The Celo Foundation announced the launch of Nightfall, an open-source, zero-knowledge privacy layer application built by EY and put into public domain, as a Layer 3 on the Celo network––marking the first payments-focused blockchain development of Nightfall. This integration enables private, enterprise-grade transactions, combining confidentiality with the benefits of public blockchain infrastructure, and positions Celo at the forefront of enterprise B2B payments, a sector expected to exceed $180T in cross-border flows. “Deploying Nightfall on Celo brings enterprise-grade privacy to the same mobile-first infrastructure that already supports millions of users globally,” said Rene Reinsberg, Celo Co-Founder and Celo Foundation President. “With this Layer 3, Celo now offers a comprehensive solution for both individual and institutional payment needs in markets underserved by traditional financial infrastructure.” Nightfall has been in development in the public domain since 2017. The latest iteration, Nightfall_4 (NF_4), leverages Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology to enable the private transfer of multiple token standards, including ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, and ERC-3525.
Noon payments and Visa deploy FIDO-based Payment Passkey, ensuring seamless, fraud-resistant checkout experiences by keeping biometric data on devices across all payment channels
noon payments and Visa have partnered to launch Visa Payment Passkey, making noon payments the first globally as a payment service provider (PSP) to offer this innovative solution to its merchants and their customers. This strategic collaboration introduces Fast Identity Online (FIDO)-based authentication for payments, leveraging the biometric capabilities of consumer devices for ecommerce authentication, designed to create a smoother, more secure, and password-free online checkout experience for consumers and merchants in the Middle East. By leveraging Visa Acceptance Platform solutions such as Payer Authentication and Authorization, this initiative further promotes passkey readiness while ensuring a secure and seamless payment experience across the region. This innovative solution provides a next-generation approach to securing online transactions through eliminating the need for consumers to rely on static passwords, or one-time passcodes (OTP) at checkout by leveraging device unlocking methods such as biometrics (e.g. fingerprints, facial scans) or PINs. This not only streamlines the payment journey but also significantly enhances protection against fraud and scams like phishing. Visa Payment Passkey, which is built on open industry standards from the FIDO Alliance ensures sensitive biometric data does not leave the consumer’s device while ensuring a secure, seamless and convenient payment journey across all devices and payment channels.
Sui blockchain to launch native USDi and suiUSDe stablecoins, backed by BlackRock’s tokenized fund and Ethena’s synthetic dollar protocol, enhancing network liquidity and utility
The Sui blockchain is set to launch its first native stablecoins, USDi and suiUSDe, in partnership with SUI Group and the Sui Foundation. USDi will be backed 1:1 by BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund BUIDL, while suiUSDe will replicate Ethena’s USDe, a synthetic dollar supported by a blend of digital assets and derivatives. Marius Barnett, chairman of SUIG, emphasizes this initiative’s potential to enhance liquidity and value within the Sui blockchain, positioning SUIG as a gateway to the stablecoin economy. This development aligns with other crypto ecosystems seeking to create native stablecoins instead of depending on established options like USDC and USDT. Notable examples include HYPE, which auctioned rights to issue a native stablecoin, and MegaETH, poised to launch its own in conjunction with Ethena. Sui has reported significant stablecoin transfer volume, processing $229 billion in August, showcasing its strong performance and making it attractive to partners like Ethena.
Stripe launches Open Issuance, allowing businesses to create interoperable stablecoins, earn reserve interest, and integrate with multiple blockchains following its acquisition of stablecoin orchestration platform
Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge last October positioned the company to introduce stablecoins into its business model. The new product, Open Issuance, will enable businesses to create and manage their own stablecoins while earning interest from reserves, which traditionally don’t benefit users. Stripe believes stablecoins can enhance global transactions, as stated by its technology president, William Gaybrick. The regulatory environment improved due to the Genius Act, allowing broader experimentation with stablecoins. Open Issuance marks a shift in stablecoin adoption, enabling various companies, including traditional financial players, to participate, although initial users are largely within the crypto sector. Gaybrick expects numerous new stablecoins to emerge under this platform, facilitating easier transitions between fiat and cryptocurrency, yet it remains unclear when non-crypto companies will fully embrace the technology. According to Zach Abrams, cofounder of Bridge, all of the new Stripe-issued stablecoins will also be interoperable, which helps enable on- and off-ramping back into U.S. dollars, as well as allows different companies to build integrations with one another across different blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and eventually Stripe’s own project, Tempo. “The network builds liquidity together, and every additional participant benefits from and contributes to the shared liquidity that we’re all building,” he told Fortune. Gaybrick cited American Express and Amazon as two businesses that would benefit from allowing users to easily move between points, fiat currency, and stablecoins. “For some of these major platforms or financial services companies,” he said, “if you’re storing balance or points on behalf of your consumers, or if you really want to store balance on behalf of your customers, stablecoins can be powerful.”
European Systemic Risk Board warns of built-in risks in multi-issuer stablecoins; advocating urgent policy response to protect EU financial stability
Europe’s financial risk regulator wants stronger regulations governing “multi-issuer” stablecoins. European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) said there should be stricter guidelines covering these coins, which are issued partly in the European Union and partly in other jurisdictions. “[T]he general board stressed that third country multi-issuer schemes—with fungible stablecoins issued both in the EU and outside—have built-in vulnerabilities which require an urgent policy response. Members also took note that multi-function groups may operate under regulatory regimes which are much more lenient than for financial conglomerates, raising the question of divergent prudential standards.” The ESRB met last week and passed a recommendation to prohibit “multi-issuance” stablecoins. The board’s guidance is not legally binding but will pressure governments in the EU to impose the limits or explain how their countries can still preserve financial stability without them. Stablecoins are pegged to assets such as the U.S. dollar and typically rely on a one-to-one reserve of traditional funds to back their value. With the multi-issuance model, licensed stablecoin providers issuing coins in the EU need to maintain a local reserve in at least one member state while still issuing and managing reserves for functionally identical coins in other parts of the world. Waller said the private sector is better positioned to innovate than central banks, and that stablecoins offer an attractive way for people in countries beyond the United States to access dollar banking services.
