<p>Coinbase is working on its reentry to India more than a year after it officially ceased operations in the world&#8217;s most populous nation. The American crypto exchange is engaging with various Indian authorities, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an Indian government agency that scrutinizes financial transactions, according to two sources familiar with the matter [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!&nbsp; This week we’re looking at how fintech heavyweights such as Klarna and Stripe are incorporating crypto into their strategies, which companies are planning for IPOs, one fintech’s Super Bowl ad, Stripe’s new lead of startups and venture capital, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Stripe has closed on its $1.1 billion purchase of stablecoin platform Bridge — marking the payment giant’s largest acquisition to date and tangible push into crypto. Co-founded in 2022 by Coinbase and Square alumni Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, San Antonio, Texas-based Bridge built an API that helps companies accept stablecoins. The pair raised $58 [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Five years ago, SpaceX launched Starlink, which has since grown into its biggest revenue driver, expanding to more than 100 countries. But as Starlink scaled, it faced a major hurdle: accepting payments in developing markets, where traditional banking infrastructure is unreliable, slow, and prone to blocking transactions. Many local banks across Africa, Latin America, and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Final hours for 2-for-1 Passes! One of the best Super Early Bird Deals for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will be wrapping up in just 24 hours for the rest of the year. The 2-for-1 Pass lets you bring a friend, colleague, or business partner, for nearly free. Buy one pass at the Super Early Bird rate [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The newest generation of startups aiming to solve cross-border payments are focusing on stablecoins &#8212; cryptocurrency coins often pegged to actual currencies or other commodities to help them keep stable prices &#8212; to build solutions that work faster and often cheaper than classic financial rails. This trend is also driving a surge in investor interest [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Only 3 days remain to score the ultimate deal for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — two of the same ticket types for the price of one! Don’t wait to take advantage of these massive savings. This limited-time offer ends this Friday, January 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT — after that, these 2-for-1 Passes will be gone. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>U.K. documents show that the U.K.’s Department of Business and Trade spent five years convincing Andreessen Horowitz to create a presence in London, only for the U.S. firm to leave 18 months after launching an office, according to government documents obtained by Sifted.  In 2023, a16z launched a crypto office in London, deeming the crypto [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The clock is ticking for one of our Super Early Bird sales! You have just 5 days left to lock in your 2 for 1 Passes at the lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Save up to $1,400 on two of the same individual ticket type. This limited-time offer ends this Friday, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the formation of a working group to propose federal regulations for &#8220;digital assets&#8221; &#8212; including cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and stablecoins &#8212; and evaluate a national crypto stockpile. Ex-PayPal COO and founder of VC firm Craft Ventures David Sacks, Trump&#8217;s pick for crypto and AI &#8220;czar,&#8221; will lead the working [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Crypto is making such a big comeback that AngelList and CoinList are launching a way to help raise capital for crypto-specific founders using crypto coins. They are teaming up to launch crypto special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and crypto roll-up vehicles (RUVs), the companies shared with TechCrunch exclusively on Wednesday. The partnership, they said, will give users [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Former SoftBank exec Akshay Naheta&#8217;s startup, Distributed Technologies Research, is trying to bridge the gap between banking and blockchain tech.</p>

<p>Former SoftBank exec Akshay Naheta&#8217;s startup, Distributed Technologies Research, is trying to bridge the gap between banking and blockchain tech.</p>

<p>A joint international statement provides the first official confirmation that North Korea was behind the $235M hack of WazirX, India&#8217;s largest cryptocurrency exchange. </p>

<p>A joint international statement provides the first official confirmation that North Korea was behind the $235M hack of WazirX, India&#8217;s largest cryptocurrency exchange. </p>

<p>Three Russian citizens were charged with money laundering for their role in operating Blender.io and Sinbad.io crypto mixing services.</p>

<p>Three Russian citizens were charged with money laundering for their role in operating Blender.io and Sinbad.io crypto mixing services.</p>

<p>Three crypto industry groups — the DeFi Education Fund, the Blockchain Association, and the Texas Blockchain Council — are suing the Internal Revenue Service to block new regulations that require decentralized finance (DeFi) entities to report customer information. The IRS has been finalizing crypto tax regulations as part of the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Do Kwon, the co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency startup Terraform Labs, will be extradited from Montenegro to the U.S. to face federal fraud charges, as first reported by Bloomberg. Kwon faces charges in both the U.S. and South Korea; Terraform Labs&#8217; TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies crashed in 2022, causing investors to lose over $40 billion. Terraform [&hellip;]</p>

<p>It took a lot more than the initially slated few weeks to arrive, but a pivotal privacy decision that&#8217;s been hanging over Sam Altman&#8217;s World (aka Worldcoin) for months has finally landed, via a late December decision from the Bavarian data protection authority enforcing the bloc&#8217;s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a comprehensive privacy framework [&hellip;]</p>