Revolut’s pivot: Will going full bank kill its tech-level growth and valuation? I read almost everything I can find about Revolut, but then I saw that Net Interest’s newsletter had dropped a new piece titled Revolut Unbound. I dropped my entire reading queue and started with it. Net Interest is one of the top finance Substack newsletters, written by @MarcRuby, a former hedge fund manager, seasoned bank analyst, and Bloomberg Opinion contributor. Marc and I have been following Revolut since almost the beginning, and we both have made small investments in the company. His Revolut Unbound piece is well written; it is best to read the whole thing yourself. My top takes: Marc suggests that low per-customer deposit amounts at Revolut could also be due to many customers joining rapidly and initially keeping low balances, which pulls down the overall average. Another point Marc is making: can Revolut sustain its exceptional growth and high valuation as it fully transitions from a balance-sheet-light fintech company into a real, licensed global bank — or will the constraints of banking limit or alter its upside? He writes: “One obstacle the group does face as it transitions more fully into a bank is capital. … One big difference though is valuation. … If Revolut can sustain both [rapid growth and 36% ROE], then Storonsky could be very rich.” That is a great point. Initially, Revolut tried to be balance sheet-light, as I recall, CEO Nik Storonsky said in an interview that this way the company could grow faster and command a higher valuation as a tech company rather than as a bank. Later, Nik admitted that avoiding heavier regulation was a mistake, and they are now embracing banking licences and biger balance sheets. One day, I will write my opinion piece on why I think it was a mistake. The core idea of Marc piece: Revolut has come a long way from its early days of wanting to "replace banks" with a light, non-bank model — and securing full banking licences is a unlock that gives it new capabilities (deposits, higher net interest spreads, broader lending), but it also introduces real frictions and trade-offs that didn't exist in its more asset-light fintech phase. Link to Net Interest newsletter: netinterest.co/?r=26ljc&utm_…