It’s already quite easy to use Cash App. However, on Wednesday, the payment platform owned by Block, Inc. introduced a new feature designed to make its user experience significantly easier: payment links. The feature allows app users to send payments via a hyperlink that can be attached to a variety …

YouTube megastar MrBeast announced on Monday that his company, Beast Industries, is buying Step, a teen-focused banking app. Step, which raised half a billion in funding and has grown to over 7 million users, offers financial services geared toward Gen Z to help them build credit, save money, and invest. …

In Brief Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks announced Friday that he has joined prediction market Kalshi as a shareholder, making him the first NBA player to invest directly in the company. “The internet is full of opinions. I decided it was time to make some of my own,” said …

HBO’s hit financial thriller “Industry” has delivered one of its most compelling storylines yet this season: a hunt to expose a fraudulent fintech company called Tender. The show follows Harper Stern, who’s leading her newly launched investment firm and looking for a company to short — essentially, betting that its …

People without coding backgrounds are discovering that they can build their own custom apps using vibe coding — solutions like Lovable that turn plain-language descriptions into working code. While these prompt-to-code tools can help create nice prototypes, launching them into full-scale production (as this reporter recently discovered) can be tricky …

Anthropic and OpenAI may be rivals, but their presidents Daniela Amodei and Gregory Brockman have one thing in common: they are both Stripe alumni. With former employees who went on to create dozens of startups, the fintech company has become one of the most prolific “founder factories” — and the …

In Brief PayPal said on Tuesday it is hiring HP’s Enrique Lores as its CEO and president, replacing current chief executive Alex Chriss. Lores, who has been the chair of PayPal’s board since July 2024, will also take up the role of president. PayPal said the appointment was made because …

In Brief All startups accepted into YC will soon have the option to receive their seed checks via stablecoins, crypto YC partner Nemil Dalal told The Block. YC’s famous “standard deal” is that it invests $500,000 into startups accepted into its program in exchange for 7% of their companies. Now …