Jupiter, a Solana-based decentralized exchange, will airdrop 700 million JUP tokens to its community on Wednesday in what it is calling the “largest airdrop in history.”

The airdrop is a part of the project’s annual “Jupuary” event, which was voted into existence alongside another event in 2026 in a governance vote in December. It is scheduled to start at 15:30 UTC.

Initial concerns were raised about the sustainability of supply increase, prompting the proposal to be amended to include a token audit and burn schedule over the next month.

At the time of writing JUP is trading at $0.87 after sliding by 2% over the past 24 hours. The total value of the airdrop is set to be $612 million.

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! 

This week, we’re looking at just how much fintech startups raised in 2024, a slew of fundraising deals, Plaid’s reported revenue growth last year, and more!

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here.

The big story

Global funding to fintech startups continues to decline. According to CB Insights’ State of Fintech 2024 Report, fintech startups globally raised a combined $33.7 billion in funding last year — down 20% from the year before. Deal volume also dropped — by 17% to 3,580. But there are at least a couple of bright spots: The annual decline in funding was fintech’s smallest in three years. Plus, funding rebounded to close the year strong, reaching $8.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 — up 11% compared to the 2024 third quarter. CB Insights also reported a 33% annual increase in median fintech deal size  — to $4 million.

Dollars and cents

LemFi, a London-based financial services platform designed for immigrants, raised $53 million in new funding, which it will use to fuel efforts to acquire more customers and further expand into more countries.

Recharge, a key European player in online prepaid payments, has secured a €45 million debt facility with ABN AMRO to look at rolling up the market with a round of M&A, as well as moving into fintech-style services.

French startup Hyperline wants to build the next-generation Chargebee. It raised an initial €4 million funding round from Index Ventures back in 2023 ($4.1 million at today’s exchange rate). And Index Ventures is doubling down on this investment as it is investing another $10 million in the startup.

Bench, the accounting startup that imploded over the holidays, filed for bankruptcy in Canada on January 7 revealing massive debts, documents seen by TechCrunch show. The filings — one for Bench and another for 10Sheet, Bench’s original name — show that Bench had $2.8 million in cash on hand by the end of its life but $65.4 million in liabilities. Charles Rollet does a deep dive here.

More fintech IPOs?! Trading platform eToro has reportedly filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO that could value the company at over $5 billion. Israel-based eToro, which competes with the likes of Robinhood, told TechCrunch it is “not commenting on IPO rumors.”

Amazon has agreed to acquire Indian buy now, pay later startup Axio, deepening its push into financial services in one of its fastest-growing markets.

Ex-SoftBank veteran Akshay Naheta’s Switzerland-based startup, Distributed Technologies Research (DTR), is attempting to bridge the gap between traditional banking and blockchain technology, joining an army of companies trying to modernize the global payments infrastructure.

Barclays’ Rise is shutting down in 2025.

People moves

Synctera has hired its first CFO, Matias Pino. 

Mark Fiorentino announced he’s left Index Ventures to join Bain Capital as “the newest partner charged with helping to guide the next generation of growth-stage AI-native, vertical SaaS and fintech startups.”

High-interest headlines

Last year was a good year for Plaid. Bloomberg reports that revenue at Plaid Inc., which provides infrastructure to connect fintechs and banks, spiked by over 25% last year.

Cryptocurrency-wallet provider Phantom Technologies raised $150 million in a funding round at a $3 billion valuation. Sequoia Capital and Paradigm co-led the round. 

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you again next week!

Stargate is expected to involve major players, including OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle. It remains unclear how much funding will come from the federal government versus private sector contributions.

According to CBS, the Trump administration might allocate $100 billion to the project in its first year. The total investment could reach $500 billion if approved by regulatory authorities. The initiative signals a potential shift in priorities, as some had speculated Trump might downplay AI and crypto sectors early in his term.

