Key highlights of this issue:
Just two weeks after launching its stablecoin, Klarna announced this week that it is exploring its own crypto wallet. The combination of "stablecoin + wallet" is enabling credit-based Fintech companies like BNPL to upgrade to "account-based currency platforms" at a lower cost. From a broader perspective, why are more and more Fintech companies ultimately moving towards wallets and stablecoins? How can this architecture unlock new revenue structures and expansion space for the profit-constrained BNPL model?
Stripe launched a stablecoin payment function, but still uses a 1.5% commission, sparking a renewed discussion about payment pricing models. When the marginal cost of settlement is almost zero, the profit pool of the payment industry is shifting from "channel fees" to "software and financial orchestration." In this restructuring, how can Stripe reshape its pricing power and profit logic by outsourcing complexity and providing high-value-added services?
The total market capitalization of stablecoins reached $310.001 billion (approximately US$310.001 billion), a week-on-week increase of $1.883 billion (approximately US$1.883 billion). In terms of market structure, USDT continues to dominate, accounting for 60.05%; USDC ranks second with a market capitalization of $78.56 billion (approximately US$78.546 billion), accounting for 25.34%. ...
Market capitalization of stablecoins reached $310.001 billion (approximately Blockchain Network Distribution Top 3 Stablecoin Networks by Market Capitalization: Ethereum: $166.268 billion ($166.268 billion) Tron: $81.308 billion ($81.308 billion) Solana: $16.473 billion ($16.473 billion) Fastest Growing Networks (TOP 3): Resolv USD (USR): +55.96%
USDD (USDD): +14.91%
Sky Dollar (USDS): +5.95%
Data from DefiLlama
Following the launch of its stablecoin KlarnaUSD based on the Tempo chain, Klarna announced this week a partnership with Privy to explore its own crypto wallet.
On the surface, this appears to be just another large consumer finance company entering the crypto space, but in reality, Klarna is attempting to integrate "user asset relationships" into its own system. Stablecoins, as a new value carrier, and wallets, as the entry point for funds, combine to allow Klarna, for the first time, to directly manage user fund retention and payment paths, leaping from a "transaction tool" to a "fund node." For a company that started with "buy now, pay later" (BNPL), this means redefining its relationship with the monetary system. From a business model perspective, this change touches upon Klarna's core structure. The essence of the BNPL model is credit: Klarna advances payments to merchants, creating accounts receivable and earning interest spreads. However, this model has high capital requirements, concentrated risk, and is subject to regulation and balance sheet size. The introduction of stablecoins and wallets changes this logic. Klarna, for the first time, simultaneously controls both "master account relationships" and "payment path control," enabling it to shift from a credit intermediary to a financial intermediary—moving from relying on credit risk returns to participating in the profit distribution arising from currency flows. When user funds temporarily reside in a wallet, this balance can be activated: generating stagnant fund returns, foreign exchange spreads, and even financial instruments that support merchants. Klarna's profit focus thus shifts from "lending" and "risk" to "liquidity" and "capital efficiency." The fundamental reason driving this change lies in the inherent properties of stablecoins. Compared to traditional deposit systems, stablecoins are fully backed by real fiat currency reserves, do not generate credit creation, and therefore do not bear the risks of maturity mismatch and default. This is a "narrow banking" model, allowing the platform to handle user fund relationships without needing to become a regulated depository institution. What users hold in their wallets are on-chain assets, not bank liabilities. This means Klarna can directly create a closed loop of fund retention and settlement within the application, without needing to comply with capital adequacy ratios or bear the costs of Basel III, yet still maintaining complete monetary business relationships. In a sense, Klarna is using software logic to enter a profit pool that was previously only accessible to banks. From a broader perspective, this implies a shift in the boundaries of fintech competition. With the popularization of digital dollars and on-chain payment networks, the focus of industry innovation has extended from front-end areas such as payment experience, credit risk control, and merchant services to the underlying monetary relationship layer. If the past decade saw fintech competing on installment and credit efficiency, the next decade may see a restructuring of competition around "account—stablecoin—wallet." For platforms with a large user base, stablecoins are not just cross-border payment tools, but a fundamental financial track that can reshape revenue structures and user relationships. Stripe Adds Stablecoin Payment Functionality, Pricing Model Questioned. In a recent notification to merchants, Stripe announced that stablecoin payments will be enabled by default on December 12, 2025. Merchants do not need