Fintech 2021 in Review, Digital Asset Outlook Report, Funding Rise Again

We go through the sector’s highs and lows in 2021, as well as a rundown of Sifted’s must-reads of the year.

The 160-page report covers 8 different sectors within the cryptocurrency industry to watch for in 2022:

The state of the market Investment trends Institutional custody Layer-1 and Layer-2 platforms Decentralized finance (DeFi) Web3 NFT/Blockchain gaming Macroeconomics

Enel has agreed to buy 50% of Italy’s Mooney to take joint control of the payments firm with Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and create a European-based fintech group.

Tencent Holdings, which has a market value equivalent to more than £400bn (£296bn), is taking a small stake in Monzo, the UK-based lender, as part of a $600m (£444m) fundraising, Sky News learns.

Industry veteran Jitendra Gupta’s consumer-focused neobank Jupiter has raised about $86 million in a new financing round as the Bangalore-based startup gears up to offer its customers lending and wealth management services. Tiger Global, QED and Sequoia Capital India co-led the two-year-old startup’s Series C round, Gupta told TechCrunch in an interview.

Rocket says the acquisition will bring millions of users to the platform and is expected to add $100 million to its $1.3 billion annual revenue.

Among the more than 200 electronic money institutions licensed in the U.K. are ones with executives or shareholders tied to alleged financial wrongdoing.

Recipients can use the $250 nearly anywhere — liquor stores, smoke shops, casinos, and ATMs are excluded.

Banking co-operative Swift is to explore how it can support interoperability in the development of the tokenised asset market, working in conjunction with Clearstream, Northern Trust, SETL and other market participants.

As Klarna and other fintechs become household names, some expect embedded finance to be as ubiquitous as cloud computing soon.