Exits & Deep Reads

Stablecon comes to DC (TWIF 6/22)

Hello Fintech Friends,

Today's newsletter is brought to you by the Financial Technology Association's upcoming CEO summit.

Our friends at BILL also just published a new report, The 2025 BILL Report: Building the Future of Finance. You can see our recent writeup on BILL's strategy from staff writer Sophie Vo:

And we're excited to announce our own conference update! The 2026 venue for Stablecon will be at the National Harbor Resort & Conference Center in DC, from Sep 9th to 11th:

Stablecon 2026 is landing in Washington D.C. , where stablecoin meets statecraft 🇺🇸

📅 Sept 9–11
📍 Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
🎟️ Get your pass early before prices go up July 1: https://t.co/R8Urp6CUjM

Let’s talk policy, protocols, and the next era of crypto.… pic.twitter.com/V64qmjzLwf
— stablecon (@thestablecon) June 18, 2025

And if you needed any more validation for stablecoins, Circle stock is up 500%+ since IPO, with a $58 billion market cap:

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)

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📖 Reads of the Week

☯️ Exits

💻 IPOs & SPACs

Bullish, a crypto exchange backed by Peter Thiel and Block.one, announced plans to go public, encouraged by Circle's recent successful IPO and increasing investor interest in digital asset infrastructure.
Sol Strategies and FalconX, two crypto-focused firms, are preparing for IPOs in New York, signaling growing momentum for crypto companies entering public markets amid improved regulatory clarity. SOL Strategies is already a publicly-traded Canadian company that focuses on investing in and providing infrastructure for the Solana blockchain ecosystem. FalconX is a digital asset prime brokerage and liquidity provider.
Tron, the issuer of one of the largest blockchains globally, is planning to go public in the US after US authorities paused a probe into founder Justin Sun. The company will go public through a reverse merger with SRM. By total coincidence, the deal was organized by by Dominari Securities, a New York investment bank. Two of President Donald Trump's sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump joined the board of Dominari Holdings, which owns the bank, earlier this year.

🤝 M&A - Fintech

Finance automation platform Tipalti acquired Statement for $35 to $45 million to enhance its capabilities in spend management and real-time visibility.
LemFi, an African remittance startup, acquired UK-based e-money institution RightCard Payment Services to strengthen its licensing and infrastructure in the UK.
Fabrick, an Italian open finance platform, completed its acquisition of German API provider FinAPI from Schufa, expanding its footprint in Europe’s open banking sector.
Hunter Point Capital agreed to acquire a 16.1% minority stake in infrastructure investment firm Equitix at an implied enterprise value of £1.3 billion, prompting a stock rise for parent company TFG Asset Management.
Centric Financial Group took a majority stake in Dutch payments company Twelve, aiming to grow its footprint in the Benelux fintech and payment services market.

🏦 M&A - Banks and Financial Institutions

Commerce Bancshares agreed to acquire Florida-based FineMark Holdings in a $585 million all-stock deal to expand its presence in the Southeast U.S.
Wedbush Securities acquired a stake in Polish investment bank Trigon Dom Maklerski, marking a rare American foray into Poland’s capital markets.
Pollen Street Capital, owner of Shawbrook Bank, is considering a potential takeover bid for troubled UK lender Metro Bank.
Shackleton was acquired by Lee Equity Partners, giving the advisory firm additional capital and resources for growth.
Banco Sabadell is exploring a potential sale of UK lender TSB, as part of a broader strategic review following takeover interest from BBVA.
Tetragon Financial Group sold a minority stake in infrastructure asset manager Equitix to Hunter Point Capital, continuing a trend of partial exits among alternative asset managers.