Revolut’s $115 Billion Valuation and Nubank’s Profit Engine
Cointime reports: Revolut confirmed a $115 billion valuation on November 4 through a secondary share sale, a 53% increase from its 2025 valuation and over 150% from 2024. The transaction involved investors like Glade Brook, Coatue, and Baillie Gifford, but did not raise new capital for the company. This valuation reflects market confidence in Revolut’s digital banking model, which now serves over 80 million users and reported $6 billion in revenue for 2025 with a 28.9% net margin.
Revolut: Scaling Without Lending
Revolut’s profitability stems from a diversified fee-based model: card payments ($1.3B), subscriptions ($936M), wealth ($876M), and FX ($800M), supplemented by interest income ($1.3B). With a loan-to-deposit ratio of just 6.2% and 90% of assets in cash and treasuries, Revolut has proven that a bank can be highly profitable with limited credit exposure. Its crypto arm, with 16 million users, is expanding into stablecoins (EURR) and leveraging licenses across jurisdictions.
However, regulatory scrutiny is mounting. The UK’s PRA has reviewed product approvals, and the ECB imposed restrictions in 2025. Revolut’s challenge is converting its 80 million users into primary banking relationships—only 45% growth in primary users was reported, not 45% of all users.
Nubank: Credit-Driven Growth
Nubank, with 138.9 million customers across Latin America, reported $5.88 billion in revenue and $1.06 billion in net income for Q2 2026. Its $39.4 billion credit portfolio—dominated by credit cards—drives profitability, but also risk. Delinquency rates are diverging: 15-90 day NPLs improved to 4.8%, while 90+ day NPLs rose to 6.9%. Management attributes this to seasonal factors and a deliberate expansion into higher-risk segments.
Nubank’s net interest margin of 22.9% (12.4% risk-adjusted) reflects both high local rates and credit risk. Its CET1 ratio fell to 11.9%, indicating that growth is consuming capital. The bank’s US expansion via Lead Bank and its Nu Global stablecoin accounts (using USDC and EURC) are steps to diversify, but credit remains the core earnings driver.
Stablecoins and the Distribution Battle
Both banks are using stablecoins to extend their reach. Revolut’s EURR, issued by Bridge (Stripe), is being piloted in Europe, while Nubank’s Nu Global offers USDC and EURC accounts with yields up to 3.5%. However, neither has disclosed the economics of these products, making it impossible to assess their contribution to profitability. The key difference: Revolut’s fee-based model is less sensitive to credit cycles, while Nubank’s profitability is tied to its lending book and local interest rates.
Valuation and Forward Look
At $56 billion, Nubank trades at roughly 15.5 times trailing earnings, while Revolut’s $115 billion valuation implies 68 times its 2025 net income. To justify a 30x P/E, Revolut would need $3.8 billion in annual net income—more than double its 2025 figure. The market is pricing in significant future growth from international expansion and banking licenses. For Nubank, the next test is deepening customer relationships in Mexico and managing credit risk as it grows. Both models have proven viable, but their paths to sustained profitability diverge: Revolut bets on distribution and fees, Nubank on credit and local relationships.
