With the "buy now, pay later (BNPL)" trend becoming more popular, 2022 could be a significant period of growth for the fintech industry. Moreover, blockchain technology enthusiasts will be looking forward to more growth within the fintech segment of the industry with decentralized finance (DeFi) and cryptocurrency-backed loan apps also gaining traction.
As a result, investors will be keeping a close eye on emerging fintech stocks like Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM, Financial) and SoFi Technologies Inc. (SOFI, Financial), while crypto payment apps like Revuto, which launches on major exchanges on Friday under the "REVU" token, and Nexo could be interesting in the blockchain space.
Affirm and SoFi Technologies
Affirm Holdings is a neo-banking company that provides point-of-sale installment loans for consumers. Affirm’s BNPL concept could receive marketwide adoption in 2022 as more mainstream financial services companies join the space.
The stock spiked more than 165% between Aug. 17 and Nov. 4, last year, before pulling back more than 40% towards the end of the year on regulatory and valuation concerns.
Although Affirm shares still trade at a steep price-sales ratio of 32.78, thus making the stock less attractive to value investors, its growth prospects in 2022 could be exciting to those who believe in the long-term potential of BNPL.
The BNPL concept’s growing popularity has gained the attention of online payment platforms like PayPal Inc. (PYPL, Financial), which expanded its own installment payments service in September with the $2.7 billion acquisition of Paidy.
Another interesting fintech stock is the social finance company SoFi Technologies, which could be looking to bounce back from a significant pullback experienced since the start of November.
SoFi is a mobile loans app targeting the student loans, mortgage, personal loans and credit card segments of the market. The app also allows users to invest online, including trading ETFs, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Its social aspects promote user engagement, helping to drive growth.
SoFi could also be ideal for traditional investors targeting opportunities presented by the fintech segment of the blockchain industry.
However, for those looking for a more direct approach to investing in blockchain’s exciting fintech segment, subscription-based payment management platform Revuto could be a compelling option, once it hits the public markets.
Revuto and Nexo: redefining blockchain payments
In October, the World Blockchain Summit voted Revuto as the fastest growing product in crypto for 2021. This achievement is significant given the explosion of the NFT space as well as the metaverse (which recently came into the limelight when Facebook changed its corporate identity to Meta Platforms Inc. (FB, Financial)).
Revuto is the first developer app to launch on the popular proof-of-stake blockchain platform Cardano. On Tuesday, it announced that it has become the first native asset of the platform to list on popular exchanges Kucoin and Gate.io. The REVU token, which goes live on Jan. 7, 2022 on both exchanges, gives blockchain payments investors an opportunity to invest in one of the most popular crypto apps of 2021.
Last May, the application raised $10 million within minutes of launching and has since recorded more than 3 million in early sign-ups. It has also registered more than 300,000 users since August.
Cardano’s first-ever app has partnered with Skynet trading, a popular liquidity solutions provider in the crypto space, to offer institutional-grade liquidity. The app displays user subscriptions in one place, helping them to promptly end payments to services they no longer use.
Revuto’s explosive growth coincides with the rapid expansion of the metaverse and the NFT space, which has also seen crypto lending platforms like Nexo introduce NFT-backed loans, allowing collectors to use collectibles as collateral for cryptocurrency loans.
Conclusion
In summary, 2021 was a significant onboarding period for some of the most exciting investments of the future. The BNPL concept is now mainstream with PayPal and Affirm Holdings becoming key players.
On the other hand, while there are still questions surrounding the crypto space, multinational companies like Meta and PayPal have embraced the change, boosting the chances of taking the industry mainstream.
Therefore, with the fintech segment of the blockchain market offering more than just speculative business models, applications like Revuto and Nexo could experience significant growth in 2022, in my view.