to modify their code; stablecoin payments from users will be automatically settled in USD to their existing accounts. For merchants, this is undoubtedly a major benefit: reaching crypto-native users, faster settlements, and lower operational barriers. Stripe charges a 1.5% fee, with no fixed fee. At first glance, this seems reasonable, but the fee rate quickly became a point of contention. What is the focus of the debate? Logically, stablecoin payments should be far less expensive than traditional payments: instant settlement, no clearinghouses, no agent banks, and on-chain gas even approaching zero on some networks. However, Stripe still uses a credit card-style 1.5% commission, which is almost irrelevant to actual costs. For a $100,000 payment, the on-chain cost might be only a few cents, while Stripe charges $1,500. When the marginal cost of value transfer is almost zero, charging based on transaction amount seems like a relic of the past. Stablecoins redefine the flow of funds: eliminating intermediaries, reducing latency, and transforming settlement into code execution. In an efficient market, this should force payment pricing to converge towards true costs. But Stripe still prices based on transaction size, not service costs, which is the core of this controversy. However, simply viewing the 1.5% as an "exploitative fee" is inaccurate. Because payments are never as simple as "transferring bytes or tokens," Stripe's role extends beyond transaction processing. Its core value lies in providing an abstraction at scale—productized trust. In fact, this 1.5% covers a large number of unseen but essential aspects: risk management, refunds, dispute resolution, fraud detection, compliance, liquidity, and customer support; and subsidizes the product layer that merchants actually experience: Checkout, API orchestration, analytics tools, subscription systems, and multi-path routing. In other words, merchants aren't paying on-chain transaction fees, but rather the cost of outsourcing this entire complexity to Stripe. Stripe's role is to encapsulate "programmable money" into a ready-to-use payment experience, integrating on-chain assets, compliance, risk control, and traditional payment methods through an orchestration system, allowing stablecoins to operate as smoothly as traditional payments. From a longer-term structural perspective, this pricing method may not be sustainable. Stripe is simultaneously deploying higher value-added enterprise-grade financial service capabilities, including the underlying settlement reconstruction represented by Tempo, the enterprise billing and usage pricing system introduced by Metronome, and new payment and settlement solutions for the AI agent economy. Combined with future AI-centric risk control, dispute management, and business automation capabilities, these directions point to a new profit structure: elevating payments from simple "channel fees" to a "smart financial orchestration" software layer serving both the human and machine economies. Under this strategic shift, 1.5% is more of a transitional pricing mechanism to maintain merchant experience and service integrity until the upper-layer software capabilities mature enough to become a primary source of revenue. As stablecoins bring underlying settlement costs close to zero, the profit pool for payments will shift from the channel to the orchestration layer. Future pricing may no longer be linked to transaction volume but rather to the business value gained by merchants, such as cross-border cost savings, the use of subscription APIs, or the bundling of settlement, risk control, and billing into enterprise-grade services. Capital Layout Crypto Financial Services Platform Nexo Acquires Buenbit, Accelerating Expansion into the Latin American Compliant Crypto Market with Argentine License Key Takeaways Buenbit, a Latin American crypto financial services platform, has acquired over 1 million users and registration with the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission (CNV), awaiting regulatory approval. Buenbit has long served as a gateway for local fiat currency and crypto assets, processing over $2 billion in transactions and experiencing rapid growth in Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. Buenbit users will gain access to Nexo's high-yield savings, crypto-backed lending, and structured products. Buenos Aires will become Nexo's main market. Latin America Hub.
Why it's important
This move strengthens Nexo's foothold in Latin America, the world's fastest-growing compliant market, and leverages local regulatory licenses to achieve systematic entry, opening up greater business opportunities in regions with high demand for stablecoins, crypto savings, and other similar products.
This move strengthens Nexo's presence in Latin America, the world's fastest-growing compliant market, and leverages local regulatory licenses to achieve systematic entry, opening up greater business opportunities in regions with high demand for stablecoins, crypto savings, and other similar products.
This move strengthens Nexo's foothold in Latin America, the fastest-growing compliant market, and leverages local regulatory licenses to achieve systematic entry, opening up greater business opportunities in regions with high demand for stablecoins, crypto savings, and other similar products.
