General Jackson Slaying the Many Headed Monster: A satire on President Andrew Jackson's campaign to destroy the Bank of the United States and its support among state banks.
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I came across some interesting US financial history in Gore Vidal's Burr this week, the Bank War of 1832–1836. In the context of stabecoins and the future of banking, history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.
The Bank War was a political struggle that developed over rechartering the Second Bank of the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson (after whom the current president styles himself). The BUS was an older version of the Federal Reserve; it had been chartered for 20 years with the goal of stabilizing the American economy through a uniform currency and stronger federal presence.
The president fought against the idea of an American federal bank for being 'controlled by elites,' arguing that the Bank catered to wealthy merchants and speculators while sidelining farmers, artisans, and small businesses.
The ensuing bank crisis resulted in the shutdown of the Bank and its replacement by state banks. That fragmentation indirectly led to the rise of wildcat banking during the Civil War and issuance of paper money from poorly-capitalized banks (and counterfeits), and eventually led the strengthening of the Treasury to tame the crisis (and, evetually, to the Federal Reserve in 1913).
It sounds not unlike some of the battles being fought today: multi-billion dollar bank mergers to strengthen regional banks, stablecoins threatening the centralized banking system's hold on deposits, a weakening independent central bank...
Speaking of policy and stablecoins!
I'll be in DC next Thursday for our policy-focused Stablecon Salon, including a panel featuring speakers from Stripe, Zerohash, Surus, Visa, and The Treasury.
I would love to see you there.
Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.
Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm
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Financial Services & Banking
The London Stock Exchange and Crowdcube opened private markets to retail investors by launching secondary trading of private company shares on the LSE's new Private Securities Market.
There are warning signals that the ongoing US government shutdown could trigger a regional banking crisis, according to the CEO of Florida-based startup TurmaFinTech.
Commerzbank, Macquarie Bank and insurance provider Signal Iduna all signed up to use Google Cloud's new Gemini Enterprise agentic platform.
Michael Barr warned that deregulation of large banks would erode safeguards and expose community banks to greater risk, particularly by rolling back capital and stress-testing rules that protect against spillovers.
The Net Zero Banking Alliance disbanded after a mass withdrawal of leading banks, leaving only a framework of guidance without enforcement and undermining coordinated industry climate accountability.
Demand for private-credit secondaries is surging as market volatility increases, with general partner–led deals fueling growth in the secondary market.
Quote of the Week
Neobanks built on stablecoins in emerging markets (especially India and Latin America) are turning out to be the only startups founded in the past few years that didn't need to catch the AI tailwind to grow astonishingly fast.— Harj Taggar (@harjtaggar) October 8, 2025
Fintech
Product Launches
Walmart's OnePay added crypto trading and custody functions to its app through a partnership with Zerohash*.
Galaxy Digital launched a retail finance app (GalaxyOne) offering equities, crypto trading, and high‑yield cash services, which drove its stock up ~10 %.
Wealthfront introduced “Nasdaq‑100 Direct,” allowing users to invest in the Nasdaq‑100 index directly with automatic rebalancing and continuous tax‑loss harvesting.
Square launched bitcoin payment acceptance and savings for merchants.
Checkout.com launched a one‑click payment option aimed at simplifying global digital transactions for merchants and customers.
AlphaSense launched an AI‑powered financial data platform combining quantitative and qualitative market intelligence into a unified interface.
Fiserv (in partnership with the Bank of North Dakota) launched the “Roughrider Coin,” North Dakota’s first state‑issued U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin.
Ramp launched “Agents for AP,” AI agents designed to fully automate invoice coding, approval, and payment workflows in its accounts‑payable platform.
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Job of the Week
Other News
GoCardless achieved profitability, marking a significant milestone in its financial performance.
Coinbase applied for a national trust charter to expand its custody services and integrate digital assets into traditional finance, while clarifying its intention not to become a bank.
Revolut is preparing to launch its payments platform in India, targeting 20 million customers by 2030 and complying with local data storage regulations.
Monzo is considering reapplying for a U.S. banking license after regulatory changes improved the prospects for foreign fintech firms.
Partnership Corner
The European Central Bank selected Portugal‑based startup Feedzai to provide fraud detection and prevention for its digital euro, partnering with PwC to ensure compliance with EU data protection, security, and privacy standards.
The Bad News
The City of Baltimore accused fintech MoneyLion of misleading consumers and making loans without a lending license, with a key issue being the use of recommended tips.
