2020-2-26 22:16 |
The UK-based digital bank Revolut is now valued at $5.5 billion, after raising $500 million in its latest series D funding round. Raising a total of $836 million across the 4 funding rounds. This makes it one of the EU's most valuable fintech apps that is crypto-friendly.
The Revolut app has been used to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC) since 2017 while adding Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP in 2018. In December last year, it received in Lithuania a banking license and started offering its customers prepaid cards together with banking services.
Funding Round Led by TCVRevolut’s new funding round was led by TCV, the Silicon Valley-based venture capital group that invests in the top tech players on the market, like Spotify, LinkedIn, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and Airbnb.
The digital bank's new $5.5 billion evaluation ties to the record set by a private Swedish fintech firm Klarna, back in 2019. Revolut has more than 10 million users. Aside from offering stock trading and cryptocurrency features, it’s now looking to obtain a UK banking license and to provide lending services.
The UK Offers the Most Lucrative Market for NeobanksThe market in the UK has proven to be very lucrative for disrupter banks, also known as “neobanks“. Customers of neobanks have increased in numbers from 7.7 million to 19.6 million in 2019, says an Accenture report from Monday.
If Revolut manages to clear its path with regulators, it will also launch in the US during the first half of this year, while also trying to expand into the Asian and Latin markets.
More Traction for Crypto and NeobanksThe co-founder of another UK-based neobank, Sterling’s Mark Hipperson, has plans to launch another banking venture called Ziglu, in 2020’s Q1. Ziglu will offer multiple fiat and cryptocurrencies balances under one account and will have a Mastercard debit card linked to it. Hybrid banks that combine banking with cryptocurrency transactions are becoming more popular with the latest developments in fintech.
For example, Coinbase announced just last week that it have become an official Visa Principal Member and collaborations with crypto-based banks such as Syngum and Switzerland’s SEBA.
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