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Introduction.com Updates (Members):
Introduction.com x Acquire.fi: Members Only Dinner (Singapore)
A closed-door evening bringing together top family offices, allocators, and members of Introduction.com.
In partnership with Acquire.fi — the go-to platform for Web3 M&A, Secondaries & OTC.
Hosted at the Mandarin Oriental Penthouse, overlooking the Formula 1 track — the most sought-after venue in the country, the evening is designed for high-value connections and meaningful exchange.
No panels. No pitches. Just curated introductions, deep conversations, and access to the people allocating billions into Web3’s future.
Attendance is strictly by invitation. Capacity is limited to a select circle of our global members, venture partners, and a handful of founders building in the most competitive sectors.
If you’ve been invited, it’s because we believe you bring something rare to the table and will walk away with relationships that compound for years.
Guests will enjoy an open bar and chef-prepared service throughout the night, ensuring the environment remains both relaxed and conducive to meaningful connection.
👶 New Member Announcements:
The Introduction.com team is super excited to announce the newest additions to our community this week!
(We’d love to see you up here one day🤠)
Apply Today
Say hi to Thomas (@agospelofthomas), the newest member of the Introduction.com community. Thomas has worked with leading teams across the industry including ConsenSys and Polymath, shaping brand and design strategies.
For the past five years he has been at Circle (@circle) as a senior brand designer and art director, co-founding the modern Circle brand and helping scale its global presence. Thrilled to have him join us!
Join us in welcoming Diana (@dianalukye) to the network. She leads global partnerships on the Marketing BD team at Binance (@binance), driving collaborations that expand the exchange’s reach and supporting listed projects with activations. Previously, she headed partnerships at World of Women (@worldofwomennft), building connections that bridged Web2–Web3. We’re excited about the perspective she adds collaborating across global brands and institutions
We’re excited to welcome Xander Hastings (@Xander_Hastings), Head of Partnerships at Rail (@RailFinancial). He helps financial institutions bridge Web2 and Web3 through banking and wallet infrastructure, leading partnerships and building strategic relationships across fintech and crypto. Previously, he focused on GTM for SaaS platforms selling Stripe Connect. With experience in stablecoin payments and advising fintechs on scaling banking networks, Xander brings valuable perspective at the intersection of traditional finance and DeFi. Thrilled to have him on board!
Table of Contents
What We’re Looking at 👀
🌟 Markets are buzzing, regulators are stirring, and even forgotten Bitcoin wallets are turning into jackpots.
From Wall Street debuts to shiny new cohorts, from NFT travel souvenirs to quantum doomsday chatter, the past week was a reminder that crypto never sits still.
Every headline felt like a different flavor of the same theme, finance is evolving in real time, and the lines between TradFi and Web3 are blurrier than ever.🌟
Money Moves(Funding/M&A): 🤑
From Introduction.com Members 💳️
Finary
Digital finance is growing up.
Finary just raised a $26.5M Series B led by PayPal Ventures, a signal that fintech giants now see wealth management + crypto aggregation as core infrastructure, not just a niche app.
Who is Finary? 🤔
Founded in 2020 by Mounir Laggoune and Julien Blancher, Finary set out to become the “all-in-one” wealth manager for the digital era.
The mission is simple: give users a single dashboard for every asset, from stocks and bonds to crypto, real estate, and collectibles, and make investing feel as easy as opening a banking app.
The Breakdown 🍴
Finary’s model is built as a value ladder with two clear tiers.
At the entry level: a free or subscription-based app where users can connect accounts, aggregate assets, and manage wealth on their own.
Finary One: a premium service offering certified advisors, discretionary portfolio management, and access to exclusive private wealth products, with regulated custodians safeguarding the assets.
This two-tier approach sets Finary apart.
It is the only player in its category that not only tracks wealth but also manages it directly on behalf of clients.
How It Works & Major Milestones ⚙️
Finary aggregates wealth data through API calls and regulated connectors, pulling balances across banks, brokerages, and crypto exchanges.
Crypto custody and execution is handled via Bitstamp Europe, while traditional asset accounts connect through EU open-banking standards.
Key Milestones 📆
2020: Finary launches as a multi-asset portfolio tracker, giving users a single view of stocks, crypto, real estate, and more.
2022: Raises €8.8M Series A (Speedinvest, Headline), powering growth past 100k users.
2023–2024: Expands into AI-driven insights and debuts Finary One, moving from tracking to full-service wealth management.
Q4 2024: Reaches profitability, setting the stage for 600k+ users and a Series B in 2025.
The Deal 💸
Finary announced a $26.5M Series B, with funds earmarked to fuel expansion and speed up product development.