Stargate’s focus contrasts with Trump’s recent push for D.O.G.E. as a cost-cutting tool. Critics question whether such a significant AI investment aligns with Trump’s fiscal goals. Despite skepticism, the announcement has stirred excitement in tech circles.

AI-focused companies like OpenAI, valued at $150 billion, might struggle to match such large investments on their own. Still, industry watchers view Stargate as a positive move for AI innovation.

If the deal proceeds, it could reshape the AI and crypto markets. Early reactions show a shift in investor interest from meme coins to AI-driven projects, highlighting the potential impact of this initiative.

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The renminbi weakened and Chinese stocks fell after US President Donald Trump said he could impose a 10 per cent tariff against China from next month.

The CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed companies was down 1 per cent by Wednesday afternoon. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index retreated 1.8 per cent, led lower by the mainland Chinese companies listed in the territory.

The offshore renminbi, which trades free of the limits imposed by Chinese financial authorities, weakened by 0.3 per cent on Wednesday to 7.29 a dollar.

The dollar strengthened by 0.15 per cent against a basket of currencies including the pound and the yen. The price of gold also rose to an 11-week high of $2,758.

China had largely avoided direct attention from Trump during his whirlwind first day in office, in which he suggested levying 25 per cent tariffs on the US’s largest trading partners Canada and Mexico, leading traders to slash bets on a resumption of the trade war started in his first term.

Trump said the 10 per cent tariff was being considered to punish China for the flow of the opiate fentanyl to Mexico and Canada. The US has accused China of sending the chemicals used to make fentanyl to Mexico where cartels use them to manufacture the drug.

It was a repetition of a threat the new president had made during his campaign.

Traders widely expect the US dollar to continue to strengthen against the currencies of major trading partners, including China, as higher tariffs and lower interest rates in China weigh on the renminbi.

Some 27 per cent of fund managers polled in a Bank of America survey said “long US dollar” was the most crowded trade in January.

Stocks in the rest of Asia were broadly up on Wednesday. Korea’s Kospi index was up 1.3 per cent and Japan’s broad Topix rose 0.9 per cent. Taiwan’s benchmark index advanced 1 per cent while India’s Sensex was up 0.2 per cent.

During the presidential campaign, Trump also threatened to impose a separate 60 per cent levy on Chinese imports.

• Netflix now costs a bit more.
• The streaming service has announced price increases for all three of its plans.
• Its cheapest plan now starts at $7.99 a month and tops out at $24.99 in the US.

We must be experiencing deja vu as Netflix just raised its prices again, though it might just be that we recently streamed Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour documentary on the streaming service, too. As announced in Netflix’s latest letter to shareholders, price increases are coming for the streaming services’ three main plans.

The streaming service writes: “As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix.” It’s become a trend with Netflix, and other streaming services included, to raise prices, and the latest hikes aren’t shocking but can be substantial over time.

In the United States, the ‘standard plan with advertisements’ is up $1 from $6.99 to $7.99 a month, ‘standard without advertisements’ jumps to $17.99 from $15.49, and ‘premium’ is now $24.99 a month from $22.99. These price hikes go into effect immediately, with similar increases in Canada, Portugal, and Argentina as well.

Netflix writes that the price hikes are so that it can continue to invest further in programming and deliver more value for its subscribers. The latter is a number that continues to grow, with Netflix adding 18.9 million new subscribers in quarter four of 2024, for a total of 302 million paid subscribers globally.

As Solana and Ripple face stagnation, investors are turning to rising altcoins like Lightchain AI and Pepe Coin, which are showing immense growth potential.

With Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP) dominating headlines, savvy investors are exploring other high-potential altcoins to maximize returns.

Among the rising stars, Lightchain AI and Pepe Coin stand out as lucrative investments capable of delivering impressive growth. Here’s why these two altcoins could create huge gains in just a few months.

