Revolut accelerates its expansion into Central and Eastern Europe: The regulatory logic behind the acquisition of Turkish digital bank Fups

2026-01-07 15:24:14

【BlockBeats】UK fintech unicorn Revolut’s ambitions are once again on display — they are in acquisition talks with Turkey’s emerging digital bank Fups, aiming to quickly penetrate the Turkish market through this deal.

What does Fups have that attracts them? It’s not customer base or technological innovation, but the valuable license it holds. Fups, under Turkey’s 2022 launch of a branchless digital banking framework, possesses a full digital banking license, which was a scarce resource at the time. Since its establishment, the company has raised approximately $81 million, and its team is still small, with only around 60 employees.

For a multinational fintech platform like Revolut, directly acquiring a licensed local digital bank saves the effort of building from scratch and bypasses lengthy regulatory approval processes. This approach has been validated in Europe and the Asia-Pacific markets — using acquisitions to accelerate growth, licenses to build trust, and then expanding their ecosystem from this foundation. As a financial hub connecting Europe and Asia, Turkey’s market potential is significant.

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LayerZeroHero

· 01-08 23:38

Licenses are money, this move is very clear-headed What you're really buying isn't technology, but the value of that piece of paper Revolut's approach is popular worldwide, regulatory approval is too cumbersome, so it's better to buy quickly Selling a 60-person team is pretty good, the Turkish market is indeed optimistic This is the reshaping of the financial landscape in the Web3 era, speed is king Another cross-border acquisition to showcase strength, European tech giants are eager for emerging markets

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MysteryBoxOpener

· 01-07 15:53

Licenses are the real deal; buying ready-made ones is more convenient.

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Lonely_Validator

· 01-07 15:53

Licenses are money, a small team of 60 people with such a high valuation is just ridiculous. But Revolut's move is indeed ruthless; buying licenses is much faster than navigating regulations yourself. That's how the Central and Eastern European markets are being gradually eaten up.

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RugDocDetective

· 01-07 15:51

Licensing is money, Revolut is once again playing the old game of regulatory arbitrage.

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RektRecorder

· 01-07 15:50

License arbitrage is becoming more and more familiar with this trick, to put it simply, it's regulatory arbitrage.

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PaperHandSister

· 01-07 15:36

Basically, it's just buying licenses, and this trick is played very skillfully. Revolut is really throwing money at regulation, it's a bit desperate. The licenses in Turkey are indeed valuable; a small team of 60 people sold for 81 million USD, probably making a huge profit. This acquisition speed is much faster than building it yourself, very clever. It's another expansion game for a fintech giant, it doesn't matter who wins or loses. Licenses are money, that's the truth. I just want to know if there will be another round of financial regulation later...

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