News linked to both this project and an event.
: In an interview this week, Circle President Heath Tarbert responded to questions about the stock price falling from $260 to $62, stating that the company is focusing on long-term development. If it can fulfill its mission of building a full-stack internet platform infrastructure, the stock price will ultimately reflect that value in the long run. Addressing the new competition posed by the Open USD Alliance, which consists of 140 companies including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, and Google, Heath Tarbert noted that USDC, as a stablecoin natively supporting 34 blockchains, has built a network effect with a circulating supply of $73 billion that is extremely difficult to replicate. Discussing the difference in market position compared to Tether, he stated that USDC is the world's largest regulated stablecoin and boasts the highest real transaction volume.
According to CoinDesk, Zcash has released the full node software Zakura 1.0.0, a new client refactored based on Zebra that supports pruning, snapshot synchronization, and compatibility mode with the legacy zcashd, capable of reducing new node startup time to within two minutes. The project is maintained by Zcash zero-knowledge cryptography founding member Sean Bowe and Valar Group head Dev Ojha, aiming to lay the foundation for Zcash's subsequent scaling to throughput capabilities approaching those of Visa and Mastercard.
: Zcash has launched a new full node, Zakura, maintained by a team independent of the Zcash Foundation. It is released as a fast-sync branch that is a trimmed version of Zebra and is compatible with the legacy zcashd client, whose lifecycle will end on July 18th. Zakura is part of Zcash's scaling efforts, working in conjunction with Project Tachyon and private information retrieval research. The goal is to increase network throughput to the level of Visa and Mastercard by reducing verification data and eliminating wallet performance bottlenecks. Zakura also supports the Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade, which will be activated on July 28th. This upgrade introduces a turnstile mechanism to limit withdrawals from the Orchard shielded pool and to control the creation of counterfeit ZEC that could be generated by potential long-term soundness bugs.
global payment giant Visa is accelerating its stablecoin infrastructure efforts by launching the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which helps banks and fintech companies integrate stablecoin payment capabilities into their existing payment and treasury management systems. It is reported that the platform aims to provide stablecoin service support to approximately 15,000 financial institutions and over 200 million merchants within Visa's network, enabling enterprises to use USD stablecoins for settlement, capital flow, and financial management within the traditional payment network.Visa currently processes approximately $15 trillion in payment transactions annually and has already processed tens of billions of dollars in stablecoin settlement volume. The company hopes to further expand the application scope of stablecoins through this new platform. Initially, the Visa Stablecoin Platform will support the new stablecoin OUSD, launched by the Open Standard alliance, while continuing to be compatible with stablecoins already supported by Visa, including USDC issued by Circle and USDG issued by Paxos. Visa believes that stablecoins are becoming an important part of the future financial infrastructure, with advantages including:Instant Settlement: Transactions no longer rely on traditional banking clearing cycles;Low-Cost Transfers: Reducing payment costs based on blockchain networks;Transparency and Traceability: On-chain transaction records provide higher verifiability.Visa has been consistently building its footprint in the stablecoin space. In 2020, Visa became the first global payment network to support USDC settlement; in 2025, the company launched a stablecoin settlement plan to further promote the entry of stablecoins into the mainstream payment system.Meanwhile, Visa's competitors are also accelerating their entry into the stablecoin market. Mastercard recently launched a stablecoin settlement solution and partnered with companies such as MoonPay and Paxos; American Express has also participated in the ecosystem development related to Open Standard.As traditional payment giants increasingly adopt stablecoins, they are transitioning from a payment tool within the crypto industry into a vital component of the global financial infrastructure. (Fortune)
According to Visa's official website, Visa and Artemis jointly released a report that deeply analyzes the current status and trends of AI agent payments based on real-time on-chain data. The report indicates that AI agent payments are divided into two categories: one is "macro commerce" where agents replace users to complete tasks like booking tickets and subscriptions, similar to traditional e-commerce payments; the other is "micro commerce" such as high-frequency, low-value API calls between software, where single transaction amounts are typically less than 1 cent. On-chain data shows that the open protocol x402, incubated by Coinbase and Cloudflare and now hosted by the Linux Foundation, has processed approximately 109 million transactions since launching in May 2025, with an adjusted transaction volume of about $15 million, mainly active on the Base, Solana, and Polygon chains; the Machine Payment Protocol (MPP), jointly built by Stripe and Tempo with Visa's contribution, launched in mid-March 2026 and completed approximately 115,000 transactions within weeks, with a settlement amount of about $25,000. The report notes that blockchain settlement costs have dropped to extremely low levels, making small payments in the 1-cent to 1-dollar range economically feasible for the first time, but agent payments still face significant challenges at the legal and regulatory level regarding trust, liability attribution, and dispute resolution. Visa stated that its goal is to build a unified foundation that simultaneously supports card-native trust authorization and machine-native settlement
: Digital asset management firm CoinShares stated that Open USD directly challenges Circle by distributing yield generated from stablecoin reserves to partners, thereby weakening USDC's distribution economic model. Open USD is composed of over 140 companies, including BlackRock, Coinbase, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa. The stablecoin is expected to launch in the second half of 2026. CoinShares noted that while Open USD presents competitive pressure, USDC's existing liquidity and integration base may be difficult for new entrants to replicate.
