In a week marked by a tentative thaw in fintech dealmaking juxtaposed with a flurry of selective, high-signal developments, the landscape crystallized around two distinct narratives: incumbents with deep pockets preparing public debut or strategic expansion, and scrappy startups carving niche positions amid capital caution. Taken together, these events provide a private-intel window into where capital, regulation, and technology are converging at this midpoint of 2025.
The blockchain-enabled capital marketplace Figure Technology revealed its intent to go public with a US filing this week. The firm disclosed a 22 percent increase in revenue during the first half of the year, reaching nearly two hundred million dollars, and transformed a loss into a net profit of almost thirty million. For a company that had been operating at a deficit only a year earlier, the reversal is both remarkable and strategically timed.
Figure integrates origination, funding, and secondary loan trading into a blockchain infrastructure already used by more than one hundred and sixty partners. By placing itself at the center of loan liquidity, the company is attempting to demonstrate that blockchain can mature into a backbone for real financial infrastructure, not just a speculative asset rail. The timing is equally significant: launching its roadshow in the early autumn allows Figure to capitalize on a window of regulatory clarity and investor appetite before election-driven uncertainty clouds markets later in the year.
The signal is clear. Blockchain-native firms that can demonstrate solid economics and operational scale are again positioned to test the waters of public capital markets, potentially reviving a sector that has been cautious since the crypto winter.
Across the Atlantic, Berlin-based N26 has become a cautionary case study in governance. The long-simmering conflict between its co-founders has come to a head, with investors such as Third Point and Coatue applying pressure for resolution. Compounding the internal discord are regulatory sanctions from BaFin, Germany’s financial watchdog, which has repeatedly criticized the bank’s risk controls and anti-money-laundering practices.
The episode underscores the fragility of investor patience in consumer fintechs that continue to stumble on compliance. Even as N26 remains a household name in Europe’s digital banking scene, its reputation has eroded. Founder resignations now appear increasingly likely before the year closes. For the industry at large, the message is sharp: regulatory credibility cannot be deferred in the pursuit of growth, and investors are no longer willing to underwrite managerial drift in heavily supervised verticals.
While individual firms battle their demons, the advisory ecosystem is preparing for the next surge of exits. Perella Weinberg has expanded its European technology practice, adding senior partners in fintech and insurtech in anticipation of renewed listing activity from firms such as Klarna and Revolut. The data justify the optimism: global technology M&A volumes this year have already surpassed six hundred billion dollars, up more than forty percent from the same period last year.
The push is more than tactical. As artificial intelligence and fintech converge into a dual-engine driver of corporate consolidation, investment banks sense a generational opportunity to reclaim deal flow. Executives considering sale processes or listings would do well to note that advisory capacity is being built pre-emptively, a signal that the window for transactions may be opening wider in Europe over the next six to nine months.
In the public markets, Latin America’s dLocal offered a reminder that emerging-market scale remains one of the strongest tailwinds in fintech. The payments processor reported a fifty percent year-on-year rise in revenue, surpassing two hundred and fifty million dollars for the quarter. Payment volumes surged above nine billion, and the company simultaneously unveiled a high-caliber new chief financial officer drawn from Visa and American Express.
Markets rewarded the results instantly. The stock jumped thirty percent in post-earnings trade, a sign that investors still prize resilient execution in under-penetrated markets. Analysts see further upside, noting that nearly ninety percent of the world’s youth population will live in emerging economies within the coming decades. For fintech operators, the message is direct: establishing a moat in growth markets generates multiples that mature economies can no longer offer.
Private-market access platform iCapital signaled another evolution in the fintech model: narrative as infrastructure. The company appointed a senior former financial journalist as its new chief investment strategist, tasked with producing content, conferences, and thought leadership that demystifies private markets for institutions. This follows iCapital’s recent capital raise, which pushed its valuation well beyond seven billion dollars.
The hire exemplifies how fintech platforms are evolving beyond transactional utility into trust-generating ecosystems. Content, far from being peripheral, has become a central distribution lever in private-market investing. In an era where allocators are inundated with options, a trusted voice backed by data can convert prospects into long-term clients. For executives in asset distribution, this is a signal that narrative competence is rapidly approaching parity with product-market fit.
Beyond the headlines of public markets and M&A, the venture landscape showed restrained but pointed movement. Global fintech funding totaled just over two hundred million dollars across a handful of transactions this past week, a muted cadence compared to historical highs. Yet the composition of deals provides a revealing compass.
An AI-driven no-code app builder closed eight and a half million dollars for its rapidly scaling “Anything” platform, which already counts half a million users. A fiat-to-crypto infrastructure firm secured sixteen million to expand its compliance-heavy global rails, attracting both strategic and venture capital. A wealth-management startup focused on concentrated stock positions raised over twelve million from high-profile early-stage investors. Meanwhile, a marketing-intelligence company designed specifically for AI search environments captured thirty-five million in a round led by a top-tier venture firm.