Lead investor: PayPal Ventures
Other backers: Speedinvest, Headline, others from prior rounds
Use of funds: Launch brokerage + retirement accounts (PEA, PER), expand Finary One, hire 20+ roles, enhance AI insights
Valuation: Not disclosed, but positioned well above €100M
Regulation Recap ⚖️
What We Know ✅
Finary is registered as a PSAN in France and works with Bitstamp Europe under EU VASP rules, so French users can already access crypto services alongside regulated wrappers like PEAs and PERs.
What We Don’t Know ❓
EU-wide rules under MiCA are still rolling out, so for now products like PEAs and PERs remain France-only, and crypto services outside France are still restricted.
Bigger Picture 🌍
PayPal Ventures’ lead shows that large fintech players are actively buying into Europe’s digital wealth ecosystem. For investors, it’s not just equity in a startup, it’s exposure to how retail and private wealth tools will merge across asset classes in the MiCA era.
The signal is clear: digital finance is maturing. Tools like Finary are no longer side projects, they’re becoming the platforms where fintech, crypto, and traditional markets converge.
MasterCard
Mastercard Powers Ahead with This Year’s Blockchain and Digital Assets Cohort 🚀
What’s Happening
Mastercard just unveiled its 2025 Start Path Blockchain & Digital Assets Cohort, adding five new startups to its accelerator for scaling Web3 infrastructure and adoption.
Quick Recap 🏦
Mastercard has long been a mover in global payments, building rails for the Web2 finance world.
In 2014 it launched Start Path to engage with fintechs and scaleups, and by 2023 it doubled down with a dedicated blockchain and digital assets track, signaling that tokenization, compliance, and crypto integration are now central to its strategy.
Cohort Themes: 2023 → 2025 📆
2024: Prove the Use Cases — Tilt toward real-world integrations like Kulipa’s crypto cards and Triangle’s climate-finance data.
2025: Scale with Interoperability + Compliance — This year’s focus is making assets flow globally, securely, and under regulatory oversight.
👉 In short: 2023 built the rails, 2024 showed the trains, and 2025 makes sure they run on time at global scale.
This Year’s Cohort 🔗
The 2025 class leans into interoperability, stablecoins, RWAs, and compliance — the building blocks for institutional adoption.
Mastercard’s narrative is clear: mainstream finance is no longer circling blockchain, it’s onboarding it.
Plume — On-chain infrastructure for real-world assets (RWAs).
Nomyx — Simplifying fund deployment through tokenization.
Borderless.xyz — Stablecoin infrastructure for global real-time settlement.
Keyrails — Self-custody meets SWIFT rails, merging money and the internet.
Nominis — Compliance and KYT tools keeping “clean money” in crypto.
Wrap Up 🔮
Mastercard is not just betting on blockchain, it is actively shaping the rails that will carry it into mainstream finance.
If this cohort delivers, the company’s bet on compliance-driven tokenization could cement its role as the bridge between Wall Street and Web3.
Industry Leaders 🤠
Gemini
East Coast exchange Gemini crushed its Wall Street debut, proving there’s room for more than one U.S. crypto heavyweight.
The IPO 🚀
Gemini raised $425 million in its Nasdaq listing under ticker GEMI, and the market loved it.
Shares opened well above their IPO price, giving the Winklevoss twins’ exchange a fresh burst of momentum.
Quick Recap 🤔
Founded in 2014 by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini was built with a simple but ambitious vision: crypto, but compliant and institutional-ready from day one.
It leaned into its New York trust charter, pitching itself as the safe, regulated alternative to offshore exchanges.
From the start, its positioning was East Coast finance discipline, not Silicon Valley blitzscaling.
Current Lay of the Land 📊
Gemini’s business is growing — H1 2025 saw $24.8B trading volume vs $16.6B the year before, with revenue climbing.
But costs are ballooning, leaving the company with a $282.5M net loss in H1 2025, driven heavily by legal battles tied to its failed Gemini Earn program alongside regulatory and compliance overhead.
The IPO wasn’t just about growth, it was also about steadying the ship as Coinbase widens the scale gap and U.S. regulatory reforms narrow Gemini’s once-clear compliance edge.
IPO by the Numbers 🔢
Gemini’s IPO wasn’t just solid, it crushed:
$425M raised
Valuation: ~$4.25B
Shares surged double digits on day one trading, signaling pent-up appetite for compliant, U.S.-based crypto plays
Looking Ahead 🔮
With fresh capital and renewed visibility, Gemini has bought itself time.
The challenge is whether its reputation for trust and discipline will be enough to keep momentum as its compliance-first advantage fades into industry standard.
The IPO crushed — but its bigger role may be steadying Gemini for the next round of competition in what many call the bull of bull markets.
Events 📆
Introduction.com x Acquire.fi Members Only Penthouse Gathering Powered by Arcadia
IRL:
Singapore; 10/2 🇸🇬
Seoul, Korea; 9/23 - 9/28 🇰🇷
Wednesday, October 8th; New York City 🏙️
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore 10/1 - 10/2 🇸🇬
Top Stories 📰
The Quantum Question ⚛️
The Warning ⚠️
Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko sounded the alarm this week, warning that Bitcoin could face a quantum security threat by 2030 if it doesn’t upgrade its cryptography.
