The stablecoin market is moving fast in two directions at once. One path leads toward greater financial integration and the other toward greater regulatory scrutiny. The two are increasingly inseparable.
The post Stablecoins Grew Up. Now Come the Rules\u00a0 appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "The stablecoin market is moving fast in two directions at once. One path leads toward greater financial integration and the other toward greater regulatory scrutiny. The two are increasingly inseparable.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nIn the past week alone, a flurry of announcements from major financial and technology players underscored the balancing act the digital asset space faces between achieving interoperability at global scale and managing the compliance needs that brings.\nVisa added five more blockchains to its global stablecoin settlement pilot, bringing its total to nine; while Meta\u00a0started offering stablecoin payouts to a limited group of creators. Elsewhere, the Walmart-backed FinTech OnePay\u00a0announced plans to add stablecoin payouts and account funding to its banking product through a new partnership with the\u00a0Tempo\u00a0blockchain; and\u00a0Anchorage Digital launched a partnership with stablecoin infrastructure company\u00a0M0 to merge M0\u2019s infrastructure capabilities with Anchorage\u2019s regulated issuance experience to serve a \u201cgrowing universe of stablecoin builders.\u201d\nBut as institutions race to unlock interoperability and cross-border efficiency, regulators are confronting a familiar set of concerns: money laundering, sanctions evasion and systemic risk.\u00a0On Tuesday (April 28), a WSJ report flagged that individuals sanctioned by the U.S. for their participation in the Prince Group scam-ring had later worked to enable the use of the Trump family-linked World Liberty Financial\u2019s stablecoin, USD1, on its network.\nThe news underscores that as stablecoins scale, so do their risks. Fraud, scams and illicit activity remain persistent challenges. But the growing regulatory push is not necessarily a headwind for the industry. In many respects, it reflects a recognition that stablecoins may be becoming systemically important.\nRead more: \u00a0The Privacy Problem Institutions Can\u2019t Ignore in Stablecoins\nChasing Interoperability While Navigating Compliance\nThe very features that make stablecoins attractive such as speed, accessibility and borderless transferability can also make them susceptible to misuse. Unlike traditional banking systems, where intermediaries play a central role in monitoring transactions, stablecoin networks often rely on a patchwork of exchanges, wallet providers and on-chain analytics firms to enforce compliance.\nIn 2025 alone, an estimated $17 billion was lost to crypto-related fraud, with AI-enabled scams dramatically increasing in sophistication.\n\u201cThe amount of content created for scamming people is absolutely through the roof. Our customers are swamped,\u201d Emmanuel Marot, vice president of products at\u00a0Chainalysis, told PYMNTS in a conversation about the company\u2019s \u201cblockchain intelligence agents,\u201d\u00a0unveiled\u00a0earlier this March.\nStill, the future of the digital asset space \u201csure looks bright,\u201d Marot added, noting that \u201cthere\u2019s a real-world usage and a need to make sure that the money goes to the right place.\u201d\nAmong the clearest signals of crypto\u2019s real-world usage comes from payment incumbents adopting them at scale. Visa\u2019s stablecoin settlement pilot has already reached an annualized run rate of $7 billion, growing roughly 50% quarter over quarter.\nIn effect, Visa is building a multi-chain settlement fabric. Settlement\u2014the behind-the-scenes process of reconciling transactions between banks\u2014has long been slow, opaque and fragmented. Stablecoins can potentially compress that timeline from days to minutes while also reducing intermediary costs.\nElsewhere, Meta\u00a0this week began offering stablecoin payments to creators, effectively turning its social platform into a financial one. This move revives an idea Meta explored\u2014and abandoned\u2014with its earlier digital currency initiative: embedding money directly into digital ecosystems. The difference now is that stablecoins provide a ready-made, interoperable solution, eliminating the need to build a proprietary currency from scratch.\nSee also: Treasury Calls for Programmable Financial Enforcement Across Crypto\u00a0\nBuilding the Picks and Shovels\nBehind the scenes, a new class of infrastructure providers is emerging to support this ecosystem. Companies like\u00a0M0\u00a0and\u00a0Anchorage Digital\u00a0are positioning themselves as the foundational layer for stablecoin issuance and custody.\nThis \u201cinfrastructure-as-a-service\u201d model mirrors earlier waves in cloud computing. Just as AWS enabled startups to build without owning servers, these platforms allow companies to issue and manage digital dollars without building blockchain expertise from scratch.\nThe result may be a rapid proliferation of both stablecoin use cases and issuers.\nThat proliferation was precisely what Anchorage\u2019s CEO advocated for on the latest episode of \u201cFrom the Block.\u201d Rather than a handful of dominant players, Nathan McCauley\u00a0said\u00a0he envisions thousands of crypto-native banks competing in a decentralized financial landscape, emphasizing that, \u201cin a world where there are 4,000 banks, we\u2019re powering 3,999 of them.