adsSBI Group’s $68 million Series C, which priced Fasset at $1 billion in August, is not really a bet on stablecoins. It is a bet that a wallet can do a bank’s job in markets where banks already move too slowly for the money passing through them. Most coverage of the round will call it a stablecoin story, but the true significance lies in controlling customer relationships. Failing to realise this distinction risks steering startups toward misleading benchmarks for years to come.
Yet transaction volume alone does not prove a model is durable. Stablecoins move large sums on thin margins, so the metrics that matter are retained balances, active usage, enterprise retention, and revenue per user. The strongest neobank model is one where the underlying blockchain is invisible: users receive paychecks, hold dollar balances, send cross-border transfers, and spend via payment cards without needing to think about crypto.
This model unlocks multiple revenue streams per user, from FX spreads and interchange fees to treasury services and, eventually, lending. However, cards and settlement mechanisms are not defensible moats. True, lasting value comes from owning the primary account relationship and capturing the recurring money flows that move through it.
