Payments, banks, AI, stablecoins. I follow the money and find who's taking a cut.
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Joined May 2013
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Crypto promised to remove the middleman. It unbundled him instead.
The full map: who earns on your dollar at every layer, and why the fight is banks against banks.
apollo440 | money retweeted
Crypto has real-time transparency until the question matters most.
More than $2 billion moved from Binance-labelled hot wallets to a new address today.
The route looks suspicious. One wallet involved was funded through Tornado Cash. The assets were quickly split again.
Binance has not said whether this was maintenance or a breach.
That distinction is doing quite a lot of work.
Last month, unusual transfers from Bitget became a confirmed $387.5 million hack.
Today, Polymarket halted international trading after a third-party provider was compromised. It says affected users will be reimbursed.
Three events. Three different statuses.
Polymarket: confirmed breach.
Bitget: confirmed theft.
Binance: more than $2 billion moving without an explanation.
The blockchain can show exactly where the money went.
It cannot tell you whether the company meant to send it.
For that, the most transparent financial system in the world still needs a press release.
Crypto has real-time transparency until the question matters most.
More than $2 billion moved from Binance-labelled hot wallets to a new address today.
The route looks suspicious. One wallet involved was funded through Tornado Cash. The assets were quickly split again.
Binance has not said whether this was maintenance or a breach.
That distinction is doing quite a lot of work.
Last month, unusual transfers from Bitget became a confirmed $387.5 million hack.
Today, Polymarket halted international trading after a third-party provider was compromised. It says affected users will be reimbursed.
Three events. Three different statuses.
Polymarket: confirmed breach.
Bitget: confirmed theft.
Binance: more than $2 billion moving without an explanation.
The blockchain can show exactly where the money went.
It cannot tell you whether the company meant to send it.
For that, the most transparent financial system in the world still needs a press release.
Your bank can make its Visa card easier to use.
Then reward you for not using it.
In June, Visa announced that Revolut had enabled Click to Pay for eligible Visa cardholders. Faster checkout. No card number to type.
Four months later, Revolut Pay went live inside Just Eat in the UK and Ireland.
Customers pay directly from their Revolut accounts. One tap. Biometric approval. No card network.
Eligible customers can earn 5x RevPoints until December 27. Just Eat says the reward drops to 2x afterward.
We don’t know how many people will switch. Visa still wins whenever they choose an eligible Revolut Visa card.
But Revolut now has its own button at checkout, and a reason for customers to press it.
The bank can make Visa payments easier.
It can also make the alternative more rewarding.
Visa can win the card.
Revolut wants to win the checkout.
apollo440 | money retweeted
DoorDash does not want to be the app you open when you are too tired to cook.
It wants to be the app you open whenever the house needs something.
The company has agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion.
If regulators approve the deal, DoorDash would combine restaurant delivery with Instacart’s grocery relationships, fulfillment software and advertising business.
It also plans to put DashPass and Instacart+ under one membership fee. The companies estimate that could save members $100 million a year.
That is the customer pitch.
The strategic value is frequency.
Dinner may bring you into the app a few times a week. Groceries and everyday goods create more reasons to return, and more shopping moments to monetize through ads.
Amazon and Walmart already understand that loop.
DoorDash built the dinner habit.
Instacart could give it a larger claim on the household budget.
DoorDash may spend $17 billion buying Instacart just as Instacart abandons the shopping cart it once called the future of grocery shopping.
Instacart is winding down Caper Cart by mid-2027. The exit will cost $55–80 million.
The carts recognized products, weighed produce, handled checkout and showed ads. They tried to put Instacart inside the physical store.
DoorDash is reportedly in advanced talks for the whole company. No deal yet.
Caper had to win space in every aisle.
Instacart’s marketplace reaches the shopper before a store is chosen.
apollo440 | money retweeted
Shopify spent years convincing merchants to use its software.
AI gives it a way into stores that never did.
Claude Duet, Grok Bot and Instinct can now offer Shop Pay for brands outside Shopify. The agent never receives the card number. Visa, Mastercard and Discover supply tokens for the purchase.