\u201d\nWhat emerges from these developments is not a single trend but a layered transformation. At the base are blockchains, increasingly interconnected and specialized. On top sit stablecoins, acting as the unit of account. Above that, infrastructure providers enable issuance, custody and compliance. And at the surface, applications from payments to social platforms help deliver user experiences.\nThis stack is modular, programmable and global by design. But can it scale?\nFindings in the March PYMNTS Intelligence report, \u201cStablecoins Gain Ground: Why CFOs See More Promise There Than in Crypto,\u201d reveal that while more than 4 in 10 (42%) middle market companies have at least discussed stablecoins, only 13% have reported actual stablecoin use.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Stablecoins Grew Up. Now Come the Rules\u00a0 appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-05-01T14:37:55-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-05-01T14:37:55-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/stablecoins-regulations-digital-assets.jpeg", "tags": [ "Blockchain", "Crypto Regulations", "DeFi", "digital assets", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3693040", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/onepay-joins-tempo-blockchain-to-launch-stablecoin-payouts/", "title": "Walmart-Backed OnePay Joins Tempo Blockchain to Launch Stablecoin Payouts", "content_html": "Consumer FinTech company OnePay aims to add stablecoin payouts and account funding to its banking product through a new partnership with the Tempo blockchain.
The post Walmart-Backed OnePay Joins Tempo Blockchain to Launch Stablecoin Payouts appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Consumer FinTech company OnePay aims to add stablecoin payouts and account funding to its banking product through a new partnership with the Tempo blockchain.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nAfter initially focusing on stablecoin payouts and instant account funding, the collaboration will expand into additional use cases over time, the companies said in a Tuesday (April 28) press release.\nOnePay currently powers instant payouts and direct deposit access for millions of American consumers and workers, according to the release.\nWith the addition of stablecoin infrastructure, the company aims to enable always-on settlement, lower infrastructure costs and new ways to move money in and out of its platform, the release said.\nAs well as building customer-facing products on stablecoin rails, OnePay plans to actively support the infrastructure by launching a validator on Tempo, per the release.\n\u201cTempo\u2019s payments-focused architecture and built-in privacy and compliance tooling make it the right infrastructure partner as we expand into stablecoin-powered experiences for our customers,\u201d OnePay Head of Crypto Pierce Harger said in the release.\nPYMNTS reported Thursday (April 23) that OnePay is working to combine banking, credit and everyday money tools into an all-in-one financial app.\nTempo was incubated by financial infrastructure provider Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm, who announced the new company in September 2025 and described it as a \u201cpayments-first blockchain\u201d that is optimized for stablecoins and real-world payments, PYMNTS reported at the time.\nExecutives involved with the launch said in September that Tempo is optimized for stablecoins and high-throughput, low-latency payments, provides an alternative to crypto infrastructure that is focused on trading, and aims to provide a way for large enterprises to go on-chain.\nStripe said in February that early Tempo participants on the blockchain\u2019s testnet include Visa, Nubank and Shopify, which were already testing use cases such as global payouts, embedded finance and remittances, while Klarna launched a bank-issued stablecoin on Tempo to enable cheaper cross-border settlement.\nAni Narayan, GTM at Tempo, said in the Wednesday press release that products that solve real payment problems for everyday users will drive the next wave of on-chain adoption.\n\u201cOnePay serves millions of workers and consumers who stand to benefit from faster, cheaper money movement,\u201d Narayan said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to partner on shaping the next generation of consumer finance.\u201d\n\r\n\r\nThe post Walmart-Backed OnePay Joins Tempo Blockchain to Launch Stablecoin Payouts appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-29T15:59:36-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-29T21:51:47-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/OnePay-Tempo-blockchain.png", "tags": [ "Blockchain", "Cryptocurrency", "FinTech", "News", "OnePay", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins", "Tempo", "What's Hot" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3685955", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/solana-ecosystem-prepares-migration-path-to-beat-quantum-threats/", "title": "Solana Ecosystem Prepares Migration Path to Beat Quantum Threats", "content_html": "The\u00a0Solana\u00a0blockchain is ready to meet the threat of quantum computing, the\u00a0Solana Foundation\u00a0said\u00a0in\u00a0a Monday\u00a0(April 27)\u00a0blog post.
