BeInCrypto has shortlisted eight neobanks for its inaugural Institutional 100 Best Digital Assets Neobank category, with the winner to be named at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris on June 2-3. The shortlist, released this month, spans established players like Revolut and Nubank to challengers such as KAST and Nomad, reflecting a growing convergence of traditional banking and native crypto services.
How the list was built
The ranking started with 18 firms, winnowed to eight for the long list, with three kept as outreach candidates. Scoring is weighted: 30% quantitative data, 50% from an Expert Council, and 20% from disclosed company data. Criteria include user base, crypto user count, product depth, regulatory licensure, payments and card integration, geographic reach, financial performance, and innovation.
Data came from regulators including the OCC, FCA, BaFin, NYDFS, and others, plus audited filings, reserve attestations, on-chain data, and private databases like PitchBook and Crunchbase.
The eight contenders
Bunq, based in Amsterdam, has over 17 million users across 30+ EEA countries and reported a 2024 net profit of €85.3 million, up 65% year-on-year. Its crypto arm, Bunq Crypto, launched in April 2025 through a Kraken partnership and offers 300+ cryptocurrencies.
Cash App, part of Block, has 59 million monthly active users in Q4 2025 and 9.3 million primary banking actives. It holds a NYDFS Bitcoin licence and launched a Proof of Reserves dashboard in April 2026 covering 8,883 BTC, plus a 5% Bitcoin Back program.
KAST, operating from Singapore and New York, has over 1 million users in 170–190 countries and roughly $5 billion in annualised transaction volume. It closed an $80 million Series A in March 2026 at a $600 million valuation and launched KAST Business beta in May 2026.
Mercado Pago, part of Mercado Libre, serves over 100 million users across 8 Latin American countries. It holds jurisdiction-specific fintech and payments licences and expanded to 17 tokens by May 2026, cutting its trading fee to 0.2%. Its Meli Dólar stablecoin is available in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile.
Nomad, a Brazilian USD-account neobank with over 1 million users, pioneered XRP Ledger settlement for Brazilian USD payments. It is now adapting to Brazil's BCB Resolution 561, which restricts crypto and stablecoin use in cross-border eFX settlement.
Nubank, with 110 million customers and 7 million NuCripto users, holds a full Brazilian banking licence and has OCC conditional approval for a US national bank branch. It launched Earn Crypto staking in March 2026 with a Solana promotional yield and supports 20+ assets via a Circle USDC partnership.
Revolut serves 70 million customers across 40+ countries, posting 2025 revenue of $6 billion and profit before tax of $2.3 billion. It holds Lithuanian, UK, and Mexican banking licences, plus MiCA-CASP authorisation, and its Revolut X platform offers 230+ digital assets.
SoFi, listed on NASDAQ, has 12.6 million members in Q1 2026 with revenue of $1.1 billion and net income of $166.7 million. Its bank, SoFi Bank N.A., is OCC-regulated. It launched retail crypto trading in November 2025, opened 239,509 crypto accounts in Q1 2026, and issued its own SoFiUSD stablecoin in December 2025.
Two paths to neobank status
The shortlist reveals two structural models. Some firms, like SoFi and Nubank, operate as bank-chartered direct entities. Others, such as Cash App and KAST, are BaaS, EMI, or VASP-licensed fintechs that integrate crypto directly into their primary banking app. Both approaches qualified for the ranking.
Paris awaits
The winner will be announced at Proof of Talk in Paris on June 2-3. The conference, which focuses on institutional crypto adoption, will host the ceremony. Until then, the eight neobanks — and the three outreach candidates not publicly named — will wait to see which one tops the list.
