Here are the most read news stories from our daily newsletter today:

• NY attorney lasers Bitcoin’s key funding mechanism – Financial Times
• Banking Challengers Starling and Branch Provide Reasons to Break Up with Your Old Bank – Crowdfund Insider
• ‘Digital assets are here to stay’: BNY Mellon embraces crypto – American Banker
• New FDIC CIO: ‘Technology is the best enabler of banking the unbanked’ – Banking Dive
• Fintechs are desperate to reach Gen-Z. Here’s how they’re using social media and influencers like Charli D’Amelio to tap into the next generation of customers – Business Insider
• Green Dot warns bump from stimulus checks was likely a one-off – American Banker
• U.S. Payment Tech Platform Promise Secures More Than $20 Million through Series A Funding Round – Crowdfund Insider
• If it walks like a bank, talks like a bank and smells like a bank, then it’s a bank – The Finanser
• How COVID has Accelerated the Future of SME Lending – The Financial Brand
• Petal Takes In $126.6M Debt Facility To Provide Access To Credit – Crunchbase News