Exclusive. Deblock raises $12 million
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Launched by former employees of fintech Revolut, Deblock is a Franco-British crypto neo-banking project. The application should be available by the end of the year.

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Is it because they were disappointed by Revolut's crypto ambitions? A few months ago, several former employees of the British fintech launched Deblock, a sort of crypto neo-bank. The application is not yet available, but the team has given itself the means to fulfil its ambitions, having raised $12 million, according to our information.

The funding round was completed a few months ago.

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A number of funds including Hoxton, 20VC and Kraken Ventures have invested in the Franco-British start-up. Several figures from the French ecosystem, such as Thomas France (co-founder Ledger) and Nicolas Julia (co-founder Sorare) are also investors.

The aim of Deblock, which should be available first in France in the third quarter, is to offer a banking application with a non-custodial crypto wallet system (i.e. you will be the only person to have control over your funds) in addition to a traditional current account (with an IBAN). This system is supposed to allow you to move from the crypto world to the fiat (euro) world without too much friction. The start-up also wants to launch a payment card.

Founded by Jean Meyer (ex-Head of crypto at Revolut), Aaron Beck (ex-Revolut), Mario Alebicto (ex-Ledger and Revolut), and Adriana Restrepo (ex-COO of Revolut) who joined them at the end of 2022, Deblock has submitted several applications to obtain licences in France and the UK. These relate to digital asset service provider (DASP) and electronic money institution licences.

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Grégory Raymond

Grégory Raymond is Head of Research and co-founder of The Big Whale. A specialist at the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets, he has been covering the regulatory, institutional and technological developments of the sector since 2017 for an audience of decision-makers: ,banks, asset managers and fintechs. He is also the author of Bitcoin & Cryptos: L'enjeu du siècle (Talent Éditions, 2025), a book built around interviews with key figures from the ecosystem.

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Raphaël Bloch

Raphaël Bloch is CEO and co-founder of The Big Whale, an independent market intelligence platform on digital assets serving financial market participants through editorial coverage, research, a weekly briefing, and in-person events. He co-founded The Big Whale in April 2022. At the platform, he moderates and hosts institutional events bringing together banks, asset managers, custodians, and infrastructure providers on topics including staking, on-chain yield, stablecoins, DeFi lending, and tokenisation. He has moderated panels at events hosted in partnership with Bitwise, Everstake, Gemini, Morpho, Hexarq, Coinhouse, Delubac, Franklin Templeton, and the Ethereum Foundation, held in London and Paris between late 2025 and mid-2026.

Before founding The Big Whale, Bloch worked as a reporter at Les Echos from December 2016 to March 2020, then at L'Express from March 2020 to March 2022. He also previously worked at Reuters. Since September 2022, he has held a concurrent role as Business Analyst at BFM Business. He has been active in crypto journalism since 2016. He holds degrees from emlyon and the CFJ.

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