Revolut

Stablecoin strategy & the own-coin plan

Revolut's near-term play is distribution: make stablecoins frictionless inside an app 65M+ people already use. The 2025 move to commission-free, spread-free 1:1 USD↔USDC/USDT — settled on Revolut's own ledger rather than card rails — is the wedge. The bigger, reported step is issuance.

• Today: distributes third-party stablecoins (USDC, USDT) with 1:1 fee-free conversion and on-chain withdrawal across 6+ chains.
• Reported plan: issue its own USD and EUR stablecoins for zero-cost transfers between Revolut accounts and on-chain wallets; in talks with at least one crypto-native firm [verify].
• Legal frame: its Lithuanian EMI is cited as the basis for issuing e-money/stablecoins; the Cyprus entity is a CASP (service provider), not the issuer.
• Strategic prize: an own-stablecoin converts thin conversion economics into reserve (T-bill) yield on float, mirroring Circle/Bridge.

Licensing & regulatory footprint

Revolut's real moat is a stack of licenses few crypto-natives or neo-banks hold simultaneously, letting it both bank users and offer/issue crypto under one roof.

• MiCA/CASP via Cyprus (CySEC), granted Oct 2025, effective 25 Nov 2025 — passports regulated crypto across all 30 EEA states under one rule set.
• EU crypto entity: Revolut Digital Assets Europe Ltd (ex RT Digital Securities Cyprus Ltd), CySEC ref 001/22.
• Lithuanian EMI underpins e-money / potential stablecoin issuance.
• UK banking license: restricted grant Jul 2024 (£50k deposit cap during mobilisation), restrictions lifted / mobilisation ended 11 Mar 2026 — full UK bank.
• US: pursuing a US bank with plans for FDIC-insured and stablecoin-linked accounts [verify timing].

Scale & distribution moat

Revolut adds stablecoins from a position of profitable scale, so each new rail is incremental rather than a standalone business that must find users.

• 52.5M retail customers at end-2024 (+38% YoY), ~65M+ reported through 2025, across 40+ markets.
• 2024: $4.0B revenue (+72%), $1.4B pre-tax profit (+149%), $1.0B net — fourth straight profitable year.
• Crypto/wealth was a major 2024 growth driver (wealth revenue +298% to $647M).
• ~$75B valuation in 2025 secondary sales (vs ~$45B in 2024).
• Revolut Ramp/Pay push its rails outward into 21+ partner apps (Trust Wallet, MoonPay), reusing existing KYC for higher conversion.

Developer surface & risk

• Public API lives almost entirely on the Business side: Merchant API (accept payments) + Business API (account automation, OAuth).
• Merchant API uses header versioning (Revolut-Api-Version) and Secret API key auth; sandbox at sandbox-merchant.revolut.com.
• No public crypto/stablecoin API today — stablecoin features are consumer-app surfaces, not developer endpoints [verify].
• Risks: cyclical crypto revenue, thin fee-free conversion margins, and intense multi-jurisdiction regulation (heightened if it becomes a stablecoin issuer).

Architecture

The public developer surface is Revolut Business, split in two. The Merchant API accepts online payments: a Merchant account (a sub-account of the Business account) holds an Order object that walks a lifecycle (created → authorised → completed, plus cancelled/failed/refunded), and webhooks push each state change to your server. The Business API automates the business account itself (balances, counterparties, payouts, transactions) and uses OAuth for third-party apps. Crypto/stablecoin conversion is a consumer-app feature, not part of this API [verify].

Integration shape

Generate API keys in the Revolut Business dashboard. Merchant API auth is a Secret API key (server-side) with a publishable key for the client checkout widget; the Business API uses OAuth 2.0 for apps acting on a business's behalf. All Merchant calls send a Revolut-Api-Version header (request-header versioning). Test against the sandbox base URL https://sandbox-merchant.revolut.com/ , then switch to production https://merchant.revolut.com/ by swapping keys.

API surface

POST /api/orders

Create an Order — amount, currency, capture mode; returns an order id + checkout token for the payment widget.

GET /api/orders/{id}

Retrieve an order and its current state (created / authorised / completed / cancelled / failed).

POST /api/orders/{id}/capture

Capture the funds of an authorised, uncaptured order to move it to processing.

POST /api/orders/{id}/cancel

Cancel an existing uncaptured order.

POST /api/orders/{id}/refund

Full or partial refund of a completed order, back to the original payment method.

POST /api/1.0/webhooks

Register a webhook URL (max 10) for events like ORDER_AUTHORISED, ORDER_COMPLETED, ORDER_CANCELLED, ORDER_FAILED.

Business API (OAuth)

Accounts, counterparties, payments/payouts, and transactions for automating the business account on a user's behalf.

Minimal integration

Merchant API: create an order, then verify completion from the webhook (the source of truth).

// 1) Server-side: create an order with your Secret API key.
const res = await fetch('https://merchant.revolut.com/api/orders', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${REVOLUT_SECRET_KEY}`, // never ship to the client
    'Revolut-Api-Version': '2024-09-01',               // request-header versioning
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    amount: 5000,          // minor units: 50.00
    currency: 'EUR',
    capture_mode: 'automatic',
  }),
});
const order = await res.json();
// Pass order.token to the RevolutCheckout widget on the client to collect payment.

// 2) Webhook handler — treat ORDER_COMPLETED, not the client, as truth.
export function handleWebhook(event: { event: string; order_id: string }) {
  if (event.event === 'ORDER_COMPLETED') {
    fulfil(event.order_id);
  }
}

Build notes

• Order lifecycle: created → authorised → completed (or cancelled/failed/refunded). Fulfil on the ORDER_COMPLETED webhook, never on a client redirect.
• Auth split: Merchant API = Secret API key (Bearer); Business API = OAuth 2.0 for third-party apps.
• Always send the Revolut-Api-Version header on Merchant calls; the API pins behaviour to that date.
• Max 10 webhook URLs per merchant — registering more returns 422 Unprocessable Content.
• Sandbox first (sandbox-merchant.revolut.com), then swap keys for production (merchant.revolut.com).
• [verify exact paths/version string against the current developer.revolut.com docs — endpoint prefixes and the version date evolve; no public crypto/stablecoin API confirmed]