Slash Nears $250M Run Rate as Investors Race to Preempt

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Introduction

Welcome to the Tokenized newsletter, brought to you by the creators of the Tokenized Podcast - Simon Taylor of Fintech Brainfood, Pet Berisha of Sporting Crypto, and Shwetabh Sameer of Molten Ventures.

We are the newsletter for institutions that need help preparing for a Tokenized future.

We run through the headlines every week, what it means for you and a market readout. Always with an institutional, business-focused perspective. 

Join us every week as we meet your Tokenization needs.

In This Week's Edition:

💬Simon's Market Readout: Tether is buying gold faster than Poland's central bank. What happens when a stablecoin issuer starts acting like a reserve currency?

🚀 Slash near $250M Revenue Run Rate (profitably): The stablecoin infrastructure company most people haven't heard of is growing 4x annually with a $100 million+ round being preempted before they go to market.

🚀 Checkout.com acquires Blue EMI: The $12 billion payments processor just bought a MiCA-licensed euro stablecoin issuer. The line between payment processor and money issuer is disappearing.

🏛️ ING Germany opens crypto to 3.2 million customers: No new apps. No wallets. Just crypto ETNs in the same brokerage account they already use. This is the distribution playbook crypto-native exchanges can't replicate.

Simon’s Market Readout 💬 

President Xi of China has announced plans for the RMB to become a global reserve currency. On the surface, it sounds interesting, especially when you consider the geopolitics of what's happening with the dollar versus gold at the moment, and the sheer amount of gold that China's central bank is buying. And many other central banks, for that matter.

But you have to remember that the Chinese currency is pegged to the dollar to give it export price stability and be an export-led economy. If they were going to peg it directly to gold, that would be entirely different. And it would materially change their economics and maybe even the affordability of Chinese goods themselves.

So this is certainly a trend that central banks are doing for their reserves. But is it a trend that central banks will do for their currency pegs, especially those that have it pegged to the dollar? Well, if the dollar keeps devaluing, they might have to do something.

The more interesting question, though, is whether we see a shift to an entirely different central bank. A central bank for the internet.

Hear me out.

Tether has been buying gold faster than almost any central bank. They've out-bought Poland, which was the fastest central bank recently for buying gold. And they are available in the Global South, 24/7, instant. They have a dollar-based currency. They're mostly backed with Treasury bills, but increasingly accumulating gold.

What happens if there is another version of the dollar that's pegged to gold. And another central bank that makes it available to people?

Interesting times. Interesting questions to play with.

Stories You Can't Miss 📰

🚀 Slash Approaches $250M Revenue Run Rate, As Investors Preempt $100M+ Round

What started as a neobank for sneaker resellers has quietly become one of the most capital-efficient stablecoin infrastructure companies in fintech. Slash is reportedly approaching $250 million in revenue run rate after officially crossing $150 million ARR in 2025 - growth velocity that explains why a $100 million + round is being preempted before the company formally goes to market.

Key Points:

• ~$250M run rate, ~10% EBITDA margins - after crossing $150M ARR in 2025, recent reports suggest current run rate approaching $250M, profitable while growing approximately 4x YoY

• $1B+ annualized stablecoin volume processed in under 12 months since launching stablecoin capabilities via Stripe's Bridge in late 2024, with a stated target of $1 trillion by 2030

• $100M+ round reportedly being preempted following a $370M valuation in May 2025 Series B led by Goodwater Capital. This suggests it would be a unicorn territory round.

• Infrastructure head start vs. competitors - Brex launched stablecoin early access in September 2025; Ramp announced stablecoin-backed cards via Stripe in May 2025; Mercury hasn't announced customer-facing stablecoin capabilities. Slash has been stablecoin-native since inception with $1B+ volume processed and serves non-US companies via Global USD accounts - a segment requiring US incorporation at competitors

• Proprietary orchestration infrastructure - "Flow of Funds" engine coordinating multi-system financial workflows across blockchain and traditional banking rails, built to bridge the gap between instant on-chain settlement and batch-based legacy banking systems

The Tokenized Take:

Slash's trajectory brings up a point we've been tracking last year: the real value in stablecoins isn't issuing tokens. It's building the middleware that makes them behave like banking-grade money movement.