Why it's important
This move strengthens Nexo's foothold in Latin America, the fastest-growing compliant market, and leverages local regulatory licenses to achieve systematic entry, opening up greater business opportunities in regions with high demand for stablecoins, crypto savings, and other similar products.
Why it's important
This move strengthens Nexo's foothold in Latin America, the fastest-growing compliant market, and leverages local regulatory licenses to achieve systematic entry, opening up greater business opportunities in regions with high demand for stablecoins, crypto savings, and other products.
Why it matters
This move shows that Tether is systematically penetrating key technologies and real industries "beyond stablecoins", building a diversified asset and infrastructure portfolio through AI and robotics investments to enhance its resilience and expand its global technological influence.
This move shows that Tether is systematically penetrating key technologies and real industries "beyond stablecoins", building a diversified asset and infrastructure portfolio through AI and robotics investments to enhance its resilience and expand its global technological influence.
Why it matters
This move shows that Tether is systematically penetrating key technologies and real industries "beyond stablecoins", building a diversified asset and infrastructure portfolio through AI and robotics investments to enhance its resilience and expand its global technological influence.
This move shows that Tether is systematically Paradigm Makes First Bets on Brazil; Local Currency Yield Stablecoin Crown Becomes a New Channel for Institutions to Enter High-Interest-Rate Economies. Paradigm led a $13.5 million Series A funding round for Brazilian stablecoin project Crown, valuing the company at $90 million. Crown's Brazilian Real stablecoin, BRLV, is fully backed by government bonds and has become the world's largest "emerging market stablecoin," with approximately $66 million in subscriptions to date. BRLV provides institutions with on-chain yields based on Brazil's 15% benchmark interest rate, addressing the issue of "zero yield and difficulty in competing" for USD stablecoins in high-interest-rate markets, and is known as "Brazil's..." Circle is positioned as a yield-generating stablecoin in its local currency, exclusively for institutional investors. Brazil is the world's fifth-largest cryptocurrency market, with digital asset investors now outnumbering stock investors. Crown projects that BRLV will reach 1 trillion reais in circulation within ten years, representing a high single-digit percentage of the money supply, indicating significant market expansion potential. Local currency stablecoins are becoming a new gateway for global capital to access the returns of high-interest-rate economies. The "local currency + interest rate" model may reshape the competitive landscape of stablecoins and change the structure of cross-border capital flows. Paradigm's entry demonstrates the rapidly rising strategic value of stablecoins in emerging markets. Stripe Acquires Self-Custodial Wallet Valora, Expanding Stablecoin Wallet and Issuance Infrastructure. (Key Takeaways) Stripe acquired the Valora team (excluding IP) to expand its stablecoin business; the Valora app will return to Celo developer cLabs for continued operation. Stripe has acquired Bridge and Privy in recent years, launched the Open Issuance platform, and participated in Tempo chain development, building a one-stop capability from stablecoin issuance, management to custody. Valora has focused on mobile stablecoin payments and has launched in regions such as Africa; the addition of the team will help Stripe improve global user reach and on-chain payment experience.
Why it matters
Payment giants are rapidly absorbing crypto-native capabilities through team acquisitions, and stablecoins are becoming the strategic core of the next generation of global payment networks. Stripe's portfolio strategy demonstrates that traditional technology companies are vying for dominance in stablecoin infrastructure.
Lead Bank, an innovative commercial bank invested in by a16z, introduces Loop Crypto, bringing stablecoin payments into the banking system. Key Takeaways: Loop Crypto, a stablecoin payment processor, joins the ecosystem of Lead Bank, a community bank in Missouri, USA, combining its banking license with on-chain payment capabilities to expand its stablecoin and digital asset payment business. Following the acquisition of a technology team, Lead Bank has fully transformed into a fintech and crypto-focused entity, known for its community-centric approach and innovative banking services. It has raised $70 million and is valued at $1.47 billion, providing banking services to companies like Affirm, Ramp, and Stripe's Bridge. Loop received investment from VanEck and Fabric this year. Strategic investments, such as those in the banking sector, have led to a 344% year-on-year increase in payment volume. Partnerships with banks can deeply integrate on-chain stablecoin settlement with traditional payment networks. Why is this important? US community banks are leveraging crypto infrastructure to enter the rapidly growing stablecoin settlement field, forming a new payment architecture of "bank license + crypto technology." This echoes the trend of US regulators promoting bank participation in crypto custody, settlement, and transactions, indicating that stablecoins are integrating into the mainstream banking system and reshaping the payment landscape.