The post Solana Ecosystem Prepares Migration Path to Beat Quantum Threats appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "The\u00a0Solana\u00a0blockchain is ready to meet the threat of quantum computing, the\u00a0Solana Foundation\u00a0said\u00a0in\u00a0a Monday\u00a0(April 27)\u00a0blog post.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nWhile that threat is years away, Solana has a well-researched plan ready for when it is needed, the group said in the post.\nTwo of Solana\u2019s validator client developers,\u00a0Anza\u00a0and\u00a0Firedancer, have been studying post-quantum migration paths and, working independently, arrived at the conclusion that a post-quantum scheme called Falcon provides a solution. Both have built an initial implementation that is now available, according to the post.\nFalcon provides a post-quantum digital signature scheme with compact signatures that\u00a0is\u00a0designed for\u00a0high-throughput\u00a0blockchain use.\n\u201cWhile no change is required today or likely anytime soon, there is a clear, well-researched plan that can be activated if and when the time comes,\u201d Solana said in the post. \u201cThe migration work is manageable, the transition can happen quickly when the time is right, and network performance is not expected to see a meaningful impact.\u201d\nIn addition,\u00a0Blueshift\u2019s Solana\u00a0Winternitz Vault, which has been in place for two years, provides a direct path for quantum resilience, per the post.\nLooking ahead, Solana plans to continue its quantum research and its evaluation of Falcon and alternatives, adopt a post-quantum scheme for new wallets if quantum becomes a credible threat, and migrate existing wallets to the chosen scheme.\n\u201cAs the quantum conversation continues to evolve, the Solana ecosystem is prepared, with the research, infrastructure and ecosystem alignment to back it up,\u201d the group said in the post.\nPYMNTS reported in January that Q Day, the moment\u00a0quantum\u00a0computers can practically break elliptic curve cryptography, promises to render redundant the computational codes that secure modern finance, with crypto likely to be harder hit than most.\nWhile quantum-safe security exists and is already being used by companies such as Apple and Zoom, deploying the equivalent capabilities across public blockchains that are by nature decentralized represents a thornier governance challenge, the report said.\nOn March 25, Google released a report suggesting that if firms\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0migrate their data over to\u00a0post-quantum cryptography\u00a0in the next three years, by 2029, they will be exposed to an existential threat.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Solana Ecosystem Prepares Migration Path to Beat Quantum Threats appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-27T16:59:46-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-27T16:59:46-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Solana.jpg", "tags": [ "Blockchain", "Cybersecurity", "News", "PYMNTS News", "quantum computing", "Solana", "What's Hot" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3684011", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/banking-circle-unveils-stablecoin-settlement-after-landing-crypto-license/", "title": "Banking Circle Unveils Stablecoin Settlement After Landing Crypto License", "content_html": "Luxembourg-based financial services company Banking Circle said it has launched stablecoin settlement services.
The post Banking Circle Unveils Stablecoin Settlement After Landing Crypto License appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Luxembourg-based financial services company Banking Circle said it has launched stablecoin settlement services.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nThe new offering, announced Monday (April 27), includes fiat-to-stablecoin and stablecoin-to-fiat capabilities from Banking Circle\u2019s core platform, and follows the company\u2019s receipt of a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) license earlier this month.\n\u201cThe award of our CASP license is an important milestone for Banking Circle, as well as for the broader payments ecosystem,\u201d Laust Bertelsen, the company\u2019s CEO, said in a news release. \u201cStablecoins have fast evolved from a peripheral innovation into core infrastructure for cross-border settlement, treasury management, and financial inclusion.\u201d\nThe release noted the increasing size of the stablecoin market: $293 billion in market capitalization, with yearly payment-related transaction volumes estimated at $387 billion, and monthly on-chain volumes of more than $9.3 trillion.\nAgainst this backdrop, the company added, Banking Circle\u2019s stablecoin settlement service is aimed at offering a \u201cfully integrated solution\u201d for institutions looking to capitalize on the speed and efficiency of stablecoin rails.\n\u201cBy combining the 24/7 availability of blockchain-based payments with the compliance, security, and risk management standards of a regulated bank, the solution addresses longstanding inefficiencies in traditional global settlement rails,\u201d the company said.\nResearch by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that 42% of middle market companies have at least discussed, tested or used stablecoins, businesses would rather work with banks than crypto-native wallets.\n\u201cCrypto-native wallets, while efficient, introduce unfamiliar risks: private key management, fragmented reporting, uncertain custody standards and evolving regulatory interpretations,\u201d PYMNTS wrote last month.\n\u201cBanks, by contrast, provide a trust layer that CFOs already understand. They offer established custody frameworks, standardized reporting and compliance processes that align with existing audit requirements.\u201d\nWhen accessed via a bank, that report added, stablecoins are \u201ceffectively wrapped in the institutional safeguards that finance teams depend on.\u201d\nThe research found that nearly half of surveyed CFOs felt that integration with major banks would make stablecoins more relevant to their operations, although 67% cited regulatory and compliance uncertainty as a major obstacle to overcome.\nConsiderably fewer pointed to speed or cost savings as deciding factors, suggesting that adoption will be fueled by trust rather than performance.\n\u201cWe don\u2019t start with the asset,\u201d Biswarup Chatterjee, global head of partnerships and innovation, Citi Services at Citi, told PYMNTS. \u201cWe typically start with our client need, and then we look at the pros and cons of each type of asset or financing instrument.\u201d\n\r\n\r\nThe post Banking Circle Unveils Stablecoin Settlement After Landing Crypto License appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-27T11:33:52-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-27T11:33:52-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/stablecoins-dollars.jpg", "tags": [ "Banking Circle", "Blockchain", "Digital Asset", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins", "What's Hot" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3680488", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/morgan-stanley-supports-stablecoin-issuers-with-new-fund-for-reserves/", "title": "Morgan Stanley Supports Stablecoin Issuers With New Fund for Reserves", "content_html": "Morgan Stanley Investment Management\u00a0(MSIM) has launched a new government money market fund designed to meet the needs of payment stablecoin issuers that are looking to invest the reserves that back their outstanding payment stablecoins.