Their core insight, documented in a technical deep-dive published last week: stablecoins settle in seconds, but traditional banking rails run on batch processing, business-day cutoffs and multi-day settlement windows. A customer in Singapore sends $50k USDC at 2am Saturday. Onchain, it settles instantly. The ACH to a U.S. bank account won't initiate until Monday, won't arrive until Wednesday, and might sit in compliance review somewhere in between.

As they put it: "stablecoins are easy; stablecoin banking isn't."

The profitability at scale is the real signal here. Most business banking fintechs at $150 - $250 million ARR employ 200-400 people and are still subsidizing growth with investor capital. Slash is generating cash while scaling 4x annually, and with a much smaller team. Stablecoin infrastructure enables dramatically leaner operations because the rails themselves handle what legacy systems require humans to reconcile.

The competitive dynamics are shifting. Brex launched stablecoin early access in September 2025. Ramp partnered with Stripe in May 2025 to launch stablecoin-backed corporate cards. Mercury still hasn't announced customer-facing stablecoin capabilities. But there's a difference between adding stablecoin features and building stablecoin-native infrastructure. Slash has processed $1bil+ in stablecoin volume and spent two years building orchestration systems that coordinate across blockchains and traditional banking rails. They also serve non-US companies via Global USD accounts – a segment that requires US incorporation at Brex and Ramp.

CEO Victor Cardenas has publicly stated the goal of $1bil ARR within 18 months. At $250mil run rate, that target looks aggressive but the current trajectory makes them worth tracking.

The preemptive round interest tells you where smart money is flowing. When investors try to preempt a formal fundraise, they're betting that waiting means worse terms. Consider the contrast: Capital One just acquired Brex for ~$5.1 billion - less than half its $12.3 billion peak valuation from 2021. Traditional business banking platforms struggled to grow into their valuations. Slash, stablecoin-native from day one, is approaching a $250 million run rate profitably and attracting preemptive capital. The stablecoin infrastructure layer - orchestration, compliance, treasury management - is becoming the most contested ground in fintech. Stripe has Bridge. Circle has its payments network. Rain just raised $250 million at a $1.95 billion valuation. Slash's metrics suggest they've found something that works.  

And the market has noticed.

🚀 Checkout.com Acquires Euro Stablecoin Issuer Blue EMI

Checkout.com, the $12 billion payments processor handling over $300 billion in annual e-commerce volume, just acquired Blue EMI - a Lithuanian electronic money institution authorized to issue euro-backed stablecoins under MiCA. The deal comes with a new tech center in Vilnius and signals something bigger: major payments companies are no longer content to just use stablecoins. They want to issue them.

Key Points:

• Blue EMI holds a Bank of Lithuania EMI license, granting Checkout.com authorization to issue euro stablecoins across all 27 EU member states through MiCA's passporting framework

• Checkout.com already processes $1 billion+ in e-commerce payments daily, serving clients including eBay, Pinterest, Vinted, and 8 of the world's 12 largest crypto exchanges

• The company hit full-year profitability in 2025 after 70% year-over-year volume growth. This is a profitable infrastructure player making a calculated move, not a speculative crypto bet

• The euro stablecoin market has roughly doubled since MiCA took effect, now sitting at approximately $680 million in market cap with transaction volumes up significantly since implementation

The Tokenized Take:

This acquisition follows a playbook that should look familiar by now. Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion. PayPal launched PYUSD. Now Checkout.com is making its move, but with a European focus. And this isn't their first stablecoin rodeo: they were a Libra consortium member and launched 24/7 USDC settlement with Fireblocks back in 2022.

The strategic logic makes sense. Checkout.com already offers stablecoin settlement to merchants. Blue EMI gives them stablecoin issuance. That's vertical integration, and it matters for two reasons: control and economics. Issuers earn yield on reserves. Issuers don't depend on third parties for their core infrastructure. Issuers set the terms.

