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Mastercard has agreed to acquire London-based BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments. It’s the largest stablecoin acquisition to date, eclipsing Stripe’s $1.1 billion Bridge deal.

BVNK processes over $30 billion annually in stablecoin payments across 130+ countries. It will plug directly into Mastercard’s global network, enabling stablecoin settlement for processors, acquirers, and cross-border remittances.

This is the world’s second-largest card network, declaring that onchain rails are now core payments plumbing. Source.

A coalition of U.S. regional banks including Huntington Bancshares, First Horizon, M&T Bank, KeyCorp, and Old National Bancorp is developing the Cari Network, a tokenized deposit platform built on ZKsync’s Prividium infrastructure. The network lets banks convert customer deposits into digital tokens that move instantly between institutions — without funds ever leaving the regulated banking system.

Unlike stablecoins issued by nonbanks, these tokens remain on bank balance sheets and carry FDIC insurance. The Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America has backed the project, and a broader rollout is targeted for 2026. This is TradFi’s direct answer to crypto-native payment rails: same speed, same programmability, but wrapped in existing regulatory guardrails. Source.

PayPal is rolling out PYUSD to 70 countries across South America, Africa and Asia. Previously only U.S. and UK users could hold it. Users can now send, receive and store PYUSD with U.S. users earning approximately 4% annually.

Since its 2023 launch, PYUSD’s market cap has grown to $4.1 billion, making it the seventh-largest stablecoin globally.

400+ million existing PayPal users. 70 countries. One of the broadest stablecoin distribution networks in the world, built almost overnight. Source.

AgentCard lets AI agents instantly generate virtual Visa cards to make purchases online. Users set spending limits and track every transaction in real time.

Works with any agent framework (OpenAI, Claude, Cursor, Copilot) and is currently in private beta. Onchain payment integrations across Base, Ethereum, Solana and Polygon are coming soon.

Early, but a glimpse of where agent commerce is heading: autonomous software with its own financial rails and spending authority. Source.

→ Senior Manager, Stablecoin Labs — Visa (San Francisco)

→ Senior Analyst, Business Development, Fintechs & Crypto — Mastercard (France)

→ Digital Assets Associate — BlackRock (New York)

→ Squad Leader, Blockchain & Trading — Fidelity Digital Assets (Boston)

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James Smith & David Walsh