The post Morgan Stanley Supports Stablecoin Issuers With New Fund for Reserves appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Morgan Stanley Investment Management\u00a0(MSIM) has launched a new government money market fund designed to meet the needs of payment stablecoin issuers that are looking to invest the reserves that back their outstanding payment stablecoins.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nThe new\u00a0Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio\u00a0(MSNXX) is designed to align with the stablecoin reserves investment requirements of the\u00a0GENIUS Act, the company said\u00a0in\u00a0a Thursday\u00a0(April 23)\u00a0press release.\nThis investment solution targets preservation of capital, daily\u00a0liquidity\u00a0and maximum current income. It invests only in cash, U.S. Treasury bills,\u00a0notes\u00a0and bonds with remaining maturities of\u00a093 days\u00a0or less, as well as overnight repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities and/or cash, according to the release.\n\u201cThe significant increase in stablecoin issuers as well as the growing number of assets held in stablecoins represents an evolving portion of the marketplace that is ripe for future growth,\u201d\u00a0Fred McMullen, co-head of global liquidity at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said in the release.\nMorgan Stanley is pursuing a firm-wide strategy of expanding access to digital investment solutions, making them more\u00a0broadly accessible\u00a0to all client segments,\u00a0Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, said in the release.\n\u201cDeveloping innovative ways to work with stablecoin issuers is another step towards modernizing the financial infrastructure and a\u00a0key way\u00a0to improve our institutional clients\u2019 experience,\u201d Oldenburg said.\nIn another initiative in this area, PYMNTS reported in February that Morgan Stanley\u00a0submitted an application\u00a0to the\u00a0Office of the Comptroller of the Currency\u00a0(OCC) for a charter for a new institution called \u201cMorgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association\u201d as a national trust bank with requested trust powers.\nThe application is an attempt to stand up a new federally chartered legal entity optimized for\u00a0digital asset activity. The goal for the new institution is Morgan Stanley trying to own the custody, settlement and fiduciary plumbing layer of blockchain finance under U.S. bank supervision, according to the report.\nIn January, it was reported that Morgan Stanley was entering the cryptocurrency\u00a0exchange-traded fund\u00a0(ETF) space by submitting paperwork for a Bitcoin Trust and a Solana Trust, each of which would hold the individual cryptocurrencies.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Morgan Stanley Supports Stablecoin Issuers With New Fund for Reserves appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-24T14:28:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-24T14:28:00-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley.jpg", "tags": [ "banking", "DeFi", "Morgan Stanley", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins", "What's Hot", "Blockchain" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3677175", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/tether-freezes-334-million-in-stablecoins-linked-to-illegal-activity/", "title": "Tether Freezes $334 Million in Stablecoins Linked to Illegal Activity", "content_html": "Stablecoin issuer Tether said it has frozen $344 million in stablecoins linked to illegal activity.
