Revolut has become the latest global firm to benefit from the pro-crypto frenzy around Donald Trump’s election as the US president. The firm has announced it has more than doubled its profits for last year, and has also reached a milestone by registering more than 50 million customers.
In its annual report for 2024, published on Thursday, Revolut said its retail customer base grew by 38% during the year, and its active
business customer base is up 56%. Chair Martin Gilbert said: “We reached record profitability, with £3.1 billion ($4.13 billion) in revenue, a 72% increase year-on-year, and a net profit margin of 26%, as net profit grew to a record £790m ($1,051m).”
Revolut confirmed there was a 66% increase in its total customer balance last year, including balances which were held with other partner institutions. The firm said it is currently completing all the required regulatory processes with UK authorities, before starting its operations as a UK bank at some point this year.
The company reckons last year was also a success in terms of bringing in new investment from technology investors, asset managers and early investors.
Dinner with Trump
Speaking of profits, the team behind President Trump’s memecoin have come up with another noble idea, by announcing that the President will be having dinner with the top 220 investors in the cryptocurrency.
The announcement of the engagement, which is expected to take place later in May at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, led to a 50% increase in the memecoin’s value, the Financial Times has reported.
According to the paper, Trump is also expected to give a speech at the event in which he will discuss the future of crypto.
And it doesn’t stop there. The top 25 holders of the memecoin will get further VIP treatment by attending a pre-dinner reception as well as a tour of the White House the next day.
The president announced the $TRUMP memecoin around the same time he was being inaugurated, a move that has led to a backlash and criticism over the last few months.
Many have accused Trump of having no regard for potential ‘conflict of interest’ rules and of using his position as the President to promote his personal memecoin.
A $3.6bn crypto deal
And in other news in relation to President Trump’s inner circle, the son of the current US Commerce secretary is joining hands with a number of firms to launch a bitcoin acquisition platform.
The FT has reported that Brandon Lutnick, son of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, will partner with the likes of SoftBank, Tether and BitFinex to take advantage of the current digital assets frenzy.
According to the paper, the newly launched Twenty One Capital consortium will try to kick-off a multibillion dollar bitcoin acquisition vehicle and absorb cryptocurrencies from other partners.
The consortium will initially launch with 42,000 bitcoins, but the long term plan is to follow in the footsteps of firms such as MicroStrategy, who has benefited from investing heavily in bitcoin.
Two people familiar with the matter have told the FT, “Tether will contribute at least $1.5bn worth of bitcoin, while SoftBank and Bitfinex will contribute the remainder of the digital currency.”
Crypto gambling
New data has revealed that cryptocurrencies have also made their way into the gambling industry, and takings have surged over the last few years to tens of billions of dollars.
The FT has reported, based on data provided by anti-online crime platform Yield Sec, that “wagers paid in cryptocurrency last year generated $81.4bn in gross gaming revenue (GGR).”
Crypto gambling sites are blocked in regions such as the EU, UK, US and China. But experts have told the FT gamblers use VPN and other technological loopholes to access them. According to those experts, there are easily available online guides which teach individuals how to circumnavigate restrictions on crypto gambling sites and access them from anywhere.
Yield Sec founder Ismail Vali was quoted by the FT saying: “It’s explosive growth everywhere,” referring to the rise in crypto gambling and the amounts that were being transacted.
Binance’s advisory role
We also reported last week that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao are advising various governments on regulatory frameworks to deal with digital assets.
