Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Visa expands stablecoin card network to 160 programs

Visa said on Sept. 8 that more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were operating globally during its fiscal second quarter of 2026, while their payment volume increased nearly 200% year over year.　　The payments company also reported that its stablecoin settlement volume had surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate. That represents growth of more than 15 times from the corresponding period one year earlier.　　Visa disclosed the figures while announcing expanded work with Credit Coop. The companies are using stablecoin-denominated revolving credit facilities to help card programs finance daily settlement obligations.　　The statistics come from Visa and Credit Coop rather than independently audited transaction reports. An annualized run rate also projects recent activity over a full year. It does not mean Visa has already processed $20 billion in stablecoin settlement during 2026.　　Visa stablecoin cards reach 160 live programs　　Stablecoin-linked cards connect a customer‘s crypto wallet or stablecoin account with Visa’s existing merchant network. The digital assets are converted or used to fund the transaction while the merchant receives payment through familiar card infrastructure.　　Visa said payment volume across these programs grew nearly 200% year over year. The company did not publish the underlying dollar value, regional breakdown or transaction count in its announcement.　　The latest

09-08Industry

Banca dItalia demands checks on every crypto transfer

Banca dItalia told Italian crypto-asset service providers on Sept. 7 to verify that every transfer passes through sanctions screening, regardless of its value.　　The central bank specifically warned firms against setting a minimum transaction threshold within their screening systems. Such a threshold could allow small crypto transfers to avoid automated checks.　　The communication does not establish a new sanctions rule. It reinforces requirements already contained in European Banking Authority guidelines that have applied in Italy since Dec. 30, 2025.　　The reminder follows an expansion of European Union restrictive measures and growing regulatory attention on whether financial institutions can enforce sanctions effectively in daily operations.　　Banca dItalia requires checks on every crypto transfer　　Banca dItalia instructed crypto-asset service providers, known as CASPs, to screen information about both the sender and recipient before executing a crypto transfer. The requirement applies to individual transactions and does not depend on their value.　　According to a report published through Borsa Italianas Radiocor service, the central bank asked operators to ensure their systems contain no minimum threshold that limits which transactions undergo screening.　　The policy means a transfer cannot bypass sanctions controls merely because it is worth €1 or another small amount. It does not mean compliance employees must manually approve every micro-transfer.　　CASPs

09-08Industry

Binance's CZ Predicts IPOs Will Move On-Chain as Claude's Anthropic Pre-Market Volume Explodes

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) published his forecast for the development of capital markets, stating that the traditional IPO model will move entirely onto the blockchain. According to him, tokenizing public offerings will provide companies with round-the-clock liquidity, seamless interoperability with DeFi protocols, and direct access to global retail capital.　　The main confirmation of this thesis right now comes from the artificial intelligence sector, represented by Anthropic, the creator of Claude, whose pre-market has literally exploded: trading volumes in on-chain derivatives tied to its shares have surged into the millions just a month before the official opening bell on Wall Street.　　CZs forecast rests on on-chain infrastructure for real-world assets (RWA) with a total market capitalization of $33.6 billion, of which tokenized stocks and ETFs account for around $3 billion.　　IPOs will move on chain.　　— CZ ???? BNB (@cz_binance) September 8, 2026　　Binances bStocks platform holds 21% of this segment ($627.5 million), with 981,215 holders, while Circle Internet Group ($103.6 million) and SpaceX ($63.4 million) lead its trading turnover.　　At the same time, the total value of tokenized stocks remains a drop in the ocean compared with the traditional U.S. stock market, whose capitalization exceeds $55 trillion, while average daily trading turnover on the NYSE

