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Hi all, Julie here.

So, guess who’s staying in Texas for Christmas…

Yup, Momma VerHage has contracted Covid (doing totally fine thankfully), and things just seem to be getting worse across the country so we’re canceling the trip for now. Really a huge missed opportunity in naming this latest variant Omicron and not Grinch. If you’re also sitting at home with nothing to do anymore, check out the latest episode of Tux Time with Emmalyn Shaw of Flourish Ventures and the final episode out Monday morning with two members of Constitution DAO.

Chris Brown @almostcmb A Discord but for everyone who just found out they are celebrating Xmas from isolation in their NYC apartment instead of going home next week December 16th 2021 1 Retweets 73 Likes

Today's Partner, Fintech Meetup

500+ Organizations have already signed up for Fintech Meetup, the world’s largest fintech meetings-only event! That’s right - no speakers or content….just 30,000+ double opt-in online meetings that result in Leads, Deals, Partnerships and Funding. It’s the easiest way to meet the people who’ll help accelerate your business in 2022!

Here are just some of the organizations already signed up:

• Fintechs including Akoya, Alloy, Alviere, Argyle, Autobooks, Azimuth, BitPay, BlockFi, Botdoc, Certa, Checkout.com, Circle, FISPAN, MANTL, Novi, Nuance, Nymbus, Onyx, Ripple, Signal Intent, Sila, Socure, Synctera, Urban FT, Zero Hash (to name just a few!)
• Banks including Bank of America, Citi, Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Santander, Wells Fargo & 75+ others
• Neobanks including Dave, First Boulevard, Revolut & Varo Bank and more
• Credit Unions (125+ of them already signed up!)
• Investors including Bain Capital, Commerce Ventures, General Atlantic, Mosaik Partners, Next Level Ventures, Point 72 Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Vestigo Ventures & more
• Networks including American Express, Discover, Mastercard & Visa
• Plus Solution Providers, Community Banks, Tech Cos, Retailers & Merchants, Media and more!

Online, March 22-24. Startup rate available for qualifying cos. Get Your Ticket Now!

Company News

Bad Week for My Affirm Stock

Thankfully I’m still in the green, but the CFPB took away some of my Affirm gains this year with news that it’s opening an inquiry into popular BNPL programs Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip. This news didn’t surprise anyone that watches the space closely, but that didn’t mean it was priced into the stocks either. From the statement:

“Buy now, pay later is the new version of the old layaway plan, but with modern, faster twists where the consumer gets the product immediately but gets the debt immediately, too,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.

Astra and RTP

Congrats to our friends at Astra on getting another step closer to making real time payments a reality! In partnership with Cross River Bank, the team has launched instant account to account transfers, where users can fund accounts instantly from a debit card. This new instant payment API gives fintech developers the ability to easily embed card-to-card transfers into their own application and the funds are instantly applied to the destination card. Pretty cool if I say so myself. No gas fees either (iykyk).

Funding and Deals

MoneyLion Buys Even Financial

This deal had a lot of us scratching our heads this week. MoneyLion, who’s market cap is around $800M, is buying B2B Fintech Even Financial as part of a deal worth up to half of that (supposedly). This is where it gets tricky: it’s using a convertible financing structure that values MoneyLion at its initial public offering (IPO) price of $10 per share (it’s currently trading below $4), and the company will provide an upfront payment of $360M for the Even Financial acquisition. The additional $80M could be paid if Even Financial meets revenue targets, according to the announcement.

Crypto Watch

Bankers Looking At Accepting Crypto As Payment

The CEO of investment bank LionTree, Aryeh Bourkoff, said he’s looking at ways to potentially accept crypto as payment for services. Don’t expect this change to happen in the coming weeks though. He went on to say that while cryptocurrencies hold the potential of fulfilling the internet’s promise of empowering individuals, there are hurdles to overcome first. These include creating platforms that are easier to use and understand so it reaches a broader population.

Send Gifts to $jewlz328

Procrastinating or supply chain issues got you in a scramble for a gift? Look no further than Cash App. It’s rolling out a new feature that will allow users in the U.S. to send Bitcoin, as well as traditional stocks, as gifts to other U.S. Cash App users via their cashtag. Problem solved.

Adidas NFTs

The athletic apparel company is launching a line of NFTs called Into the Metaverse. Holders of the tokens will be able to purchase special merch drops and help to shape what kinds of products and experiences the company puts together. They will sell for 0.2 ETH, or about $800 USD, starting December 17th through Adidas’ website. The company declined to share how many NFTs would be sold, citing “security protocols.”

​Advisory Principal, FS Vector

​Advisory Associate, FS Vector

Join our friend and FTT Expert John Collins at FS Vector! The team is looking for an Advisory Principal and Advisory Associate to join it in DC. Members of the Advisory team support the practice by leading various projects, building client relationships, and delivering other value-add services. As a member of the team, you’ll work closely with clients and internal subject matter experts to advise them on important matters, conduct research on key issues, draft client deliverables, and otherwise contribute to successfully meeting client goals and objectives. Team Members must stay up-to-date on key issues, regulations, technology innovation, and general trends across the fintech ecosystem. Hence why John is always dropping knowledge in our newsletter ;) If interested, click the links above to apply!

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Julie VerHage-Greenberg is the co-founder of Fintech Today, where she focuses on editorial content and brand. Prior to joining, she was Bloomberg’s first fintech reporter, covering Robinhood from before it was a billion dollar company, breaking the news that Plaid was acquiring Quovo, and interviewing executives on Bloomberg TV and at several large conferences.

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