Stablecoins

The Financial Stability Board says global stablecoins and national rulebooks have not yet faced a severe stress event, leaving open questions over redemptions, reserves and insolvency. The watchdog is urging stronger cross-border information sharing, monitoring and crisis planning as stablecoin capitalization expands.

Robinhood Chain activity has weakened sharply since mid-September, with daily transactions and active addresses both moving lower. Deposits remain above $1 billion, however, suggesting users have not broadly pulled funds from the network even as trading activity slows.

A Visa survey of 14,250 people found that stablecoin interest is growing across Asia Pacific, with 46% of consumers likely to use the tokens within five years. The findings also show a major education gap, as only 6% of respondents accurately understood how stablecoins work.

The XRP Ledger has activated PermissionDelegationV1_1, a feature designed to let account owners assign limited operational powers to separate accounts without exposing primary keys. The change gives institutions a way to separate payment, compliance and token operations on ledger, though users are being warned to avoid one permission until a related fix goes live.

European Union crypto platforms face a three-month deadline to remove customer exposure to stablecoins that do not meet MiCA requirements. The guidance does not name tokens, but USDT and PYUSD are prominent examples of stablecoins not authorized under the framework.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan, Tether and the Alatau City Authority have signed an agreement to explore a local currency-linked stablecoin and tokenized real-world assets. The initiative remains exploratory, with a pilot proposal expected but no commitment to issue a stablecoin or adopt Tether technology.

GSR is backing Hare, a new onchain vault business built with Turtle, with a $100 million multi-year commitment. The venture will begin with Aave-powered vaults for major dollar stablecoins and Paxos tokenized gold products.

Rain has applied for an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency charter for a proposed New York national trust bank focused on digital asset custody, dollar custody, stablecoin reserves, and token issuance and redemptions. The bid comes as crypto firms push for federal trust-bank supervision while community banks challenge the OCC’s authority to approve limited-purpose charters for companies that do not offer traditional banking services.

The Cardano Foundation has launched CIP-0113, a token standard designed for regulated stablecoins, funds and bonds that need compliance controls built directly into the asset. The standard allows issuers to restrict recipients, enforce identity and sanctions checks, and freeze, seize or transfer holdings under specified rules.

JPMorgan has added Solana support to JLTXX, expanding the tokenized money-market fund beyond Ethereum. The underlying fund remains traditional, while approved investors gain another blockchain rail for regulated share transfers and potential settlement uses.

Citi and Coinbase are linking stablecoin payments with institutional banking infrastructure through flows between fiat and tokens. The expansion reflects wider efforts by payment networks to add blockchain settlement while adoption still depends on practical business advantages.

Stripe plans to extend its stablecoin card programs to more than 100 countries by the end of the year, widening access to digital dollar payments for businesses and consumers. The push comes as stablecoin card spending reached about $1.2 billion last month, roughly triple the level seen a year earlier.

Crypto market capitalization remains near $2.892 trillion, but gains are increasingly concentrated in a small group of large assets. Bitcoin is holding modestly positive and AAVE is outperforming, while weakness across payments, memes and privacy tokens points to a more selective market.

Crypto firms are moving from product construction to the harder task of sustained adoption. Coinbase, WisdomTree and blockchain backers are emphasizing usefulness, trust, distribution and repeat engagement as the industry pushes closer to mainstream finance.

Cryptocurrency job listings more than tripled from July to September, pointing to renewed hiring momentum after a subdued first half of 2026. Applications moved in the opposite direction, raising questions about the depth of available specialist talent.

AI agents are moving from simple responses toward autonomous action, including the ability to spend money on a user’s behalf. That shift is intensifying debate over whether machine-driven finance will run on open blockchains, stablecoins, traditional payment networks or closed technology platforms.

BlackRock’s work with Ondo Finance is drawing attention to a shift from tokenized single assets toward tokenized investment strategies. The approach could make portfolios more transferable, programmable and adaptable as blockchain-based market infrastructure develops.

DogeOS has launched a public test network for Ethereum compatible applications that use test DOGE for fees, including trading, lending and stablecoin projects. The system still depends on selected operators, protected hardware and a Security Council while a proposed Dogecoin Core upgrade remains in draft form.

NEAR Intents says its monitoring system blocked attempted swaps tied to Bitget’s major exchange breach, freezing funds while allowing a smaller amount to pass through. The intervention has sparked a broader industry debate over what permissionless infrastructure means when stolen assets enter cross-chain liquidity routes.

Senate Democrats allege that Tether’s USDT has become a major tool inside Iran’s cryptocurrency based shadow banking network. Tether says it works with authorities and has supported nearly $550 million in Iran linked freezes.

RedotPay says it has completed a financial audit required for a U.S. listing, alongside a separate review of its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing controls. The Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments company says its IPO has not been deferred, even as other crypto firms have pushed back listing ambitions.

Tether said its exposure to EQIBank is less than 0.034 percent of total assets after a U.S. asset seizure involving the lender’s payment processor. The case underscores persistent counterparty risk across fiat banking networks used by stablecoin issuers, while offering no apparent immediate threat to USDT reserves or its dollar peg.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has proposed rules to implement key parts of the GENIUS Act, including standards for stablecoin issuers, bank issuance procedures, reserves, and rewards programs. The proposals enter a public comment phase as federal agencies continue building the regulatory framework for U.S. stablecoins.

Qivalis CEO and founder Jan-Oliver Sell says trade finance is increasingly moving onto stablecoin rails, changing how collateral and payments move across borders. The euro-pegged stablecoin issuer has onboarded 37 European banks in the past year and is nearing an EMI license in the Netherlands.