The post Tether Freezes $334 Million in Stablecoins Linked to Illegal Activity appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Stablecoin issuer Tether said it has frozen $344 million in stablecoins linked to illegal activity.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nThe company announced the freeze Thursday (April 23), saying it came following information shared by U.S. authorities about activity connected to unlawful actions.\n\u201cWhen wallets are identified as connected to sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity, Tether can move to restrict those assets,\u201d the company wrote in a blog entry. \u201cThat work has become a routine part of the company\u2019s response to lawful requests from authorities in the U.S. and abroad.\u201d\nTether, whose USDT is the largest stablecoin by volume, added that it has been involved in supporting law enforcement in 2,300 cases around the world, leading to the freezing of more than $4.4 billion in assets.\nPublic blockchains, the company argued, offer investigators and issuers something cash can\u2019t: a visible trail that lets them follow transactions, flag wallets and freeze assets.\n\u201cUSDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,\u201d said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. \u201cWhen credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively. Recent events have shown what happens when platforms fail to move quickly, enforcement breaks down, users are exposed, and trust erodes.\u201d\nThe company\u2019s announcement comes in the wake of a high-profile crypto crime that has erased around $9 billion from the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending space: last week\u2019s exploit of the Kelp DAO platform.\nIn the most recent episode of the \u201cFrom the Block\u201d podcast, PYMNTS CEO\u00a0Karen Webster\u00a0and\u00a0Ryan Rugg, global head of digital assets for\u00a0Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions, examined why that exploit was not just a technical failure, but a behavioral one.\nWhile earlier attacks targeted private keys or flawed smart contracts, this breach was aimed at the connective tissue of blockchain ecosystems: the messaging layer that allows for interoperability across chains.\n\u201cPast hacks were due to stolen keys or bugs in smart contracts; this one was convincing the vault the thief was actually the owner,\u201d Rugg said.\nMeanwhile, Tether is helping another DeFi exchange\u2014Drift Protocol\u2014relaunch after a separate breach earlier this month, giving that company $147 million in funding.\nDrift announced the funding last week, as well as the news that it would begin using Tether as its settlement layer, rather than previous settlement partner Circle.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Tether Freezes $334 Million in Stablecoins Linked to Illegal Activity appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-23T15:41:15-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-24T13:38:58-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Tether-stablecoins-2.jpg", "tags": [ "Blockchain", "crypto", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins", "Tether", "USDt", "What's Hot" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3674758", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/podcast-what-paxos-ceo-charles-cascarilla-sees-in-2026-that-his-2015-self-missed/", "title": "Podcast: What Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla Sees in 2026 That His 2015 Self Missed", "content_html": "Explore more conversations like this From the Block.\u00a0
The post Podcast: What Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla Sees in 2026 That His 2015 Self Missed appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Explore more conversations like this From the Block.\u00a0\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nWhat would Charles Cascarilla\u2019s 2015 self make of where digital assets landed in 2026?\nIt\u2019s the kind of question that hangs over a conversation like the one PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster and Citi\u2019s Ryan Rugg hosted on the latest episode of the \u201cFrom the Block\u201d podcast. And the honest answer from someone whose been there ever since bitcoin was three cents a coin is less triumphant than his earlier self might have hoped for, and more interesting for it.\nSixteen years into his bet on blockchain rewriting financial services, Cascarilla, co-founder and CEO of Paxos, is no longer pitching a parallel system that leaves banks behind. He\u2019s pitching something different and arguably more useful. In his view today, crypto isn\u2019t replacing finance. It\u2019s turning into it.\nThat sentence would have read like a concession a decade ago. In 2026, Cascarilla says, it sounds a lot like progress.\nIs This Finally \u2018the Year?\u2019\nWebster\u2019s framing was one everyone in the industry keeps circling back to. Is 2026 the year crypto \u201cgets real,\u201d or is it another cycle of anticipation in a new outfit?\nThe perspective from Cascarilla and Rugg is somewhere between the two. The \u201cbetween\u201d is where the story gets interesting.\nWhat\u2019s genuinely new, Cascarilla said, is the backdrop. Regulatory clarity in the U.S., although imperfect and still evolving, has done something technology demos alone never could. It has given large enterprises permission to move.\n\u201cThe regulatory clarity that we\u2019ve talked about has given enterprises confidence, because they don\u2019t act in gray areas,\u201d Rugg said. \u201cIt has to be permissible for them to act.\u201d\nPermission is what turns an industry from speculation into infrastructure. Rugg, who has spent the past decade working the seam between banks and blockchain, put the arc bluntly: \u201cWe went after tokenizing IP, real estate, everything. And now here we are, circling back.\u201d The circling back is to the unglamorous stuff, payments, stablecoins, tokenized deposits. Which also happens to be where money moves.\nSmall on Purpose\nThe most useful reframe of the episode was Cascarilla\u2019s on scale. Crypto takes up enormous cultural space for something that represents, in financial terms, a rounding error. \u201cOf all the assets in the world, guess how many are on the blockchain at the moment?\u201d he asked. \u201cEssentially zero. You can round to zero.\u201d\nThat sounds like a bear case. Cascarilla means it as a bull one. If the total addressable market is effectively the entire $900 trillion global financial system, the opportunity isn\u2019t \u201cadoption\u201d in the narrow crypto-trading sense.\nIt\u2019s what he calls \u201cre-platforming.\u201d Moving the rails underneath payments, assets and capital markets onto programmable infrastructure. Where are we in that arc?\n\u201cThe first pitch of the first inning,\u201d he said.\nRight in between nowhere and just getting started.