Tagged: stablecoins

September 25, 2026 @ 12:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Two financial groups in East Asia have completed a proof-of-concept exercise designed to show how stablecoins might one day support institutional payments between Japan and South Korea without routing money through the US dollar. SBI Digital Practice, a subsidiary of Japan’s SBI Holdings (TYO: 8473)… Read More

September 24, 2026 @ 9:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Visa (NYSE: V) research suggests that familiar banking-style safeguards could sharply lift US consumer interest in stablecoins, even though most Americans still know little about the category. The payments company released its Money Travels 2026 report on September 23, 2026. The US portion of the… Read More

September 24, 2026 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether’s refusal to seek authorization under Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework was driven by one reserve rule rather than a general objection to oversight. MiCA requires issuers of significant stablecoins to keep at least 60 percent of backing assets as deposits with commercial banks. Chief… Read More

September 23, 2026 @ 9:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Circle (NYSE:CRCL) says it has expanded its partnership with Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. In a post on X, Circle said it has committed to a five-year deal in which Binance will support and promote USDC, Circle’s popular dollar-backed stablecoin. The deal… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 10:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s consumer finance platforms have taken another step toward tokenized money. Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding with Fireblocks to study secure digital asset infrastructure in the country, with stablecoins at the center of the work. The non-binding pact,… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Silicon Valley Bank and Sphere Labs have jointly published a report, called Runaway Dollarization, on dollar-based payment stablecoins- effectively, regulated digital dollars. The thesis is that the growth of digital dollars will boost dollarization in a positive way while also reducing reliance on local currencies… Read More

September 22, 2026 @ 8:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) has opened a new path for institutions that want dollar liquidity without selling their bitcoin. Through Circle Mint, eligible clients can now pledge BTC as collateral and borrow USDC, keeping their long-term bitcoin exposure intact while tapping onchain credit markets. The product… Read More

September 20, 2026 @ 3:11 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

  Unsurprisingly, digital asset insiders were focused on the CLARITY Act this week. Not completely, however. Read on to find some interesting takes on several other topics. The CLARITY Act “The nation’s banks continue to support creating a strong, durable regulatory framework for digital assets… Read More

September 18, 2026 @ 6:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based stablecoin payments company dtcpay has completed its Series A financing at US$25 million after bringing Japan’s SBI Group in as a strategic investor. The round was first led earlier in 2026 by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. SBI Group is participating through SBI… Read More

September 17, 2026 @ 8:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) has opened the public mainnet of Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain the company positions as infrastructure for markets, fast settlement, and automated onchain activity. The network went live on September 16, 2026, after a private mainnet period and a public… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 1:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Wirex has announced the launch of Wirex One, which is described as a “stablecoin neobank.” The goal is to serve the mass affluent by acting as a private bank. A neobank is typically a digital application that provides services similar to traditional banks, frequently in… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 12:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

New York payments startup Fin.com has come out of stealth after securing a $20 million seed round, positioning itself as infrastructure that turns digital dollars into money people can actually spend in local accounts and wallets. The financing closed in August and was publicly disclosed… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 10:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent working paper from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS argues that many of the headline figures used to describe cryptocurrency and decentralized finance activity can mislead more than they illuminate. Drawing on roughly 100 billion records from Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron, the researchers… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 9:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A Bank of England official has suggested that the rapid rise of dollar-linked digital tokens could support broader use of the US currency and add to demand for American government debt, while also introducing new vulnerabilities if large numbers of holders seek to cash out… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 8:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

London-based Velocity has added $10 million to its Series A, bringing the round to $48 million after a group of traditional finance and crypto investors joined the raise. Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures and Ripple participated alongside Haun Ventures, Translink Capital and Mirana Ventures, according to… Read More

September 16, 2026 @ 12:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has opened coverage of Sky, the DeFi protocol formerly known as MakerDAO, with a long-dated bullish view on its governance token. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, put an end-2028 target of $0.325 on SKY—about five times… Read More

September 15, 2026 @ 4:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) shares rallied. Today, the story is quite different, as shares of Coinbase are now down by over 10% following the disappointing vote on the CLARITY Act. While the vote was always expected to be close, in the end, supporters couldn’t even break the 50-vote… Read More

September 15, 2026 @ 10:47 am By JD Alois  |  

FUD, or fear, uncertainty, and doubt, can effectively influence individuals’ hearts and minds. The unknown can lead to risk, and the possibility of something bad happening, even when the probability is low, can drive decisions. FUD is what the banking industry has leveraged to strip… Read More

September 14, 2026 @ 8:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple USD (RLUSD) has grown into one of the larger regulated dollar stablecoins, with net circulating supply recently topping an all-time high of about $2.44 billion before settling near $2.42 billion. That expansion looks like a success story for Ripple’s dual-chain product. A closer look… Read More

September 13, 2026 @ 9:04 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Stablecoins, in one way or another, dominate this edition of Web3 thoughts of the week. Lawyers speak out on the CLARITY Act, too. Stablecoins “The number of issuers is expanding quickly. A consortium of 21 financial institutions plans to launch a dollar stablecoin in 2027,… Read More