Revolut Alumni-Founded Fintech Eyes German Market as Lead Investor Speedinvest Backs "Finance 3.0" Vision
November 19, 2025 – Deblock, the French crypto neobank founded by four former Revolut executives, has closed a $35 million Series A funding round as it prepares to expand beyond its home market.
The round was led by prominent venture capital firms Speedinvest, CommerzVentures, and Latitude, with participation from existing investors including Shapers, Headline, Chalfen Ventures, and Kraken Ventures (now operating as Triton).
Bridging Traditional Banking and Crypto
Deblock represents a new wave of financial services providers attempting to merge traditional banking with blockchain technology. The platform links conventional bank accounts with self-custodial crypto wallets, giving users access to both centralized banking services and decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities.
"We target both crypto natives and opportunity seekers: crypto users looking for a crypto-friendly bank, and more traditional neobank customers attracted by a better yield on their euros," explained Jean Meyer, CEO and co-founder of Deblock.
The company's value proposition centers on offering higher yields on deposits through blockchain integration – a direct challenge to traditional banks' interest rates. Customers can earn competitive yields on euros or digital assets, spend with a Visa card, and move funds globally in seconds, all while maintaining control through self-custodial wallets.
The Case for "Finance 3.0"
Speedinvest, which led the round, frames Deblock as the embodiment of a fundamental shift in financial services. In a detailed post explaining their investment thesis, Varun Rekhi from Speedinvest outlined three generations of fintech evolution:
Generation 1: Traditional banks – closed systems built for branches, not code
Generation 2: Neobanks – mobile-first interfaces still running on legacy rails
Generation 3: On-chain platforms – open, programmable, user-controlled finance
"Deblock is among the first real examples of Generation 3: a platform that integrates the compliance of banking, the UX of modern fintech, and the architecture of blockchain," Rekhi wrote.
Speedinvest's conviction rests on three key beliefs about the future of finance:
1. Infrastructure Is Shifting to Programmable Rails
According to Speedinvest, assets, identities, and transactions are moving to open systems. "The closed network of banks is giving way to an internet-native financial layer where value moves transparently and near instantly," Rekhi explained.
Crucially, Deblock has solved one of crypto's biggest usability challenges: key recovery. Users can recover their private keys through secure re-identification – a proprietary process built in-house. "No one has ever lost access to their private keys for this reason, proving that convenience and control can coexist," Speedinvest noted.
2. The Best Products Abstract Complexity
Speedinvest emphasized that mainstream consumers don't want to think about seed phrases or smart contracts. "They want money that is safe, available, and working harder," Rekhi said.
Deblock abstracts away crypto-native mechanics while preserving user control. There are no visible wallet addresses, no gas fees to calculate, and no arcane workflows – just simple banking functions powered by blockchain infrastructure.
As Meyer puts it: "People don't want to be their own bank. They want their bank to work like crypto."
3. Built for Speed and Scale
Speedinvest was impressed by Deblock's proprietary infrastructure, built entirely in-house. The platform features custom ramp rails, real-time settlement, and compliance automation. Account opening and verification can be completed in seconds via facial recognition and qualified e-signature.
"Once we finally connected with the team, our conviction translated into a term sheet within a week and a close within a month," Rekhi revealed, highlighting both Speedinvest's confidence and Deblock's execution speed.
From Revolut to Deblock: Founders' Journey
The startup's founding team brings deep fintech expertise from one of Europe's most successful neobanks. Co-founders Aaron Beck, Adriana Restrepo, Jean Meyer, and Mario Eguiluz all previously held executive positions at Revolut, which recently achieved a $75 billion valuation.
Jean Meyer and Mario Eguiluz previously sold their startup to Revolut, while Aaron Beck served as Head of Payments and Adriana Restrepo as COO of Revolut Bank. "At Revolut, they helped build Banking 2.0. At Deblock, they're building Finance 3.0," Speedinvest noted.
Since launching in France in April 2024, Deblock has rapidly scaled to over 300,000 customers – impressive traction for a crypto-focused neobank in a market where regulatory clarity has been historically limited.
Regulatory Foundation for Growth
Deblock's expansion strategy is built on a solid regulatory foundation. The company holds authorization as an Electronic Money Institution from the Banque de France and made history as the first fintech to receive a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license from France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
Speedinvest highlighted this regulatory fluency as crucial to Deblock's success: "That speed is matched by regulatory responsibility. Deblock operates within a European framework, combining the passportable EMI license as well as France's first-ever MiCA license."
These licenses are critical for Deblock's planned expansion into Germany, which the company identified as its next target market due to "strong adoption of digital financial services and established regulatory framework."
Growing Crypto Neobank Sector
Deblock enters an increasingly crowded space. More than half a dozen crypto neobanks have launched in the past year, while established players like Revolut, Monzo, and Chime have begun integrating blockchain features into their platforms.
Earlier this week, Aave Labs unveiled a savings app offering up to 9% returns on deposits, signaling that major crypto protocols are also entering the neobanking arena.
This funding round adds to the $22 billion that venture investors have poured into crypto startups in 2025 – double the total from 2024, according to DefiLlama data.
How Deblock Works
Under the hood, Deblock's on-chain infrastructure powers:
- Instant settlement and global transfers – leveraging blockchain rails for near-instantaneous transactions
- Transparent, verifiable self-custody – users maintain control of their assets with secure key recovery
- Programmatic services – yield generation, lending, and foreign exchange that cut out intermediaries, returning better margins to end users
To customers, the platform looks like a sleek finance app. To the industry, "it's a blueprint for how banking, payments, and investing will operate this decade," according to Speedinvest.
Funding History and Valuation
Prior to this Series A, Deblock raised approximately $29 million across two seed rounds: an initial $12 million in 2023 and a $17.5 million extension in November 2024.
The latest raise values the company at approximately $208 million, reflecting investor confidence in the crypto neobank model despite the sector's nascent stage.
What's Next for Deblock
With fresh capital in hand, Deblock plans to accelerate its product roadmap and geographic expansion. Meyer emphasized the company's mission: "Our goal is to create a clear and secure way to use both euros and digital assets in everyday life. These markets are critical to defining the future of onchain banking in Europe."
As regulatory frameworks like MiCA provide clearer guidelines for crypto services across the EU, and as younger, tech-savvy consumers seek alternatives to traditional banking, crypto neobanks like Deblock are positioned to capitalize on shifting market dynamics.
Speedinvest sees Deblock's model as "built for Europe but designed for a borderless world," combining familiar user experiences with fundamentally superior infrastructure in terms of settlement speed, transparency, and interoperability.
Whether Deblock and similar platforms can successfully compete with established neobanking giants while navigating the volatility inherent to cryptocurrency markets remains to be seen. But with experienced founders, robust regulatory licenses, and backing from top-tier VCs, Deblock is well-positioned to define what "Finance 3.0" actually looks like for mainstream consumers.
About Deblock
Deblock is a French crypto neobank that combines traditional banking services with blockchain technology. Founded in 2023 by former Revolut executives, the company offers users higher yields on deposits while providing access to both centralized and decentralized financial services. The platform holds an EMI license from the Banque de France and was the first fintech to receive a MiCA license from France's financial regulator.