The best Payments newsletters

Research-driven essays on crypto and fintech businesses, examining who captures revenue in onchain finance, how companies like Rain and Visa build and defend their economics. Readers get sourced, analytical breakdowns of retained revenue, valuations and payment infrastructure aimed at investors.

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) podcast where he reads and expands on his essays about the practical mechanics of money, payments, banking, and consumer travel rights, with worked examples. Readers get clear explanations of how finance and travel systems actually behave, drawn from his industry experience.

Bits about Money is a long-form newsletter analysing the financial infrastructure behind everyday money, including bank fraud enforcement, consumer protection regulation like Reg E, and the politics of fraud. Readers get detailed, historically grounded explanations of how payment systems and their rules actually work.

A daily crypto and fintech newsletter that mixes original explainers with guest essays on topics like stablecoin payments, AI data markets and crypto-adjacent lending. Readers get narrative-driven analysis of how these markets work, alongside some sponsored product placements.

a16z Jobs is a daily-ish newsletter listing startup job openings, mostly at early-stage and a16z-backed companies, with each posting briefly described alongside the company's product and funding. Issues also include short feature stories about portfolio companies and their technology.

A weekly newsletter and podcast covering banking, fintech and crypto, with regulatory analysis and interviews with fintech founders and executives. Readers get commentary on policy topics like debanking and AML alongside conversations about banking infrastructure, payments and AI.

A Spanish-language newsletter covering the Latin American fintech ecosystem, with weekly startup mappings, sector news and event listings. It also promotes webinars and paid fellowships on open finance, open banking and agentic payments.