Global Systems

Russia Begins Mass Digital Ruble Rollout Through Largest Banks and Retailers

Finance Feeds

“Russia began the mass rollout of its digital ruble on Sept. 1, moving the central bank digital currency beyond its earlier testing phase and into wider use across major banks, retailers and payment networks. Systemically important banks and other large credit institutions designated by the Bank of Russia as important to the payments market must now […]

Tags: Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) Russia

Global

Citi: Ongoing Developments in Financial Services Regulation in the EU and UK

Citigroup

“This article tracks the latest developments in EU and UK financial services regulation across digital innovation themes including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoin regulation, crypto-assets under MiCA and the FCA regime, fund tokenisation using distributed ledger technology (DLT) and AI and cybersecurity frameworks. Asset managers and fund operators face an evolving and complex compliance […]

Tags: European Union

Companies

Lithic and Monavate Partner to Power Card Programs Across Traditional and On-Chain Finance

Lithic

“Lithic, the card issuer processing platform powering next-generation financial experiences, announced a partnership with Monavate, the regulated payments platform and program manager owned by Exodus Movement, Inc. to give companies a single route to building and scaling card programs using fiat and digital currencies.”

Tags: Lithic

Industry

Digital Assets 101: A Credit Union's Guide to Cryptocurrency, Stablecoins, Tokenized Deposits and Central Bank Digital Currency

Velera

“Digital assets are no longer just a conversation about cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are beginning to reshape how money moves, how payments settle and how financial institutions think about the future of banking. For credit unions, the question is no longer whether digital assets matter — it’s how to […]

Industry

JPMorgan, Citi, UBS and Central Banks Wrap Up Real-Value Trials of Tokenized Cross-Border Payments in Project Agorá

Crowdfund Insider

“A coalition of global financial institutions and central banks has successfully finished real-value testing under Project Agorá, examining how tokenization can streamline wholesale cross-border payments. The trials, coordinated by the Bank for International Settlements, involved processing monetary transfers using digital representations of commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves. They executed roughly 30 transactions spanning […]

Global

BRICS Is Talking Payments Links, From Fast Rails To CBDCs

Finimize

“BRICS members are weighing ways to link their instant payment networks – and possibly connect central bank digital currencies ahead of India hosting the 2026 BRICS summit. Talks are still preliminary, but the goal is to make cross-border payments cheaper and smoother. One option is to connect existing “fast payment” rails so a transfer can […]

Tags: India

Global

Stablecoins: Promise, Risks, and Policy Choices for Emerging Markets

International Monetary Fund

“As new technologies reshape the financial system, they raise new questions for policymakers.  One that is becoming increasingly important is how to respond to the growing trend toward the tokenization of financial assets, from stablecoins and tokenized deposits to many other forms of—if not all—financial claims, including wholesale central bank reserves, and theoretical forms of […]

Tags: South Africa

Companies

Mastercard Closes Acquisition of BVNK

FX News Group

“Mastercard Inc. completed its acquisition of BVNK, expanding the company’s strategy to support greater choice in how people and businesses exchange value by enabling interoperability across fiat and digital currencies. BVNK provides the infrastructure that supports fiat and on-chain payments behind the scenes — enabling people, businesses and machines to hold, move, manage and convert […]

Tags: Mastercard

Industry

PIX and Stablecoins Are Not Rivals, Says Visa’s Digital Currencies Chief for Latin America

Yahoo Finance

“Stablecoins did not arrive to fight PIX. That was the message from Antônia Souza, Visa’s Director of Digital Currencies for Latin America and the Caribbean. “We are not here to fight against PIX”, she said, pushing back on a framing that has become common across the region. In her view, the two serve different jobs. […]

Global

China-Dominated Central Bank Digital Currency Platform Touts Largest Transactions to Date

South China Morning Post

“A leading Chinese bank has processed the largest cross-border transactions yet via mBridge, a multilateral central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform, marking a major milestone for the emerging payment network as well as Beijing’s global yuan ambitions. Two transactions, worth more than US$1.7 billion each, were carried out by the Bank of China’s Shenzhen and […]

Tags: China

Global

Stripe, SumUp and Revolut Among Firms Chosen to Test ‘Digital Euro’

“Stripe’s European arm and Irish fintech SumUp are among 36 firms chosen to test the eurozone’s first online currency. The year-long pilot will begin next year and will see staff from the European Central Bank and national central banks test run payments between each other and with selected shops and restaurants. Other firms in the […]

Tags: Europe

Companies

Visa’s CFO Views Stablecoins and AI Commerce as a Long-Term Bet: ‘They Won’t Pay off in the Next Six Months, but Could over the Next Six Years’

Yahoo Finance

“Payments giant Visa is growing at its fastest rate in years, but it’s not because of some of its latest innovations in digital currencies and agentic AI.  Visa first started offering stablecoin settlements in 2023 and now has 130 stablecoin-linked card issuing programs across 40 countries. It’s also experimenting with agentic commerce, or allowing AI agents to […]

Tags: Visa

Global

China Readies Commercial Launch of mBridge Digital-Currency Payments Network

Bloomingbit

“China is preparing a commercial launch of mBridge, a digital currency-based cross-border payments network. mBridge includes the central banks of Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and aims to cut fees to about half those of existing international payment systems. mBridge uses blockchain technology to enable direct transactions in central bank digital currencies, reducing the dollar’s intermediary role and strengthening use of the digital yuan.”

Tags: China

Companies

MoonPay Launches MoonPay Trade: One Platform for Institutions and Enterprises to Access 200+ Chains and Protocols

PR Newswire

“MoonPay has launched MoonPay Trade, a technology platform that lets any application, financial institution, or enterprise access digital assets and move value across 200+ blockchains and protocols through a single API. Onchain liquidity is fragmented across hundreds of chains, venues, and protocols. Building direct connectivity to all of it is a massive engineering undertaking for […]

Tags: MoonPay

Industry

WeChat Statistics by Revenue, Users and Usage (2026)

Bitcoin World

“WeChat Statistics: WeChat, developed by WeChat, is one of the world’s most popular apps with over a billion users. It is not just a messaging tool but a complete digital platform for chatting, payments, shopping, and services. WeChat Pay supports payments across 78 countries and 36 currencies. India banned WeChat and 58 Chinese apps in […]