the Central Bank of Brazil stated during a hearing at the Congressional Economic Development Committee that stablecoins should be treated as electronic currency instruments, not digital assets. Fábio Araújo, an advisor to the Financial System Regulation Department of the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum possess characteristics such as scarcity, transferability, and verifiability. Stablecoins, however, are different and should be understood as monetary instruments when they exhibit features of a means of payment. The Brazilian Congress is preparing to deliberate Bill No. 4308/2024, proposed by Congressman Aureo Ribeiro in 2024, to clarify rules for stablecoins. The Brazilian crypto economy association Abcripto opposes this classification. Its members include Binance, Coinbase, Fireblocks, Visa, Tether, OKX, and Ripio. Abcripto stated that this classification will lead to regulatory conflicts, affect stablecoin adoption among both institutional and retail users in Brazil, and hinder virtual asset service providers. The Central Bank of Brazil also recently issued a new resolution, elevating its supervision of virtual asset service providers to the same level as securities institutions. (Bitcoin.com News).
Open Standard announced the launch of the USD stablecoin Open USD (OUSD) and plans to go live within the year, stating that over 140 financial and payment-related institutions are participating, including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Hanwha, and others. However, several South Korean companies stated that they had not previously conducted formal negotiations with the issuer; some institutions only responded that they could evaluate after the project matures, but were subsequently listed as alliance members.
after Open Standard announced the launch of its new stablecoin, Open USD (OUSD), Circle's stock price fell over 16% on Tuesday. The stablecoin is backed by over 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase, raising market concerns that it could pose competitive pressure on Circle's USDC.However, William Blair analysts believe the sell-off was an overreaction and reiterated an "Outperform" rating on Circle's stock, suggesting the decline may present a buying opportunity. The firm believes that Circle holds a competitive advantage in the stablecoin space due to its first-mover status, deep liquidity, and mature payment infrastructure, positioning it well even against high-profile competitors like OUSD.Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that the company welcomes competition and will continue to expand the USDC ecosystem. Analysts also noted that the overall stablecoin market is still rapidly expanding, and new entrants may not necessarily only eat into USDC's market share but could also drive broader industry adoption.
According to the official announcement, Bitget’s stock contracts are now available for 11 underlying assets, including BUD (Anheuser-Busch InBev), NKE (Nike), KO (Coca-Cola), ABNB (Airbnb), MAR (Marriott International), and V (Visa), spanning sectors related to major sporting events—such as sports & entertainment, travel & transportation, and consumer brands. These contracts support up to 20x leverage. For more details, please visit Bitget’s official platform.
payments giant Visa has announced a partnership with Brale to explore the feasibility of using Brale’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin, SBC, for institutional payment settlements on the Canton Network. This proof of concept aims to assess how privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure can support faster and programmable settlement, while helping financial institutions and payment companies control the visibility of sensitive transaction data. (Businesswire)
According to an official announcement, Tether has partnered with digital banking and investment platform Fasset to launch the world’s first gold-backed Visa card.
Global payment networks Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are close to launching a new stablecoin platform.According to sources familiar with the matter, U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is also exploring the possibility of participating in this stablecoin platform. Meanwhile, Binance, Coinbase, Stripe, and Visa have all declined to comment, and Mastercard did not respond to requests for comment before publication. Additionally, the revenue-sharing agreement between Coinbase and Circle Internet is set to expire and be renewed in August of this year, with the current market cap of USDC reaching $76 billion. (CoinDesk)
According to a report by Caixin, Global Payments, a global payment technology and software company, released its “Global Payments Report 2026,” which states that digital wallets now account for over half of global online transaction value and one-third of offline transaction value. Digital wallets offer flexible integration of diverse payment methods—including cryptocurrencies—and the report forecasts that direct cryptocurrency payments will be the fastest-growing online payment method, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% between 2025 and 2030. This implies that by 2030, e-commerce transactions conducted directly via cryptocurrency could represent 0.28% of global e-commerce transaction value—nearly $31 billion. However, despite the global cryptocurrency market capitalization nearing $3.2 trillion as of end-2025, cryptocurrency remains a relatively marginal payment method for consumer-to-merchant transactions. Reports from MRC and Visa indicate that only 10% of merchants worldwide directly accept cryptocurrency payments. In 2025, cryptocurrency accounted for just 0.19%—approximately $15 billion—of global e-commerce transaction value.
