Market Movements & COTW
Morgan Stanley Slashes Circle by 64%
Last week, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL: $66.67) to Underweight from Equal-weight and sharply cut its price target to $38
Stripe’s $10 Billion Bet on the AI Economy: Why OpenRouter Matters
Two important private companies were in the news this past week: Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter in a potential $10 billion deal, according
Stripe and Advent’s $53 Billion Bid for PayPal: A Preemptive Play at a Discount
On Tuesday, July 14th after the market close Stripe and private equity firm Advent International submitted a joint offer to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per
Securitize Lists on NYSE, Tokenizes Its Own Shares in RWA Milestone
On July 2, 2026, Securitize completed its SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT) and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under
Stripe-Backed Coalition Launches OUSD, a Stablecoin That Shares the Yield
Investors should be aware that on June 30, 2026, the Open Standard consortium, led by Zach Abrams, co-founder of the Stripe-owned company Bridge, introduced Open
WhatsApp Wants to Be Your Wallet: Why WhatsApp Just Hired India’s Most Exclusive Fintech
Meta’s (NASDAQ: META) appointment of Kunal Shah, founder of the Bengaluru-based fintech CRED, to head WhatsApp, alongside a $900 million investment in CRED at a
Why Payoneer Sold — and Why Nuvei Paid $2.75 Billion to Buy It
Private equity owned Nuvei is acquiring Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO) in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $2.75 billion, or $7.40 per share. The
Stripe: The Developer Bet That Became a $159B Payments Empire
Stripe is a large, privately held, US based, global fintech company and payments infrastructure provider. Its core innovation was being the first to build an
From Starlink to Starship: Inside SpaceX’s Epic IPO
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, more commonly known as SpaceX, is pricing the largest ever initial public stock offering this week and is expected to start
Found Money: PayPal’s Biometric Push and the New Era of Trusted Commerce
PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) announced in April 2026 that it would be rolling out a new biometric identity verification process for consumer and business users for its enhanced Customer Identification Program
Visa vs. Mastercard: Inside the Programs Policing Fraud and Chargebacks
Until now, we have not covered Mastercard’s (NYSE:MA) dispute and fraud monitoring programs. Before we do, let us quickly recap Visa’s (NYSE: V) Acquirer Monitoring
FIS Launches Lyriq™: A Bank-Native Platform for Digital Money
On April 29, 2026, FIS (NYSE: FIS), a global financial technology service firm, officially launched Lyriq™, an internally developed platform built for regulated banks and