Neo-banks
Account + card + savings for end users — fiat-native or DeFi-native.
What this layer does
The consumer face of the stack: an app with an account, a card, and savings. Fiat-native neo-banks (Revolut, Nubank) are adding stablecoin rails; DeFi-native ones (Ether.fi) start on-chain and add a card.
Where it sits
The top of the stack — where end users actually hold, spend, and earn, sitting on top of everything below.
What they compete on
Distribution/users, licenses, yield offered, card + spend UX, and which lower-layer rails they plug in.
How to tell them apart
Fiat-native banks bring scale and licenses and bolt on stablecoins; DeFi-native banks bring native yield and self-custody and bolt on a card. The endgame for both is the same super-app.
The players
Rain
On-chain card issuing that settles to Visa in stablecoins.
Visa Principal Member with all authorization + settlement on-chain; settles to Visa natively in USDC 365 days/year. Tokenized receivables + omni-chain stack.
Deep dive →Félix Pago
Remittances over WhatsApp, settled in stablecoins.
Distribution via WhatsApp (no app to download) + a conversational AI agent, settled on USDC rails with dLocal/Bitso last-mile. ~$3B annualized volume; QED-backed.
Deep dive →Ether.fi
The DeFi neo-bank built on restaking.
Spend against staked ETH without selling. Restaking protocol → full DeFi neo-bank.
Deep dive →Revolut
The fiat-native super-app bolting on stablecoin rails.
Scale + a deep license stack (MiCA/CASP via Cyprus, Lithuanian EMI, UK bank). Fee-free 1:1 stablecoin↔USD; ~$10.5B stablecoin sent in 2025 (+156% YoY); reported own-stablecoin plan.
Deep dive →Nubank
LatAm's banking giant, putting a yield-bearing dollar in 131M pockets.
Distribution at sovereign scale (131M+ users) + bank licenses; routes Paxos crypto rails and USDC yield to a profitable retail base ($2.9B FY25 net income).
Deep dive →UR Global
A Swiss-licensed, on-chain neo-bank built around USDe.
FINMA fintech license (via SR Saphirstein AG) + native USDe yield (~5% APY) with fee-free USDe⇄fiat off-ramp. Same team that built Fiat24.
Deep dive →