Short Takes: UiPath's $35B of robots; $140MM Ethereum ETFs & Paxos Fed Bank Charter; Ant Group powers China CBDC; Pagaya's $8B Credit AI SPAC; Neobank funds $100MM for Step, $220MM for Current

Hi Fintech Architects --

Welcome back to the subscribers-only letter! You are the best. Also, don’t lose your head.

Here are the top ones hitting our radar:

1. Today In Digital-First Banking: Current Raises $220 Million; Step Lands $100 Million (link here)

2. Affirm to acquire Returnly (link here)

3. PicPay, the Brazilian mobile payments platform, files for an IPO on Nasdaq (link here)

4. U.S. payment fintech TribalCredit scores $34.3 Million through Series A funding round led by QEDInvestors& Partners For Growth (link here)

5. Digital account opening solution for banks & credit unions MANTL secures $40 Million through Series B investment round (link here)

6. Blockchain startup DigitalAsset nabs $120M to knock down data silos (link here)

7. Ethereum ETFs get off to $138 Million start so far (link here)

8. China digital currency: fintech giant AntGroup reveals partnership history with People’s Bank of China (link here)

9. Paxos gets Federal Bank Charter from OCC (link here)

10. JPMorgan to let clients invest in BitcoinFund for …