Mastercard prepares for a future where AI agents make payments

Finance

Quotes

June 11, 2026

Markets

41 minutes ago

The iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF makes money by selling call options on BlackRock's own IBIT.

Policy

50 minutes ago

Binance and its local partner do not hold the necessary license required to operate in the country, the Philippine central bank said, according to a local media report.

Finance

1 hour ago

Each token is backed by one gram of physical gold held by DBS in a dedicated vault in Singapore.

Markets

3 hours ago

May CPI ran hot on energy and cooler underneath, lifting majors on Thursday, though ether and the large alts are still down 6% to 8% over seven days.

Markets

4 hours ago

ETF outflows have dominated the narrative but corporate bitcoin treasuries have gone quiet too, compounding the demand-side weakness.

Markets

4 hours ago

XRP bounced from recent lows on a late volume surge, though the token continued to lag the broader crypto market as futures traders positioned around key support levels.

Markets

5 hours ago

Two widely watched gauges show capitulation, but the analyst flagging them warns the slow grind comes next.

June 10, 2026

Tech

15 hours ago

In this week's edition of The Protocol Newsletter, we're looking at where privacy is headed in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Markets

15 hours ago

BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC are attracting the vast majority of new bitcoin ETF money, leaving smaller funds increasingly sidelined as institutional investors consolidate around the industry's largest players.

Finance

15 hours ago

Stand With Crypto UK is telling its members to file formal complaints with high-street banks over sector-wide transfer bans.

February 6, 2026

Business

4 months ago

Y Combinator will let startups receive funding in stablecoins (USDC) starting with its Spring 2026 batch, offering payouts on Ethereum, Base, and Solana as a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional rails - even for non-crypto founders.

Tech

4 months ago

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the old rollup-centric L2 roadmap "no longer makes sense" and calls for a fresh approach, arguing that the mainnet is scaling and that L2s must offer value beyond simple scaling if they want to be seen as true extensions of Ethereum.

Policy

4 months ago

Canada’s investment regulator has rolled out new crypto custody rules to prevent another QuadrigaCX-style debacle - requiring stricter safeguards, segregation of assets, and clearer accountability for digital asset holders.

General

4 months ago

The Spanish Red Cross has launched RedChain, a blockchain-based digital aid platform that tracks donations from start to finish while keeping beneficiary identities private. Credits are issued as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum and can be spent via mobile wallets, giving donors real-time transparency without exposing personal data.

Markets

4 months ago

Bitcoin plunged below $90K, hitting a 19-day low near $88K and dragging the broader market down with it. BTC is now down 6% on the week as total crypto market cap shed over $250B in just days. Altcoins felt even more pain - ETH fell back under $3K, XRP slid to $1.90, and BNB lost $900 support. XMR (-15%) and HYPE (-8%) led losses, with only a few outliers like CC and WLFI managing gains.

January 23, 2026

General

4 months ago

Trump's new CFTC chair Mike Selig launches a "future-proof" push to lock in pro-crypto rules via formal rulemaking. He pledges tailored frameworks, an end to regulation-by-enforcement, and policies that are harder for future administrations to undo.

Business

4 months ago

Pump.fun is launching a $3M "Pump Fund" to back early-stage projects via live token launches instead of VC pitches. Twelve teams will get $250K each, with funding decided by real-time user traction. Critics warn the model raises questions around transparency, governance, and how to verify genuine demand.

Tech

4 months ago

Vitalik Buterin proposes adding native DVT staking to Ethereum. The idea would bake distributed validator tech directly into ETH staking, reducing single points of failure, simplifying ops, and boosting decentralization by letting validators run multiple keys as one fault-tolerant unit.

Policy

4 months ago

Vietnam is bringing crypto exchanges out of the gray zone. The government has launched a pilot licensing regime for crypto trading platforms, with banks and securities firms lining up under strict capital and compliance rules.

Markets

4 months ago

Crypto markets shed over $250B in days as BTC briefly dipped below $88K, its lowest level in nearly three weeks. Altcoins were hit harder: XMR plunged 15%, HYPE fell over 8%, and ETH slid back under $3K. Total market cap now sits near $3.1T.

January 16, 2026

Tech

4 months ago

MetaMask now offers native TRON support, letting users access TRON dApps, tokens, and assets directly in the wallet. It’s a big step in expanding its multichain reach and usability across ecosystems.

