Blockchain
AI Lender Upstart Raises $50M and Announces New Bank Partnerships
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Upstart, the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform, today announced a $50M equity investment from Progressive Investment Company Inc., Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, and First National Bank of Omaha.
Upstart has raised more than $160M since inception and has more than $100M in cash and equity capital on hand. Additionally, Upstart will be the newest offering in the Progressive portfolio of Advantage Products, which are third-party products offered to meet consumers’ changing needs. Upstart loans will be available through www.progressive.com in the near future.
“We started on this journey because credit is not just a cornerstone of our economy but a fundamental ingredient in the lives of Americans,” said Dave Girouard, Upstart co-founder and CEO and former president of Google Enterprise. “For hundreds of years, credit has represented opportunity and mobility for those seeking what’s next in their lives. Whether it’s to learn a new skill, to relocate to a new city, to start a new business, or to buy a new home or car, the price of credit is the price of opportunity and mobility. It’s the price of what’s next.”
Upstart co-founder Paul Gu added, “Credit is generally overpriced and unfairly distributed, because it relies on techniques developed before the advent of modern computing. But technology and data science, in the form of AI, have the opportunity to change all of that.”
After more than $3.3B in loans originated in the last five years, Upstart has demonstrated loss rates less than half those of peer platforms for borrowers with similar FICO scores. Furthermore, a study comparing Upstart’s model to those of several large U.S. banks showed that Upstart could cut their loan losses by three-quarters or almost triple their approval rates.*
Thus far in 2019, more than 60% of Upstart originations were entirely automated and approved in real time, an unprecedented feat in installment lending. On the back of strong unit economics and exceptional credit performance, Upstart grew revenues by about 80% in 2018 and reached profitability in the second half of the year.
Upstart’s business is designed not to compete with banks but to partner with them. Upstart launched its first partnerships with Customers Bank and its BankMobile division. Today, the company announced it has signed “Powered by Upstart” partnership agreements with First National Bank of Omaha, First Federal Bank of Kansas City and Accion Chicago. With Powered by Upstart, banks and other lenders can leverage Upstart’s AI platform in the form of a white-labeled lending application to power their own lending programs. The Powered by Upstart platform allows banks and other lenders to enforce their own credit policy and lending terms while benefiting from Upstart’s patent-pending risk modeling and automation.
“We chose to partner with Upstart because their approach to modernizing lending is well aligned with FNBO’s focus on a customer-centric experience,” said Marc Butterfield, senior vice president of enterprise digital solutions and emerging business at First National Bank of Omaha. “Upstart’s AI/ML-based pricing engine and automation will allow us to profitably serve a broader set of customers, within a great digital onboarding experience, than we could before.”
“Our mission at First Federal Bank of Kansas City is to help people build a better financial future,” said J.R. Buckner, president and CEO of First Federal Bank of Kansas City. “Fulfilling this mission means we must find innovative new ways to more effectively engage with current and prospective customers. Our partnership with Upstart is a key part of this strategy and will allow us to extend our products and services to a broader customer base that is more digitally savvy.”
“Accion Chicago’s mission is to help neighborhood entrepreneurs grow, which is why we provide our low-cost microloans to minority- and women-owned businesses who create jobs and wealth in underserved communities throughout Illinois and Indiana,” said Brad McConnell, CEO of Accion Chicago. “We believe that partnering with Upstart is the most creative, careful, and cost-effective way to lend to these inspirational small business owners that other lenders overlook.”
While personal loans are the fastest growing segment of credit, they’re far from the largest. With this equity round completed, Upstart expects to expand its AI platform to other types of credit. The company recently launched the first ever Upstart-powered credit cards with Customers Bank’s BankMobile division. Upstart partnered with BankMobile to develop two credit cards: the BankMobile Classic Mastercard and the BankMobile Rewards Mastercard, both available now via online application.
“We were excited to partner with Upstart as their vision of making credit more accessible aligns with our focus on low-cost banking services to low/middle-income Americans who have been left behind by the high-fee model of ‘traditional’ banks,” stated Luvleen Sidhu, Co-Founder, President and Chief Strategy Officer at BankMobile. “Upstart’s focus on automating the customer experience combined with their modeling capabilities further our goal of adding breadth to our growing banking products and services available to our customer base.”
Upstart CEO Dave Girouard will be on stage with Marc Butterfield, SVP from First National Bank of Omaha, at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9 at LendIt Fintech USA 2019, taking place in San Francisco, California.