09-08Industry

Polands crypto licensing deadlock is handing foreign EU firms an advantage

Polands failed crypto vote has left domestic firms unable to seek licenses while EU-authorized rivals continue entering the market.　　Related Law EU AML Package: Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Directive (EU) 2024/1640 European Union · In force · Directive　　The Sejm failed Sept. 4 to override President Karol Nawrocki‘s veto of legislation needed to implement parts of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, prolonging a licensing gap more than two months after Polands transition period expired.　　Lawmakers recorded 241 votes to re-enact the bill, 198 against and three abstentions, falling short of the threshold required to overcome the June 11 veto.　　Without the legislation, Poland has yet to designate the domestic authority needed to process ordinary MiCA applications. The Polish Financial Supervision Authoritys office has said authorization proceedings cannot begin until that designation is made by law.　　That leaves firms seeking a Polish license stuck even as competitors authorized elsewhere in the bloc retain a route into the same market.　　EU licenses offer a way around Polands blockage　　MiCA allows an authorized crypto-asset service provider to operate across member states through its home regulator.　　A firm can notify that regulator of the countries and services it intends to cover and begin cross-border activity once it has transmitted

09-08Industry

Cronos confirms $9.2M slipped away before Tectonic exploit rollback

Layer-1 blockchain Cronos said $9.19 million left its blockchain before validators halted the network during the Tectonic exploit, providing an official accounting of funds that were not reversed by its rollback.　　In Tuesdays post-mortem report, Cronos said manipulated collateral values generated about $120.4 million in borrowing activity. Restoring the network to its pre-exploit state reversed about $111.2 million, leaving 7.6% of the affected funds outside of the network.　　The disclosure confirms the scale of the incident after earlier estimates placed the amount affected at about $75 million. It also puts the amount transferred off Cronos at $9.19 million, above the $8.3 million previously traced to Ethereum by blockchain data provider Bitquery.　　Cointelegraph previously reported that one transaction emptied nine Tectonic lending markets through 11 transfers involving stablecoins, Bitcoin, Ether and other assets.　　Bitquery said the attacker deposited $5 million, then repeatedly borrowed and redeposited TONIC through a 98-cycle loop while purchasing the thinly traded token. The activity drove TONIC‘s price nearly 300-fold higher as Tectonic’s price feed followed.　　Cronos said Tectonic detected the activity at 12:49 UTC on Aug. 30, and validators halted the network at 14:32:47 UTC. Block production resumed at 23:49:01 UTC after balances were restored.

09-08Industry

HashKey Cloud joins Stacks Bitcoin staking launch

HashKey Cloud said on Sept. 7 that it had joined Stacks as a launch partner for self-custodial Bitcoin staking.　　SummaryHashKey Cloud joined Stacks as a Genesis Bond participant and an sBTC signer operator officially.The institutional Genesis Bond is scheduled to launch around September 10, according to Stacks developers.Bonded Bitcoin remains timelocked on Bitcoin while participants pair it with locked STX tokens separately.HashKey Cloud says its staking infrastructure spans more than 40 different blockchain networks globally today.sBTC signers coordinate Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals using a threshold-based approval system collectively onchain today.　　The agreement gives the infrastructure provider two roles: participating in the inaugural Genesis Bond and joining the signer network securing sBTC.　　HashKey Cloud operates under HashKey Holding Limited. Stacks founder Muneeb Ali presented the collaboration during the HashKey Cloud and Cactus Custody “Yield on Trust” event in Hong Kong.　　The company says its node and staking infrastructure covers more than 40 blockchain networks. Stacks reported that HashKey Cloud manages about HK$29 billion in staked assets. These figures come from the companies and were not independently audited for the partnership announcement.　　???? @HashKeyCloud joins @Stacks as a launch partner for user self-custodied #Bitcoin staking, supporting the next phase of Bitcoin infrastructure. https://t.co/7NNzWeTHfO　　— HashKey Group (@HashKeyGroup) September

09-08Industry

Zcash (ZEC) Posts 2 Major Signals: Analyzing Risks of 50% Rally

Although Zcash has continued to soar above $1,200, two technical indicators point to a growing likelihood of a significant correction. ZEC is still structurally bullish, but after its most recent increase, the extreme divergence from its moving averages and waning momentum merit consideration.　　Zcash is back above key levels　　After hitting about $1,250, ZEC is currently trading at about $1,124. Only a few sessions ago, the asset was trading close to $800; at its highest point, the most recent leg alone produced gains of about 50%. RSI is the first to issue a warning. The price of ZEC has reached a significantly higher peak, rising from the August peak of about $880 to more than $1,200.　　ZEC/USDT Chart by TradingView　　However, RSI has not been able to generate a correspondingly higher high. Despite the significantly higher ZEC price, the indicator peaked at a higher level during the August rally and is currently around 74. As a result, there is a bearish RSI divergence as the price keeps hitting new highs while the underlying momentum wanes.　　After near-vertical advances, these divergences become more significant, but they do not always put an end to rallies. ZECs drastic departure from its moving averages is the second signal. Even