Shopify says Shop Pay already has more than 400 million accounts.
That isn’t 400 million people shopping through AI.
It is 400 million checkout relationships Shopify can try to carry beyond its own merchant base.
Stripe took a different route in some early agent flows: after approval, Link can fund a single-use virtual card. Stripe supports network tokens too, so this isn’t a clean standards war.
But defaults become infrastructure surprisingly quickly.
The merchant can run on someone else’s software.
The AI can choose the product.
Shopify can still be there when the customer becomes a buyer.
DoorDash does not want to be the app you open when you are too tired to cook.
It wants to be the app you open whenever the house needs something.
The company has agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion.
If regulators approve the deal, DoorDash would combine restaurant delivery with Instacart’s grocery relationships, fulfillment software and advertising business.
It also plans to put DashPass and Instacart+ under one membership fee. The companies estimate that could save members $100 million a year.
That is the customer pitch.
The strategic value is frequency.
Dinner may bring you into the app a few times a week. Groceries and everyday goods create more reasons to return, and more shopping moments to monetize through ads.
Amazon and Walmart already understand that loop.
DoorDash built the dinner habit.
Instacart could give it a larger claim on the household budget.
DoorDash may spend $17 billion buying Instacart just as Instacart abandons the shopping cart it once called the future of grocery shopping.
Instacart is winding down Caper Cart by mid-2027. The exit will cost $55–80 million.
The carts recognized products, weighed produce, handled checkout and showed ads. They tried to put Instacart inside the physical store.
DoorDash is reportedly in advanced talks for the whole company. No deal yet.
Caper had to win space in every aisle.
Instacart’s marketplace reaches the shopper before a store is chosen.
Shopify spent years convincing merchants to use its software.
AI gives it a way into stores that never did.
Claude Duet, Grok Bot and Instinct can now offer Shop Pay for brands outside Shopify. The agent never receives the card number. Visa, Mastercard and Discover supply tokens for the purchase.
Shopify says Shop Pay already has more than 400 million accounts.
That isn’t 400 million people shopping through AI.
It is 400 million checkout relationships Shopify can try to carry beyond its own merchant base.
Stripe took a different route in some early agent flows: after approval, Link can fund a single-use virtual card. Stripe supports network tokens too, so this isn’t a clean standards war.
But defaults become infrastructure surprisingly quickly.
The merchant can run on someone else’s software.
The AI can choose the product.
Shopify can still be there when the customer becomes a buyer.
apollo440 | money retweeted
Samsung just reported roughly $80 billion in quarterly operating profit.
The shares fell more than 6%.
Its chip division generated KRW 106.5 trillion of the group’s KRW 107.4 trillion. HBM supply for 2027 is already sold out.
The hard part had moved on from proving AI demand.
Investors wanted a clearer claim on the cash.
Samsung repeated a KRW 90–110 trillion shareholder-return range and left the final amount and execution plan until January. One day earlier, SK Hynix had put a clearer KRW 100 trillion plan on the table.
Samsung’s chip profit also came in slightly below estimates.
My read: Samsung is protecting the flexibility to keep investing while it catches up in HBM.
The market is beginning to charge for that flexibility.
Once a company earns this much, “we’ll decide later” is a capital-allocation decision of its own.
apollo440 | money retweeted
🚨 TOP 10 CRYPTO & WEB3 UPDATES FOR OCTOBER 29, 2026 🚨
Today's themes: $30T TOKENIZATION • RIPPLE RLUSD • BITCOIN & FED RATES • GOOGLE CRYPTO SECURITY • PREDICTION MARKETS • DEFI PRIVACY • CREATOR BOUNTIES • SOLANA HACKATHONS • AI × WEB3 👇
1️⃣ 🏦 @The_DTCC LAUNCHES MAJOR WALL STREET TOKENIZATION SERVICE
Big milestone for real-world assets (RWAs). @The_DTCC officially launched its Tokenization Service on October 28, bringing traditional securities closer to blockchain infrastructure.
The platform supports tokenized stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries, with 20 institutions including JPMorgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley already signed up.
