# Fintech Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Fintech", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Katie Wood's Investment Company Bought $21 Million Worth of Block Shares Amid Their 6% Decline

Kathy Wood's Ark Invest purchased approximately $21 million worth of Block Inc. (XYZ) shares after the fintech company's stock fell over 6% on August 6th, despite the company reporting Q2 results that beat analyst forecasts. Block's Q2 revenue reached $6.62 billion, a 9% year-over-year increase. Adjusted earnings per share grew 65% to $1.02, and gross profit rose 25% to $3.17 billion. However, Mizuho analysts expressed concerns about rising operating expenses, which may increase from $4.48 billion in the first half to $4.56 billion in the second half. The company had previously laid off about 40% of its staff in February. Taking advantage of the stock decline, Ark Invest bought 267,676 shares of Jack Dorsey's Block for its ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF ETFs. Block remains a significant holding for Ark; for example, it is the tenth-largest position in the ARKW fund, valued at about $60 million and representing a 3.51% portfolio weight. Ark typically limits individual holdings to 10% of a fund's portfolio. On August 7th, Ark also bought 20,318 SpaceX shares worth nearly $2.3 million through several funds and sold 39,509 shares of Bullish for $910,287 via ARKW.

cryptonews.ru12h ago

Katie Wood's Investment Company Bought $21 Million Worth of Block Shares Amid Their 6% Decline

cryptonews.ru12h ago

Cathie Wood's ARK Purchase of $21 Million in Block Shares Not as Optimistic as It Seemed

ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, purchased nearly $21 million worth of Block (formerly Square) stock after a 6% price drop. However, this was not a bullish signal but a routine portfolio rebalancing. Ark's strategy limits any single holding to 10% of a fund's value and involves buying shares to maintain target weights when they fall. Similar rebalancing purchases occurred with Coinbase and Circle earlier in the week following their stock declines. Ark frequently adds to its largest existing positions after price drops while simultaneously selling other assets, as seen when it sold Bullish shares on the same day it bought Block. This pattern highlights a focus on portfolio management rather than new investment theses. Block's strong Q2 earnings, beating revenue and profit estimates, contrasted with the stock decline, which analysts attributed to concerns over rising operating costs. Meanwhile, the investment landscape for crypto-related stocks is evolving, with some firms viewing them as a distinct "picks and shovels" asset class tied to digital asset adoption, separate from direct Bitcoin bets. Ark's stated mission remains investing in disruptive innovation, including blockchain and fintech.

cryptonews.ru23h ago

Cathie Wood's ARK Purchase of $21 Million in Block Shares Not as Optimistic as It Seemed

cryptonews.ru23h ago

Fast Partners with Rhuna to Power instant payments for UNTOLD

On August 7, 2026, Fast (a payments network by Pi2 Labs) and Rhuna (a live events platform) announced a partnership to provide instant payment settlement for major festivals, starting with UNTOLD. This integration deploys Fast's infrastructure, originally engineered for high-volume, real-time AI agent transactions, to handle the intense payment peaks of festival environments. Rhuna's platform manages consumer-facing wallets and vendor payments at events, while Fast processes the underlying settlements instantly and in parallel, eliminating batching delays. This pilot is a real-world test for Fast's architecture, designed for billions of transactions with verifiable finality. As Rhuna expands globally, the volume on Fast's network will grow, serving as a proving ground for its application in fintech, marketplaces, and the future agentic economy.

cointelegraphYesterday 11:06

Fast Partners with Rhuna to Power instant payments for UNTOLD

cointelegraphYesterday 11:06

Building the Next-Generation Financial Information Terminal with BlockBeats

BlockBeats is building a next-generation personal financial information portal, integrating real-time global market data, news, professional research, and AI-powered analysis. We are actively hiring for multiple roles across our teams in Beijing, with strictly remote opportunities available. We are seeking passionate individuals to join our Hot News Team as Global Market Information Editors, responsible for real-time tracking and analysis of global tech, financial markets, and industry trends. Our In-Depth Reporting & Research Team is looking for Tech Finance Researchers to conduct deep analysis on AI, capital markets, digital assets, and emerging industries. Our Operations Team needs Social Media Specialists to drive user growth and community engagement on platforms like Twitter and Telegram. The Business Team has openings for Business Executives to manage client partnerships and Overseas Business Development specialists to expand our global footprint. Technical roles include Frontend and Backend Developers to help build our products. We are also forming a Prediction Markets Team, seeking Researchers/Content Writers to analyze market events, on-chain data, and provide actionable insights. Ideal candidates are curious about future tech, sensitive to financial markets, adept at extracting value from information, and eager to build new products. Both full-time positions and internships are available.

