News linked to both this project and an event.
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)
: OKX CEO Star stated on X that OKX has been operating in Europe since 2018. Over the past eight years, it has continuously collaborated with regulators and the crypto community, gradually transitioning from a technology company to a regulated fintech firm. Star emphasized that the company constantly corrects mistakes and rapidly optimizes during its development. OKX is the first institution globally to obtain the MiCA license, and also holds a Payment Institution (PI) license and a MiFID license. It currently provides Euro fiat on-ramp and off-ramp channels, zero-fee stablecoin payments via the Mastercard network, hundreds of spot trading pairs, and derivatives services covering crypto, commodities, and equities in Europe.On the product front, OKX has built Agentic infrastructure, enabling users to interact with the platform through AI Agents, and is continuously developing new products for the next generation of financial experiences. Star also mentioned that OKX is the first global platform to publish Proof of Reserves (PoR) for over 40 consecutive months, and has its group financial statements audited by a Big Four accounting firm to enhance transparency and financial governance.
According to official announcements, OKX has become one of the first partners of Mastercard’s newly launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M). AP4M targets high-frequency, low-value, and automated “machine-level” payment scenarios between AI Agents and supports multiple settlement methods, including bank cards and stablecoins. OKX will integrate into this ecosystem via its Agentic Wallet and the Agent Payments Protocol (APP). AP4M is built upon Mastercard’s Agent Pay, launched in 2025, aiming to provide payment infrastructure for commercial activities among AI Agents. Over 30 organizations are among the initial participants, including Stripe, Ant International, Cloudflare, Coinbase, and OKX—spanning payment, blockchain, and AI infrastructure sectors.
Mastercard is expanding its settlement network to support regulated stablecoins, planning to introduce stablecoin settlement, intraday settlement, as well as weekend and holiday settlement services to meet the demand for real-time fund movement.According to the introduction, the new settlement framework will operate in parallel with the existing fiat settlement system, providing financial institutions with more flexible liquidity management solutions. The first supported stablecoins include Circle-issued USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP, Ripple-issued RLUSD, and SoFiUSD.The related services will cover blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, and XRPL. (CoinDesk)
According to Finance Feeds, Mastercard has partnered with Chainlink to build a fiat-to-crypto asset on-ramp for its global users, enabling them to purchase digital assets directly through their debit or credit cards within on-chain smart contracts—without needing to go through centralized exchanges.
: Payment giant Mastercard has announced that it has obtained a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), allowing it to conduct digital asset-related businesses under a strict regulatory framework, including stablecoins and blockchain settlement infrastructure. The license was obtained by Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC, marking the company's further expansion into digital payments and on-chain settlement infrastructure. BitLicense is one of the strictest crypto regulatory frameworks in the United States, requiring firms to meet multiple standards for capital reserves, compliance, security, and consumer protection.Mastercard stated that this approval will support its strategic layout in stablecoins and tokenized payments. Company executives pointed out that a clear regulatory framework helps drive digital assets from the experimental stage toward practical applications.Recently, several institutions, including Galaxy Digital and Strike, have also successively obtained BitLicenses, indicating that U.S. regulatory approvals are accelerating the opening up to compliant digital asset enterprises. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash is seeking new funding at a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion. This comes after Mastercard abandoned its investment plans for Zerohash following its $1.8 billion acquisition of UK-based stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK. Founded in 2017, Zerohash provides APIs and embedded development tools to financial institutions and fintech companies, enabling support for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized products. The company now serves over 5 million users across 190 countries, with clients including Morgan Stanley, Stripe, Interactive Brokers, BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund, and Franklin Templeton. In September 2025, Zerohash closed its $104 million Series D-2 round, valuing the company at $1 billion at that time.
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)
According to The Block, MoonPay has launched the stablecoin debit card “MoonAgents Card,” enabling AI agents and users to spend directly from on-chain wallets. The card is integrated with the Mastercard network and issued by Monavate, a regulated global payment platform.
According to Businesswire, fintech company SoFi Technologies released its first-quarter 2026 financial results, reporting quarterly net revenue of $1.1 billion, a 41% year-on-year increase, and net income of $167 million—marking its tenth consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability. SoFi disclosed that it is actively advancing its digital asset infrastructure, having officially launched the minting of its fully reserved U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, SoFiUSD, in Q1. It is also collaborating with partners such as Mastercard to support stablecoin settlement across global payment networks. Additionally, SoFi announced the relaunch of its SoFi Plus membership program in April this year, introducing new benefits including cashback on cryptocurrency transactions.