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Good morning & happy Friday! We're ending another packed week in the financial technology space, diving into two of the most interesting FinTech M&As in the last 12 months ' So today, all eyes are on Capital One buying Brex in what is the biggest bank-FinTech deal in history (who wins the most here, why it matters & what to expect next + bonus deep dives into Brex, its biggest competitor Ramp that's now fully AI-native, and the list of priceless M&A resources inside), and finance giant PayPal, which is now betting big that AI agents need a middlement (breaking down their acquisition of Israeli AI startup Cymbio, how it brilliantly fits into PayPal's Agentic Commerce strategy, what's next + bonus deep dives into PayPal's AI plays, the ultimate AI Agent stack, and the top 10 AI startups to watch in 2026 inside). So let's jump straight into the paradigm-defining stuff '' The BIG News '' FinTech giant Brex, the company that built its brand on 'startups deserve better than banks,' just sold to Capital One COF 0.00%' for $5.15 billion, less than half its 2022 peak valuation ' The FinTech correction now has a poster child....

Belzoni, Mississippi, a town of about 2,000 people, is known as the 'Catfish Capital of the World'; it is also known as the site of one of the first civil-rights-era lynchings. On May 7, 1955, two members of the local White Citizens' Council shot into the cab of Reverend George Lee's car; the bullets ripped off the lower half of his face. Lee had been a co-founder of the town's NAACP chapter and the first Black person to successfully register to vote in Humphreys County since Reconstruction. He'd also registered about 100 of his fellow Black citizens to vote, a remarkable feat given Belzoni's size and the ever-present threat of violence against Black people throughout the South who dared to exercise their franchise during the Jim Crow era. The Mississippi NAACP, led by Medgar Evers, began to investigate the death as a murder. But the county sheriff rejected the idea that there had been any foul play, instead suggesting that Lee had died in a car accident and that the lead bullets detected in his jaw were simply dental fillings. The local prosecutor refused to move forward with the case, and the white men went free....

' Hey, Linas here! Welcome back to a ' weekly free edition ' of my daily newsletter. Each day, I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it's the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech. Google's Universal Commerce Protocol: the new default for how AI buys things ''' [2,000+ words dive into Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), why it's huge, how it changes everything, and how each player needs to adapt to the new AI-first economy + bonus list of top 10 AI startups to watch in 2026 & AI leader playbook inside] OpenAI's Platform Play: is it the end of finance apps as we know them' '' [why it matters and what Generative UI is all about + bonus deep dive into OpenAI's Super App ambitions & the top 10 AI startups to watch in 2026 inside] The robo-advisor that actually makes money, or why Wealthfront's unit economics could turn it into the Berkshire of millennial wealth '' [deep dive into their Q3 2026 breaking down the most important financial facts & figures, what they mean, and why Wealthfront is worth your time & money in 2026 + bonus deep dives into competitors SoFi & Robinhood inside]...