Tag: PayPal

In 2025, stablecoins moved from “crypto plumbing” to payment infrastructure. On-chain transaction value hit record highs, and banks/fintechs began piloting stablecoin settlement. Regulators also moved: MiCA’s EU stablecoin regime began applying in 2024 and 2025 was the first full year of implementation, while the U.S. GENIUS Act set a federal framework.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has rapidly amassed millions through his consulting firm SK Management GmbH and as a co-founder of Israeli AI-cybersecurity unicorn Dream Security. This investigative FinTelegram report probes Kurz’s post-political business activities, his strategic ties to Peter Thiel, and the broader implications of European power networks flowing into global tech and intelligence..

PayPal will let every U.S. merchant accept more than 100 cryptocurrencies and settle in dollars at just 0.99%—a 90% haircut to today’s card fees. But new stablecoin rules and PayPal’s own margin math could flip the script if regulators—or Visa and Mastercard—strike back.

Bullish, the institutional-grade crypto exchange backed by high-profile investor Peter Thiel, has filed for a $100 million IPO on the NYSE (BLSH). This move comes at a pivotal time for the digital assets industry, reflecting renewed investor interest and significant regulatory developments. The IPO positions Bullish as a frontrunner among crypto exchanges seeking mainstream financial legitimacy and expanded institutional reach.

A consortium of prominent tech billionaires, including Peter Thiel (PayPal co-founder, Palantir co-founder, and Founders Fund principal), Palmer Luckey (founder of Anduril and Oculus), and Joe Lonsdale (co-founder of Palantir and founder of 8VC), is launching a new digital bank named Erebor. This initiative is a direct response to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, which left a significant gap in banking services for startups.

A bombshell New York Times investigation has detonated in the heart of Silicon Valley, revealing that the late Jeffrey Epstein, notorious sex offender and financier, secretly invested $40 million in Valar Ventures—a venture capital firm co-founded by none other than Peter Thiel, the billionaire PayPal co-creator and tech kingmaker. That investment, made in 2015 and 2016, has since ballooned to a staggering $170 million, now the single largest asset in Epstein’s estate.

MoonPay, a leading U.S. crypto payments platform focused on high-risk sectors, has acquired Helio, a Solana-based blockchain payment processor, for $175 million, marking the start of what could be a series of strategic mergers in the digital asset space. This acquisition, MoonPay's largest to date, aims to enhance its payment infrastructure and expand its services in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency payments sector.

Peter Thiel, a prominent tech investor and entrepreneur, is best known as a co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund. He was also the first outside investor in Facebook. As of late 2024, Thiel's net worth is estimated to range between $3.9 billion and $11.2 billion, depending on valuation sources. His wealth is largely tied to his investments in companies like Palantir Technologies.

Crypto is here to stay and will certainly form the backbone of the cyber finance system for generations to come. PayPal’s latest move to offer cryptocurrency services to U.S. businesses marks a key step in integrating digital assets into mainstream commerce. With the addition of on-chain crypto transfers, this expansion highlights the growing demand for crypto in the business world.

In the rapidly evolving world of cyber finance, where the boundaries of traditional financial regulation blur, our partner, PayRate42, emerges as a trusted rating agency. Payrate42 is not just a benchmark for quality and trust; it's a beacon guiding merchants and consumers through the dynamic landscape of neobanks, fintechs, paytechs, and crypto service providers. List your business today!

Stripe, one of the big names in the fintech industry, announced it had exceeded $1 trillion in total payment volume in 2023, marking a significant 25% increase from the previous year. This milestone, highlighted in Stripe's annual letter, arrives just 15 years following its inception. Its competitor PayPal reached a similar milestone in 2021, 23 years after its foundation.

London-based fintech SumUp (website), a rising star in the payments industry, has recently secured a significant financial boost. The company successfully raised €285 million in a round led by Sixth Street Growth and Bain Capital Tech Opportunities. This funding round not only injects fresh capital into SumUp but also elevates its valuation above the €8 billion mark achieved in the summer of 2022. It seems as if the fintech hype is back again!