Revolut warns it risks backlash over support for energy-intensive AI and crypto
TL;DR
Revolut reports a 57% profit jump to £1.7bn for 2025, while simultaneously flagging reputational risks from supporting energy-intensive sectors like crypto and AI.
Key Points
- The company finally received its UK banking licence this month after a five-year wait and is now preparing a US market push.
- Its 2025 annual results explicitly list activities in high-energy sectors as a potential image liability.
- Revolut is one of the few fintechs to publicly acknowledge ESG risks from AI infrastructure as a formal business risk.
Nauti's Take
Revolut is posting record profits while dutifully warning about the risks of the very technologies driving those profits — that is calculated risk management, not remorse. The real question is whether this disclosure stays a footnote or actually shapes strategic decisions going forward.
Still, the fact that a crypto-friendly neobank unicorn is naming AI energy consumption as a liability signals that the topic has fully entered mainstream finance. Anyone still treating power draw as a purely technical footnote risks backlash from regulators and investors alike.
Context
A fast-growing fintech like Revolut formally logging AI and crypto energy consumption as a reputational risk in its annual results is more than PR hygiene — it signals that institutional investors and regulators are taking the issue seriously. With a fresh UK banking licence and a US expansion ahead, Revolut faces heightened scrutiny, and pressure to back up sustainability pledges will only grow. For the AI industry broadly, it is yet another sign that data center energy appetite is no longer a niche concern.
Sources