This is more than just a move. By announcing on Monday its intention to set up a European hub in Paris, Revolut is sending out a strong signal to its 5 million French customers - and to the entire financial sector. As well as recruiting 200 staff in the capital, the British neobank plans to apply to the ACPR for authorisation as a credit institution.
The aim? Strengthen its credibility in the face of fierce competition from traditional banks (BoursoBank, Trade Republic, etc.), and above all lay the foundations for long-term development in France.
But beyond the political and industrial coup, it's another part of Revolut's plan that deserves all the attention: its rise in cryptoassets.
>> BoursoBank takes its turn in cryptos
Crypto, a strategic growth driver Long confined to a basic trading service in its mobile app, Revolut's crypto offering has changed scale. In 2024, the "Wealth" division, which brings together stock market and crypto services, generated £506 million in revenue , compared with £127 million in 2023. A growth of 298%, driven mainly by the renewed interest in digital assets.
This success has prompted the neobank to go one step further: in March 2024, Revolut launched "Revolut X", a crypto platform aimed at more experienced traders, with fees reduced to 0% on maker orders, more than 200 cryptocurrencies listed, and a professional interface designed to rival historical exchanges such as Binance, Kraken or Coinbase.
At the same time, Revolut has strengthened its crypto team, which now has more than 100 full-time staff, and increased the number of features aimed at the general public: withdrawals to external wallets, crypto payments, price alerts, staking of certain tokens, etc. In 2024, Revolut processed more than $1.1 billion in crypto volume according to internal data, a record for the company.
A homemade stablecoin in the pipeline? The next step? The launch of a native stablecoin branded Revolut. According to CoinDesk, the neobank has been working for several months on a stablecoin in dollars, which would compete with Tether's USDT or Circle's USDC, but with a more "retail" ambition: to be used for everyday payments by users of the app.
If this project succeeds, Revolut would become one of the first European fintechs to launch its own stablecoin, while leveraging its user base - 40 million worldwide, including 5 million in France - to accelerate adoption.
A licence in France to enhance the company's credibility Revolut's desire to establish a long-term presence in France does not mean it is abandoning its historic base in Lithuania. The Baltic country will remain the centre for overseeing its activities in Central and Eastern Europe, while Paris will steer Western Europe.
According to our information, Revolut has been urged by its shareholders to obtain a banking licence in Western Europe in order to gain credibility. The one currently issued by Lithuania's central bank would limit the company's valuation with a view to an IPO...
>> Malta, an Eldorado for crypto companies, between speed and regulatory laxity
"We are one of the only banks to actually operate in all 27 countries of the European Union", reports in Les Echos Pierre Decotte, Revolut's group risk and compliance director. "This two-headed set-up is a response to our need for regulatory agility."
With the combination of an increasingly comprehensive banking offering (home loan in test, French regulated products to come) and an assertive positioning on digital assets, Revolut is playing both sides. In doing so, it hopes to become the first European financial "superapp" capable of competing with Asian giants such as WeChat or Grab.
Crypto as the central building block of Revolut's future Through its technological choices and territorial expansion, Revolut is sending out a clear message: crypto is no longer a loss leader, but a strategic pillar of its business model. It's a timely development, as usage explodes - in April, the volume of stablecoins on Ethereum reached an all-time high of $908 billion - and more and more traditional financial players are looking to position themselves.
In 2024, stablecoin trading volumes exceeded all transactions processed by Visa.
If Revolut succeeds in securing its French banking licence and imposing its crypto platform in an increasingly strict regulatory environment (MiCA, TFR...), Revolut could well become one of the preferred interfaces between traditional and decentralised finance.
>> The Big Whale Report - Cryptos: European institutional investors ready to take off
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