London’s Wounded Fintech Scene Has Unlikely Hero Post Brexit

  • Payment-system startup SETL raised $39.5 million post Brexit
  • U.K. sandbox program helps speed up innovation, firms say

How U.K.'s Sandbox Program Is Speeding Up Innovation

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Brexit may have wounded London’s reputation as a leading hub for financial-technology companies, but now an unlikely hero is helping to protect its edge: the U.K. regulator.

Take SETL, a startup that seeks to harness blockchain technology. The London-based firm says it became the first to use the digital ledger, which is the same architecture bitcoin uses, to process a retail transaction using fiat, government-issued currency. The company’s chief executive officer says the U.K. regulator helped it sprint ahead.