payment

U.S. Treasury Secretary Becerra stated that the "GENIUS Act" is a watershed moment in the U.S. financial sector, further solidifying the United States' position as a global cryptocurrency hub.He pointed out that just as President Lincoln's National Currency Act of 1863 established a national framework for banks to issue currency, the "GENIUS Act" establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the digital age.Becerra noted that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) final rule advances the implementation of this landmark legislation, providing a clear and pragmatic foundation for private sector innovation, competition, and the United States' leadership in the digital asset space.

According to CoinDesk, Shinhan Card, a subsidiary of South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group, is collaborating with a subsidiary of Japan's SBI Holdings to explore the payment applications of a yen stablecoin between the two countries. Participants include the cryptocurrency exchange SBI VC Trade and the trade finance blockchain company SBI XDC Network APAC.The collaboration will study scenarios such as card-linked merchant payments for Japanese tourists visiting South Korea, wallet-to-wallet transfers, and cross-border trade settlements, and will include suspicious transaction monitoring and anti-money laundering compliance systems. Shinhan Card serves approximately 20 million cardholders and stated that it will connect this project with Shinhan Financial's broader digital asset strategy, which includes an agreement reached in August with Visa to explore stablecoin issuance, transfers, and card settlements.Currently, the project is still in its early stages, and the parties have not disclosed the types of stablecoins to be tested, nor have they set a timeline for testing or commercial rollout. SBI has previously issued the yen stablecoin JPYSC, launched by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and introduced in collaboration with Startale Group, which had a circulation of approximately 20.1 billion yen (about 127 million USD) as of September 7. JPYSC is currently only available for use in SBI VC Trade accounts and cannot be transferred to external wallets. Its circulation on the public chain depends on legal and tax clarity and regulatory approval, and the parties have not indicated whether JPYSC will be included in this test.

According to CoinDesk, Dogecoin Labs was established with the support of the Dogecoin Foundation, integrating the MyDoge wallet, DogeOS application platform, and Such App payment products into a single independent organization, with Jordan Jefferson serving as CEO. The company will focus on consumer applications, payments, commerce, DeFi, and gaming, while the foundation will continue to be responsible for ecosystem maintenance and open-source development.According to the plan, developers can build applications on DogeOS, DOGE holders can discover and use these applications through MyDoge, and merchants can accept payments via Such App. The beta version of Such App currently supports invoice and offline QR code payments, but the connection with DogeOS is still in the planning stage.MyDoge stated that its user base has exceeded 500,000. DogeOS opened its public testnet on September 30, allowing developers to use test DOGE to build lending, trading, and gaming applications similar to Ethereum. However, the secure connection between DogeOS and the Dogecoin mainnet has not yet been completed, and the related rule modifications are still in draft stage.

The core feature of the NU7 upgrade is to reduce the time interval between Zcash blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. This change means that the time required to wait for three transaction confirmations will be shortened from nearly four minutes to about 75 seconds. This upgrade has been running on Zcash's test network and is awaiting final integration into the node software.In addition to improving speed, NU7 will also bring two important adjustments: first, 60% of the fees collected from each block will be removed from circulation, and these tokens will begin to be returned to miners around February 2031. Second, Zcash's original Sprout privacy system will be completely shut down, so all funds still held in that system must be transferred out before the upgrade is activated; otherwise, they will become unusable.

Global cryptocurrency payment company MoonPay announced that it is advancing strategic cooperation with Dunamu, the parent company of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, to jointly explore new business opportunities. The two parties will collaborate to discover new business directions in areas such as stablecoin cross-border payments and capital flow, corporate finance, and fund management.They also plan to expand the global accessibility of Dunamu's Ethereum Layer 2 network GIWA and enhance the network's global connectivity. Specifically, both parties hope to connect MoonPay's global services and network with Dunamu's blockchain infrastructure to expand the coverage of GIWA-based products and services in overseas markets.Dunamu is the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit and is currently advancing a stock swap merger with tech giant Naver Financial to launch a joint stablecoin and payment service. Earlier this year, Hana Bank acquired a 6.55% stake in Dunamu for 1 trillion won (approximately 755.6 million USD) to advance its layout in the stablecoin and digital asset fields. South Korea is also formulating a comprehensive cryptocurrency framework called the "Basic Law on Digital Assets," which includes rules for the issuance and distribution of stablecoins pegged to the Korean won.

