News Digest from Monoup: Main Fintech and Gaming Events of the Week
Wrapping up the week with a short digest of the latest important news from this week by Monoup experts. After obtaining MiCA license, Bybit has reached a new level in its European business. Discussing what has changed and what prospects lie ahead in this article.
Meanwhile, Nuvei payment system can now offer its services to local Canadian businesses, which is expected to positively impact its further development. Acquiring capabilities without using international channels cost much less and also simplify the all work by minimizing the number of partners and intermediaries.
Monoup’s review of what happened this week in fintech and iGaming, and what you definitely don’t want to miss.
Bybit Creates a Separate European Department
Bybit crypto exchange recently obtained a MiCA license and, in light of this, decided to separate its European operations into a distinct legal entity and a separate website.
Bybit EU with headquarters in Austria will provide services exclusively to Europeans. Since the company has already completed “passporting” its license in 29 countries, the entire market is open to Bybit EU. Although European regulations do not require a separate website for each market, Bybit has apparently decided not to risk potential updates and immediately separated Europeans onto their own platform. This may also have been done for technical convenience, as not all tokens, such as USDT, may be available in the EU due to the same legislation.
New Payment Consortium Emerges in Europe
European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) have joined forces to create a network of local payment solutions that operate internationally. Both organizations have a strong influence on the European payment market, and their new goal is to change current isolation of each European country in terms of payment methods.
European Payments Alliance is responsible for Bancomat, Bizum, MB Way, and Vipps MobilePay, which have already established international payments within their networks between Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Andorra.
The European Payments Initiative is the creator of WERO, a peer-to-peer payment method designed to be a direct competitor to PayPal in the EU.
Initially, the joint project will cover 15 countries and aim to “address the issue of Europe's sovereignty in payments, especially regarding cross-border transactions.” By the end of 2025, the organization plans to develop a new approach to payment development in Europe and figure out what to do with countries that do not have local payment methods. As a result, all EU countries will be able to exchange payments with each other through different payment systems, not just SEPA. This will allow for the creation of a more adaptive payment network that is not limited to wallets or methods and can continuously support European users and their cross-border transactions. Despite each EU country being separate, common economic zone has repeatedly proven its effectiveness, and this is what the new consortium aims to achieve.
The European payment market is established, regulated, and very slow in development, which hinders its ability to compete even for its own users. Because every innovation requires numerous approvals and checks, and work is carried out slowly and bureaucratically, American payment companies have managed to capture a large share of the market. The current global situation does not allow Europeans to fully rely on the US, so we can expect new developments from the EU on the path to complete payment sovereignty.
New Crypto Card from Bitget
Bitget Wallet has launched a crypto card based on Mastercard payment system and the infrastructure provider Immersive. The new card will allow users to make payments from their wallets at millions of merchants that accept Mastercard worldwide.
The card will be available in the EU and the UK, and later it will be rolled out to Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand. All transactions will be instantly checked for AML violations and will comply with the legislative norms of the launch countries. The Bitget card will add to the list of already available similar tools, which we have also published earlier, and will offer fiat purchases with a cryptocurrency source of funds.
Nuvei Develops Acquiring in Canada
Nuvei payment system has become a local payment processor in Canada and will be able to process payments through domestic channels without additional local partners and without involving international networks. Previously, Nuvei used a number of acquirers, but this dependency has now been minimized.
Now, Nuvei is not an international provider that can process payments in Canada, but a local provider for domestic businesses. Since transactions will not go through international routes, their cost will be significantly reduced. The entire local infrastructure is already built and can connect Canadian businesses. Previously, this payment system was more popular with international projects seeking access to multiple markets, while local businesses preferred more appealing Canadian options.
Here are the news highlights that Monoup has gathered for you this week. More news and short notes can be found in our Telegram channel, and extensive articles are in the website’s Mono Talks section.
