Monoup News Digest: Main Updates From Fintech Industry
Another Friday has arrived, and it’s time to break down the key events of the week in fintech and iGaming. And there’s plenty to discuss. Coinbase faced its largest data leak, which we’ve already covered in our channel. It turned out that an outsourced employee had been selling customer information to scammers for months by simply photographing her screen. The scheme operated for several months and cost the exchange nearly $400 million. This story clearly demonstrated the risks of cutting costs on personnel.
Meanwhile, Malta is increasingly losing its position as a gambling hub — local HSBC acquired CrediaBank instead of the payment system RS2, as the industry had hoped. Operators are left without significant support in obtaining bank accounts and are increasingly moving to more accessible jurisdictions. Let’s go through everything in order.
India Tightens Control Over Payment Aggregators
The Reserve Bank of India has decided to look closely at payment aggregators, whose numbers have grown exponentially in recent years, while oversight has clearly been weak. Although these companies are also required to obtain licenses, they have largely remained outside the regulated banking sector and carried less responsibility.
Now, the rules of the game are changing significantly. The regulator plans to require these companies to conduct detailed checks on merchants before onboarding, including reviewing their history and business models. They will need to categorize clients by risk level and regularly report this to the Central Bank. Additionally, verification of key personnel, monitoring transactions for suspicious activity, and even physical visits to merchant offices will be implemented.
These measures will likely increase the operational costs of payment aggregators. But more importantly, they could potentially impact small businesses’ access to payment processing, as many may not meet the heightened requirements.
Coinbase Data Leak: Outsourced Employee Sold Customer Information
The May data leak at Coinbase turned into a high-profile investigation. The main culprit was an employee of the outsourcing company TaskUs from India, whom the exchange had hired to process customer information.
Ashita Mishra systematically leaked user data for several months by simply photographing her screen. The scheme had been operating since September 2024: she passed on to scammers the names, social security numbers, and bank details of clients. The scammers then used this information to impersonate Coinbase representatives and trick victims into handing over their cryptocurrency. Mishra’s phone contained data from over 10,000 users. She received $200 for each picture and took around 200 such pictures per day.
Coinbase immediately terminated its contract with TaskUs. The outsourcing provider stated that it had launched an internal investigation and was unaware of what was happening. There are suspicions that other employees from similar regions may have been involved in the scheme too. Once again, the risks of cost-cutting through hiring in low-wage countries were highlighted. In this case, the American outsourcing company hired employees in India, which is significantly cheaper than hiring Americans. The attempt to save money cost Coinbase $400 million in losses and damaged the reputation of outsourcing company itself.
Ukraine Blocks Trustee App
The National Bank of Ukraine has officially banned cryptocurrency wallet and card Trustee from operating in the country. The regulator conducted an inspection and found that the company’s Lithuanian license did not grant it the right to provide services to Ukrainian users.
This is not the first such case — previously, a similar situation occurred with Revolut, which also operated without local permission and even managed to attract 100,000 clients.
Trustee had already suspended the registration of new clients from Ukraine before the official ban. Now, the company will only be able to return to the market after obtaining a full financial license in the country.
Malta’s HSBC Moves to CrediaBank
The deal that was closely watched by a significant part of the iGaming industry has been completed. The Maltese division of HSBC found a buyer —CrediaBank, which paid €200 million for the asset.
Initially, the local payment system RS2 was in the running to acquire the bank, which would have been an ideal outcome for the gambling sector. It was assumed that after the purchase, PSP would potentially open access to bank accounts for gambling operators, who have long suffered from a lack of reliable banking partners. However, RS2 withdrew from the bidding due to rising prices and changing conditions.
As a result, Malta risks losing its position as a gambling hub altogether. The local license is losing its appeal, and the lack of stable financial solutions is pushing operators to seek more accessible jurisdictions. There is no reason to expect that HSBC, under its new owner, will become more lenient toward gambling businesses — the bank’s focus will remain unchanged.
These are the events of the week from Monoup. We continue to monitor developments and will share the main updates next Friday — or daily on Telegram.