According to Fortune, New York-based startup Mural has completed a $15 million Series A funding round, led by Tether, with participation from North Island Ventures. This round of funding brings Mural's total financing to $28 million. Previously, the company completed a $5 million seed round in 2022.Mural was co-founded in 2022 by former Palantir engineer Sinclair Toffa (CEO) and Chris Fernandes. Its platform provides payroll service providers, software companies, and fintech firms with a single account that can hold traditional dollars, local currencies, and stablecoins simultaneously, helping businesses simplify cross-border payments and compliance processes without the need to connect with multiple banks and payment service providers.

Bybit's Marketing Director Claudia Wang announced that today is her last day at Bybit. She stated that she is leaving for personal reasons, but this is not a true farewell; Bybit will always be a part of her, and she will continue to support the company.Claudia Wang mentioned that she joined two years ago as a management trainee, supporting the CEO's office with meeting preparations and operations. Since then, she has served as the head of talent recruitment, head of branding, and head of marketing, participating in fiat, card, and payment product-related work, growing from a trainee to a leader of a large global team.She also noted that the team completed a brand overhaul and built Bybit's payment products from scratch, expanding them to over 20 new regions. Currently, Bybit cards have exceeded 4 million, and payment users are about to surpass 2 million. She stated that working with Ben, Helen, and Mazurka has been an important experience in her career.

The collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has extended the repayment deadline for creditors to October 31, 2027. Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi stated that the Tokyo District Court has approved the adjustment of the relevant repayment deadline. This is the sixth extension for Mt. Gox since 2023.Most creditors who have completed the necessary processes and encountered no issues have received their repayments; however, some creditors have not received payments due to incomplete processes or payment processing issues. Mt. Gox began repaying creditors in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in July 2024, and by March 2025, it reported that over 19,500 creditors had received repayments. The latest notice did not disclose the number of unpaid creditors or the amount of Bitcoin yet to be distributed. As of Tuesday, wallets belonging to Mt. Gox still hold approximately 34,400 Bitcoins, valued at around $2.8 billion.

BlockBeats published an in-depth article titled "All in One is the Only Way Out," focusing on the industry trend of cryptocurrency trading platforms transforming into comprehensive financial services, using Gate Money as an example to analyze the development potential of integrated global asset trading, daily payments, and wealth management.The article points out that as user demands extend from cryptocurrency trading to multi-asset allocation, cross-border consumption, and idle fund management, All in One is becoming an important direction for trading platforms to explore business growth. Gate currently supports over 5,400 digital assets and 12,800 stock assets, while Gate Money further integrates multi-currency accounts, exchanges, payments, and wealth management functions, supporting over 60 currencies and planning to expand services for stocks, ETFs, and gold. At the same time, the platform connects eligible stock assets with consumption scenarios through an automatic recharge feature, with Money Earn offering an annualized yield of up to 3.6%.BlockBeats believes that as financial demands become increasingly diversified, the ability to allow assets to flow freely between investment, management, and payment, while continuously meeting users' actual needs, will become an important direction for cryptocurrency platforms to build long-term competitiveness. Gate Money not only integrates product functions but also connects global assets with real financial needs, promoting cryptocurrency platforms to extend into broader and more frequent financial service scenarios, opening new space for the evolution of the global financial service landscape and long-term industry growth.