09-08Industry

CHFD stablecoin enters testing with 9 Swiss institutions

The CHFD stablecoin entered its formal testing phase on Sept. 8 after Swiss financial market operator SIX and payments provider TWINT joined seven existing participants in the controlled initiative.　　The nine participants are UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zurich Cantonal Bank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, SIX, TWINT and Swiss Stablecoin AG, according to the official announcement.　　They are testing a digital asset designed to maintain a one-to-one value against the Swiss franc. One CHFD is intended to equal one CHF inside the sandbox.　　The project remains experimental. Its members said the testing does not represent a decision to issue CHFD commercially or make it available to the public.　　CHFD stablecoin tests move beyond basic transfers　　The participating institutions will test automated transactions between financial firms and the settlement of tokenized assets. These are established institutional use cases for blockchain-based money.　　A stablecoin could allow a tokenized security and its payment to move through connected digital systems. The objective would be to reduce the delay between the delivery of an asset and receipt of the corresponding funds.　　SIX already operates infrastructure for issuing, trading and settling digital securities. Its digital asset platform supports tokenized securities alongside traditional assets in a regulated post-trade environment.　　More than CHF2 billion in digital securities have

09-08Industry

Spains Bit2Me launches crypto seizure and forensic unit Bit2Shield

Spains largest cryptocurrency exchange Bit2Me has launched a separate company to help courts, police and financial institutions trace, seize, store and liquidate cryptocurrency linked to investigations.　　SummaryBit2Me has launched Bit2Shield to help courts, police and financial institutions trace, seize, store and sell cryptocurrency.Bit2Me processed €1.5 million in seized crypto for Interpol, Europol and Spanish police during 2025.Seized assets will be held in multisignature cold wallets, with sales arranged when ordered by the relevant authorities.Crypto to euro conversions will be handled by Bitcoinforme, Bit2Mes entity authorized under MiCA in Spain.　　According to a statement from Bit2Me, the new unit, Bit2Shield, has been legally registered as CryptoShield S.L. and will provide forensic and operational services covering digital assets from the point they are identified during an investigation through their eventual sale when ordered by authorities.　　The company will assist investigators during searches and seizures by extracting information from wallets, locating cryptocurrency and preparing digitally signed forensic reports that can be submitted in court. Its work will extend to fraud investigations, source-of-funds certification and training for police officers, judges and financial institutions.　　Bit2Shield formalizes services that Bit2Me had already been providing to government agencies. During 2025, the exchange processed €1.5 million ($1.74 million) in seized cryptocurrency for

09-08Industry

Ethereum Foundation Targets Quantum-Resistant L1 for 2029

In a new roadmap published on Sept. 7, the Ethereum Foundations Protocol Cluster said it is targeting a fully quantum-resistant Ethereum layer 1 by December 2029.　　The goal covers all three major parts of Ethereums base layer: execution, consensus, and data.　　The Foundation is preparing for the possibility that sufficiently powerful quantum computers could appear as early as 2030. However, at this point, it seems to be more likely that such a breakthrough will occur further into the future.　　Ethereum developers do not want to wait until the threat becomes imminent.　　“Q-day cannot be scheduled, so we have assigned ourselves a self-imposed deadline,” the Protocol Cluster said.　　The December 2029 target will remain effectively non-negotiable until at least January 2027 (when the Foundation plans to reassess developments).　　Why quantum computers matter　　A sufficiently advanced quantum computer could theoretically break some of the cryptographic schemes that blockchains currently rely on.　　The Foundation is now trying to replace vulnerable systems well before such machines become practical.　　Its roadmap includes post-quantum signature schemes and changes across Ethereums transaction, consensus and data-availability systems.　　Ethereums upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade is currently targeted for December 2026. Under one version of the roadmap, full post-quantum readiness would arrive five hard forks later.　　Another path would bring Ethereum to the

09-08Industry

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