Fintech Recap: No-KYC Cards and Political Bank Charters Aplenty

Welcome back to Fintech Recap. I'm Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula.

We open with a tangled story that you should absolutely read Jason’s reporting* on. Trump-linked World Liberty Financial poured $1.5B into a crypto treasury company called Alt5 Sigma, whose token plummeted from ~20¢ to ~5¢. Buried inside that detritus, Jason uncovered a Canadian subsidiary issuing crypto-funded cards with no identity verification at all (confirmed after he posed as a prospective customer himself).

From there, we widen out to a troubling trend. Charters increasingly seem to flow toward companies with the right political connections. Erebor, Augustus, and a pending application from World Liberty Financial are receiving the royal treatment. What does that mean for the OCC's long-term institutional credibility?

Next, we chat about Darragh Buckley’s Increase, which built banking infrastructure for Ramp and Stripe, and just bought a tiny Washington bank to become one itself (a real-time test of whether BaaS middleware is dead).

Finally, we go deep on Fed master accounts, and why Kraken's recent approval left Fed officials scrambling to explain a decision that wasn't really theirs to make (the regional Reserve Banks making these calls basically answer to no one).

Plus, in our Can't Let It Gos: Erebor's reported talks to double its valuation without having proven it can run like a real bank, and Delta's new in-flight DraftKings prediction game (apparently even a flight isn't safe from the gambling-ification of everything).

---

This episode is brought to you by Ocrolus.

Better lending starts with better intelligence. A borrower's cash flow only tells half the story, so Ocrolus fills in the rest with behavior signals and industry benchmarking. Visit https://www.ocrolus.com/ for more.

---

Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/

And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

---

Follow Alex:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

---

Follow Jason:

Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/

*And read Jason's reporting on Alt5 Sigma and MSwipe: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/p/trump-linked-fintech-tied-to-no-kyc