Topic: #payments
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Visa Launches Stablecoin Platform for Banks and Fintechs
Visa introduced a stablecoin platform enabling financial institutions to issue, hold, and transfer stablecoins through its payments network, supporting Open USD, USDC, and USDG at launch.
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MoneyGram Joins Stellar as Tier 1 Validator, Deepening Blockchain Ties
Payments giant MoneyGram has joined the Stellar network as a Tier 1 validator, marking a deepening of its blockchain infrastructure partnership. Figure Markets and Range will also begin operating validators by mid-August.
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x402 Foundation: Visa, Mastercard, Ripple back agent payments protocol
The x402 Foundation now governs a machine-to-machine payment protocol with 40 member organizations including Visa, Mastercard, Ripple, Google, and AWS. The protocol settled $24 million across 75 million transactions last month, averaging 32 cents per payment—a niche too small for traditional card networks to serve profitably.
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Ripple Joins Linux Foundation's x402 Initiative for AI Payments
Ripple has become a premier member of the Linux Foundation's newly launched x402 Foundation, integrating XRP and RLUSD into an open-source payment standard designed for autonomous AI transactions.
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AI-native workers could drive $262B stablecoin volume by 2033: Swyftx
Australian exchange Swyftx projects that AI-native freelancers and solo workers could settle $262 billion annually in stablecoins by 2033, driven by fee savings and access to traditional banking alternatives.
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Stablecoin-settled TradFi perpetuals hit $1.1 trillion in H1 2026
Stablecoins have become the primary settlement layer for tokenized traditional finance derivatives, with TradFi-linked perpetual contracts reaching $1.1 trillion in trading volume and accounting for roughly 11% of all crypto perpetual activity in the first half of 2026.
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Crypto card deposits hit $10B milestone as stablecoins reshape payments
Crypto card deposits surpassed $10 billion for the first time in early July 2026, marking an 82% year-to-date surge and signaling stablecoins' emergence as practical payment infrastructure rather than speculative assets.
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J.P. Morgan Expands Kinexys to Eight Currencies Across Asia-Pacific
J.P. Morgan added five Asia-Pacific currencies to its Kinexys blockchain settlement network, enabling institutional clients to move funds and manage foreign exchange 24/7 without relying on traditional banking hours or cryptocurrency infrastructure.
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American Express hires VP for stablecoin and blockchain partnerships
American Express posted a job listing for a Vice President of Stablecoin and Blockchain Partnerships within its Digital Labs division, signaling the credit card giant's formal push into blockchain payments and stablecoin infrastructure alongside Visa and Mastercard.
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Ripple Wins CASP License in Luxembourg Under EU MiCA
Ripple received preliminary approval for a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg's financial regulator, enabling the company to offer regulated crypto and stablecoin services across the European Economic Area under MiCA once final conditions are met.
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Alchemy's AgentCard gains Visa network access for AI transactions
Alchemy's AgentCard integration with Visa Intelligent Commerce enables AI agents built on any model—including OpenAI or Anthropic—to make purchases on behalf of consumers while preserving card rewards and credit lines.
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Ripple invests in Flutterwave, integrating RLUSD and XRP Ledger into African payments
Ripple has invested in African payments platform Flutterwave as part of its Series E round, valuing the company at $3.2 billion. The deal will integrate Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin and the XRP Ledger network to reduce costs and speed cross-border payments across Africa.
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Ant Group launches AI Wallet, Token Pay to challenge WeChat dominance
Ant Group rolled out AI Wallet and Token Pay on May 26, enabling autonomous transaction execution. Alipay's AI Pay reached 100 million active users by February 2026, processing 120 million AI-agent transactions in a single week.
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Ripple Positions XRP Ledger for AI-Driven Payments Shift
Ripple's product leadership predicts a decade-long shift away from human-initiated payments toward autonomous machine-managed financial flows, launching AI integration tools to position XRP Ledger as the settlement layer for AI agents.
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Ripple partners with Water.org to deploy RLUSD for safe water access
Ripple has become the exclusive digital asset and payments partner for Water.org's Get Blue campaign, which aims to reach 200 million people with safe water by 2030. Ripple will provide seed funding and deploy RLUSD stablecoin to accelerate microfinance lending in emerging markets.
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Stripe, Visa, Mastercard Launch Joint Stablecoin Platform
Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are nearing the launch of a collaborative stablecoin platform, marking a significant push by traditional payment networks into digital dollar infrastructure. Coinbase is evaluating participation in the initiative.
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Movement gains US, Canada, EU payment rails for stablecoin settlement
Movement, a Move-based blockchain network, announced access to licensed payment infrastructure across three major regions, shifting its focus toward stablecoin-based settlement and cross-border remittances as part of a broader industry pivot toward payments.