The Mastercard payment system is expanding its work with digital assets and launching new experiments with stablecoins. The focus is on settlements between financial institutions and companies, which can be processed faster and with lower operational costs. The project is developing within the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program. More than 85 companies from the digital asset…
The American bank Wells Fargo has filed a trademark application for WFUSD in the United States. The document appeared in the USPTO database on Wednesday, although the application itself is dated March 9. It is currently at the preliminary review stage. The agency clarified that the document meets the basic filing requirements, but it has…
On Wednesday, the ECB published the Appia roadmap, presenting a long-term plan to create tokenized wholesale financial markets in Europe. Central bank money is expected to be at the core of this system. The plan includes two interconnected initiatives. Pontes will be a distributed ledger technology-based settlement solution developed by the Eurosystem. Appia is a…
One of the options markets within the Nasdaq group has submitted documents to the regulator to launch a new contract format. This concerns settlement binary instruments on the Nasdaq-100 index. In fact, investors will be offered a ‘yes or no’ bet on a specific price outcome. This is a step toward the mechanics of prediction…
The payments market may see its biggest deal in recent years. According to Bloomberg, Stripe is exploring the possibility of acquiring all of PayPal’s business or certain divisions. Negotiations are at an early stage, but the very fact of discussions has already driven the stock price. PayPal shares rose another 7% after the news was…
The Federal Reserve has announced a 60-day public comment period on a proposal that effectively closes the main tool for pressuring banks working with the crypto industry. If the rule takes effect, banks will no longer be able to deny crypto clients by citing reputational concerns. What Exactly the Fed Proposes The current supervisory practice…
The two largest public companies operating under the crypto treasury model increased their positions in digital assets this week. Strategy acquired 2,486 BTC, and Bitmine Immersion Technologies purchased an additional 45,759 ETH. In total, about $260 million was allocated for the transactions. Strategy reported that between February 9 and 16, it spent $168.4 million to…
The Bank of Russia is expanding its economic agenda. The focus is on artificial intelligence and its impact on financial markets, the structure of the economy, and the behavior of market participants. The regulator has officially included the topic of AI in the key areas of analytical work for 2026–2028. This is not about a…
Interactive Brokers has expanded its lineup of digital asset derivatives. The broker has launched nano futures for bitcoin and ether with 24/7 trading on a regulated U.S. platform through Coinbase Derivatives. These are reduced-size contracts — 0.01 BTC and 0.10 ETH. This format lowers the entry threshold and allows for more precise position management. Investors…
Debates over interest payments on stablecoins could change the very concept of consumer ‘money’ accounts amid tensions in the banking sector. The confrontation over stablecoin regulation in Washington is increasingly reminiscent of the debate over bank deposits. Banks immediately see a familiar problem. The issue is about who actually controls customer funds. Now the question…
American trading firm Jump Trading is strengthening its presence in prediction markets. The company has agreed to acquire stakes in the Kalshi and Polymarket platforms in exchange for providing liquidity and trading capabilities, Bloomberg reports. The deals reflect growing institutional interest in the event contracts segment, which has seen significant growth in both volume and…
The largest derivatives exchange is expanding its lineup of instruments for the digital asset market. CME Group has announced the launch of regulated futures contracts on Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar. The new instruments are aimed at institutional and active retail participants who value standardized products for hedging and risk management. The expansion follows a mid-January…
