TLDR Fintech 2026-06-22

Kalshi has reportedly begun informal IPO discussions with investment banks after surpassing $2 billion in annualized revenue and raising $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation in May. The prediction markets platform is scaling rapidly, with $16.8 billion of May trading volume, but faces growing scrutiny from state regulators and gaming groups over whether sports and casino-style prediction contracts should be treated as illegal gambling.

Companies developing AI-powered data centers in orbit are beginning discussions with insurers, a crucial step toward turning a futuristic concept into a financeable business. Insurance coverage would help startups such as Orbital, Starcloud, Lonestar Data Holdings, and Cowboy Space secure debt financing for expensive space infrastructure, while industry players work through how to model risks around AI hardware operating in space.

Robinhood is reducing its workforce by 10%, eliminating roughly 295 roles as it pushes to operate with a leaner structure despite reporting record trading activity across equities, options, and prediction markets.

Zelle, a P2P payments brand created by the largest banks, has announced a stablecoin, Zelle USD, for international payments. This came just a week after another consortium of banks, TCH, announced they'd build with tokenized deposits instead.

The Federal Regulators proposed rules for GENIUS-compliant stablecoin issuers to maintain effective Customer Identification Programs (CIP). The rules say stablecoin issuers must maintain these CIP programs, similar to banks (while on/off ramps are often MTL-licensed entities under state supervision).

AI is increasing pressure on accounting and finance teams by raising concerns around adoption speed, output quality, cybersecurity, compliance, and trust in financial information. Finance professionals can become the human control layer for AI by pairing automation with governance, judgment, practical upskilling, and stronger oversight, shifting their role from reporting data to validating AI outputs and delivering trusted strategic recommendations.

Repay Holdings Corporation, a leading provider of vertically-integrated payment solutions, today announced the successful completion of a proof of concept demonstrating stablecoin payment capabilities on its platform.

Founded in 2000, Expatica provides practical, locally relevant guidance for people living internationally, covering topics including relocation, housing, healthcare, immigration, and finance. In 2025, Expatica reached more than 7 million visits, with its largest audiences across France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain.

JPMorgan has removed Anthropic's Claude from the list of approved AI tools for employees in Hong Kong, reflecting growing caution among global banks as AI adoption collides with regulatory and geopolitical concerns. The move follows a similar decision by Goldman Sachs and appears tied to licensing terms, highlighting how financial institutions are increasingly scrutinizing where and how AI models can be used.

Deluxe agreed to acquire payments processor Celero Commerce for $625 million in cash, accelerating its shift away from legacy paper-check revenue and toward digital payments and data services. The combined company processed about $70 billion in gross transactions last year, which Deluxe says would make it one of the 10 largest non-bank merchant acquirers in the US.

AI companies are shifting from flat subscriptions toward usage-based pricing as heavy agentic workloads, coding agents, and tokenmaxxing make unlimited access economically unsustainable.

Stablecoin and onchain payment rails will only scale with banks if they support core compliance functions natively.