This could reshape how trillions in financial assets move across markets.
dtcc.com/press-releases/2026…
2️⃣ 💰 @Ripple × @coinbase EXPAND RLUSD ACROSS THREE BLOCKCHAINS
Major stablecoin adoption news. @Ripple and @coinbase have partnered to expand RLUSD access across Coinbase's retail, exchange, and institutional platforms.
The integration supports @ethereum, @base, and XRP Ledger, allowing broader access to RLUSD trading, custody, and transfers.
RLUSD has now surpassed $2.4 billion in market capitalization, strengthening its institutional stablecoin position.
ripple.com/ripple-press/ripp…
3️⃣ ₿ BITCOIN FACES PRESSURE AS U.S. FED HOLDS INTEREST RATES
Bitcoin briefly climbed above $81,000 before retreating toward the $80,000 region following the Federal Reserve's October 28 decision.
The @federalreserve maintained interest rates at 3.75% – 4.00%, signaling continued caution over inflation.
Markets are now watching December's policy outlook, as higher borrowing costs could affect crypto liquidity and investor sentiment.
coindesk.com/business/2026/1…
4️⃣ 🔐 @GoogleCloud UNVEILS NEW CRYPTO CUSTODY SECURITY TECHNOLOGY
Google is stepping further into Web3 infrastructure. @GoogleCloud is previewing a Multi-Party Compute (MPC) security service designed to protect cryptocurrency and tokenized assets.
The technology distributes private-key control across separate systems, helping institutions reduce risks from compromised credentials.
Currently in private preview, commercial availability is planned for early 2027.
coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/28…
5️⃣ 🎯 @phantom × @Kalshi EXPAND PREDICTION MARKETS TO U.S. USERS
Prediction markets are gaining another major distribution channel @phantom has announced broader access to @Kalshi prediction markets for eligible U.S. users directly inside its wallet.
Users can trade event contracts involving Bitcoin prices, sports, and other real-world outcomes without leaving the app.
Availability depends on location and regulatory restrictions, while trading carries financial risks.
phantom.com/learn/blog/phant…
6️⃣ 🛡️ @AvailProject LAUNCHES SHIELDTX FOR @HyperliquidX TRADERS
Privacy innovation is coming to decentralized trading. @AvailProject has launched ShieldTX, a tool designed to protect @HyperliquidX traders from automated copy-trading bots.
The system creates separate wallets for individual perpetual futures positions, making trading strategies harder to track.
Avail's research estimates copy-trading can create additional execution costs of approximately 0.63% per affected trade.
theblock.co/news/defi/2026-1…
7️⃣ ✍️ OPPORTUNITY: @KriptoK × @Superteam OFFER 200 USDC CREATOR BOUNTY
Web3 content creators, here's one to explore. @KriptoK has launched a global creator challenge offering 200 USDC in prizes for engaging content about its trading, tokenized stocks, and onchain products.
Participants can submit original X posts, threads, videos, or tutorials while tagging @KriptoK and @KriptoKLeague where relevant.
No purchase or trade is required. Winners are scheduled to be announced by November 25; confirm the submission deadline on the listing.
superteam.fun/earn/listing/k…
8️⃣ 🧑💻 OPPORTUNITY: ETHEREUM DEVCON HACKATHON OFFERS $1,000
Ethereum developers, don't miss this. Invisible Garden's Machine-Checked Devcon Week runs November 2–7, with a $1,000 prize pool.
Builders will work on Ethereum networking infrastructure using Lean 4 and formal verification.
The hackathon is online, free to join, and welcomes motivated developers.
⏰ Application deadline: November 1, 2026.
invisible.garden/machine-che…
9️⃣ 🚀 OPPORTUNITY: @solana × @MLHacks ONLINE HACKATHON COMING NOVEMBER 6–8
Another exciting opportunity for Web3 builders. @solana and Major League Hacking (@MLHacks) are hosting an online hackathon from November 6–8.
Participants can build applications involving payments, DeFi, gaming, consumer products, and AI agents.
Beginners and experienced developers are welcome, with workshops and technical resources available.