\nThe Coexistence Thesis\nA subtler shift in the conversation, and one that would have been heretical a few years ago, is how little of it was about disruption.\nStablecoins, Cascarilla argued, are likely to follow the money market fund playbook. Once feared as a threat to banks, they are ultimately an expansion of the system rather than a shrinking of it, he said.\n\u201cYou\u2019re just actually growing the addressable market,\u201d he said, particularly by extending dollar access globally.\nRugg went further.\n\u201cI don\u2019t view it as stablecoins or tokenized deposits. I think there are different use cases for each one, and they could coexist together quite well.\u201d\nCoexist. Not disrupt, not replace. For an industry that spent a decade insisting it would eat banking alive, the pivot to \u201cand\u201d instead of \u201cor\u201d might be the most institutionally grownup thing crypto has done.\nHeadwinds That Haven\u2019t Gone Anywhere\nWebster didn\u2019t let the optimism stand unexamined. Could any of this survive a change in political administration?\nCascarilla, to his credit, didn\u2019t pretend otherwise. \u201cYou never know what administration\u2019s going to come into place,\u201d he acknowledged. The blunt admission that today\u2019s tailwind is a tailwind, not a guarantee. Favorable policy is, at best, a window.\nAnd then there\u2019s the other headwind, one made of trust rather than policy.\n\u201cIf you had another large failure like FTX, it would definitely set back the industry in a big way,\u201d he said. \u201cFinancial services always comes down to, Who can you trust?\u201d\nOne bad actor, and the window closes on everyone.\nWhat Remains to Be Proven\nSo, what would Cascarilla\u2019s 2015 self say to his \u201cand not or\u201d self today?\nProbably that the destination still looks roughly right and the timeline looks laughably off.\nWhat\u2019s been proven, 16 years in, is that the technology works, that regulators can be reasoned with, and that large institutions will eventually build on rails they once waved away.\nWhat remains to be proven is whether any of it compounds. Whether this becomes the structural transformation the early pitch promised, or crypto\u2019s real legacy turns out to be more subtle. Upgrading the plumbing of the system it once set out to replace.\nEither outcome would be the most consequential thing to happen to financial services this decade. The unglamorous version just takes longer to notice.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Podcast: What Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla Sees in 2026 That His 2015 Self Missed appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-23T04:00:19-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-22T21:43:33-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/crypto-gets-real-podcast-1.jpg", "tags": [ "Cryptocurrency", "digital assets", "From the Block", "Main Feature", "News", "paxos", "PYMNTS News", "pymnts podcast", "Blockchain" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3674795", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/banking-associations-seek-pause-in-genius-act-rulemaking-process/", "title": "Banking Associations Seek Pause in GENIUS Act Rulemaking Process", "content_html": "Four banking associations are looking to pause the rulemaking process for the\u00a0GENIUS Act\u00a0until one of the relevant final rules has been issued.
The post Banking Associations Seek Pause in GENIUS Act Rulemaking Process appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Four banking associations are looking to pause the rulemaking process for the\u00a0GENIUS Act\u00a0until one of the relevant final rules has been issued.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nThe\u00a0American Bankers Association\u00a0(ABA),\u00a0Bank Policy Institute\u00a0(BPI),\u00a0Consumer Bankers Association(CBA) and\u00a0Independent Community Bankers of America\u00a0(ICBA) made this request in a Tuesday (April 21)\u00a0joint letter\u00a0addressed to the\u00a0Treasury Department,\u00a0Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation\u00a0(FDIC),\u00a0Financial Crimes Enforcement Network\u00a0(FinCEN) and\u00a0Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).\nIn their letter, the banking groups said that while these organizations have issued their respective notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) for the GENIUS Act, the\u00a0Office of the Comptroller of the Currency\u00a0(OCC) has not yet issued its final rule after its NPRM earlier this year.\nThey asked the organizations to extend the deadline for public comments on their respective NPRMs to 60 days after the OCC issues its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act for the entities that are subject to its jurisdiction.\nThe associations added that each of the NPRMs refers to the OCC\u2019s framework, and are \u201csubstantively tethered\u201d to it, although it has not yet been finalized. The OCC\u2019s proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on March 2 and is open for comment until May 1.\n\u201cThe public is entitled to the opportunity to review coordinated proposals together, particularly to assess whether the agencies are proposing consistent, risk-based approaches and to identify any divergences or gaps that warrant attention,\u201d the banking associations said in the letter. \u201cA comment period extension calibrated to the finalization of the OCC\u2019s rule would allow all interested parties to submit integrated, holistic comments across the full body of implementing rulemakings.\u201d\nThe GENIUS Act became the country\u2019s first-ever piece of\u00a0crypto legislation when President Donald Trump signed it into law in July. PYMNTS reported at the time that the long-awaited policy framework could signal a new era for crypto in the U.S., or at least for the stablecoins the GENIUS Act was written to regulate.\nPYMNTS reported April 8 that the GENIUS Act remains the first and only\u00a0crypto policy signed into\u00a0law\u00a0and that regulators are now operationalizing it to create a unified supervisory regime.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Banking Associations Seek Pause in GENIUS Act Rulemaking Process appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-22T19:57:59-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-22T19:57:59-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GENIUS-Act-stablecoin-market.png", "tags": [ "digital assets", "GENIUS Act", "Legislation", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoins", "What's Hot", "Blockchain" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3673457", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/coinbase-lists-tgbp-to-expand-locally-denominated-stablecoin-access/", "title": "Coinbase Lists tGBP to Expand Locally Denominated Stablecoin Access", "content_html": "Coinbase says it has begun listing new fiat-backed stablecoin tGBP.
