Crypto.com will leverage Green Dot’s embedded finance platform, Arc, as an on-ramp and off-ramp for customers’ Cash Accounts and enable them to earn interest and easily fund accounts using U.S. dollars digitally or with cash at thousands of Green Dot Network cash access locations nationwide. Additionally, Crypto.com will launch a new interest-earning savings vault powered by Arc, with additional features and functionality planned for the future. “Increasing everyday utility of cryptocurrencies and providing customers more ways to enhance their financial lives are both central to our vision and roadmap at Crypto.com,” said Joe Anzures, General Manager, Americas and EVP of Payments, Crypto.com. “We are thrilled to partner with Green Dot, a true leader that shares our vision for digital payment utility and financial empowerment, in offering banking services to Crypto.com’s U.S. customers.” With more than 350 cryptocurrencies on its platform*, Crypto.com has one of the largest selections in the industry. By providing an on-ramp and off-ramp to fund Crypto.com Cash Accounts, either digitally or with cash, at thousands of convenient cash-in and cash-out locations at retailers nationwide via the Green Dot Network, Green Dot is enabling Crypto.com customers to utilize cryptocurrencies more easily and affordably. The Cash Account’s new savings vault will also allow Crypto.com customers to earn interest on the funds they are already using to purchase cryptocurrency. “We are thrilled to partner with Crypto.com to enhance the customer experience for their millions of users in the U.S. with more seamless and affordable means of buying and selling cryptocurrencies,” said Renata Caine, GM/SVP of Embedded Finance, Green Dot. “Crypto.com has been a trailblazer in safely and securely advancing the adoption of cryptocurrency in the U.S., and we are looking forward to innovating on behalf of their customers for years to come.”
BIS and NY Fed study says central banks could deploy smart contracts when commercial banks have widely adopted tokenisation for wholesale payments and securities settlement
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have published a joint research study that explored how central banks could continue to implement monetary policy operations in tokenised wholesale financial markets. Dubbed Project Pine, the study found that central banks could deploy policy implementation tools using programmable smart contracts in a potential future state where commercial banks have widely adopted tokenisation for wholesale payments and securities settlement. The project generated the prototype of a generic monetary policy implementation tokenised toolkit for potential further research and development by central banks across jurisdictions and currencies. The BIS and the Fed say the prototype can fulfil a common set of central bank implementation requirements, including paying interest on reserves, open market operations, and collateral management. The toolkit was tested against ten hypothetical scenarios that applied historical data inputs on past market events, such as interest rate tightening and easing cycles, quantitative easing and tightening cycles, and periods of strained market liquidity or broader market disruptions. “The prototype successfully responded and instantaneously carried out the intended operation under the varying market conditions,” states the BIS. “Project Pine’s findings highlighted areas for further research and analysis related to interoperability and data standardisation.”
Apple Pay’s integration with Mesh to enable merchants to accept stablecoin payments without building their own crypto infrastructure through a plug-and-play solution
Mesh, the first truly global crypto payments network, today unveiled its Apple Pay integration live on stage at Token2049 during Co-Founder and CEO Bam Azizi’s keynote address. This marks the first public demonstration of the new capability – available later in Q2 – that will enable merchants partnered with Mesh to accept crypto payments through Apple Pay without building their own crypto infrastructure. The new Apple Pay integration leverages Mesh’s proprietary SmartFunding technology, which allows users to pay with the crypto of their choice, such as BTC, ETH, or SOL, while merchants settle in the stablecoin of their choice, such as USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and others. Breaking down this inherent misalignment of incentives between consumers and merchants topples the largest barrier preventing crypto payments from becoming a mass market product to date. Users simply select the Apple Pay option at checkout, authenticate with Face ID, and complete the transaction as they would with any fiat payment. “We believe that as soon as crypto payments are as seamless as fiat payments, nothing is left to stop the mass migration of global commerce onto blockchain rails. Crypto already offers countless benefits over fiat, and Mesh is solving the UX and convenience pieces,” said Bam Azizi, CEO and Co-Founder of Mesh. “With our Apple Pay integration, we’re solving crypto’s existential last-mile problem, bringing to life a plug-and-play solution that turns on global crypto payments through our existing partners.” As demonstrated live moments ago by Azizi, Merchants with physical retail locations will now be able to leverage Apple Pay’s NFC capabilities, offering customers the same frictionless experience in-store as they experience online. And this innovation isn’t limited to point-of-sale terminals – it extends to e-commerce, too. Mesh’s latest innovation comes on the heels of its $82 million Series B fundraise, led by Paradigm, with participation from Consensys, QuantumLight Capital, Yolo Investments, and others. With over 300 integrations – including Coinbase, Binance, MetaMask, Phantom, and more – Mesh’s infrastructure ensures broad access and seamless connectivity across the crypto payments ecosystem.
