Issue 630 · Oct 15, 2026 Weekly edition · 4 min read

Fintech's Second Act

From disruption to infrastructure: why the rulebook now reaches the interface, the ledger and the rails.

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Isometric illustration of three stacked layers: an app interface, a ledger grid and golden settlement rails, connected by glowing lines. — Three layers, one rulebook: the interface, the ledger and the settlement rails.

The Lead

Ten years ago, the fintech pitch was simple: build a better interface, let a licensed partner handle the regulated part, and move fast. That arrangement is ending. Growth is back, but the strongest fintechs are using it to become more like banks, and supervisors have started to follow responsibility into places they used to ignore.

Three layers, one question

This issue is organised around the three layers in our cover image. The interface, where customers meet a financial product. The ledger, which records whose money is where. And the rails, which move it. In each layer, the question regulators now ask is the same: who answers for it?

Isometric illustration of three stacked layers: an app interface, a ledger grid and golden settlement rails.

This week's analysis

Fintech's Second Act: From Disruption to Infrastructure

Fintech is no longer judged mainly by how well it challenges banks from the outside. It is judged by whether it can run as regulated, interoperable and resilient infrastructure inside the financial system.

Read the analysis ↗

Signals · 4 numbers

$504bn Global fintech revenues in 2025 (BCG) +22% YoY

$58bn Fintech equity funding in 2025 (BCG) +53% YoY

659 vs 589 Acquisitions by fintechs vs incumbents, 2025 First time on record

2029 Earliest possible digital euro issuance (ECB) Pilot from H2 2027

🖥 Layer 1: The interface · 3 items

MiCA review ESMA calls for changes to make MiCA clearer, safer and ready for emerging services ESMA — The supervisor wants a new licensed service for firms that give users access to DeFi protocols, plus tighter rules on influencer marketing. Open story ↗ Analysis eToro Acquired Zengo for $70 Million. The Wallet Sits Outside Its MiCA Licence on Purpose. FinTech Weekly — A case study in exactly the access layer ESMA now wants to regulate. Open story ↗ Payments Europe Agreed on Its New Payment Rules Ten Months Ago. Not One of Them Applies Yet. FinTech Weekly — Name-to-IBAN checks, fraud liability and API performance: the payment rules that will reshape product design. Open story ↗

📒 Layer 2: The ledger · 5 items

Stablecoins MAS charts the next phase of stablecoin regulation in Singapore Sidley — Full reserves, redemption at par and no interest for holders. The consultation closes on 16 October. Open story ↗ Stablecoins Bank of England publishes its rules for systemic stablecoins Bank of England — A temporary issuance guardrail of 40 billion pounds per coin replaces the planned per-person holding limits. Open story ↗ MiCA review Europe's Central Banks Want Stablecoin Reserves Out of Bank Deposits. Here Is Why. FinTech Weekly — The ECB and national central banks push back on MiCA's deposit rule for large stablecoins. Open story ↗ Analysis The Numbers Are In. The Banks' Case for a Yield Ban Just Fell Apart. FinTech Weekly — Why yield is the line that separates a payment instrument from a savings product. Open story ↗ Banking Eleven Companies, Eighty-Three Days: The Race for a Federal Crypto Banking License FinTech Weekly — Fintechs and crypto firms are no longer renting licences. They are applying for their own. Open story ↗

🛤 Layer 3: The rails · 4 items

Settlement The ECB Just Answered Tokenisation's Hardest Question: What Do You Pay With? FinTech Weekly — Since 21 September, banks can settle tokenised securities in central bank money through Pontes. Open story ↗ Digital euro Digital euro pilot European Central Bank — A 12-month pilot from the second half of 2027, and a possible first issuance in 2029 if the law passes in time. Open story ↗ Payments Will Europe unseat Visa and Mastercard? Payments Dive — Wero has tens of millions of users but still handles less than one percent of EU payment volume, according to RBC. Open story ↗ Sovereignty Europe's Fintechs Talk About Sovereignty. Most of Them Still Run on American Clouds. FinTech Weekly — Owning the rails also means owning the infrastructure underneath them. Open story ↗

On the calendar · 5 events

Money20/20 USA 2026 Las Vegas · from 18 Oct NexGen Banking Summit UK 2026 London · from 21 Oct MoneyLIVE Nordic Banking Copenhagen · from 27 Oct Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK 2026 Hong Kong · from 2 Nov ePay Summit Europe 2026 London · from 3 Nov

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