Key Highlights
Bipartisan Senate members and CEOs of major banks have made progress on a comprehensive market structure bill spanning the SEC and CFTC. Gillibrand and Lummis stated that the Senate will release the comprehensive crypto regulatory draft this week, with hearings and a vote next week, aiming to submit it to President Trump in early 2026.
Key Highlights
The Senate has made progress on a comprehensive market structure bill spanning the SEC and CFTC. Gillibrand and Lummis stated that the Senate will release the comprehensive crypto regulation draft this week, with hearings and a vote next week, aiming to submit it to President Trump in early 2026.
Why it matters
The Senate's legislative advancement, the CFTC's conceptual redesign, and the deregulation of OCC operations are converging in a rare manner. The United States is moving from fragmented regulation to systemic restructuring, which not only strengthens institutional participation but may also redefine the focus of global crypto businesses in the US market.
Why it matters
The Senate's legislative advancement, the CFTC's conceptual redesign, and the deregulation of OCC operations are converging in a rare manner. The United States is moving from fragmented regulation to systemic restructuring, which will not only strengthen institutional participation but may also redefine the focus of global crypto businesses in the US market.
Why it matters
Key Highlights
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stated that supporting local stablecoin payments will be a priority in 2026, and is collaborating with the Bank of England to develop a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework covering transactions, lending, custody, etc.;
The FCA has opened a stablecoin regulatory sandbox, allowing companies to test products, with applications closing on January 18; digital assets have already gained legal property status in the UK this year;
The UK is adopting a phased regulatory strategy to balance innovation and protection, but has been criticized for lagging behind the rapid progress in the US.
Why it matters
Stablecoins are becoming a focal point of competition for national-level financial infrastructure. The UK's decision to frame local issuance and regulation as a core mission signifies its attempt to regain dominance in global compliant crypto finance.
Polish Parliament Fails to Overturn President's Veto, Becoming the Only EU Member State Without a MiCA Framework
Quick Overview
The Polish Parliament failed to obtain the three-fifths majority required to overturn the president's veto, and the Crypto-Asset Market Act was rejected by just 18 votes;
The Polish president stated that the bill was too cumbersome and could lead to the relocation of businesses; Prime Minister Tusk pushed for its passage on national security grounds, claiming that cryptocurrencies were being abused by Russian intelligence and criminal groups;
While Germany and Malta have already issued MiCA licenses, Poland remains the only EU member state without a local MiCA framework, yet its local crypto trading volume continues to grow by over 50%, and its user base is approaching [number missing].
8 million.
Why it matters
Poland's regulatory deadlock highlights the political divisions within the EU regarding the implementation of MiCA. Crypto companies face continued uncertainty and may prompt the EU to accelerate the push for a more centralized cross-border regulatory architecture, reducing the space for member states to act independently.
Poland's regulatory deadlock highlights the political divisions within the EU regarding the implementation of MiCA. Crypto companies face continued uncertainty and may also prompt the EU to accelerate the promotion of a more centralized cross-border regulatory architecture, reducing the space for member states to act independently.
Key Points
Nearly 200 consumer and financial reform organizations and several unions have jointly opposed the Senate's crypto market structure bill, arguing that the current draft fails to address core risks such as fraud, conflicts of interest, and regulatory exemptions, and may weaken the existing securities protection framework;
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has also sent a letter requesting the withdrawal of the Responsible Finance Innovation Act, warning that it could expose the pension system to the risks of crypto and stablecoins and allow companies to bypass registration and disclosure requirements through on-chain tokenization;
Why it matters
If Argentina allows banks to engage in crypto, it will significantly improve compliance access and user coverage, change the competitive landscape of the Latin American market, and prompt countries to accelerate the development of a unified regulatory path.
If Argentina allows banks to engage in crypto, it will significantly improve compliance access and user coverage, change the competitive landscape of the Latin American market, and prompt countries to accelerate the development of a unified regulatory path.
Key Highlights
Tassat's patented "Yield-in-Transit" on-chain technology covers the accumulation and distribution of interest at the block and intraday granularity during the on-chain settlement process, clearly defining the ownership of profits at the moment of asset ownership change;
This technology has been used in Lynq, the institutional settlement network launched by Tassat and its partners in July 2025, aiming to improve the capital utilization efficiency of market makers, custodians, and stablecoin issuers;
More than 50 institutions are connecting to Lynq, along with...