BlockFills on-chain execution platform to enhance its automated DeFi trade execution capabilities on behalf of institutional and VC clients
BlockFills has deployed Definitive’s advanced on-chain execution platform to enhance its automated trade execution capabilities on behalf of institutional and venture capital (VC) clients and expand the variety of tokens BlockFills can trade on behalf of its clients. The partnership brings new benefits to clients of both firms. Patrick Zielbauer, Managing Director of Sales at BlockFills, said: “Definitive’s platform gives us an incredibly powerful tool to offer clients – including asset managers, hedge funds and VC firms – the ability to smoothly and efficiently enter or exit an altcoin position or token while protecting their anonymity and minimizing market impact. As a result of the partnership, we’re finding that even in the weeks since we deployed the platform, clients have brought more order flow to us, enabling them to take or exit from a significant position in even the most illiquid tokens, memecoins or other assets generally considered difficult to trade in nontrivial sizes.” Jai Prasad, Co-Founder of Definitive, said “Our platform uses sophisticated trade algorithms that aggregate liquidity across liquidity pools on multiple chains and optimize trades to leverage the deepest liquidity, minimize price impact and achieve superior execution for on-chain transactions. While our platform is enhancing BlockFills’ capabilities offered to its clients, our clients and prospects that require access to deep OTC liquidity in the spot, derivatives* and lending markets can turn to BlockFills to augment and enhance their on-chain trading activities.”
Rain to offer closed loop financing utilizing stablecoins by fully tokenizing its credit card receivables to lower the total cost of capital and need for collateral for fintechs
Rain, a global card issuing platform built for stablecoins, has joined Visa’s pilot program for stablecoin settlement. Rain has fully tokenized its credit card receivables and has transitioned all settlement transactions for its Visa cards to USDC, to now be able to settle with Visa 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Rain provides backend infrastructure – APIs, compliance layers and settlement logic – that enables fintechs and wallets to build and launch stablecoin-linked card programs. Rain’s technology stack allows for card transactions on the Visa network to be interoperable with stablecoins across multiple blockchains. When a user makes a payment with a Rain-issued Visa card, Visa settles with the merchant acquirer as usual. Rain’s platform has also fully tokenized its credit card receivables, enabling more efficient capital management and transparency across the system. These capabilities help fintechs go to market faster with new products. While giving consumers access to digital-first globally interoperable payment experiences. Rain also announced a world first: closed loop credit card receivable financing utilizing stablecoins. By borrowing from and programmatically repaying lenders Rain has been able to reduce the total cost of capital for consumer and b2b credit programs while providing lenders access to superior collateral and programmatic repayments powered by smart contracts. This powerful construct has the potential to unlock credit access for users in underdeveloped financial markets, all while unlocking significant operational and capital efficiencies for Rain and Rain powered programs. “USDC settlement allows us to be more capital efficient – helping to reduce the need for collateral while providing our counterparties the same level of protection. This sets a new standard for issuers and further enhances digital asset utility,” said Farooq Malik, CEO & Co-founder of Rain.
Mastercard and MoonPay team to promote stablecoin payments in an API-driven implementation letting businesses, neobanks, and other payment participants manage payouts and disbursements more efficiently
Mastercard has launched a stablecoin-focused partnership with cryptocurrency payments FinTech MoonPay. The collaboration will allow consumers and businesses to send and receive stablecoin payments across global markets. Companies and FinTechs will be able to employ Mastercard-branded cards linked to users’ stablecoin balances, allowing cardholders to spend their stablecoins, which will simultaneously be converted to fiat currency, at more than 150 million locations where Mastercard is accepted around the world. “By providing solutions that unlock stablecoin utility and ubiquity, we are redefining how money moves globally and driving a shift in payments as we know it,” Scott Abrahams, executive vice president, Global Partnerships at Mastercard, said. T he partnership will leverage the API-driven stablecoin infrastructure from Iron, acquired by MoonPay in March, to facilitate stablecoin transactions, turning “crypto wallets into new digital bank accounts for seamless global transactions.” This will let businesses, neobanks, and other payment participants manage payouts and disbursements more efficiently, improving cross-border money transfers, and help businesses offer stablecoin-based payouts to gig workers, contractors and creators.
