Payments

Crypto startups raised $11.2 billion in the first half of 2026, with disclosed capital flowing toward regulated, permissioned businesses. Payments and stablecoins, prediction markets, and trading platforms led the fundraising as major financial institutions backed licensed market infrastructure.

Mastercard has completed its acquisition of BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, in a deal valued at $1.8 billion. The transaction highlights how major payments companies and crypto platforms are competing for influence in a stablecoin market worth about $300 billion.

XRP slipped about 5% over the past week to near $1.03 while bitcoin, ether and solana advanced and the broader market rose. ETF inflows into XRP products continued, but fresh capital slowed sharply as traders weighed regulatory delays and neutral technical signals.

The Bank for International Settlements says stablecoins do not function like true money, warning that they can trade away from par and face uncertain redemptions. The report also flags dollar-pegged tokens as a growing force behind dollarization in fragile economies.

Uniswap and Spark are teaming up to create shared liquidity infrastructure for stablecoins, a move aimed at making digital dollar trading more efficient. The initiative begins with a $150 million liquidity migration supporting USDS, USDT and PYUSD.