks.

According to an official tweet from Sovra, Sovra has completed a $2 million Pre-seed funding round, led by Pharsalus Capital. Sovra is a self-custodied fintech platform primarily targeting the Middle East and North Africa, providing users with USDC-based global digital dollar accounts. The platform enables users to hold, send, use, and earn digital dollar yields while maintaining control over their funds without relying on traditional banks or custodians.

According to Reuters, Italian crypto fintech company Conio, supported by Poste Italiane and Banca Generali, has obtained a crypto asset service provider (CASP) license under the EU MiCAR framework in Italy. This authorization was granted after review by the Italian Consob and the central bank, allowing Conio to provide services such as digital asset custody, transfers, and distribution.Reports indicate that the MiCAR transition period will end on June 30, 2026, after which unlicensed companies will be unable to provide crypto services in Italy and the EU.

According to South Korean media SBS Biz, South Korea is considering allowing various parties, including exchanges and fintech companies, to participate in the upcoming virtual asset overseas remittance business system. This system is expected to be implemented in December this year. Relevant individuals revealed that the government has recently begun drafting the implementation details of the partial amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act and is reviewing the registration requirements for virtual asset transfer businesses.The core content of the amendment is to include cross-border virtual asset transfers within the regulatory framework of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act, defining it as "virtual asset transfer business." Companies intending to engage in virtual asset transfer business must register with the Office of the Minister of Economy and Finance of South Korea and report relevant information through the foreign exchange computer network of the Bank of Korea when cross-border transfer transactions occur. Previously, cross-border virtual asset transactions had been outside the foreign exchange regulatory framework, raising concerns that these transactions could be used for illegal foreign exchange trading or money laundering activities. This system improvement aims to incorporate virtual asset transfer transactions into the management and regulatory system.

According to a report by Reuters, the Italian fintech company Conio has obtained a European Union cryptocurrency asset service provider license, allowing it to provide custody, transfer, and distribution services for digital assets under the MiCAR framework. The license was granted after a review by the Italian market regulator Consob and the Bank of Italy.