The post Coinbase Lists tGBP to Expand Locally Denominated Stablecoin Access appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Coinbase says it has begun listing new fiat-backed stablecoin tGBP.\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nThe listing, announced Wednesday (April 22), comes amid what the cryptocurrency exchange describes as a pivotal moment for these digital assets.\n\u201cStablecoins are having their \u2018iPhone moment,\u2019\u201c Coinbase wrote on its blog. \u201cThey are no longer just a tool for crypto traders; they are becoming central to the global payments system. As the global economy moves online, stablecoins are set to become the default way people and businesses move money both globally and locally.\u201d\nThe company noted that the stablecoin market cap has reached over $300 billion, with some projections showing it becoming a $2 trillion asset class by 2028. Last year, stablecoins settled more than $30 trillion in transactions.\nCoinbase said this new listing is also part of an effort to expand access to locally-denominated stablecoins. In this case, the focus is on the U.K.\nThe company added that for the U.K. to become a global crypto hub, it needs to maintain a supportive regulatory environment. The issuer of tGBP, BCP Technologies, is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and has participated in the FCA\u2019s regulatory sandbox.\nDespite the rising popularity of stablecoins, research from the Federal Reserve and PYMNTS Intelligence show the tokens haven\u2019t yet transformed the payment system.\nThe Fed findings, published earlier this month, show that the vast majority of the tokens are not part of the real economy. Rather, they\u2019re \u201csitting idle or circulating within crypto markets instead of being used to pay for goods and services,\u201d PYMNTS wrote.\nThe research shows that less than 1% of stablecoins are used for payments, based on transaction volume and inferred velocity, while close to half of all stablecoins are being used within crypto finance, including exchanges, lending protocols and related infrastructure.\nMeanwhile, the PYMNTS Intelligence research found that more than four in 10 middle market firms report having at least discussed or tested stablecoins, but just 13% report actual use.\nThe gulf between awareness and implementation highlights a continual hesitation among finance leaders. Stablecoins are viewed as potentially useful, but not yet woven into regular financial operations.\n\u201cThe data also helps explain the idle balances identified in the Fed\u2019s research. Firms are not rejecting stablecoins,\u201d PYMNTS wrote. \u201cInstead, they are holding back until the operational case becomes clearer, particularly as they weigh how these tools would integrate with treasury systems and payment workflows.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Coinbase Lists tGBP to Expand Locally Denominated Stablecoin Access appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-22T13:41:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-22T17:49:45-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Coinbase-1.jpg", "tags": [ "coinbase", "digital assets", "News", "PYMNTS News", "stablecoin payments", "stablecoins", "tGBP", "What's Hot", "Blockchain" ] }, { "id": "https://www.pymnts.com/?p=3671459", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2026/podcast-inside-the-9-billion-defi-hack-thats-shaking-cryptos-foundations/", "title": "Podcast: Inside the $9 Billion DeFi Hack That\u2019s Shaking Crypto\u2019s Foundations", "content_html": "Explore more conversations like this\u00a0From the Block.\u00a0
The post Podcast: Inside the $9 Billion DeFi Hack That\u2019s Shaking Crypto\u2019s Foundations appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
\n", "content_text": "Explore more conversations like this\u00a0From the Block.\u00a0\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\nFor the crypto sector, big enough operational crises can be viewed as industry-wide reputational crises.\nAnd by any measure, the April 18 exploit of the Kelp DAO decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, which saw roughly $292 million siphoned from a cross-chain restaking protocol and set off a chain reaction that erased nearly $9 billion from the largest DeFi lending platform, is fast becoming a reputational, even existential, crisis for DeFi.\nIn the latest episode of the \u201cFrom the Block\u201d podcast, PYMNTS CEO\u00a0Karen Webster\u00a0and\u00a0Ryan Rugg, global head of digital assets for\u00a0Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions,\u00a0sat down to unpack why the weekend\u2019s DeFi exploit was not just a technical failure, but a behavioral one.\nUnlike earlier attacks that targeted private keys or flawed smart contracts, this breach struck at the connective tissue of blockchain ecosystems: the messaging layer that enables interoperability across chains.\n\u201cPast hacks were due to stolen keys or bugs in smart contracts, this one was convincing the vault the thief was actually the owner,\u201d Rugg said.