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ClearBank and Volt Partner to Bring Open Banking Closer to ‘Card Parity’

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ClearBank, the technology-enabled clearing bank, has entered into a strategic partnership with real-time money movement platform Volt to power a new generation of merchant account capabilities across the UK and Europe.

The collaboration will see ClearBank providing the banking infrastructure for Volt’s new GBP and EUR payment accounts. These accounts are designed for enterprise merchants and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) who utilise Volt’s real-time, bank-direct payment initiation services.

Enhancing the payment lifecycle
Steffen Vollert, co-founder and CEO of Volt

The partnership aims to address a critical gap in open banking by adding essential features often found in traditional card schemes but lacking in account-to-account (A2A) payments.

Through ClearBank’s cloud-native infrastructure, Volt will now offer virtual IBANs and named accounts that allow businesses to track every stage of the payment value chain. This includes automated reconciliation, user-level fund attribution, and full lifecycle management—specifically streamlining payouts and refunds.

By offering these capabilities, the companies claim to be moving open banking payments “a step closer to achieving feature parity with cards.”

Steffen Vollert, co-founder and CEO of Volt, commented: “We’re truly excited to be partnering with ClearBank on the evolution of our accounts capabilities. Meeting the complex money management and movement needs of merchants, at scale, is our joint ambition. Changing the game through innovation… ultimately unlocks the full potential of account-to-account payments; not only in Europe, but globally.”

Infrastructure for scale
John Salter, chief customer officer at ClearBank

For ClearBank, the deal represents another deployment of its embedded banking model, providing the regulated “plumbing” for fintech innovators.

John Salter, chief customer officer at ClearBank, added: “We’re proud to provide the trusted, cloud-native banking infrastructure that enables innovative providers like Volt to deliver new value to their customers… Together, we’re driving the future of financial services, setting new standards for innovation and reliability.”

The new capabilities will be available to Volt’s client base across the UK and Europe immediately, supporting the company’s expansion across its 30+ active markets.

Mercado Bitcoin Deploys $20M in Private Credit on Rootstock

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Latin American digital asset platform Mercado Bitcoin said that it had deployed more than $20 million of tokenized private credit on Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, deepening its push into real-world assets (RWAs) and targeting $100 million in issuances by April. 

According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, several offerings had already reached target capacity since going live.

The move adds Rootstock to Mercado Bitcoin’s multichain tokenization strategy, which includes planned RWA issuances on Stellar (XLM) and the XRP Ledger, giving international investors Bitcoin‑secured exposure to Latin American private debt markets.

Lucas Pinsdorf, business director at Mercado Bitcoin, told Cointelegraph that the newly issued assets included a mix of receivables and corporate debt, backing both Brazilian and foreign borrowers. 

“What is particularly interesting is that these are not limited to Brazilian companies,” he said. “Within the issuances, Mercado Bitcoin also chose to issue debt for an American company.”

Related: Crypto activity in Brazil rises 43% with average investment surpassing $1,000: Report

RWA demand expanding globally

Pinsdorf said the initial $20 million offering sold through quickly, increasing confidence that the $100 million target would be “a sell‑out … very soon.” 

According to RWA.xyz data, Mercado Bitcoin ranks among the world’s top 10 tokenized private credit issuers, with more than $370 million in cumulative loans.

Still, it is far behind the market leaders. The top three issuers tracked by RWA.xyz have issued at least $5.4 billion each.

Private credit platforms. Source: RWA.xyz

Pinsdorf said that Mercado Bitcoin structured its private credit tokens within Brazil’s regulated framework, drawing on licenses within its group supervised by the country’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) and the Central Bank of Brazil. 

Latin America’s tokenized credit race

Mercado Bitcoin’s RWA pipeline follows a broader regional movement to bring yield‑bearing instruments onchain. 

In Argentina, long-standing crypto exchange Ripio recently launched local currency stablecoins and tokenized sovereign exposure as Latin American issuers seek to bridge traditional credit markets and blockchain liquidity.

Pinsdorf said Mercado continued to engage with regulators to shape the roadmap for tokenized finance.

“We hope for clearer and more objective frameworks on how the path to tokenization in the financial market will be paved,” he said.