Crypto companies “actively reassessing potential opportunities” in the U.S after “the recent shift towards a more favorable regulatory stance on crypto”
Dubai-based Deribit is “actively reassessing potential opportunities” in the U.S., CEO Luuk Strijers said, after “the recent shift towards a more favorable regulatory stance on crypto in the U.S.” Deribit joins a wave of crypto companies from Europe and Asia aiming to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s pledge to make the U.S. the global digital assets hub. The crypto exchanges OKX — based in the Seychelles — and Bulgaria’s Nexo are both planning to open U.S. offices, as are Switzerland’s Wintermute and Dubai’s DWF Labs, two of the sector’s biggest market makers. Crypto companies had for the past few years been shifting their focus away from the U.S. due to a regulatory crackdown by agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the downfall of the FTX exchange. Trump, however, has courted the crypto industry, promising to “make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world,” with the SEC having halted or ended several high-profile cases since the election, and the Department of Justice disbanding its cryptocurrency enforcement unit. “I think the entire market feels good about regulatory clarity,” David Rutter, CEO of British blockchain firm R3, told. “The Trump memecoin was a big signal that things had changed for the U.S. in a pretty sizable way.”
Proposed amendments to the GENIUS Act to include “robust financial controls” and stringent measures around consumer protection, bankruptcy and ethics for private stablecoin issuers such as tech companies and bans on issuers on promoting yield or interest-bearing features
As U.S. lawmakers circulate an updated draft agreement on the GENIUS Act, an acronym for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 Act, that could all be about to change due to the potential emergence of domestic regulatory clarity around dollar-backed stablecoins. Senate Democrats are now warning that the bill, as originally drafted, could inadvertently open the floodgates to corruption, foreign threats and a new era of unregulated digital finance. Democratic lawmakers are asking for amendments to be made around consumer protection, bankruptcy and ethics, as well as “robust financial controls” for private stablecoin issuers, such as tech companies. Ultimately, whether the GENIUS Act becomes law, and in what form, could redefine the future of finance in America. The regulatory framework offers the promise of clarity and the peril of loopholes alike, as well as the challenge of reconciling innovation with oversight. The updated GENIUS Act bill explicitly ensures that existing laws enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) remain applicable to stablecoin issuers, and prevents the new regulatory regime from becoming a loophole for evading securities laws. Issuers will also face strict bans on promoting yield or interest-bearing features — a move designed to curb risks akin to those that triggered past collapses in the crypto lending space. Additionally, naming restrictions will prevent companies from using terms like “United States” or “USG” in product branding, reducing the risk of misleading consumers about government backing. Issuers located in countries under comprehensive U.S. sanctions — or deemed money laundering risks — are barred from operating in the U.S. market, closing potential backdoors for illicit finance. Democrats also secured tough restrictions on non-financial publicly traded companies — namely tech giants like Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. — from issuing their own stablecoins unless they meet rigorous standards. The language aims to preserve the separation between commerce and banking, a long-held policy pillar that critics argue could be undermined by digital assets.
BlackRock to create a blockchain-based share class for its BLF Treasury Trust Fund, a cornerstone of cash management
BlackRock Inc. signaled its growing ambition to bring digital technology to mainstream institutional finance, filing to launch a new share class of its $150 billion money market fund that is registered on a blockchain. The world’s largest asset manager submitted paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week to create a blockchain-based share class — labeled DLT, an acronym for distributed ledger technology — for its BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund, a cornerstone of cash management. DLT will seek to utilize blockchain technology to record share ownership or streamline certain fund operations for the money market fund, which invests in high-quality, short-term US Treasury securities. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. will manage the sale of these shares as an intermediary, for a minimum of $3 million. BNY, one of the world’s largest custodians of traditional assets, will play a role in representing the ownership of the shares through the technology, a process known as tokenization. These will simply mirror the fund ownership and will be nonbinding. Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar said, “This is a step toward incorporating blockchain technology in investments, but it’s not a new strategy or a fully tokenized offering.”
Webull Pay to use Coinbase’s institutional grade Crypto-as-a-Service platform to offer users staking capabilities, stablecoin rewards, custody, trading execution and access to USDC
Webull Pay partnered with Coinbase in a deal that enables Webull Pay’s crypto services to run on Coinbase’s institutional-grade infrastructure. The agreement aims to offer staking, stablecoin rewards, and more trading options starting next month. Coinbase will provide its Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform to support Webull Pay’s crypto operations. The agreement also covers trading execution, custody, staking capabilities, and access to USDC, Coinbase’s dollar-backed stablecoin. For Webull Pay, the move delivers a critical backend upgrade using infrastructure already used by major financial institutions. The companies now aim to offer a secure, seamless user experience, which is expected to allow Webull Pay to scale with the evolving crypto market. The platform expects the new offering to enable users to gain access to deep liquidity, tight spreads, and the potential for yield through staking and USDC rewards. Beyond the domestic rollout, Coinbase and Webull Pay are also exploring joint efforts to extend their services globally. That would bring Webull Pay-branded crypto offerings to new markets, riding on Coinbase’s existing global infrastructure and compliance frameworks. The deal reportedly includes access to Coinbase’s USDC rewards program. Users who hold USDC through Webull Pay will automatically be enrolled in the loyalty scheme unless they opt out.