\nAs Webster put it, \u201cWe\u2019re learning, literally hour by hour, what happened.\u201d\nDeFi Industry\u2019s Existential Question\nAt the heart of the issues being surfaced by the DeFi exploit are the unavoidable tensions between crypto\u2019s push for open, interoperable systems versus the institutional demand for security and control that has long defined, and in some places limited, blockchain\u2019s evolution.\n\u201cDoes this delay the institutional adoption of DeFi? Maybe,\u201d Rugg said. \u201cIt is going to take some of the confidence out of the market.\u201d\nBut she stopped short of calling the incident a defining setback, noting that any institutionally driven decision will likely hinge on whether firms can implement \u201cproper redundancy and security at every layer where the trust resides.\u201d\nIn other words, the future of DeFi could look less like a radical departure from mainstream finance and more like an extension of it. After all, the weekend\u2019s exploit maneuver struck at the heart of DeFi\u2019s design, its composability.\nBut this incident reveals the flip side: Composability also creates tightly coupled risk. A failure in one protocol can cascade across many, not because of direct exposure, but because assets are reused and rehypothecated across the system.\nIn practical terms, the Kelp DAO attackers forged a cross-chain message that triggered the bridge to release funds that had never been legitimately burned. The exploit hinged on a weakness in the validation process by isolating a single validator acting as a point of failure.\nBut the same features that allow assets to flow seamlessly between platforms, the attack revealed, can also allow compromised collateral to propagate risk system-wide. A failure in one protocol can cascade across many, not because of direct exposure, but because assets are reused and rehypothecated across the system.\nWhile DeFi\u2019s promise has long rested on the idea that transparency substitutes for trust, in moments of stress, that transparency can also accelerate panic as users see risk materializing in real time and exit instantly.\n\u201cYou have to rebuild the confidence,\u201d Rugg said, outlining the standard response playbook: containment, patching vulnerabilities, increasing validator redundancy and engaging enforcement agencies.\nInteroperability Meets Institutional Reality\nThe paradox of DeFi is that it was built to eliminate intermediaries, yet now faces the same challenges that define modern finance: how to manage systemic risk in a highly interconnected system. And the Kelp DAO incident underscored a critical asymmetry afflicting blockchain applications. Despite capital moving instantly across chains, risk signals can often lag.\nInteroperability, for example, is widely seen as essential for scaling digital assets across banks, FinTechs and enterprises. But the very bridges that enable that connectivity are also emerging as the most vulnerable points in the system.\nIn the case of the Kelp DAO exploit, the compromised asset (rsETH) continued to be priced near its expected value by on-chain oracles even after the underlying system had been breached. That mismatch allowed the attacker to extract additional value from downstream protocols, effectively turning a single exploit into a multiplatform liquidity event.\n\u201cThere\u2019s a reason we are still on a permissioned blockchain. We want interoperability and are driving toward that, we\u2019ve heard our clients loud and clear around their desire for multi-bank, multi-asset-like solutions \u2026 but we need to make sure that what we\u2019ve done in our traditional world to ensure safety and soundness now comes into this space as well,\u201d Rugg said.\n\u201cSafety and soundness are first and foremost to large institutions like us,\u201d she stressed, drawing a parallel between DeFi protocols and early internet routing before modern security standards were established.\nStill, the road ahead is a long one. The question for institutional blockchain may not be one of whether true interoperability will arrive, but whether it can do so without compromising the very trust in the financial system it aims to decentralize.\n\r\n\r\nThe post Podcast: Inside the $9 Billion DeFi Hack That\u2019s Shaking Crypto\u2019s Foundations appeared first on PYMNTS.com.", "date_published": "2026-04-22T04:03:01-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-04-23T01:54:43-04:00", "authors": [ { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "PYMNTS", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/author/pymnts/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/679fcf5c2ed5358e99e8e23b22e3b5d761e37bdb76fa7b0e13d8ecd9ff01bf88?s=512&d=blank&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kelp-DAO-foundation-1.jpg", "tags": [ "Citi", "Cybersecurity", "DeFi", "digital assets", "Featured News", "From the Block", "Kelp DAO", "News", "PYMNTS News", "pymnts podcast", "Blockchain" ] } ] }