General

4 months ago

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warns that if interest-bearing stablecoins are allowed, up to $6 trillion could flow out of U.S. bank deposits into stablecoins, potentially reshaping the banking system and funding models.

Policy

4 months ago

According to Benchmark Research, a delay in the U.S. crypto market-structure bill may ultimately help produce a better final law, giving regulators, lawmakers, and industry more time to refine definitions, jurisdiction and guardrails before passage.

Business

4 months ago

Ripple and LMAX Group struck a deal to boost institutional stablecoin usage, integrating Ripple's on- and off-ramps with LMAX's trading infrastructure to make stablecoins more accessible for institutional flows and liquidity.

Markets

4 months ago

Bitcoin reclaimed ground to briefly touch $98,000, signaling renewed bullish pressure after recent volatility. Ethereum led the altcoin recovery, climbing toward $3,400 and outperforming Bitcoin on the day, while major tokens like BNB, SOL, and XRP also posted gains. Market cap strength returned above key levels, suggesting buyers are stepping in, but macro risks and key resistance zones remain in focus.

January 5, 2026

Markets

5 months ago

BTC failed to reclaim $90K once again, pulling the market lower. ETH briefly pushed near $3,050 before reversing to ~$2,960. BNB fell to $856, and XRP dropped below $1.90. Some alts held up: SOL, ZEC, DOGE are slightly green, CC gained 4%, while BCH led losses.

General

5 months ago

Bitcoin whales started moving billions of dollars in BTC this year as longtime holders began selling after BTC first topped $100K, marking a "great redistribution" of coins previously dormant for 10-14+ years. The selling came in waves in early 2025, July, and November, as holders took profits or transferred to institutions and digital treasury buyers, helping reshape supply dynamics.

Policy

5 months ago

China's central bank will allow commercial banks pay interest on digital yuan (e-CNY) holdings starting Jan. 1, 2026, shifting the CBDC from digital cash to a digital deposit currency to boost adoption.

Business

5 months ago

Tom Lee's BitMine Immersion has added 44,463 ETH to its treasury and begun staking Ethereum, bringing its holdings to about 3.4% of total ETH supply - a major move as it ramps up yield generation ahead of its 2026 MAVAN rollout.

December 30, 2025

Tech

5 months ago

Ubisoft shut down Rainbow Six Siege servers after hackers injected 2 billion credits per player, causing widespread disruption and prompting the game's publisher to pull the affected servers offline.

December 11, 2025

Policy

5 months ago

SEC Chair Paul Atkins says most ICOs may fall outside SEC oversight. Under his new token taxonomy, only tokenized securities would be regulated-while network tokens, collectibles, and utility tools could be cleared for unregistered ICOs. A major shift that could revive the ICO boom under the CFTC's lighter touch.

Tech

5 months ago

Tempo, the Stripe/Paradigm-incubated payments blockchain, just launched its public testnet. Built for instant settlement, low fees, and stablecoin payments, Tempo already counts Mastercard, UBS, Kalshi, OpenAI, Shopify, Visa, and Deutsche Bank among partners. KlarnaUSD, its USD stablecoin, is set for mainnet in 2026.

General

5 months ago

Malaysia’s Crown Prince launched a ringgit-backed stablecoin (RMJDT) and a $121M crypto treasury under the national sandbox. The project aims to boost cross-border trade and strengthen Malaysia’s digital-asset push, even as global crypto-treasury inflows slow.

Markets

5 months ago

Bitcoin pulled back from early-week momentum, falling under $90K before stabilizing near $90,200. The dip came shortly after Strategy bought another 10,600 BTC, a pattern that has often been followed by short-term weakness. Altcoins were hit harder. HYPE is down 9%, while QNT and KAS fell about 6%. ICP, UNI, BCH, PEPE, LINK, and DOGE are also in the red. A few outliers bucked the trend: M gained 7%, CC rose 5%, and ZEC climbed 4% above $400.

Business

5 months ago

Michael Saylor tells Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds that Bitcoin is a "$200T opportunity," pitching BTC as the backbone of future digital capital and yield products. Says the region could attract "trillions" by moving early-even as Strategy faces an MSCI review that could trigger billions in forced selling.

Mastercard prepares for a future where AI agents make payments

Related Articles

Singapore bank DBS to offer tokenized gold to retail customers

Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto calls on members to campaign against banks blocking digital asset transactions

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Japan's three largest banks aim for joint stablecoin issue by March

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