X-Agent's latest Dune data shows that as of October 20, the platform's related on-chain activities have reached 1,268,897 transactions, with the number of Agentic Wallets reaching 39,649. At the same time, a total of 680,285 x402 payments and 233,188 AI Activity Syncs have been generated.From the Dune trend data, X-Agent's on-chain activity saw significant growth in October, with Transactions rapidly increasing in volume for the month, and x402 Payments also experiencing notable growth recently. Compared to traditional AI products that mainly measure user numbers, conversation volume, and model invocation counts, what is more noteworthy in this data set is that AI Agents within the X-Agent ecosystem are gradually generating real, verifiable on-chain economic activities.Through the infrastructure of Agentic Wallet, x402 payments, and AI Activity Sync, Agents are evolving from mere information exchange tools to economic participants capable of executing tasks, using wallets, initiating payments, and generating on-chain records. This further validates the path of the Agent Economy that X-Agent is promoting: Build → Act → Pay → Verify. From "creating AI Agents" to "enabling Agents to truly execute and transact," X-Agent is attempting to connect Agent capabilities, on-chain execution, and payment settlement into a complete closed loop.As the scale of x402 payments and Agentic Wallet continues to grow, the Agent Economy is gradually transforming from a concept into real network activities that can be directly observed and measured by on-chain data.

An alliance composed of core banking and instant payment software company Matera, embedded payment company Payfinia, and Solana Foundation conducted the first public live demonstration of the American National Standard ANSI X9.150 at Money20/20 USA in Las Vegas. The demonstration showed that a single QR code on an invoice allows customers to pay via FedNow, RTP network, or with USDC on Solana, with the business invoice records automatically updated afterward.The report states that X9.150 was approved by the American National Standards Institute's standards committee X9 in July 2026, providing a unified QR code payment format for banks, payment networks, and software providers, covering account-to-account payments such as FedNow, RTP, ACH credit transfers, Zelle, and stablecoins. In the live process, small businesses send invoices with X9.150 QR codes, and customers can scan them using their credit union banking app or pay and confirm with USDC using the Squads Altitude wallet, with funds arriving within seconds, and the ERP marking the invoice as paid.Carlos Netto, Co-founder and CEO of Matera North America: The company has open-sourced the X9.150 reference software because a standard built by only one company is not a true standard. Jamal Raees, General Manager of Payments at Solana Foundation: X9.150 provides American businesses with a single QR code that can be used across payment rails, allowing customers to scan and pay with USDC, marking the invoice as paid within seconds. Payfinia provides embedded payment support for nearly 30 community financial institutions and stated that testing has been completed using the Star One Credit Union mobile app. The report clarifies that this demonstration is not a product launch. Participants in the X9.150 QR code alliance include Matera, Payfinia, Zelle under Early Warning, and Solana Foundation.

The cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase stated on X that stablecoins can complete cross-border transfers in seconds, but the funds still need to enter channels that the recipient can actually use.Coinbase mentioned that it is collaborating with the cross-border payment company Thunes to connect its stablecoin infrastructure to local bank accounts and mobile wallets worldwide.

According to The Block, payment company Mastercard has launched the Stablecoin Security tool to screen for fraud and sanction risks in stablecoin payments.This tool is aimed at stablecoin payment scenarios, helping relevant institutions identify fraudulent activities and sanction compliance risks during transaction processing. Mastercard did not disclose more product parameters and launch scope in the summary of the report.

The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox announced that, given the necessity to complete repayments to creditors within a reasonable and feasible timeframe, the bankruptcy administrator, with court permission, has decided to extend the repayment deadline from October 31, 2026, to October 31, 2027.

Despite the stablecoin circulating supply experiencing almost no growth in the first 9 months before 2026, its payment usage is accelerating. During the same period, stablecoin payments reached $482 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45%; the number of transactions rose to over 1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 71%. On-chain stablecoin card spending reached $3.9 billion, ten times that of the same period last year, with transactions under $50 accounting for 84% of the increase in card transactions.Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa launched services this week to integrate stablecoins into existing payment systems. In the first three quarters, out of $97.9 trillion in original transfers, only 2.5%, or $2.4 trillion, belonged to end-user activities, with $482 billion being the payment amount under this metric; stablecoin card spending in the second quarter accounted for only 0.03% of Visa's $4 trillion payment volume during the same period.

