Ant International raises $1.2bn to fund its payments push beyond China
Ant International raises $1.2bn to fund its payments push beyond China

Ant International, the overseas affiliate of Chinese fintech group Ant Group, has raised about $1.2 billion in a fresh equity round to fund its expansion into markets beyond its home turf. The company confirmed the raise, describing it as capital to sp…

Samsung launches its first US credit card with Barclays, its deepest move into finance yet
Samsung launches its first US credit card with Barclays, its deepest move into finance yet

The Galaxy Card pays 5% back on Samsung purchases and lives entirely inside Samsung Wallet, as the company signals plans that run beyond a single co-branded card. Samsung has launched its first credit card in the United States, the Samsung Galaxy Card,…

The EU just fined AliExpress €550M, its biggest DSA penalty yet
The EU just fined AliExpress €550M, its biggest DSA penalty yet

Alibaba’s AliExpress has been hit with a €550 million ($629 million) fine from the European Union. Brussels says the Chinese shopping platform failed to keep illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products off its site. The penalty, announced on Monday, is th…

PayPal board rebuffs $53bn Stripe and Advent bid as too low, sources say
PayPal board rebuffs $53bn Stripe and Advent bid as too low, sources say

PayPal’s board reckons that a $53bn (£39bn) joint takeover approach from Stripe and the private-equity firm Advent International sells the payments pioneer short, the latest twist in a fast-moving round of payments consolidation. People familiar with t…

Visa launched a stablecoin platform that sent Circle shares tumbling six percent
Visa launched a stablecoin platform that sent Circle shares tumbling six percent

Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform on Thursday, a new infrastructure product that lets banks and payment processors issue, manage, and settle stablecoin transactions through Visa’s network. The platform launches with native support for Open USD…

OpenAI is showing Kalshi’s World Cup odds inside ChatGPT, its first prediction market deal
OpenAI is showing Kalshi’s World Cup odds inside ChatGPT, its first prediction market deal

OpenAI has begun displaying prediction market odds from Kalshi inside ChatGPT search results, marking the first time the company has partnered with a regulated betting exchange. The integration, first reported by the New York Times, shows real-time odd…

Velocity raises $38M to move business money with stablecoins
Velocity raises $38M to move business money with stablecoins

London fintech Velocity has raised a $38 million Series A to help businesses move money with stablecoins. The Velocity Series A, led by Dragonfly and FirstMark, brings the two-year-old company’s total funding to nearly $50 million. Velocity builds trea…

Stripe and Advent offer $60.50 a share for PayPal, valuing it above $53bn
Stripe and Advent offer $60.50 a share for PayPal, valuing it above $53bn

Stripe and Advent International have offered $60.50 a share in cash for PayPal, a bid that values the payments company at more than $53bn and arrives backed by about $50bn in committed financing from banks, according to Reuters. The buyers would hold e…

Kalshi builds a forward curve for computing power as exchanges race to turn GPUs into a tradable commodity
Kalshi builds a forward curve for computing power as exchanges race to turn GPUs into a tradable commodity

Kalshi, the prediction markets exchange, has built a forward curve that tracks the future price of computing power, joining a growing list of exchanges and index operators trying to turn GPU rental costs into a standardised financial instrument. The to…

India’s Udaan secures $160 million in new funding as it races to fix its balance sheet before an IPO
India’s Udaan secures $160 million in new funding as it races to fix its balance sheet before an IPO

Indian B2B ecommerce platform Udaan has secured $160 million in a funding round that combines fresh equity from a new investor, additional debt, and the conversion of existing convertible bonds into equity, according to Bloomberg. Lightspeed Venture Pa…