marsbitYesterday 10:06

Building the Next-Generation Financial Information Terminal with BlockBeats

marsbitYesterday 10:06

Lithic and Lightspark Launch USDC-Based Payment Cards

Lithic, a card issuing platform, and Lightspark, an infrastructure developer for international money transfers, have launched a new joint Visa-based product. The cards are issued by Lead Bank and settlements are conducted in USDC. The USDC settlement mechanism is built directly into the Lightspark platform. User funds are held in the stablecoin and are automatically converted into local currency at the moment of payment, allowing the product to use the same settlement infrastructure as the company's entire payment network. Lithic handles transaction processing with its Authorization Intelligence system, which integrates payment authorization, device verification, and fraud protection into a single programmable infrastructure.

cryptonews.ruYesterday 14:41

Lithic and Lightspark Launch USDC-Based Payment Cards

cryptonews.ruYesterday 14:41

Visa integrates stablecoin payouts via zerohash for Visa Direct clients

Payment giant Visa has partnered with digital asset infrastructure provider Zerohash to enable Visa Direct clients to fund accounts and receive payouts in stablecoins. Through this integration, Visa Direct's network, which spans over 18 billion endpoints across 195+ countries, will allow businesses to manage liquidity and facilitate faster cross-border transfers around the clock. Zerohash CEO Edward Woodford stated the move accelerates the global adoption of stablecoins within core payment networks, offering businesses quicker cross-border settlement and recipients faster fund access. Visa's Global Head of Product, Mark Nelsen, highlighted stablecoins' potential for faster, more flexible money movement, especially across borders. This collaboration follows Visa's recent initiatives in the digital asset space, including expanding stablecoin card partnerships and launching its Visa Stablecoin Platform for institutional clients. Zerohash, which secured a MiCA license in late 2025, will provide the necessary regulatory and technical infrastructure for the service.

cryptonews.ru2 days ago 11:30

Visa integrates stablecoin payouts via zerohash for Visa Direct clients

cryptonews.ru2 days ago 11:30

Block Raises Forecast for 2026 and Holds onto 9117 BTC

Fintech company Block, founded by Jack Dorsey, has raised its 2026 forecast following a strong second quarter. Gross profit grew 25% year-over-year to $3.17 billion. Adjusted operating profit was $863.8 million, up from $549.6 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $1.02, beating Wall Street consensus. Revenue from Block's Bitcoin ecosystem fell 13% to $1.89 billion, with gross profit down 31% to $72 million. The company attributed this to a strategic reduction of fees on some Bitcoin transactions via Cash App and slower activity in the primary cryptocurrency market. Block also recorded an $88.5 million unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings and, per Bitcoin Treasuries, currently holds 9,117 BTC. Block continues to develop its crypto products, adding USDC support and multi-blockchain transactions for the stablecoin in Cash App. The company highlighted its integration of agentic artificial intelligence, which in June assisted in writing and reviewing nearly all production code changes. This aligns with a broader operational overhaul, which included cutting around 4,000 jobs earlier this year, though some employees were later rehired. Block also launched an AI tool, Builderbot, for software development automation and introduced the open-source platform Buzz in July.

cryptonews.ru2 days ago 11:15

Block Raises Forecast for 2026 and Holds onto 9117 BTC

cryptonews.ru2 days ago 11:15

Block raises 2026 outlook on strong quarter, says AI touches nearly all code

Fintech firm Block raised its full-year 2026 outlook after a strong Q2 performance. Gross profit surged 25% year-over-year to $3.17 billion, exceeding guidance. Adjusted operating income hit $855 million, and adjusted EPS of $1.02 beat estimates. Consequently, Block increased its full-year gross profit forecast to $12.51 billion and adjusted operating income to $3.47 billion. CFO Amrita Ahuja attributed the guidance hike to strong execution and momentum. Separately, the company revealed that agentic AI assisted in writing and reviewing nearly all production code changes in June. This follows a February AI-led restructuring that eliminated 4,000 jobs. According to Block, code changes per engineer have increased 150% since the start of the year.

