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OCC Charter Race, CBDC Paradox & Rising Mortgage Rates
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Mercury's $220M raise signals a fintech charter race reshaping banking infrastructure — while the US quietly advances wholesale CBDC rails it publicly opposes. Today's briefing covers OCC approvals, the Synapse fallout, a White House fintech executive order, Project Agorá, and rising mortgage rates.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Mercury just raised two hundred and twenty million dollars at a valuation forty-nine percent higher than its last round, and the single biggest reason is a conditional bank charter approval from the OCC. That's the signal here.
Mercury isn't alone. A broader wave of mature fintechs is pursuing federal charters for exactly the same reason.
The timing lines up with something else. The White House issued an executive order directing federal regulators to review rules that block fintech innovation and competition.
The more complicated story is what's happening with digital money. The Trump administration has publicly opposed a domestic central bank digital currency.
One more data point worth tracking. The thirty-year fixed mortgage rate climbed nine basis points to six point five percent, its highest level since August twenty twenty-five.
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