Pepe meme magic backed by market momentum

Pepe Coin (PEPE) has become a well-known joke money, drawing a big market focus. As of January 20, 2025, PEPE is selling for about $0.000017 USD with a daily trade amount of $1.35 billion USD. The coin has seen a 5.42% drop in the last day, and it now has a market value of $7.34 billion bucks, putting it at the 25th spot in crypto.

New whale ͏moves show big money going into PEPE, with large buys reaching millions. This rush of cash hints at more trust from big investors in the coin’s chance to grow.

Even with its meme start, Pepe Coin’s growing spot in the market and large trade amounts show a wider pattern of meme coins getting more popular in the crypto world. Yet, possible buyers should be careful because of the natural ups and downs and the speculative nature of these types of assets.

Lightchain AI: AI-driven crypto powerhouse

Lightchain AI is redefining the altcoin game, blending cutting-edge artificial intelligence with blockchain technology to create real-world value. Unlike meme coins like Pepe, this is where innovation meets utility. 

From powering smarter decision-making to delivering real-time analytics and safeguarding data privacy, Lightchain AI is built for impact. And the buzz is real; its presale has already raked in $12 million, with tokens priced at just $0.00525. Both retail and institutional investors are taking notice. 

What sets Lightchain AI apart? Its unique tokenomics reward validators and developers for meaningful contributions, bringing in big players and fueling long-term growth. Add to that a scalable architecture and developer-friendly platform, and it’s clear why this altcoin is poised to leave its competition in the dust by year-end. 

LCAI gains traction  

Lightchain AI presale is LIVE and moving faster than most other presales. Stage 12 is just a heartbeat away from a price bump. Here’s how easy it is to claim LCAI tokens.

1. Head over to the official Lightchain AI website.
2. Connect user wallet.
3. Swap the desired amount for LCAI tokens. 
4. Users are officially on board.

To learn more about Lightchain AI, visit their website, whitepaper, X, or Telegram.

The U.S. President has finally addressed the explosive success of his Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin, admitting that he wasn’t involved much in the project beyond launching it.

The Solana-based token, touted as the fastest-growing meme coin in history, initially skyrocketed to a $15 billion market cap over the weekend before dropping to around $8 billion following the release of a competing coin by First Lady Melania Trump.

“I Don’t Know Much About It”

At a press briefing on Tuesday to announce a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, the President was asked by a reporter if he intended to continue selling products that benefited him in reference to the TRUMP token.

In response, the head of state said he didn’t know if he’d benefited, admitting that he had no knowledge about the status of the coin. “I don’t know if it benefited [me]. I don’t know where it is,” he said.

He further dismissed any suggestion that he had a deep understanding of the project. “I don’t know much about it other than I launched it,” he stated. “I heard it was very successful. I haven’t checked.”

Trump then inquired about the current value of the meme coin, with a reporter telling him he’d made a lot of money. “How much?” the President asked. “Several billion dollars,” the journalist replied, to which Trump responded, “That’s peanuts to these guys,” referring to people who were at the briefing with him, including Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and the world’s fourth-richest man, Larry Ellison of Oracle.

Divisive Impact on the Crypto Space

The TRUMP meme coin has become a lightning rod for controversy, with critics warning it could undermine the credibility of the crypto market. Yesterday, billionaire investor Mark Cuban dismissed the project, describing it as a gamble that could harm the industry’s legitimacy without proper regulations. Before him, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan highlighted the speculative nature of such assets, calling it a “zero-sum lottery.”

There is also a supposition that the ownership of the TRUMP token is dominated by insiders, further fueling concerns about transparency and market manipulation. Some also feel that the President having skin in the meme coin game could hinder bipartisan efforts to advance much-needed crypto legislation.

This view is shared by TD Cowen, with The Block reporting that the financial services firm had warned that possible investigations into TRUMP’s market influence might stall regulatory progress and deepen partisan divides.

At the time of writing, Official Trump was trading at $43.02, having gained 18% in the last 24 hours. The price is still 41% below the coin’s all-time high, but its $8.5 billion market cap places it as the third-largest meme token in the market, behind Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.