It’s worth noting Lithuania as the licensing jurisdiction. The Bank of Lithuania has positioned itself as one of the fastest, most accommodating regulators for fintech licensing in the EU. More importantly, an EMI license there grants passporting rights across the entire European Economic Area. Checkout.com can now issue regulated euro stablecoins from Lisbon to Helsinki without negotiating licenses in each market.

The timing does create competitive pressure. The European Banking Consortium - ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank, and six others - announced their own euro stablecoin via Qivalis targeting later this year. Checkout.com now has a head start with an operational license while the consortium is still navigating DNB approval. Circle's EURC holds roughly 41% of the euro stablecoin market with a first-mover advantage on MiCA compliance. SocGen's EURCV is live and integrated with DeFi protocols.

But here's what Checkout.com has that Circle doesn't: merchant distribution. When you process payments for eBay and Pinterest, you're embedded in the checkout flow. You don't need to convince merchants to adopt a new stablecoin - you can offer it as a settlement option alongside everything else they already use.

The competitive pressure on Adyen is now hard to ignore. Stripe has Bridge and Tempo. Checkout.com has Blue EMI. The third major European payment processor hasn't made a comparable move. Whether Adyen builds, buys, or partners will determine if this becomes a three-way infrastructure race or a two-horse competition.

One thing to watch: the press release focuses on "euro stablecoin capabilities" rather than announcing a specific token. That's strategic ambiguity. Checkout.com may be holding the license as optionality while watching how the euro stablecoin market develops. If they follow the Stripe playbook, expect a euro stablecoin announcement within 12-18 months - likely timed to the banking consortium's launch to maximize competitive pressure.

For enterprise treasury and payment operations teams, the takeaway is clear: your payment processor is building stablecoin issuance capabilities. The companies processing trillions in commerce volume are acquiring the ability to issue their own digital money. Whether that leads to fragmentation - every payments company with its own token - or consolidation around a few winners with massive distribution remains the open question.

But the direction here is obvious. The line between payment processor and money issuer is disappearing. And the players with merchant distribution are best positioned to win.

🏛️ ING Germany Opens Free Crypto Access to 3.2 Million Customers

ING Deutschland just gave its 3.2 million brokerage customers something they've been quietly waiting for: crypto exposure through the same account they use to buy stocks. No new apps. No wallets. No private keys. Just another product on the shelf.

And they're not alone. Morgan Stanley confirmed E*Trade will launch direct crypto trading in H1 2026 through Zero Hash, while UBS revealed plans to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum to select wealthy clients in Switzerland. The direction is clear - major banks are no longer debating whether to offer crypto access. They're competing on how fast.

Key Points:

• ~50 crypto ETNs now available covering 28 different crypto assets and strategies - from single-asset Bitcoin and Ethereum products to staking-enabled Solana and diversified crypto basket indices

• Zero order fees on trades of €1,000 or more; customers access products from blue-chip issuers including 21Shares, VanEck, Bitwise, iShares (BlackRock), and WisdomTree

• All trades execute on Xetra, Deutsche Börse's regulated electronic trading platform - same infrastructure used for DAX stocks and traditional ETFs

• ING reportedly grew brokerage accounts from 2.8 million to 3.2 million. This gives this launch immediate scale

• Savings plan functionality included - customers can set up recurring crypto ETN purchases, creating structural demand independent of price momentum

• According to multiple sources, German crypto ETP flows stayed positive through January 2026 ($63.9 million during the week of Jan. 19) even as global flows swung from $2.17 billion inflows to $1.73 billion outflows

The Tokenized Take:

The story here isn't that a bank launched crypto products. It's how they did it.

ING didn't ask customers to learn anything new. They didn't build a separate crypto app or require wallet onboarding. They took an existing relationship - the brokerage account - and added crypto ETNs to the product menu. Same dashboard. Same tax reporting. Same custody they already trust.

This is the distribution playbook that crypto-native exchanges can't replicate. When 3.2 million customers wake up and see Bitcoin in their securities portfolio, they're not "entering crypto." They're just investing. The infrastructure becomes invisible.