cointelegraph2 days ago 01:46

Block raises 2026 outlook on strong quarter, says AI touches nearly all code

cointelegraph2 days ago 01:46

Robinhood's Bigger Basket

"Robinhood's Bigger Basket" A few weeks ago, the author described Robinhood as a financial supermarket, bundling services from stocks to crypto. After watching the Q2 2026 earnings call, this view was seen as an understatement. The real power is not just attracting new customers, but making existing users engage more deeply. Key performance highlights: * Revenue surpassed $5B annualized, faster than legacy brokers like Charles Schwab. * Paying users grew 7% YoY to 28.4M, but Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) surged 24% to $187. * User activity intensified: per-user stock notional volume rose 56% and options contracts rose 43%, while the number of users trading these assets grew much slower (13% and 3% respectively). The Robinhood Gold subscription is a critical engine. Nearly half of new users sign up for Gold, which then acts as a gateway. Gold users hold 4.2x more assets and are 3.1x more likely to use retirement products than regular users. This creates a powerful cross-sell flywheel where using one product (e.g., prediction markets) increases adoption of others (e.g., IRAs). The future catalysts are Robinhood Chain and the upcoming Robinhood Social feed. * **Robinhood Chain** integrates services (tokenized stocks, lending, perpetuals) into a single, composable platform, reducing friction for cross-product usage. * **Robinhood Social** will internalize the trading idea generation process. Verified portfolios within the app could build trust and move the entire "idea-to-execution" loop inside Robinhood. Together, these act as neutral layers that drive engagement and value accumulation across Robinhood's ecosystem, similar to how Costco's store layout drives membership sales. Despite cyclical concerns in areas like crypto trading, Robinhood's diversified portfolio of 13 business lines each with over $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) creates stability. Different product cycles offset each other within a single user's account. The company's unique advantage is transforming a single customer relationship into a compounding, self-diversifying revenue node spanning traditional and crypto finance, amplified by its native blockchain.

marsbit2 days ago 14:51

Trading Volume Increased by 2.5x, Why Did Circle's Revenue Only Grow by 7%?

Circle's Q2 performance presents a seemingly contradictory picture: the transaction volume of its stablecoin USDC surged 151% year-over-year to $14.8 trillion, while its "Total Revenue & Reserve Revenue" grew by only 7% to $701 million. This discrepancy highlights the core of Circle's business model. Revenue is primarily driven not by transaction volume, but by the average amount of USDC in circulation and the yield generated from its reserves. Key points: 1. **Revenue Drivers:** Over 90% of revenue comes from "reserve income," which is a function of average USDC circulation (up 25% YoY) and the reserve yield (which fell by 66 basis points). The net effect was a mere ~5% increase in reserve income. 2. **Transaction vs. Revenue:** High transaction volume indicates robust usage of USDC for payments and settlements, but does not translate directly to revenue. It must first convert into a sustained, average circulating balance. 3. **Cost Structure:** After accounting for distribution and other costs, the metric "Revenue Less Direct Costs" (RLDC) grew faster than total revenue, with its margin improving. However, rising operating expenses (up 23% YoY) meant that Adjusted EBITDA growth was limited to 8%. 4. **New Initiatives:** Circle reported progress on new networks like the Circle Payments Network and upcoming products (Arc, Agent Stack), but these are currently measured by adoption metrics (e.g., transaction run-rate, number of services) rather than material revenue contribution this quarter. In summary, the financial results are determined by the interplay of USDC circulation, reserve yields, and cost structures, while high transaction volume signals underlying network strength that has not yet fully flowed through to the income statement.

marsbit08/05 11:29

Trading Volume Increased by 2.5x, Why Did Circle's Revenue Only Grow by 7%?