The expansion of RWA, stablecoins, and the crypto market is driving increased demand for efficient on-chain settlement. A mechanism that allows interest to accrue during the "in transit" phase of assets, if adopted by institutions, will reshape the efficiency of on-chain settlement funds and the distribution of returns, laying a more sophisticated financial infrastructure for the large-scale institutionalization of RWA and stablecoins. Coinbase-incubated AI payment protocol x402 launches V2, enabling unified multi-chain format integration with traditional payment networks. Key Highlights: x402 V2 upgrades to a unified payment layer, standardizing multi-chain and asset recognition, achieving "multi-chain default" and compatibility with traditional payment networks such as ACH and bank cards. In just six months, it has processed over 100 million payments, covering APIs, applications, and AI agents, and introduces customizable payment flows and dynamic payTo routing. Developers can use lifecycle hooks to create scenarios such as subscriptions, pay-as-you-go billing, and multi-step transactions. The protocol's ecosystem is jointly driven by Cloudflare and Coinbase.
Why is it important
x402 is abstracting network value transmission into standardized infrastructure, enabling AI agents and applications to natively call cross-chain and traditional payment systems, laying the underlying protocol framework for the "machine economy" and the next generation of Internet payments. Crypto wallet Exodus launches Exodus Pay, aiming to enter real-world payment scenarios with self-custodied stablecoins in 2026. Exodus will launch Exodus Pay in early 2026, allowing users to store, transfer, and spend stablecoins within a self-custodied wallet, supporting bank card and Apple Pay payments. Users can transfer funds via mobile phone number and earn rewards based on holdings and spending, without relinquishing control of their private keys. Exodus targets a younger user base moving away from traditional banks, hoping to lower the barrier to entry for real-world crypto payments with stablecoins.
Why it matters
Stablecoins are transitioning from a medium of exchange to an everyday payment tool. The addition of self-custody solutions allows "on-chain digital dollars" to directly enter the consumer market, driving the evolution of wallets from asset management to payment gateways.
Tether Launches Privacy-Focused Health App QVAC Health, Accelerating Expansion from Stablecoin Giant to AI and Local Intelligence
Key Highlights
Tether launched QVAC Health, a locally running health and fitness data app. All user data is stored offline in encrypted form, without passing through commercial servers, emphasizing privacy and "local intelligence";
The app is based on Tether's self-developed decentralized AI platform QVAC, which allows AI agents to run on the device, bypassing centralized cloud infrastructure;
Tether recently invested in Generative Bionics and Blackrock Neurotech, venturing into robotics and brain-computer interfaces, demonstrating that its business has expanded from finance to AI and cutting-edge technology infrastructure.
Tether recently invested in Generative Bionics and Blackrock Neurotech, venturing into robotics and brain-computer interfaces, showing that its business has expanded from finance to AI and cutting-edge technology infrastructure.
Why it matters
As the world's largest stablecoin issuer, Tether is leveraging its financial and technological advantages to build an AI and privacy technology empire outside the financial system. This marks a strategic leap for the stablecoin giant towards "decentralized infrastructure + local AI," potentially redefining its role in the crypto and technology industries.
Why it matters
As the world's largest stablecoin issuer, Tether is leveraging its financial and technological advantages to build an AI and privacy technology empire outside the financial system. This signifies that the stablecoin giant is making a strategic leap towards "decentralized infrastructure + local AI," potentially redefining its role in the crypto and technology industries.
