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🤯 What a week, huh? It's Wednesday. Let's do this.

Ether ETFs started trading yesterday, though not without some eleventh-hour suspense.

Why it matters: The spotlight is now on the Ethereum blockchain's native token as the latest digital asset to be legitimized as an investment.

Driving the news: More than eight weeks after the SEC greenlighted applications, final approvals for the nine initial funds came in this week.

Although a couple of issuers' filings were publicly declared effective by the SEC on Monday afternoon, others hit only a few hours before markets opened yesterday.

Some folks are already watching the race to the top.

"Without a doubt, BlackRock will be the firm that dominates the ETH ETF market," Alexander Blume, CEO of Two Prime, an RIA specializing in digital asset derivatives, tells Axios in an email.

"Their institutional size, trust in the market, sales force, and existing client base will make them the winner in [ether] ETFs just like they have taken the lead with the [bitcoin] ETFs," he adds, speaking to the sales prowess of giants like BlackRock and Fidelity.

Between the lines: The crypto industry appears to be counting on exchange-traded funds to take ether prices to new highs.

Some traders are eyeing a new record, expecting ether's price to surpass its November 2021 all-time high of $4,867.60, which would be a significant jump from its current level of around $3,490.

Flashback: Not long after the January debuts of bitcoin ETFs, the world's largest digital asset smashed through its ceiling and posted an all-time high.

The intrigue: CoinFund's Chris Perkins thinks the non-staking aspect of the ETFs could drive adoption of the blockchain: "The spot ETH ETF promises to bring a new generation 'on chain,' perhaps in search of the yield that the ETF will fail to deliver upon launch," he said, or to "unlock the power" of the decentralized blockchain economy.

 💭Crystal's thought bubble: It'll be interesting to see how each firm approaches its perspective of ether as an investment, and how it might fit in portfolios alongside stocks and bonds. 

Ether ETFs start trading 

Illustration of a traffic light with pixelated coins in each light, and the lit color is green.

Vanta, a San Francisco-based compliance and risk management startup, raised $150 million in Series C financing led by Sequoia Capital.

Why it's the BFD: The round provides more evidence that investors are again ready to back later-stage startups and that valuations are rebounding.

By the numbers: The new funding values Vanta at $2.45 billion, a step up from a $1.6 billion valuation it garnered from its last raise in 2022.

Vanta says it has over 8,000 customers and surpassed $100 million in ARR in its most recent fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31.

The company has over 500 employees across North America, the U.K., Germany and Australia.

Zoom in: Other investors include Goldman Sachs Alternatives, J.P. Morgan, Atlassian Ventures, Craft Ventures, CrowdStrike Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Workday Ventures and Y Combinator.

The company has raised $353 million since 2021.

Vanta hits $2.45B valuation

Illustration of a dollar sign made of binary code changing into a checkmark made of binary code.

Bessemer Ventures- and M13-backed bitcoin rewards company Fold have agreed to go public at a $494 million valuation via merger with a Cohen Circle-backed SPAC, it revealed today.

Why it matters: Some crypto companies are trying once more to go public, after SEC scrutiny killed a wave of deals in 2022. Higher bitcoin prices and the bitcoin ETF win have emboldened these businesses.

Driving the news: Fold, which offers bitcoin in return for consumer spending, heavily emphasized its bitcoin coffers in its SPAC marketing materials.

Fold has over 1,000 bitcoin its treasury, according to the presentation. It notes that MicroStrategy (which holds over 214,000 bitcoin) has outperformed bitcoin in the last five years.

"We plan to accumulate thousands more into the future," CEO Will Reeves said today in a call with Axios. "We truly look at companies like MicroStrategy as inspiration."

Those bitcoins come largely from buying from the broader market, though Fold also gets some direct revenue in bitcoin rather than in dollars.

The big picture: Circle filed confidentially for an IPO in January after canceling its SPAC.

Coincheck, which originally announced its plans to go public via SPAC merger in March 2022, has been delaying its deal and now says it plans to list this year.

Fold to go public via SPAC

Illustration of "BTC" in a stock ticker typeface surrounded by green stock ticker arrows.