His message was simple: don’t wait until it’s too late, prepare before quantum hardware catches up.
The Quantum Threat 🚀
Researchers have long flagged the risk that quantum computers could one day crack the elliptic curve signatures securing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most blockchains.
The timeline is uncertain, but the narrative is growing louder: what happens when hardware races ahead of today’s cryptographic foundations?
Why Web3 Can Adapt 🔄
The good news: Web3 has a track record of evolution. Ethereum pulled off The Merge in 2022, shifting to proof-of-stake, and later unlocked withdrawals with Shanghai.
Solana survived repeated outages, rebuilt its validator client, and upgraded its runtime to stabilize and scale.
These transitions prove that crypto doesn’t just weather storms, it adapts. When quantum risk becomes real, Web3’s culture of upgrade and resilience may be its strongest defense.
Durant Balls Out 🏀
Kevin Durant just pulled off one of the biggest buzzer-beaters in crypto history, recovering a Coinbase wallet he bought Bitcoin into at $650 a coin, now worth over 17,700% more.
The Play 📊
Bought BTC in 2016 at ~$650.
Locked out for nearly a decade after losing account access.
Finally regained entry in 2025, with Bitcoin now around $116,000.
The Scoreboard 🏆
Durant’s patience (or accident) turned into a massive win, showing that sometimes the best play is no play at all. In crypto, just holding the ball long enough can deliver championship-level returns.
Why It Resonates 🔮
This isn’t just a celebrity headline, it’s a reminder that even when the clock runs long, conviction and time in the market can rack up the biggest scores.
Bitgo
BitGo IPO: Riding the Bull Wave 🐂
BitGo just filed for a U.S. IPO, aiming to turn its record breaking revenue and $90B under custody into a Wall Street debut.
The timing could not be sharper with regulatory tailwinds, rival IPOs, and a raging bull market all creating momentum.
Who Is BitGo 🤔
Founded in 2013, BitGo set out to become the most trusted institutional grade crypto custodian. Today, it is one of the biggest players in custody, wallets, and compliance infrastructure.
Key Milestones 📆
2013: Founded by Mike Belshe, pioneered multi signature wallet technology
2024: Revenue reached $3.08B with net income of $156.6M
H1 2025: Revenue surged to $4.19B compared to $1.12B in H1 2024. Net income was $12.6M compared to $30.9M YoY
By June 30 2025: Assets under custody exceeded $90.3B
2025: Won approval from BaFin in Germany to expand BitGo Europe to include regulated crypto trading alongside custody, staking, and transfers
The Announcement 🔍
What We Know ✅
BitGo has filed its S1 registration with the SEC and is planning a U.S. IPO under the ticker BTGO
What We Do Not Know ❓
No disclosure yet on raise size, share price, or the date when shares will begin trading
Context and Why It Matters 🌍
BitGo is riding explosive momentum.
Revenue is surging, assets under custody are massive, and new regulatory approvals in Europe make its institutional profile even stronger. At the same time, other crypto IPOs like Gemini and Circle are proving investor appetite exists, and U.S. and EU regulatory frameworks are pushing toward clarity.
This is BitGo trying to capture a rare alignment of forces. Demand, regulation, institutional trust, and public market appetite are all pointing the same way. The IPO is a play to lock in leadership while the window is wide open.
What’s Happening in the U.S. 🇺🇸
The regulatory wheels are turning. From state treasuries dabbling in Bitcoin to federal agencies rewriting ETF rules, Uncle Sam is busy shaping crypto’s next chapter.
CFTC Brings Crypto Leaders Into the Fold 🏛️
The CFTC tapped execs from Uniswap, Aptos, Chainlink, BNY, and more to join its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee.
JPMorgan’s Scott Lucas and Franklin Templeton’s Sandy Kaul are co-chairing, signaling a tighter TradFi–DeFi handshake.
Michigan’s Bitcoin Bill Resurfaces 💰
After seven months on ice, HB 4087 is back in motion. If passed, Michigan could allocate up to 10% of its treasury reserves into Bitcoin and other crypto.
ETF Floodgates Open 🚪
The SEC’s new generic listing standards make it way easier to launch spot crypto ETFs.
Expect a flood of products to hit the market, though analysts warn the price impacts may play out unevenly.
Signals like these make it clear: U.S. crypto policy is shifting from “if” to “how.”
The rules of the game are being written in real time, and this time, the refs are letting us play.
Wrap Up ✌
✨ This is what a maturing market looks like: IPO bells ringing, regulators writing rulebooks, fintech giants leaning in, and culture sneaking in through NFTs and celebrity wins.
Crypto is no longer the sideshow, it is the main act, and the tempo is only picking up. If this was just one week, the encore is going to be wild.✨
