Weekly AI fintech news digest | January 16-22, 2026

🚀 Klarna just rolled out P2P payments across 13 European countries, Coincheck's acquiring 3iQ for $111.8M, and Old Glory Bank's going public via $250M SPAC merger. Meanwhile, Polygon Labs dropped $250M+ on Coinme and Sequence acquisitions.

Fintech industry moves

Coincheck to acquire 3iQ majority stake for $111.8M

The $111.8 million deal could see Coincheck take full ownership of 3iQ, a Canadian firm known for its Bitcoin and Ethereum funds traded on major stock exchanges.

Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "Coincheck acquiring 3iQ is strategic positioning for institutional adoption. Retail investors buy crypto on exchanges, but institutions buy through regulated funds. 3iQ's Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs provide that access."

Klarna rolls out P2P payments in Europe, accelerating digital banking push

Klarna introduced instant peer-to-peer (P2P) payments across 13 European countries, bolstering its ambition to become a leading digital bank. The new feature enables Klarna customers in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK to send money directly through the firm's app.

How it works: Users confirm the payment amount and select the recipient via phone number, QR code, email, or saved contact. Klarna performs various fraud and eligibility checks. Last October, the BNPL firm partnered with Google Cloud to leverage its AI hardware and strengthen fraud detection capabilities.

Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Klarna's P2P roll out is a smart user retention strategy. BNPL is transactional, users open the app when shopping, then close it. P2P payments create daily use cases. Klarna needs to design P2P as a seamless addition."

Old Glory to go public via $250M SPAC merger with DAAQ

US-based Old Glory Bank and Digital Asset Acquisition Corporation (DAAQ), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), entered a definitive business combination agreement to create OGB Financial Company. Following the SPAC merger, OGB Financial Company will be listed on Nasdaq under ticker symbol OGLY. Old Glory expects to complete the transaction at the end of Q1 or early Q2 2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

What Old Glory Bank is: A US-based bank focused on serving customers aligned with conservative values and potentially crypto-friendly banking services, given the SPAC is Digital Asset Acquisition Corporation.

Why SPAC: SPACs offer faster public market access than traditional IPOs. For Old Glory, it's a way to raise capital and gain public market credibility without the lengthy IPO process.

US Bancorp to acquire BTIG in deal worth up to $1B

Expected to close in Q2 2026, the deal between US Bancorp and BTIG includes a target purchase price of $725 million made up of cash and shares, and a $275 million cash consideration payable over three years contingent on performance targets.

Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "US Bancorp acquiring BTIG shows regional banks competing for institutional business. The performance-based $275M contingency is smart deal structuring, it aligns incentives and reduces acquisition risk."

ClearBank partners Taurus for digital asset custody

ClearBank has opted for the Taurus-PROTECT custody solution, which will integrate with the Circle Mint platform the UK-based firm adopted in October. ClearBank customers can custody digital assets securely. Integrating with Circle Mint means stablecoin infrastructure is core to ClearBank's offering.

Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "ClearBank's Taurus partnership is infrastructure for institutional crypto adoption. Custody is the unglamorous foundation that makes everything else possible. Without secure custody, institutions won't hold crypto."

Polygon Labs buys Coinme and Sequence for more than $250M

Polygon Labs is to acquire Coinme, a Seattle-headquartered stablecoin and crypto payments platform, and Sequence, a Web3 and crypto infrastructure company, for "more than $250 million." Both deals are subject to regulatory approvals. Polygon Labs expects the Sequence transaction to close in January, while the Coinme acquisition is set to close in Q2 2026. Once completed, Coinme will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI designer at Lazarev.agency: "Polygon's $250M+ acquisitions signal they're building full-stack blockchain payments. Coinme reaches consumers. Sequence enables developers. When acquisition strategies succeed, they create seamless experiences. When they fail, they create fragmented product suites with inconsistent UX."

S&P Global completes sale of EDM and thinkFolio businesses to STG

According to S&P Global official website, the company sold its enterprise data management and thinkFolio businesses to private equity firm STG. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The EDM platform is used by buy and sell-side financial institutions to manage and organize large volumes of data, including market, reference, and ESG data. STG purchased the platform for its portfolio company Gresham, merging it with data automation solutions.

Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "S&P Global selling EDM shows they're focusing on core analytics. For STG, consolidating data management platforms under Gresham creates economies of scale. But the UX risk is integration debt, merging multiple platforms creates inconsistent interfaces. The winning move is unified design systems that make merged products feel coherent."

Investing and stocks news

TSMC is set to expand its $165 billion U.S. investment

TSMC signaled a sharp increase in U.S. spending as it expands chip production in Arizona. "We have strong conviction on the AI mega trend, and that is the reason we are stepping up the capital expenditures to expand in Taiwan and in the U.S.," TSMC's CFO told CNBC.

Why fintech cares: AI requires chips. Fintech AI features depend on chip availability and cost. TSMC's $165B investment ensures supply meets demand, preventing chip shortages that would constrain AI fintech innovation.

U.S. Treasury yields mixed as investors weigh the state of the U.S. economy

According to CNBC, U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Friday as investors monitored the economic outlook and geopolitical concerns. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 1 basis point to 4.172%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was marginally lower at 3.561%. The 30-year Treasury yield was nearly 2 basis points higher at 4.805%.

Why fintech cares: Rising Treasury yields increase borrowing costs and make savings accounts more competitive. Neobanks offering 4%+ savings rates attract deposits when yields are high.

BlackRock surges on Q4 beat, dividend hike

BlackRock raised Q4 cash dividend by 10% to $5.73 per share, approved by the board of directors. The company also authorized the repurchase of an additional 7 million shares as part of its buyback program.

Why fintech notices: BlackRock's performance signals institutional investor confidence. When asset managers raise dividends, it indicates strong fee revenue from assets under management, which often includes fintech ETFs and funds.

Venture capital fundings

Mytra announces $120M Series C round

According to Mytra official website, the round was led by Avenir Growth, with new investors Kivu Ventures, Liquid 2, D. E. Shaw, and Offline Ventures, alongside existing investors Eclipse, Greenoaks, Abstract Ventures, and Promus Ventures. Strategic investors include Lineage and RyderVentures.

What Mytra does: Software-defined industrial robotics solutions designed to automate material movement and storage in logistics. Mytra solves critical bottlenecks for warehouse-dependent organizations, from Fortune 100 suppliers to local grocers.

Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Mytra's $120M raise shows that logistics automation attracts serious capital. For fintech, this matters because supply chain finance depends on efficient logistics. When warehouses operate faster with robotics, payment cycles shorten and working capital improves. That's where fintech infrastructure meets physical automation."

Renewa lands $502M

Renewa secured $502 million in financing from a consortium of leading institutional investors. Renewa provides capital solutions to landowners and energy developers through acquisition of leasehold interests, land, rental streams, and royalty incomes. Renewa is backed by QIC and La Caisse, two of the world's leading long-term institutional investors.

Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI designer at Lazarev.agency: "Renewa's $502M raise is infrastructure finance at scale. Land financing for clean energy is complex – long timelines, regulatory risk, and uncertain revenue. When financial products are this complex, design clarity becomes the competitive advantage."

Galactic Holdings' VelaFi secures $20M in Series B

With VelaFi's total funding now hitting $40 million, CEO and co-founder Maggie Wu notes: "This investment accelerates our global expansion from Latin America into the United States and Asia."

What VelaFi does: Financial infrastructure for emerging markets, focusing on Latin America with expansion into the US and Asia.

Singapore's Atome expands syndicated debt facility to $345M

Atome increased its syndicated debt facility to $345 million, up from $200 million secured in 2024. HSBC retained its roles as structuring bank and mandated lead arranger and bookrunner (MLAB), with DBS Bank also participating as an MLAB. The investment included continued support from Baiduri Bank, Cathay United Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, while Fubon Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank joined as new backers.

Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Atome's $345M debt facility is the infrastructure that enables consumer-facing fintech. Users see 'buy now, pay later' buttons. Behind those buttons is $345M in credit facilities, underwriting models, and risk management."

What's coming next week

More cross-border acquisitions, more SPAC mergers, and probably another neobank expanding into payments. If you're building fintech that bends categories, we're the design team that provides:

• UX/UI design for AI & ML products
• Fintech product design with real-world constraints in mind

🔥 Stay sharp. Stay with Lazarev.agency, your AI design agency for fintech.