: An opinion piece published in the French media *Le Monde* points out that France may have only about 6 months to seize the new wave of industrial revolution led by "agentic AI". Otherwise, it risks being marginalized in the global digital financial system. Several French crypto industry insiders argue that online transactions driven by AI agents are growing rapidly, with most settlements already completed via stablecoins. According to the *State of Crypto* report by Andreessen Horowitz, the annual transaction volume of stablecoins has reached approximately $46 trillion, nearly three times that of Visa and 20 times that of PayPal, establishing them as a key infrastructure in the global payment system.The article further points out that the x402 standard, promoted by Coinbase and adopted by Cloudflare, Google, and Visa, already supports AI agents in automatically completing payments via stablecoins, with cumulative transactions exceeding 119 million to date.However, in terms of the tax system, France's current provisions are criticized as being unable to adapt to this trend. The complex tax treatment between stablecoin exchanges and fiat withdrawals is believed to discourage the flow of funds back into the banking system, causing a large volume of digital asset transactions to remain within the stablecoin ecosystem for extended periods. As AI agents and stablecoin payments gradually converge, the global financial infrastructure is being restructured. If France fails to promptly adjust its regulatory and tax framework, it may miss out on the dividends of this new wave of the digital economy.
fintech company Revolut has announced the launch of its first physical crypto debit card, featuring a Dogecoin theme and an LED display that lights up when users tap to pay.The card is usable at merchants that accept Visa and Mastercard, and will initially be rolled out in the UK and the European Economic Area.This launch comes amid sustained growth in crypto card usage. Platforms such as Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Binance are all expanding their crypto card services, while Gemini also regards its credit card business as a key source of revenue growth. Data shows that daily transaction volumes for crypto cards have repeatedly exceeded 100,000 in recent times, indicating that payment scenarios within the industry are continuing to expand.
a16z Crypto published a post explaining its investment rationale for Arc, noting that stablecoins have evolved from crypto-native trading tools into the foundational layer of global financial infrastructure—and are now driving blockchain’s evolution from “application-layer finance” to a “system-level economic operating system.” Last year, stablecoin transaction volume reached approximately $9 trillion—placing it on par with global payment networks such as Visa and PayPal. The total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins has surpassed $270 billion. Cross-border payments, B2B settlements, and foreign exchange transactions are emerging as core use cases for stablecoins, positioning them increasingly as the “global capital flow upgrade layer.” a16z Crypto stated that existing blockchain infrastructure remains primarily geared toward crypto-native users and individual developers, lacking native support for large-scale institutional requirements. Its participation in building the ARC token ecosystem stems from the expectation that, as global finance gradually migrates on-chain, only a select few public blockchains will be capable of serving as the foundational bedrock for “on-chain economic systems.”
Josh Swihart, Founder and CEO of the Zcash Open Development Lab, announced at Consensus 2026 in Miami that Zcash plans to launch a quantum-resilient wallet within one month and achieve full post-quantum readiness within the next 12 to 18 months, while also advancing scalability efforts to reach Visa- and Mastercard-level throughput. Driven by Multicoin Capital’s disclosure of a large investment and growing momentum around privacy narratives, ZEC has surged over 110% in the past 30 days. Additionally, following integration with Near Intents, users can now cross-chain swap BTC, SOL, USDC, and other assets for shielded ZEC; since launch, these channels have processed approximately $600 million to $700 million in volume, and the shielded pool currently accounts for roughly 30% of the circulating ZEC supply.
According to Forbes, Bitcoin mining company GoMining plans to launch GoBTC—a Bitcoin-native payment protocol built on its own block production—at the Consensus conference. The protocol enables instant user authorization and settlement on the Bitcoin mainnet within hours, charging merchants a fee of just 0.2%, which is an order of magnitude lower than Visa’s and Mastercard’s 1.5%–3.5% fees.
stablecoin infrastructure startup Rain is now valued at $1.95 billion and has announced a partnership with payment giant Mastercard to issue credit and prepaid cards, while also exploring the use of stablecoins for payment settlements. Previously, Rain primarily relied on the Visa network for its card products. This collaboration with Mastercard marks its entry into a "dual-card network" strategy, further expanding its institutional client market. Rain stated that the partnership will focus on serving large institutional clients already deeply integrated with a single payment network, enabling them to introduce stablecoin settlement capabilities without altering their existing payment systems.Meanwhile, the application of stablecoins continues to expand across the industry, with institutions such as Stripe and Coinbase actively promoting the integration of stablecoin payments and settlements. This indicates that the convergence of traditional finance and crypto payment infrastructure is accelerating. Analysts suggest that as regulatory frameworks gradually become clearer, stablecoins are rapidly transitioning from trading tools to enterprise payment and cross-border settlement infrastructure. (Fortune)