Maldives Plans to Build a $9 Billion Crypto Hub to Attract Investment
Weekly APAC news up to Wednesday, 7th of May 2025.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Ant Group Co. Ltd., the fintech giant backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., is seeking a Hong Kong listing for its international unit, Caixin learned from sources with knowledge of the matter.
The group is in talks with relevant regulatory bodies over a Hong Kong IPO for Ant International and has received indications that there are currently no policy obstacles, sources close to the group told Caixin.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🧋 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Saudi FinTech firm Nqoodlet raises $3m in seed funding.
⭐️ Maldives plans to build a $9 billion crypto hub to attract investment.
⭐️ KuCoin to re-enter South Korea after securing key markets.
⭐️ Saudi FinTech firm Erad nets $16m pre-series A.
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AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
Revolut reports record profits in Australia & globally for 2024. The company announced a net profit before tax of AUD 4.4 million for its Australian operations in 2024, an all-time high for the business in this market. Australian revenue increased by 163% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company is negotiating with the National Bank of Ukraine to obtain a banking license. The NBU is interested in the entry of the neobank Revolut into the Ukrainian market.
Adyen selects Fiskil as its partner in Australia. Through this collaboration, both firms intend to simplify how businesses connect their financial data, minimising complexities and ensuring an optimal and secure process. By utilising Fiskil’s banking API, Adyen is set to offer merchants a more efficient onboarding process, mitigating delays and augmenting the customer experience.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 🇦🇪
US-Based Ripple secures license for blockchain-powered payments in UAE. The approval grants Ripple access to the UAE’s $400 billion international trade corridor and its $40 billion annual remittance flow, where businesses can now leverage faster, cost-efficient blockchain transactions under full regulatory oversight.
INDIA 🇮🇳
No goods and services tax on UPI transactions over Rs 2000, clarifies the Ministry of Finance. The government remains committed to promoting digital payments via UPI and has implemented an incentive scheme to support small merchants and encourage wider adoption of digital payment methods. According to the ACI Worldwide Report 2024, India accounted for 49% of global real-time transactions in 2023.
Kaleidofin raises $5.3 million from IDH Farmfit to grow agri-lending. The investment will support Kaleidofin’s mission and help scale its lending portfolio and expand credit scoring, middleware, and risk services through selected partnerships. Keep reading
PhonePe unveils made-in-India smart speaker to power offline payments. The device offers real-time audio payment confirmations in 21 languages, including a celebrity voice option with prominent Indian actors, which allows shopkeepers to focus on customers instead of checking their phones for payment alerts.
Zillion partners with FinTech major PayU. The company said that the integration expands its ecosystem, offering customers opportunities to accumulate and utilise their Zillion Coins across a more extensive portfolio of brands. Read more
PHILIPPINES 🇵🇭
Digital bank Maya throws hat into premium credit card market. The digital bank seeks to disrupt the credit card market with the rollout of a mobile-first credit card product that targets the country’s demographic sweet spot, the young, tech-savvy, and “unhappily banked” consumers.