CME Group to offer around-the-clock regulated cryptocurrency derivatives trading to enable confident risk management any time starting in 2026.
CME Group announced plans to offer 24-hour cryptocurrency futures and options trading starting in early 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The move extends trading hours for its digital asset products to seven days a week on the CME Globex platform. The expansion responds to increasing demand from market participants who need continuous access to manage cryptocurrency exposure throughout the week, rather than being limited to traditional market hours. “While not all markets lend themselves to operating 24/7, client demand for around-the-clock cryptocurrency trading has grown as market participants need to manage their risk every day of the week,” said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equities, FX and Alternative Products at CME Group. “Ensuring that our regulated cryptocurrency markets are always on will enable clients to trade with confidence at any time.”
Mantle unveils tokenization platform to bring traditional assets on-chain, deploying WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin and expanding into real-world asset markets
Mantle, a blockchain platform backed by crypto exchange Bybit, is expanding to the fast-growing real-world asset (RWA) sector with a new tokenization service designed to bring traditional finance on blockchain rails. The protocol’s Tokenization-as-a-Service platform, unveiled at the Token2049 event in Singapore, offers a set of compliance services like licensing, know-your-customer (KYC) tools, legal structuring and smart contract deployment, alongside security monitoring and decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations for price discovery. At the same time, World Liberty Financial, the blockchain protocol with close links to U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, also announced that it would deploy its $2 billion USD1 stablecoin on the Mantle network. The news came as Mantle is rapidly expanding beyond being an Ethereum layer-2 scaling rail into a broader crypto ecosystem. The network is now tightly embedded in Bybit’s popular trading platform, giving it exposure to millions of users, and is developing UR, a fintech application aimed at bridging crypto with traditional financial services. The network’s native token (MNT) climbed to a fresh all-time high of $2, up 4.5% over the past 24 hours. It has been one of the best performing cryptocurrency recently, gaining 73% over the past month.
Mastercard Agent Pay’s enhanced tokenization powers PayOS agentic checkout, offering secure, consent-based payments and value-added services for optimized agent monetization
PayOS, an agentic payments and value added services platform company, announced the successful completion of a landmark agentic payment transaction using a Mastercard Agentic Token. This historic transaction was executed leveraging Mastercard Agent Pay, which builds upon proven tokenization capabilities that today power global commerce solutions like mobile contactless payments, Secure Card on File, and Mastercard Payment Passkeys. The enhanced tokenization technology allows PayOS to enable payment by securing user consent, authentication and authorization, as well as fraud protection to ensure transparency, visibility, and trust for every participant in the payment flow. PayOS’ offering for the next era of commerce centers on three core capabilities: Payment tokens for agentic experiences: Secure, network-issued tokens enabling AI-driven transactions for agentic checkout anywhere. Value Added Services around cards and payments: Tools, including services made available by Mastercard, to solve for better user experience, payments risk, and payments fraud. Monetization and bill payment: Payments infrastructure for efficient agent monetization and optimized processing costs.
Privacy-focused USAD stablecoin built on Aleo’s permissionless blockchain enables selective compliance data sharing, addressing transparency challenges in business stablecoin payments
The Aleo Network Foundation has partnered with Paxos Labs to launch the privacy focused USAD stablecoin. Aleo is a Layer 1 permissionless blockchain that uses zero-knowledge proofs for private, compliant payments. Paxos Labs is part of Paxos, the issuer behind PayPal’s PYUSD and the Global Dollar stablecoin. Aleo is backed by a16z, Softbank and Coinbase Ventures, and is a partner in the Global Dollar Network. One of the biggest challenges with permissionless blockchains is the transparency which is not ideal for business payments. Imagine paying staff using stablecoins – the amounts would be fully visible. At the same time, fully encrypted payments are problematic for compliance purposes. Aleo enables stablecoin owners and senders to selectively share compliance data. “Partnering with Aleo allows us to bring digital dollars into a new era where enterprises can embed money that is private, programmable, and trusted from the ground up,” said Bhau Kotecha, Co-founder at Paxos Labs.
BIS opines stablecoins might require a more restrictive regime than in traditional finance due to lack of established safeguards and a tailored regulatory approach with technological neutrality
The growing ties between stablecoins and the traditional financial system pose risks to financial integrity and financial stability, the BIS said in one of the key takeaways from a bulletin. The BIS also said the use of foreign currency-denominated stablecoins could threaten monetary sovereignty and the effectiveness of current FX regulations, and there is a need for regulatory approaches that are tailored to stablecoins. As for the policy response required by stablecoins, the bulletin said that while regulatory frameworks are often confined to jurisdictional borders, stablecoins transact around the world. A regulatory framework tailored to stablecoins could leverage the information provided by blockchains to combat money laundering and other unlawful activities, the bulletin said. It also suggested that there’s a need for international cooperation and technological neutrality in regulation. “Bespoke frameworks need not imply a reduction in regulatory stringency,” the bulletin said. “On the contrary, since many entities within the stablecoin ecosystem operate without established safeguards, a more restrictive regime may be necessary than in traditional finance, where such safeguards are in place.” The organization suggested that a tokenized unified ledger developed by central banks and public authorities will enhance efficiencies without the shortcomings of stablecoins.