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Fintech encompasses all financial technologies. Cryptocurrency is a cornerstone financial technology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_technology




Cryptocurrency is a niche hobbyist area within fintech, nothing more. If it all turned off tomorrow, virtually nobody would notice. Compare that with Visa or SWIFT, which are actual cornerstones.


Let me rephrase — the type of people (consultants, VCs, industry analysts, blockchain bros, etc.) who use the term "fintech" on a regular basis consider crypto/blockchain technologies to be a key area of fintech innovation.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_technology: "[Fintech] is the technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud computing, and big data are regarded as the 'ABCD' (four key areas) of FinTech."

In contrast, the credit card networks which have been with us for decades are considered to be "traditional financial methods". Even Visa thinks about itself as a company that partners with "fintechs" and "fintech enablers" rather than being a "fintech" itself, e.g. "Our worldwide network helped fintechs like Chime, Rappi and Airwallex deliver on their vision". (https://usa.visa.com/partner-with-us/info-for-partners/info-...)


Visa has an SVP of fintech who has a ton of org under him, gives talks about how it’s a fintech company, and has hired tons of people into jobs that have “fintech” in their title. We can argue about whether they’re right, but Visa certainly considers itself a fintech company.




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