It’s worth noting that - European banks are pursuing two pathways to crypto. BBVA built direct custody infrastructure under MiCA's CASP framework to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. ING took a faster route: ETNs traded on Xetra sidestep custody licensing entirely by treating crypto exposure as a securities product. Different regulatory paths, same strategic signal - banks are no longer exploring, they're executing.

The savings plan feature deserves attention. Recurring purchase functionality turns retail customers into structural buyers. If even a fraction of ING's depot base converts to monthly crypto allocations, it adds demand that doesn't swing with Twitter sentiment or price charts. German retail has already demonstrated durability - those positive ETP flows in January came while the rest of the world was selling.

Expect a few more major European banks to follow before the July 2026 MiCA transition deadline. The playbook is now proven, the regulatory pathway is clear, and client demand is evident.

The open question: What does this mean for crypto-native exchanges in Europe? When incumbents can offer the same assets through trusted interfaces with zero learning curve, where does that leave platforms that built their entire value proposition on being the only way in?

And the question for other European banks is also becoming evident: How long can you afford to watch ING, BBVA and Santander (via Openbank) capture this distribution before your customers start asking why they can't do the same thing through you?

ING just demonstrated the fastest path to market.

📰 Some More News:

🏦 Tokenization, Stablecoins & Finance

• Crypto VC Funding Doubled in 2025 as RWA Tokenization Took the Lead (Read more here)

• Mercado Bitcoin expands LatAm RWA push with $20M in Rootstock private credit (Read more here)

• ProShares unveils first U.S. ETF that lets you buy the top 20 cryptos at once (Read more here)

• Aave's GHO Stablecoin Supply Hits $500M (Read more here)

• Singapore Gulf Bank Adds Stablecoin Settlement for Institutional Clients (Read more here)

• UBS CEO targets direct crypto access and 'fast follower' tokenization push amid strong 2025 results (Read more here)

• WisdomTree, a firm with $150 billion in assets, says crypto is now a core business (Read more here)

• Deutsche Börse's 360T Partners With Bitpanda to Expand MiCA-Regulated Crypto Trading (Read more here)

• Moscow Exchange Plans Solana, Ripple and Tron Futures as Crypto Index Suite Expands (Read more here)

• Spanish Red Cross launches privacy-first blockchain aid platform (Read more here)

• Crypto.com launches standalone prediction market app 'OG' (Read more here)

• Opera Shares Jump After MiniPay Wallet Adds Support for Tether's USDT (Read more here)

🤑 Funding and M&A

• TRM Labs hits unicorn status in $70 million fund raise with Goldman's participation (Read more here)

• Trump linked crypto venture World Liberty sold 49% stake to UAE state affiliated firm (Read more here)

• Talos Extends Series B to $150M in Strategic Fundraise (Read more here)

• Bitwise to acquire crypto staking company Chorus One: Report (Read more here)

• IG Group Completes Purchase of Independent Reserve Following Singapore Regulatory Approval (Read more here)

• ParaFi Capital makes $35M investment in Solana-based Jupiter (Read more here)

• Tether Scales Back $20B Funding Push After Investor Resistance: Report (Read more here)

• ARK Invest goes on $19 million buying spree as crypto stocks nurse losses (Read more here)

💼 Government & Policy

• Canada's CIRO formalizes interim crypto custody framework (Read more here)

• Critics tell UK Lords stablecoins are not future money (Read more here)

• Morning Minute: Trump's Crypto Entanglements Threaten CLARITY Act Timeline (Read more here)

• White House officials met with crypto, banking reps to discuss stablecoins (Read more here)

• New York Attorney General Letitia James slams stablecoin law GENIUS citing consumer protection concerns (Read more here)

• The Link Between Trump's Fed Pick and Tether's 'Made in America' Stablecoin (Read more here)

• President Trump says he was unaware of $500 million UAE investment in World Liberty Financial (Read more here)

• Australian Banks Imposing 'Unlawful Regulatory Ban' on Crypto, Says Coinbase (Read more here)

• Nevada Moves to Bar Coinbase's Prediction Markets Without State Gaming License (Read more here)

• Incognito Market founder sentenced to 30 years for crypto-based dark web drug market (Read more here)

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