Why it matters
Flowglad Releases Zero-Webhook Open-Source Payment Solution, Allowing AI to Integrate SaaS Billing in One Go Flowglad provides an open-source payment system that requires no webhook, generating customized integration prompts that match the developer's codebase and pricing model, enabling AI agents to complete payment integration "once"; The platform also serves as a "single source of fact" for billing, eliminating the need for developers to maintain multiple mappings for prices, plans, and user permissions, and eliminating the need to store payer IDs locally; The open-source code includes 130,000 lines of test cases, allowing AI to directly parse all boundary scenarios, reducing document dependencies and race conditions and synchronization issues caused by webhooks. Flowglad abstracts away the high coupling and fragility of traditional SaaS payment integration, reshaping the payment access method for the development process in the AI era, and is expected to become an important component of "AI-native billing infrastructure". Stripe-supported payment chain Tempo launches testnet, opening up native stablecoin payment infrastructure. (Key Highlights) Tempo, a dedicated chain built by Stripe and Paradigm, has launched its public beta, offering core payment functions such as native stablecoin gas fees, built-in DEX, 0.5-second final settlement, and Passkey biometric login. Since its announcement in September, Tempo has added 14 design partners, including Brex, Klarna, Mastercard, and UBS, and attracted 40 infrastructure partners to participate in testing. The client is now available with Apache... With the release of its open-source license, Tempo's partners are testing scenarios such as cross-border remittances, global payments, embedded finance, and tokenized deposits. The development team behind Tempo has also developed an extremely fast open-source block explorer, built on Cloudflare Workers and an index provider, with monthly maintenance costs of only a few dollars (assuming RPC usage). Tempo aims to build a high-performance stablecoin payment network for enterprise-level applications, accelerating the transition of on-chain payments from the experimental stage to large-scale deployment. This signifies that traditional payment giants are fully investing in the construction of dedicated payment blockchain infrastructure. OSL Selects Anchorage Digital to Issue USDGO Stablecoin
Key Takeaways
Hong Kong-based OSL Group has selected Anchorage Digital to issue USDGO, a stablecoin regulated by the US federal government. This platform is currently the only stablecoin issuance scheme under direct federal regulation.
In September of this year, Tether also selected Anchorage to issue USAT, targeting the US market, highlighting its scarcity in the regulated issuance field.
Anchorage states that its federal compliance status provides certainty for stablecoin issuers and will promote the compliant issuance of stablecoins in the United States.
Anchorage claims that its federal compliance status provides certainty for stablecoin issuers and will promote the compliant issuance of stablecoins in the United States.
Why it matters
As stablecoins play an increasingly important role in global payments and market infrastructure, regulatory credibility has become a key competitive factor. Anchorage, with its federal banking license, is vying for a high-compliance market share and may reshape the power structure of stablecoin issuance.
Key Highlights
Revolut integrates with Trust Wallet, allowing EU users to instantly purchase crypto via RevolutPay, bank cards, and bank transfers. Assets go directly into self-custodial wallets, bypassing centralized exchanges.
Key Highlights
Revolut and Trust Wallet have integrated, allowing EU users to instantly purchase crypto via RevolutPay, bank cards, and bank transfers. Assets go directly into self-custodial wallets, bypassing centralized exchanges.
Why it matters
The participation of large banks and asset management institutions in on-chain commercial paper issuance signifies that the traditional capital market is migrating to public blockchains for high-grade short-term debt instruments, promoting the initial formation of a compliant and large-scale on-chain money market.
Tether-led crypto payment company Oobit partners with Bakkt to enter the US market, launching crypto payments in all 50 states. Key Takeaways: Oobit and Bakkt have launched in the US, offering crypto "touch payments" that support non-custodial wallets such as Base, Binance, and Phantom. Merchants can instantly receive fiat currency via Visa. Bakkt provides compliance and licensing support, covering all 50 states. Background includes the passage of the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulatory law in the US, and Tether's deployment of the USAT stablecoin in the US. Oobit is led by Tether. In 2024, Oobit raised $25 million in Series A funding. Last month, its token migrated from Ethereum to Solana, and VCI Global announced a $100 million token investment. Oobit's entry into the US market, marked by stablecoins and "on-chain wallet direct payments," accelerates its integration into mainstream payment systems. Tether strengthens its strategic footprint in the European and American markets through ecosystem projects and compliance pathways. Tether Partners with African Fintech Provider HoneyCoin to Introduce USD₮ to Offline POS and Cross-Border Payment Scenarios Tether has partnered with HoneyCoin, a rapidly growing African fintech platform, to launch a cashless POS system supporting USD₮, allowing merchants to directly receive stablecoins and reduce payment costs. HoneyCoin will integrate USD₮ into online and offline payments, real-time foreign exchange (KES↔USD₮), QR payments, and merchant back-end functions, helping African merchants conduct cross-border transactions with lower friction and hedge against local currency depreciation. On-chain transaction volume in Africa... The market is projected to grow by approximately 52% year-on-year to $205 billion in 2024–2025, with demand for stablecoins and a less-banked population driving the rapid adoption of crypto payments in the region. In Africa, where currency volatility and financial infrastructure are weak, stablecoins are becoming a practically usable tool for payments and storing value. Tether's partnerships with local fintech companies are accelerating the adoption of stablecoins in retail payments and cross-border trade, transforming stablecoins from a "medium of exchange" to a "payment network for the real economy." PNC Becomes the First Major U.S. Bank to Offer Spot Bitcoin Trading Within its Online Banking Platform PNC Private Bank has launched a Bitcoin spot trading service with infrastructure provided by Coinbase, allowing customers to directly buy, sell, and hold BTC within their existing online banking accounts. Coinbase handles custody, trade execution, and compliance, enabling PNC to offer crypto exposure without holding its own assets or registering a crypto brokerage business. This partnership, initiated in 2021 and officially announced in July 2025, allows PNC to meet the needs of high-net-worth clients, while Coinbase further penetrates the traditional financial system.