SOURCE Upstart
Blockchain
Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 30, 2025 (Fraser Edwards, Kyiv NFT, Spirit Blockchain Capital, Indian eHealth, Hedera)
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies continue to redefine industries—from competitive gaming and cultural heritage preservation to corporate finance, healthcare, and alternative tokens. Today’s briefing highlights five pivotal developments shaping the ecosystem: Fraser Edwards’s vision for trust in eSports; Ukraine’s wartime cultural preservation via NFTs; Spirit Blockchain Capital’s Q1 2025 operational report; India’s push for blockchain-enabled electronic health records (EHRs); and the rise of viral altcoins such as UniLabs, Sui, and Hedera Hashgraph. Together, these stories illustrate the themes of trust and identity, preservation and provenance, institutional maturation, public-sector innovation, and token diversification. In this op-ed–style round-up, we distill the essence of each story, cite sources, and offer analysis on how they advance Web3, DeFi, and NFT frontiers.
1. Rebuilding Trust in eSports: Can Blockchain Fix Competitive Integrity?
Source: CCN
Summary:
In a recent CCN interview, veteran trader and eSports investor Fraser Edwards argues that blockchain’s immutable ledgers can restore credibility in the rapidly commercializing world of competitive gaming. According to Edwards, match-fixing scandals and opaque prize-pool distributions have eroded fan confidence. By tokenizing tournament entries and payouts on public blockchains—complete with smart-contract–enforced escrow—organizers can guarantee that prize monies are distributed exactly as advertised, and that no post-match manipulation occurs. Tournament operators in Asia and North America are already piloting Ethereum-based payout dApps, aiming to increase transparency for players and sponsors alike.
Key details & analysis:
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Smart-contract escrow: Funds are held in a time-locked contract that releases prize money only upon verifiable match results. This prevents disputes over referee decisions or delayed payments.
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On-chain reputation: Player and team reputations can be tokenized via non-fungible reputation badges that accrue based on fair play and community votes—discouraging cheating.
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Scalability concerns: High-traffic tournaments may require Layer 2 rollups or alternative chains (e.g., Polygon, Immutable X) to reduce gas costs and latency.
Opinion: Blockchain’s dual promise of provable fairness and programmable finance makes it uniquely suited to eSports. Yet adoption hinges on UX: seamless wallet integrations, minimal transaction fees, and clear regulatory guidance on esports tokens.
2. When Art Meets Blockchain: Ukraine’s Wartime Cultural Preservation
Source: The Kyiv Independent
Summary:
As monuments crumble under artillery fire, Ukrainian curators and technologists are partnering to mint NFTs representing lost or endangered artifacts. The Kyiv Independent reports that the National Art Museum of Ukraine has launched “Project Phoenix,” tokenizing high-resolution 3D scans of sculptures, manuscripts, and paintings. Proceeds from initial sales fund restoration and digital archiving efforts. Each NFT embeds provenance metadata—including GPS coordinates, curator notes, and condition reports—ensuring that future generations can verify authenticity and context, even if the physical artifact is destroyed.
Key details & analysis:
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Metadata richness: Beyond simple ownership, NFTs store structured metadata—using ERC-721 metadata extensions—that capture curatorial insights and conservation logs.
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Decentralized archives: IPFS and Arweave are employed to host ultra-high-resolution imagery, with on-chain hashes guaranteeing data integrity.
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Community engagement: Fractional-NFT drops allow diaspora communities to collectively own tokens, strengthening cultural ties and crowdfunding preservation.
Opinion: Blockchain’s ability to immutable record heritage provides a lifeline for war-torn nations. However, ensuring that local institutions retain governance over metadata edits and future migrations is critical to avoiding “cultural colonialism” by global NFT marketplaces.
3. Spirit Blockchain Capital’s Q1 2025 Highlights: Growth, Investments, and Outlook
Source: GlobeNewswire
Summary:
Spirit Blockchain Capital’s Q1 2025 report benchmarks the firm’s operational milestones and financial performance. Assets under management (AUM) climbed 45% to $1.02 billion, driven by strategic allocations to top-tier Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, DeFi liquidity pools, and a newly launched token-index fund. Operating income rose 37%, fueled by management fees and performance incentives. The firm also closed its second blockchain-focused venture fund at $150 million, earmarked for early-stage Web3 projects in gaming, infrastructure, and decentralized identity.
Key details & analysis:
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Diversification strategy: 60% of AUM in blue-chip cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum); 25% in DeFi (Aave, Uniswap, Lido); 15% in tokenized commodities and NFTs.
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Fund performance: The flagship fund delivered a 9.8% return in Q1, outperforming the 6.2% benchmark set by the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index.
