01
What changed in fintech regulation and policy this week?
Government decisions, new rules and policy shifts reported this week.
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The Russian government has implemented new regulations prohibiting the withdrawal of cryptocurrency assets from regulated accounts to self-custody wallets.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗03
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted approval to Cboe Global Markets Inc. to list options contracts based on performance metrics of publicly traded companies.
Read at bloomberg.com ↗04
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has designated USDC as the first 'significant' e-money token within the European Union.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗Also: 15 Oct — theblock.co
05
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour stated at DC Fintech Week in Arlington, Virginia, that the ongoing regulatory battle will determine if prediction markets remain in the U.S. or move offshore.
Read at unchainedcrypto.com ↗06
The Bank of Russia added Sberbank to its register of authorized crypto exchange operators on October 12, 2026.
Read at decrypt.co ↗07
On October 5, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to establish a regulatory framework for retail crypto asset transactions (CTXs) involving leverage, margin, or financing.
Read at natlawreview.com ↗08
Coins.ph, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the Philippines, is facing potential regulatory action from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that could lead to the revocation of its operating license.
Read at coindesk.com ↗8 of 22 regulation and policy events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.
What funding rounds and acquisitions happened in fintech this week?
The week’s notable investments, financing rounds, acquisitions and strategic deals.
09
Circle, led by CEO Jeremy Allaire, is targeting expansion into 40 new markets to meet growing global demand for stablecoins.
Read at coindesk.com ↗10
Ramp has raised $1.85 billion in a new funding round, bringing its valuation to $60 billion.
Read at techcrunch.com ↗11
Canadian investor Fairfax Financial Holdings has proposed transferring its entire stake in Go Digit General Insurance, Go Digit Life Insurance, and IIFL Capital Services to IDBI Bank.
Read at inc42.com ↗12
Fintech company Ramp has raised $1.85 billion in a new funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group.
Read at techmeme.com ↗13
Fintech company Finger has acquired a 79.91% stake in battery mixing equipment manufacturer Jeil M&S for 31 billion won.
Read at thelec.net ↗14
In September 2026, 38 companies joined the Crunchbase Unicorn Board, contributing $71 billion in total value.
Read at crunchbase.com ↗15
Payward, the parent company of the crypto exchange Kraken, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Lithuania-licensed Saldo Bank from its Finnish holding company, Saldo Finance Oy.
Read at unchainedcrypto.com ↗16
Standard Bank is investing approximately $185 million in the Nigeria-focused fintech company OPay.
Read at techcabal.com ↗8 of 38 funding and m&a events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.
What products launched in fintech this week?
Notable product launches, releases and platform updates from the week.
17
Injective has implemented fixed gas costs for exchange transactions on its blockchain network.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗18
Visa Direct has launched its USDC prefunding service into commercial production.
Read at theblock.co ↗19
Circle plans to expand its USDC stablecoin operations into approximately 40 emerging and developing markets to capitalize on mainstream scaling.
Read at decrypt.co ↗20
Splitit announced the upcoming launch of the Splitit World Mastercard, a white-label installment payment card.
Read at finextra.com ↗21
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. announced new initiatives on Thursday, October 15, 2026, to integrate stablecoins into their payment networks.
Read at digitaltransactions.net ↗22
Mastercard and BVNK have launched the Global Money Platform, a modular infrastructure allowing businesses to manage fiat and stablecoins in multi-currency accounts.
Read at decrypt.co ↗23
Visa has officially transitioned its stablecoin-powered money movement capabilities from the pilot phase to commercial production.
Read at finextra.com ↗24
BNY and Citadel Securities have successfully completed the first tokenized U.S. Treasury repo transaction on a major triparty platform.
Read at theblock.co ↗8 of 56 product launches events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.
What financial results were reported in fintech this week?
Earnings, guidance and other financial results reported this week.
25
Mynt, the owner of the digital wallet GCash, is preparing for an initial public offering in Southeast Asia.
Read at ft.com ↗26
In Q3 2026, Asian startups secured $38.5 billion in funding, marking the second-highest quarterly total on record.
Read at crunchbase.com ↗27
The decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter reported that the YOLO token reached $1 billion in trading volume within 24 hours of its launch.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗28
Tech.eu reports that over 65 European tech funding deals totaling more than €1.8 billion occurred during the week of October 16, 2026.
Read at tech.eu ↗29
Egyptian fintech unicorn MNT-Halan is conducting an IPO, with its retail offer oversubscribed 13.5 times and institutional offer 11.2 times.
Read at techcabal.com ↗30
Blockchain analytics firm Allium reported that stablecoin payment volume reached $482 billion in the first nine months of 2026, a 45% increase year-over-year, while total circulating supply remained nearly flat at $305 billion.
Read at coindesk.com ↗31
Evernorth has announced plans to deploy $648 million of its XRP treasury into lending and yield-generating strategies.
Read at theblock.co ↗32
African startups raised $2.49 billion across 315 deals in the first nine months of 2026, marking a 7.8% year-on-year increase.
Read at techcabal.com ↗8 of 18 financial results events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.
What court rulings and legal actions hit fintech this week?
Court rulings, filings and legal actions reported this week.
33
Crypto.com and Novig have filed lawsuits against the state of Missouri regarding sports event contracts.
Read at theblock.co ↗34
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached settlements with payment processors Nuvei and Humboldt Merchant Services regarding allegations of facilitating deceptive merchant activities.
Read at natlawreview.com ↗35
CoreWeave and Broadcom have filed formal objections regarding the stock tokenization plans proposed by OKX and ICE.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗36
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour stated that if U.S. courts rule that prediction markets fall under state gambling oversight rather than federal regulation, firms will be forced to move operations offshore.
Read at coindesk.com ↗What research was published in fintech this week?
New research findings and studies published this week.
37
A report indicates that 10 million Americans are utilizing advance loan applications to access their paychecks early.
Read at fortune.com ↗38
Finextra Research published a report titled 'Payments 2026: Moving from AI Experimentation to Institutional Execution' on October 16, 2026.
Read at finextra.com ↗39
A report by Feedzai indicates that banks and fintech companies are overestimating their preparedness for future fraud waves.
Read at finextra.com ↗40
New research from the fintech company Neo indicates that 88% of senior finance professionals at international SMEs believe stablecoins could enhance B2B cross-border collections.
Read at finextra.com ↗41
Finextra Research published a report titled 'The Payoff Year: Turning Payments Modernisation into Commercial Value' on October 15, 2026.
Read at finextra.com ↗42
AI agents have executed over 138 million transactions via the x402 protocol on the Coinbase Base blockchain to purchase data, computing power, and AI model access.
Read at coindesk.com ↗43
Coinbase published a proposal on October 13, 2026, outlining a strategy to protect the Bitcoin network from potential quantum computing threats.
Read at gizmodo.com ↗44
Chainalysis released its 2026 Geography of Crypto Report, highlighting that the North American crypto economy totaled $3.02 trillion in the 12 months ending July 1, 2026.
Read at chainalysis.com ↗8 of 13 research events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.
What incidents and outages hit fintech this week?
Incidents, outages and safety events reported this week.
45
On October 14, 2026, Ledger confirmed that a physical implant was discovered in hardware wallets sold through the reseller CryptoBilis.
Read at thedefiant.io ↗1 of 11 incidents and safety events are listed; the rest were ranked lower by importance and multi-source corroboration and are not shown.