Why it matters
The fact that major banks have directly integrated Bitcoin into their core online banking systems marks an acceleration in the integration of crypto assets by mainstream finance, and also opens up regulatory and commercial feasibility for the "bank as crypto gateway" model.
Key Highlights
The ECB stated that if the digital euro regulations are passed in 2026, pilot programs and initial transactions will begin in 2027, and issuance preparations will be completed by 2029, positioned as a "digital supplement to cash" rather than a replacement;
The digital euro will be free, simple, and universally usable, supporting online and offline payments, and providing "cash-like" privacy protection to ensure that all Europeans can use it without barriers;
Why it matters
This debate highlights the dual role of stablecoins in the global financial system—they could become "shadow dollar channels" for emerging markets, yet their insufficient scale has prevented a systemic shock. As adoption rates rise, how to regulate cross-border stablecoin flows will become a key issue in policy negotiations among nations.
China has registered 346 generative AI services as of March 31, 2025, to regulate their development and ensure transparency. The new rules require AI providers to disclose model names and registration numbers, aiming to control AI’s impact on public opinion and social actions.
AnaisUS stock and crypto markets jumped after the president announced a 90-day tariff pause for all countries except China, now facing a 125% levy. Over 75 nations have entered trade talks to avoid escalation. Trump sparked controversy, claiming leaders are “calling us up, kissing my ass” for deals. As tensions rise, could this bold or stupid trade strategy trigger a financial crisis?
CatherineKraken’s Mastercard crypto debit cards are set to launch in the coming weeks, with clients now able to join a waitlist for early access to the highly anticipated product.
KikyoPolice in Gwangju uncovered an illegal gambling operation disguised as a cryptocurrency mining farm, seizing 50 gaming machines and $95,000 in illicit profits. The operator used fake crypto wallets to disguise gambling payments, charging players $34 per hour with cash prizes for top performers.
JoyAfter a year-long probe, the FBI arrested Anurag Pramod Murarka—aka ElonMuskWHM—for laundering over $24 million from Dark Web crimes. Despite criticism of surveillance tactics, the case highlights the rising global threat of crypto-fuelled cybercrime.
CatherineWFP USA is now accepting over 80 cryptocurrencies for donations to support its Emergency Hunger Relief Fund, targeting $25 million to aid 58 million people facing starvation. This move aims to modernise fundraising, reduce transaction fees, and speed up donations to tackle the global hunger crisis.
WeatherlyElon Musk sued OpenAI last year, claiming it abandoned its nonprofit mission after partnering with Microsoft in 2019, a year after he left the board. OpenAI countersued, accusing Musk of harassment and asking a judge to block further “unlawful and unfair” actions as the dispute over its future structure continues.
KikyoVirgil Griffith, an Ethereum developer, was arrested in 2019 for giving a lecture in North Korea on blockchain technology, violating US sanctions. After serving over three years, he was released in April 2025 and is now transitioning to parole while facing post-prison restrictions.
AnaisThe EU will impose 25% tariffs on US goods, including poultry, motorcycles, and fruit, in response to US steel and aluminum duties. The measures, affecting $23 billion in US exports, will take effect on 15 April. The European Commission announced the tariffs last month, with further actions under review.
CatherineOpenSea sent a letter to the SEC asking not to be treated like a securities exchange or broker. They argue NFT platforms are just marketplaces and want clear rules to avoid confusion.
Anais