Prize details are yet to be announced.
events.mlh.com/events/15200-…
🔟 💸 OPPORTUNITY: @WalrusProtocol × TATUM OFFER $4,500 AI × WEB3 HACKATHON
AI and blockchain developers, here's another opportunity. @WalrusProtocol and Tatum are hosting the Total Recall Hackathon, offering $4,500 in prizes.
Builders can develop applications using Walrus Memory and Tatum's infrastructure across prediction markets, AI agents, and consumer finance.
The competition is online and runs through November 10, with submissions closing at 17:00 UTC.
tatum.io/hackathon/total-rec…
⚠️ Disclaimer: This post is for educational and informational purposes only, not financial or investment advice. Crypto assets, prediction markets, and Web3 opportunities carry risks. Always verify official links, deadlines, eligibility, and reward conditions. Do your own research (DYOR).
Samsung just reported roughly $80 billion in quarterly operating profit.
The shares fell more than 6%.
Its chip division generated KRW 106.5 trillion of the group’s KRW 107.4 trillion. HBM supply for 2027 is already sold out.
The hard part had moved on from proving AI demand.
Investors wanted a clearer claim on the cash.
Samsung repeated a KRW 90–110 trillion shareholder-return range and left the final amount and execution plan until January. One day earlier, SK Hynix had put a clearer KRW 100 trillion plan on the table.
Samsung’s chip profit also came in slightly below estimates.
My read: Samsung is protecting the flexibility to keep investing while it catches up in HBM.
The market is beginning to charge for that flexibility.
Once a company earns this much, “we’ll decide later” is a capital-allocation decision of its own.
apollo440 | money retweeted
The easiest way to remove airline competition may be to leave both airlines on the booking screen.
Air Canada and United want permission to coordinate pricing, schedules, marketing and capacity on 10 Canada-US routes where a 2012 consent agreement currently limits coordination.
Together they already carry all nonstop passenger traffic on five of those routes.
Canada’s Competition Bureau projects materially higher prices on eight, with millions of dollars in annual consumer harm.
The airlines say a broader joint venture can add connections and make schedules work better. Fair enough.
The proposal has not been approved. Canada’s transport minister will decide.
My guess: the most valuable part is not another route.
It is replacing independent commercial decisions with a shared system on routes the airlines already dominate.
A merger is easy to see.
This could change the economics for passengers without removing either brand.
apollo440 | money retweeted
Britain doubled a tax on bank profits.
Bank shares rallied.
The surcharge will rise from 3% to 6% for 15 months. The government expects it to raise £1.5 billion.
Investors had feared something worse: a return to 8%, or a permanent reset of the tax burden.
The government gets more bank profit.
The banks get an expiry date.
My read: investors value the second more than they dislike the first.
A higher tax can still look like relief when the most valuable number is the date it ends.
The easiest way to remove airline competition may be to leave both airlines on the booking screen.
Air Canada and United want permission to coordinate pricing, schedules, marketing and capacity on 10 Canada-US routes where a 2012 consent agreement currently limits coordination.
Together they already carry all nonstop passenger traffic on five of those routes.
Canada’s Competition Bureau projects materially higher prices on eight, with millions of dollars in annual consumer harm.
The airlines say a broader joint venture can add connections and make schedules work better. Fair enough.
The proposal has not been approved. Canada’s transport minister will decide.
My guess: the most valuable part is not another route.
It is replacing independent commercial decisions with a shared system on routes the airlines already dominate.
A merger is easy to see.
This could change the economics for passengers without removing either brand.
Britain doubled a tax on bank profits.
Bank shares rallied.
The surcharge will rise from 3% to 6% for 15 months. The government expects it to raise £1.5 billion.
Investors had feared something worse: a return to 8%, or a permanent reset of the tax burden.
The government gets more bank profit.
The banks get an expiry date.
My read: investors value the second more than they dislike the first.
A higher tax can still look like relief when the most valuable number is the date it ends.
apollo440 | money retweeted
The most important feature in Revolut’s next product may be the person allowed to say no.
Revolut built a culture around small teams moving fast.
The Financial Times reports that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority ordered a skilled-person review of Revolut’s product-approval processes earlier this year, around the time it received its full UK banking licence in March.
