Visa

Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen says investors may be underestimating Circle as stablecoins expand from roughly $300 billion toward a multi-trillion-dollar market. He argues Circle’s long-term opportunity could extend beyond reserve revenue into payments infrastructure, including its Arc blockchain.

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.

Circle shares advanced in premarket trading after the stablecoin issuer topped profit expectations despite a slight revenue miss. The company also highlighted growing institutional support for Arc, its layer 1 blockchain network, alongside continued expansion in USDC activity.

Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard executives are presenting Open USD as an added stablecoin network rather than a replacement for USDC. The messaging follows a sharp Circle stock selloff after investors initially viewed the more than 140-partner consortium as a direct threat to the $72 billion USDC ecosystem.

Bitcoin recovered to $64.3K after again dipping below $63K, with buyers stepping in even as pressure hit the semiconductor sector. Market attention is now turning to the Federal Reserve’s rate decision and commentary, which could determine whether crypto resilience holds or weakens.

Zakura has launched as a new Zcash full node designed to speed synchronization, support pruning, and maintain compatibility with legacy zcashd integrations. The release lands as Zcash developers prepare for Ironwood and pursue a broader plan to scale private payments toward Visa- and Mastercard-level throughput.

Crypto executives and banking leaders increasingly see younger consumers moving toward wallets that hold stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other digital assets. The shift points to a future where banks remain important, but the standalone bank account may no longer be the default financial hub.

The United States is preparing a 25% Section 301 tariff on most Brazilian goods from July 22, citing Brazil’s Pix instant-payment system as an unfair trade barrier. The dispute lands as dollar-linked stablecoins already account for about 90% of Brazil’s crypto transaction volume, complicating the debate over dollar influence in digital payments.

Swift’s blockchain settlement expansion and Stripe’s proposed PayPal bid highlight a new phase in the fight over global payment infrastructure. The focus is shifting from proving stablecoin technology to controlling wallets, merchant acceptance and settlement rails.

Visa has launched an enterprise stablecoin platform designed to help banks, fintechs and crypto firms issue, store, transfer and redeem Open USD through a Visa-managed system. The move adds competitive pressure to Circle, whose shares fell about 5% as investors weighed the impact of new stablecoin distribution models.

The x402 Foundation has launched as a neutral open-source venue for companies including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Google, Coinbase-linked participants and blockchain groups to shape a standard for AI-driven payments. The protocol aims to let AI agents, machines and users transact over HTTP without relying on subscriptions, advertising models or manual card entry.

The Linux Foundation has launched the x402 Foundation with 40 members, including Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, Google, Amazon Web Services and Cloudflare. The protocol processed about 75 million transactions worth $24 million over the past 30 days, highlighting demand for small stablecoin payments between software agents.

Hyundai has moved live treasury funds between subsidiaries using USDT on Avalanche, marking a notable step for corporate stablecoin adoption in South Korea. The project cut transfer times to about seven minutes from the three to four hours typically required through traditional banking networks.

Circle’s USDC widened its lead over Tether’s USDT in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume during the first half of 2026. Visa data showed monthly stablecoin activity reached a record $1.79 trillion in June as banks expanded digital currency settlement services.

Bitmine Immersion bought 42,197 ether last week, extending its position as the largest Ethereum treasury company. The move contrasted with Strategy’s rare bitcoin sale as investors watched regulatory expectations around the proposed Clarity Act.

Circle shares bounced after a sharp selloff, but Jefferies warned that fresh competition from bank and fintech-backed stablecoins could weigh on USDC growth. The Open USD consortium, backed by major payments and finance firms, is emerging as a possible challenge to Circle's market share.

Circle shares tumbled after a consortium of more than 140 companies unveiled Open USD, a rival stablecoin network designed to challenge the economics of USDC. Backers include Stripe, Coinbase, Mastercard, Visa and BlackRock.