Tootfinder

Digital savings startup Vestwell raised a $385M Series E co-led by Blue Owl and Sixth Street, after a $125M Series D in 2023, taking its total funding to $660M (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
https://news.crunchbase.com/fintech/digital-savin…

Digital Savings Startup Vestwell Lands $385M, Doubles Valuation
New York-based Vestwell, a digital savings platform, has raised $385 million in a Series E funding round co-led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth.

Russia's strong currency puzzles economists, signals economic woes: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/16/russias-strong-currency-puzzles-economists.html

Mord en miniature: True-Crime-Doku „Crafting Crimes“ für Meta Quest ausprobiert
Die interaktive True-Crime-Doku „Crafting Crimes“ verleiht berühmten Kriminalfällen eine räumliche Dimension und führt damit zu den Wurzeln der Forensik.

RE: https://mas.to/@carnage4life/116083163291394415
I am in this picture, and I don't like it.

Italy detains vessel carrying metal for suspected Russia sanctions violations: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/18/italy-detains-vessel-carrying-metal.html

NY-based Octane, which offers "instant" financing for large recreational and lifestyle purchases, raised a $100M Series F at a post-money valuation of $1.3B (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/re

Exclusive: Octane Lands $100M Series F At $1.3B Valuation To Help People Finance Large Lifestyle And...
Octane, a startup that offers “instant” financing for large recreational and lifestyle purchases, has raised $100 million in a Series F round with a post-money valuation of $1.3 billion, it tells Crunchbase News exclusively.

Total global VC funding to fintech startups totaled $51.8B in 2025, up 27% YoY and above pre-pandemic totals, but much lower than 2021's peak of $141.6B (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
https://news.crunchbase.com/fintech/funding-jumped-big-checks-ai-ye-2025/<…

Fintech Funding Jumped 27% In 2025 With Fewer Deals But Bigger Checks
Global venture funding to fintech startups climbed in 2025 to its highest level in several quarters, boosted by later-stage deals, Crunchbase data shows.

Atlantic Council: China-led cross-border digital currency platform mBridge, still a prototype, has processed 4,000 cross-border transactions totaling $55.5B (Marc Jones/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chi…

The Marshall Islands unveils a national UBI scheme that offers payments of ~$200 per quarter to every resident citizen via stablecoin or traditional currency (Prianka Srinivasan/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025…