Latvia may allow residents to pay personal taxes with cryptocurrency by 2027, aiming to attract crypto businesses and investors. Prime Minister's strategic planning and new economy advisor Didzis Dejus told CoinDesk at the UN:BLOCK Fintech conference in Riga that he believes this arrangement will be realized next year. The country's Ministry of Finance has agreed to the plan, which still needs to complete technical integration with payment service providers.The plan builds on a proposal announced in May 2025, when Latvia proposed accepting cryptocurrency for tax payments and promoting the tokenization of assets such as real estate. Dejus stated that Latvia is not afraid to be the fastest-moving country and hopes to attract more crypto businesses beyond licensing. He did not disclose specific payment service providers or specify which cryptocurrencies could be used for tax payments.Meanwhile, the Latvian parliament passed legislation on October 15, changing the taxation of withdrawals from crypto investment accounts to apply to amounts exceeding the deposited amount, rather than taxing each transaction. The law introduces a one-time reporting mechanism, allowing holders to settle past tax obligations by declaring 10% of the asset's market value by the end of 2026, with the reporting period from April 1 to May 31, 2027, and taxes due by July 23. Dejus stated that this measure will help those who purchased cryptocurrencies years ago but lack cost records. The timing of the tax payment plan may depend on the next government, as the United List led by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs won the parliamentary elections on October 3 and is expected to be nominated again, but still needs coalition partners.

According to CryptoSlate, Microsoft and the cybersecurity organization Health-ISAC have obtained a court order in the United States to seize and redirect the domains supporting three services: YAM Store, CoGUI, and Iron Man. These three services sell stolen accounts and phishing tools to fraudsters. Since January of this year, they have assisted in sending over 1 billion phishing messages, targeting more than 75,000 institutions across over 150 countries, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the operators.Microsoft has disabled over 20,000 accounts associated with YAM Store and continues to block more than 100,000 counterfeit and fraudulent domains. According to Microsoft's investigation, these services accept payments in USDT (Tron network) and ETH, and Cloudflare stated that buyers can also use USDC for payments. Blockchain analytics company TRM Labs assisted investigators in locating and freezing related assets, but the amount frozen has not been disclosed.

The modular blockchain project Celestia announced the launch of Eden, a high-performance EVM chain running on Celestia. Celestia stated that Eden will serve as an "Agentic Commerce" experimental sandbox to test the behavior and infrastructure needs of AI Agents when autonomously making payments, trading, and calling models on-chain.Celestia indicated that as AI Agents begin to participate in more frequent on-chain transactions, the market demand for block space, real-time settlement, and low-friction payments will continue to rise. Eden will help teams observe what kind of transaction environment Agents need, how they manage funds, and how their on-chain behavior will affect network design.The first experimental project of Eden is Botfun, currently in closed testing. According to Celestia, participating Agents can issue tokens independently and trade around narratives generated by other Agents; each model inference call is paid on-chain via x402.Celestia claimed that this experiment briefly positioned Eden as one of the largest x402 networks by transaction count. From a technical configuration perspective, Eden is an EVM-compatible chain that supports atomic batch transactions, application-paid Gas, and larger smart contract deployments, with the native Gas token being TIA. These designs will reduce the friction of signatures and fees when Agents continuously execute payments, exchanges, and interactions.

According to a report by Reuters, the Russian government press office announced that Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov have joined the board of directors of the Russian payment company A7. In the context of Western sanctions affecting traditional banking channels, A7's role in maintaining trade relations between Russia and partners such as China is expanding.A7 was established in 2024 by the Russian bank PSB, which primarily serves the defense sector, to provide cross-border transaction settlement services for Russian enterprises. Due to Western sanctions, traditional banks have difficulty processing many payments related to Russia, especially trade payments with Russia's largest trading partner, China. A7 estimates that currently, up to 80% of Russia's foreign trade payments are completed through alternative channels.A7 has been subjected to multiple Western sanctions. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on it on October 1, stating that it has established a global network of affiliated companies that "disguises payments related to sanctioned industries and individuals as ordinary business activities." A7 uses the ruble stablecoin A7A5 for settlements. This token was launched in 2025 in Kyrgyzstan and is backed by ruble deposits held at PSB Bank. According to PSB's estimates, the cumulative transaction volume of A7A5 has reached approximately $14 billion.