Short Takes: Sorare raises $680M; Revolut copies Robinhood PFOF model; Goldman to buy $2.2B Greensky; Coinbase's crypto futures play; QED Investors' $1B fintech fund; the role of Conversational AI

Hi and gm, Fintech Architects --

Welcome back to the subscribers-only letter!

There are some changes brewing to add more value to the subs here. One thing we want to pre-annouce is our massive, massive tag archive by theme and company: https://www.fintechblueprint.com/fintech-defi-archive, and packaging by core theme (e.g., DeFi, digital investing, metaverse). A chassis on which to hang insight. Also we might have a Discord. More to come!

Here are the top updates hitting our radar:

1. First Interstate in Montana buying Great Western for $2 billion (link here)

2. Revolut, the $33 billion fintech player, is rolling out commission-free stock trading in the U.S (link here)

3. Goldman Sachs to buy home improvement lender Greensky for $2.24 billion (link here)

4. FDIC creates investment fund to support minority banks, CDFIs (link here)

5. Global stocks sell off as Evergrande crisis intensifies (link here)

6. Estonian ‘auto liquidation’ DeFi platform Minterest raises $6.5M (link here)

7. Sorare: $680m Series B 🚀 (link h…