Topic: #payments
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TikTok Explores P2P Money Transfers via Direct Messages
TikTok is exploring a direct-message feature that would let users send money to each other using TikTok Pay, according to hidden code in the US iPhone app. The company said the feature isn't being tested anywhere yet.
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Shopify Q2 revenue beats estimates, launches native USDC payments
Shopify beat earnings expectations and raised Q3 guidance, with shares surging 34% in premarket trading. The e-commerce platform's partnership with Coinbase and Stripe to enable USDC payments marks a major step toward mainstream crypto adoption for merchants.
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Banks shift to stablecoin payment rails, signaling structural change
Traditional banks are abandoning Bitcoin for stablecoin infrastructure to enable faster cross-border payments and lower transaction costs. Coinbase's partnerships and regulatory approvals position the exchange as a key infrastructure provider in this transition.
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Zhibao Technology Signs $154.7M PIPE in Bitcoin From 10 Investors
Nasdaq-listed Chinese insurtech Zhibao Technology agreed to sell 442 million units for $154.7 million in Bitcoin, granting investors control of the board and executive roles if the deal closes within 12 business days—though key shareholder approvals and regulatory clearances remain pending.
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Fun CEO: On-Ramps and Bridges Will Disappear as Apps Embed Payments
Alex Fine, CEO of payments infrastructure firm Fun, said legacy crypto infrastructure like on-ramps and bridges will vanish as applications embed payments directly into user experience, abstracting blockchain complexity away.
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Louisiana Act 482 grants crypto ATM refund rights starting Aug. 1
Starting August 1, Louisiana's Act 482 lets users cancel virtual-currency-kiosk transactions and demand full refunds if the operator lacked proper licensing at the time of the trade. Operators have 10 business days to respond and 90 calendar days to process refunds.
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Visa cuts 7% of workforce to accelerate digital payments strategy
Visa is eliminating roughly 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, to streamline operations and redirect resources toward high-growth areas including stablecoins and cross-border payments, CEO Ryan McInerney announced ahead of quarterly earnings.
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XRP Ledger integrates Mastercard standard for AI agent payments
Agent payments on the XRP Ledger now support Mastercard's Verifiable Intent standard, enabling AI agents to settle transactions using XRP and RLUSD. The integration follows Ripple's June 2026 participation in Mastercard's Agent Pay for Machines ecosystem.
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Samsung Wallet to Add Stablecoin Support, Starting With USDC
Samsung announced stablecoin support for Samsung Wallet at Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, showing a mockup holding Circle's USDC. The company hasn't disclosed launch details, issuers, or whether the feature will be custodial.
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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.