🛑 Mercury abruptly shuttered service in certain countries (TechCrunch)

In response to federal scrutiny, Mercury updated its eligibility requirements and notified customers it could no longer support them. Countries on its will-not-support list include North Korea, Iran, Libya, Russia, and Ukraine.

🎮 Xbox players are the credit card industry's next big thing (WSJ)

Banks are pursuing millennial and Gen Z customers in the $57 billion video game industry by offering loyalty and rewards programs for in-game purchases.

👋 Shares to exit U.K. market (Fintech Futures)

The social trading and investing app will cease operations in the country at the end of August to focus on the French and EU markets.

😺 Meow plans never to raise again (Meow)

The banking and treasury management startup says it's profitable and shouldn't have to raise money beyond the $28 million it's already received from investors like Tiger, Coinbase Ventures and Kairos Angels. 

Credit score

Illustration of a referee's hand holding a whistle and a red card that says "credit score."

Go deeper into our full database with the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Sokin, a London-based international payments fintech, raised $31m from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Aurum Partners, and former PayPal chief commercial officer Gary Marino. Go deeper

• Strive Enterprises, a financial services company, raised $30m in Series B funding led by Cantor Fitzgerald, with participation from Deason Capital Services and Narya Capital. Go deeper

• Igloo, the parent company of NFT brand Pudgy Penguins, raised $11m in funding led by Founders Fund. Fenbushi Capital, 1kx, Everest Ventures Group and Selini Capital also participated. Go deeper

• Payflow, a Spain-based earned wage access company, raised €6m in funding  led by Seaya Ventures, Cathay Innovation, 6 Degrees Capital and Wayra. Thomson Reuters Ventures and GED Conexo Ventures also invested. Go deeper.

• Network3, a startup developing web3 AI infrastructure, raised $5.5m from Borderless Capital, EV3, IoTeX Eco fund, SNZ, Waterdrip Capital and Bing Ventures. Go deeper

• Powder, an LA-based wealth management company, raised $5m in a seed round from a syndicate of 40 Silicon Valley insiders. Go deeper

• KKR is acquiring Philadelphia-based wealth manager Janney Montgomery Scott, which has $150m in assets under administration, from Penn Mutual. Go deeper

• OneStream, the Birmingham, Mich.-based financial software maker backed by KKR, raised $490m in its U.S. IPO. The share sale was priced at $20, above its indicated range of $14 to $17, and values OneStream at $4.6b. Go deeper

• UniCredit agreed to acquire Belgian digital Aion Bank from and Polish BaaS provider Vodeno for €370m from Warburg Pincus. Go deeper

• DYdX Trading, developer of the namesake DeFi exchange, is in talks to sell some of its derivatives trading software to a consortium that includes  Wintermute Trading and Selini Capital, per Bloomberg. Go deeper

Deals!

• John Tuttle, a veteran New York Stock Exchange exec, is leaving after 17 years. He's joining Michigan-based insurance brokerage Acrisure as president in September. Go deeper

• Jennifer Ceran, a former PayPal and Box exec, is joining Mesh Payments' board of directors. Go deeper

• Stefan Bollinger, a former Goldman Sachs exec, joined Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer as CEO. Go deeper

• Kyle Sausser, a former Acorn exec, joined Domain Money as head of growth. Go deeper

• James Morgan, former NYSE counsel, joined Flowdesk as compliance chief. Go deeper

• Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki, formerly a founding partner and CCO at Copper, was named CEO of Concordium. Go deeper

• Laurent Rousseau, Guy Carpenter's CEO of EMEA and Global Capital Solutions, joined Cytora's advisory board. Go deeper

Editor's note: This item has been corrected to reflect that Kyle Sausser is a former Acorns executive, not a former Marcus executive.

It's Personnel

💨 @Lucinda is running around the city.

 🐶🐱 @Ryan is home alone with his animals.

Thanks to George Moriarty and Rob Reinalda for today's edits.

And thanks to you for reading this edition of Fintech Deals. Please tell your fintech friends and data fans about this newsletter. They can sign up here.

July 24, 2024

1 big thing: Ether ETFs start trading