Kraken is first crypto firm to secure Fed payment access (4 minute read)
Kraken has received a limited-purpose master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, becoming the first digital asset firm with direct access to the US central bank's payment infrastructure. The approval allows Kraken Financial to settle transactions directly on Fedwire rather than relying on partner banks, though the authorization comes with restrictions and an initial one-year term while the rollout begins with institutional clients. The decision highlights growing convergence between crypto companies and traditional financial rails as regulators weigh how digital asset firms fit inside the banking system.
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Coinbase expands into stocks, agentic wallets, and stablecoin rails in February (4 minute read)
In February, Coinbase launched commission-free 24/5 US stock trading, introduced Bitcoin rewards for USDC holders, expanded crypto-backed loans, and deepened distribution via Yahoo Finance. On the developer side, it rolled out agentic wallets, supported AI payments via Stripe's x402 on Base, enabled YC startups to fundraise in USDC, and doubled down on institutional crypto adoption, signaling a strategy centered on AI agents, stablecoins, and a broader financial stack.
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Visa and Bridge expand stablecoin-linked cards to 100+ countries (2 minute read)
Visa and Stripe-owned stablecoin firm Bridge are expanding stablecoin-linked card issuance globally, with programs already live in 18 countries and plans to reach over 100 by the end of the year. The cards, integrated with crypto wallets like Phantom and MetaMask and supported by Lead Bank, aim to bring stablecoin settlement into traditional card networks while giving businesses a way to embed custom stablecoins into card programs.
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Mastercard integrates SoFi USD for stablecoin settlement (1 minute read)
Mastercard is expanding its partnership with SoFi to allow SoFiUSD, a bank-issued stablecoin, to be used as a settlement option across its global payments network. The move will enable issuers and acquirers to settle card transactions using the dollar-backed token through Mastercard's Multi-Token Network, with an initial focus on faster cross-border remittances and B2B transfers. Over time, the companies plan to explore programmable treasury tools and additional payout and money-movement use cases built on the stablecoin infrastructure.
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Stripe's growth surge, stablecoin momentum, and payments' great sorting (6 minute read)
Stripe hit $1.9 trillion in TPV (+34% y/y), added $500 billion in volume, and reached a $159 billion valuation while rumors swirled about a potential PayPal acquisition, underscoring a widening gap between high-growth fintechs and M&A targets. Amid AI-driven fears that agents and stablecoins could pressure card networks (wiping ~$50 billion in market cap), the real divide is strategic positioning: companies indexed to AI and stablecoin tailwinds are compounding growth, while slower incumbents face structural questions about where the next wave of payments expansion comes from.
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Stripe vs. PayPal, Revolut 2.0, and the rise of ecosystem finance (5 minute read)
This week's themes span a potential Stripe–PayPal power shift (infrastructure meets consumer identity), Revolut's evolution from FX app to full-scale bank, and why banks can't afford to sit out the ecosystem game. The newsletter also highlights stablecoins as embedded B2B settlement rails and Stripe's broader thesis: digital infrastructure, AI, global-by-default businesses, and agentic commerce are concentrating growth among platforms that control distribution, data, and programmable finance.
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OneVest releases agentic wealth platform (5 minute read)
Wealthtech firm OneVest has introduced an AI-driven operating system designed to automate many of the operational tasks that wealth management teams traditionally handle manually. The platform uses agentic workflows that can execute actions such as account setup, fund transfers, compliance processes, and data extraction from documents, aiming to reduce the administrative burden on advisors and middle-office teams. By shifting AI from insight generation to execution, OneVest is positioning the system as a new infrastructure layer that could help firms modernize legacy systems and operate more efficiently.
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Ripple Payments now handles more of the payments lifecycle (3 minute read)
Ripple is expanding its payments infrastructure to support the full lifecycle of a transaction, allowing fintechs to collect, hold, convert, manage liquidity, and pay out funds across both fiat and blockchain-based rails from a single platform. The move builds on two acquisitions in 2025, custody provider Palisade and stablecoin payments company Rail, and comes as Ripple Payments has already processed more than $100 billion in volume. By combining custody, FX, liquidity management, and payouts into one stack, Ripple is positioning itself as a regulated global payments infrastructure provider competing directly with incumbents like SWIFT, Visa Direct, Stripe, and Adyen.
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Amex to build 55-story global headquarters at 2 World Trade Center (3 minute read)
American Express plans to construct a 55-floor, 2 million square-foot global headquarters at 2 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, housing roughly 10,000 employees by 2031 under a long-term ground lease with the Port Authority. The move reinforces Amex's deep New York roots despite recent stock pressure tied to AI disruption fears and regulatory risks, as the company continues investing in innovation and long-term growth.
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Intuit bets its data moat can withstand the "SaaSpocalypse" (4 minute read)
Intuit has lost over 40% of its market cap this year as investors fear agentic AI tools like Claude could replace traditional SaaS by delivering outcomes, not seats, for bookkeeping and tax workflows. In response, Intuit argues its 40 years of first- and third-party small business data, deep integrations, and new Anthropic-powered agent strategy position it as the orchestration layer for AI, rather than the software agents aim to displace.
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PayPay targets up to $1.1 billion Nasdaq IPO at $10 billion+ valuation (2 minute read)
SoftBank-backed PayPay, Japan's largest cashless payments provider with over 70 million users, plans to raise up to $1.1 billion in a US IPO, potentially valuing the company above $10 billion under the ticker PAYP. The listing follows its acquisition of a 40% stake in Binance Japan, signaling deeper integration between digital payments and crypto as fintech firms cautiously re-enter public markets.
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Real-Time payments threaten legacy card economics (4 minute read)
Governments across major economies are exploring alternatives to global card networks as instant bank-to-bank payment systems gain traction. Open Banking infrastructure in the UK and Europe allows consumers to pay directly from their bank accounts, reducing reliance on intermediaries like Visa and Mastercard while potentially lowering costs and speeding settlement. The shift reflects a broader trend of governments increasingly framing payments infrastructure as a strategic national asset rather than just a commercial network.
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