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Venture investments: Early stakes in zero-knowledge proof startups and decentralized storage platforms signal confidence in scalability and privacy innovations.
Opinion: Spirit’s robust growth and disciplined diversification mirror institutional maturation in the blockchain asset management space. As regulatory clarity improves, expect further inflows from endowments, pensions, and family offices.
4. Blockchain EHRs in India: The Next Digital Health Revolution
Source: ORF
Summary:
The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) details India’s pioneering pilot of blockchain-backed electronic health records (EHRs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. By leveraging a permissioned Hyperledger Fabric network, the initiative ensures that patient records—from vaccination histories to diagnostic imaging—are securely shared across hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. Patients control access via digital identities anchored to India’s Aadhaar system, granting temporal permissions for data viewing and preventing unauthorized sharing.
Key details & analysis:
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Interoperability: HL7 FHIR standards are mapped to on-chain transactions, enabling seamless data exchange with existing hospital information systems (HIS).
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Privacy safeguards: Off-chain storage of PHI (Protected Health Information) is encrypted with patient-held keys; only hashed pointers reside on-chain to ensure immutability without exposing sensitive data.
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Regulatory alignment: The pilot aligns with India’s draft Digital Health Act, which emphasizes data sovereignty and patient consent frameworks.
Opinion: Blockchain EHRs can democratize healthcare access in a populous nation—but success depends on user-friendly portals, robust identity verification, and contingency plans for network outages in rural areas.
5. The Hottest Viral Altcoins of 2025: UniLabs, Sui, and Hedera Lead the Pack
Source: TronWeekly
Summary:
According to TronWeekly, the altcoin landscape in 2025 is dominated by three viral tokens: UniLabs (UNI-L), Sui (SUI), and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR). UniLabs, a governance token for a decentralized laboratory network, saw a 1,200% year-to-date surge on news of its AI-driven drug-discovery partnership. Sui’s Move-based smart-contract platform gained traction for sub-second finality and low gas fees, with total value locked (TVL) surpassing $2 billion. Hedera’s HBAR continues its enterprise pivot, securing multi-year agreements with global brands for identity verification and supply-chain tracking.
Key details & analysis:
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UniLabs use case: Token holders vote on research grants and share in royalty revenues from patented compounds developed on-chain.
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Sui performance: With a novel object model and horizontal sharding, Sui supports over 3,000 TPS (transactions per second) without compromising on decentralization.
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Hedera enterprise: The Governing Council—comprising Boeing, Google, and LG—bolsters confidence in HBAR’s governance model and paves the way for compliant enterprise deployments.
Opinion: These tokens exemplify the diversification of blockchain applications. Investors should assess not only market hype but also protocol fundamentals—developer activity, economic incentives, and real-world adoption.
Cross-Story Trends & Key Takeaways
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Trust & Transparency at the Core
From esports prize-pool ledgers to wartime NFT archives and permissioned health records, blockchain’s immutability fosters verifiable trust—a prerequisite for mainstream adoption across sectors. -
Institutional & Public-Sector Innovation
Spirit Blockchain Capital’s fund growth and India’s EHR pilot signal that both private and government entities view blockchain as a strategic infrastructure, not just speculative assets. -
Vertical Specialization Fuels Token Growth
Viral altcoins like UniLabs, Sui, and Hedera thrive by addressing niche use-cases—governance in biotech, scalable DeFi rails, and enterprise identity—underscoring the importance of purpose-built protocols. -
Metadata & Provenance Drive NFTs Beyond Art
Ukraine’s cultural NFTs demonstrate how rich on-chain metadata can preserve heritage, while esports applications show that reputation tokens can enforce fair-play credentials. -
Ecosystem Maturation Requires UX & Governance
Across all stories, user experience—wallet onboarding, identity verification, metadata curation—and robust governance frameworks (tokenomics, regulatory alignment) emerge as decisive factors in blockchain’s next wave.
Conclusion
Today’s blockchain headlines reveal a maturing ecosystem where trust, transparency, and targeted innovation unlock new frontiers—from safeguarding digital heritage amid conflict to revolutionizing healthcare and sports. As institutional players allocate billions, and public-sector pilots chart regulatory pathways, the fate of tomorrow’s Web3 landscape hinges on seamless UX, rigorous governance, and demonstrable real-world utility. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Blocks & Headlines, where we’ll continue tracking the trends, tokens, and technologies that define the blockchain revolution.
The post Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 30, 2025 (Fraser Edwards, Kyiv NFT, Spirit Blockchain Capital, Indian eHealth, Hedera) appeared first on News, Events, Advertising Options.
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