News of the review arrives as Revolut begins offering personal loans.
A skilled-person review is not itself a finding of wrongdoing.
It tests whether Revolut’s controls can keep up with its product machine.
That matters because banking products do more than add features.
They change who gets credit, where losses sit and how much capital the institution needs.
My guess: becoming a bank makes internal veto power more valuable, not less.
Speed defined Revolut.
The next advantage may be proving that someone can stop it.
apollo440 | money retweeted
$51 is easy to understand.
The combined value of Walmart+, free checked bags, mileage multipliers, insurance and a stack of credits is not.
On January 24, 2027, Citi and American Airlines will raise the annual fee on the AAdvantage Platinum Select card from $99 to $150 for existing cardholders. The benefits expand at the same time.
Some customers will come out ahead.
Everyone now needs a spreadsheet to find out whether they are one of them.
My guess: perk bundles do more than soften a price increase. They turn one visible fee into a different personal break-even point for every cardholder.
You can compare fees in seconds.
Value takes homework.
apollo440 | money retweeted
🚨 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗡: @monzo is officially launching in Spain 🇪🇸 with a 4% savings offer!
And the battle with @Revolut just entered a new chapter.
Remember when I shared the news that Monzo had received approval from the Bank of Spain?
Well, now things are getting serious.
The UK's largest digital bank, with around 16 million customers, is entering Spain with an aggressive offer:
→ 4% APY on savings up to €5,000 for 12 months
→ 2.5% on additional balances up to €100,000
→ Spanish IBANs and Bizum integration
→ Debit cards and everyday banking
→ 80 employees across Madrid and Barcelona
And Spain is just the beginning.
According to Monzo's Spain GM, Francisco Sierra, the country will serve as its gateway into continental Europe: lnkd.in/dm8WFA-X
But here's what makes this interesting:
Revolut already has millions of customers in Spain and is building an all-in-one financial ecosystem.
Monzo is taking a different approach, focusing initially on savings, everyday banking and becoming customers' primary bank.
Two very different strategies.
One increasingly competitive market.
And a fascinating battle between two of Europe's biggest digital banking success stories.
🇪🇸 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗡!
Who would you bet on?
🅰️ Team Revolut
🅱️ Team Monzo
Let me know below 👇
apollo440 | money retweeted
Adyen is trading a cleaner margin story for a chance to become harder for merchants to remove.
Processed volume rose 30% last quarter. Net revenue rose 23%.
Still, Adyen discontinued its target of an EBITDA margin above 55% by 2028. It now expects 50% in 2026.
After closing its acquisitions of loyalty platform Talon. One and billing platform Orb, Adyen says it is accelerating investment across its team, platform and products.
A payment processor handles the transaction.
Loyalty and billing place Adyen inside how merchants price, reward and collect.
The margin target Adyen dropped was visible.
The switching costs it may be buying are not.
The most important feature in Revolut’s next product may be the person allowed to say no.
Revolut built a culture around small teams moving fast.
The Financial Times reports that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority ordered a skilled-person review of Revolut’s product-approval processes earlier this year, around the time it received its full UK banking licence in March.
News of the review arrives as Revolut begins offering personal loans.
A skilled-person review is not itself a finding of wrongdoing.
It tests whether Revolut’s controls can keep up with its product machine.
That matters because banking products do more than add features.
They change who gets credit, where losses sit and how much capital the institution needs.
My guess: becoming a bank makes internal veto power more valuable, not less.
Speed defined Revolut.
The next advantage may be proving that someone can stop it.
$51 is easy to understand.
The combined value of Walmart+, free checked bags, mileage multipliers, insurance and a stack of credits is not.
On January 24, 2027, Citi and American Airlines will raise the annual fee on the AAdvantage Platinum Select card from $99 to $150 for existing cardholders. The benefits expand at the same time.
Some customers will come out ahead.
Everyone now needs a spreadsheet to find out whether they are one of them.
My guess: perk bundles do more than soften a price increase. They turn one visible fee into a different personal break-even point for every cardholder.
You can compare fees in seconds.
Value takes homework.