Is Fintech Back? Chime Thinks So. - Issue #543 Tuesday, June 17th 2025 12:00AM
The Focus
After years of volatility, the fintech sector is regaining confidence — and last week, it got its most public vote of support yet.
Chime, the consumer-focused digital bank, made its public debut on Nasdaq and closed the day with a 37% gain. The company raised $684 million, with a market cap of $16 billion at close — not quite its pandemic-era $25B valuation, but a major signal that fintech can perform in a post-ZIRP world.
We covered the full timeline — from IPO delays due to market shocks to the launch of Instant Loans without credit checks, and the latest focus on payments-driven growth as a core business strategy. What’s clear is that Chime didn’t pivot to appease markets. It doubled down on its model — lean, fee-free, mobile-first — and positioned itself as a financial partner for middle-income consumers underserved by traditional banks.
But the real story is bigger than one company.
📊 Circle, eToro, Stripe, PayPal, Coinbase, Shopify — all have made big crypto or public market moves in the past 30 days. Carlyle and Citi are teaming up to fund fintech lenders. AmEx and Coinbase are issuing bitcoin credit cards. Even PayPal is expanding its stablecoin to Stellar. Quietly but steadily, fintech is back in motion — only this time with clearer economics, fewer headlines, and more results.
In our last editorial, we break down what this new phase means: for startups, for investors, and for fintech as a credible asset class again.
Read more: The Quiet Return: What Chime’s IPO Tells Us About the New Fintech Normal - FTW Sunday Editorial
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