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IBM Joins Swift's Blockchain: 17 Banks Already Piloting It

Visa Is Shutting Down the Meme Coin Credit Card Loophole

Crypto Funds Just Posted Their Best Week of 2026 — $3.5B in a Single Week

Upcoming IPOs Are Back. Here’s What Investors Should Beware Of

Vitalik Says AI Will Make Crypto More Secure

Visa Is Shutting Down the Meme Coin Credit Card Loophole

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  Buying meme coins with a credit card came with an unexpected perk: some users could earn ordinary credit card points and cash back on their crypto purchases. Visa is now moving to close that loophole. The issue centered on how meme coin purchases were classified by payment processors . Some Crossmint-powered checkouts used merchant category code (MCC) 5815 , a category intended for digital media such as movies, music and audiobooks, rather than a crypto-specific category. That meant a meme coin purchase could look to the card network like a normal digital-media purchase. How the loophole worked Users of Robinhood Wallet and Fomo could purchase certain meme coins using credit cards through Apple Pay or Google Pay. According to The Block's testing, transactions made with Visa and Mastercard cards were classified as digital-media purchases and could earn normal card rewards, including points and cash back. The classification mattered because crypto purchases are generally t...

Upcoming IPOs Are Back. Here’s What Investors Should Beware Of

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  The IPO market is getting busy again, with major private companies across AI, fintech, technology, space and consumer businesses moving closer to public markets. Names such as OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Oura and Strava have appeared in the 2026 IPO pipeline, although the status and timing of individual listings can change. Some companies have filed, while others remain confidential filers or are simply being discussed as potential candidates. That creates an opportunity for investors to gain access to companies that were previously available mainly through private markets. But an IPO can also make it easier to buy into a company before the market has fully figured out what it is worth. The IPO price is not automatically a bargain One of the biggest mistakes investors can make is assuming that getting shares at the IPO price means getting in early at a cheap valuation. The IPO price is determined through the offering process and reflects what the company and its underwriters...

Zcash Holders Just Voted to Make the Network Three Times Faster

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  Zcash holders just approved a major change to how quickly the network processes blocks. In the NU7 upgrade vote, 99.9% of participating ZEC voting power backed cutting block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds . That means transactions can reach their first confirmation faster, without increasing the amount of ZEC created each day. But another part of the vote may matter even more for Zcash's long-term economics. About 97% backed delaying the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM) until February 2031 . What Is the Network Sustainability Mechanism? The NSM is designed to address a long-term question for Zcash: How will the network continue paying miners to secure it as block rewards decline? The mechanism would redirect part of Zcash transaction fees into the network's future reward system. The goal is to create an additional source of support for miners without increasing Zcash's 21 million maximum supply. It is essentially a plan for Zcash's security budget i...

How Crypto Evolved in 2026: Wallets, Stablecoins, Stocks and AI

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  Crypto changed in 2026, but not always in ways that made headlines. You can now use your face to access a wallet, spend stablecoins at checkout, and buy tokenized stocks that live on a blockchain. For many users, these changes do not even feel like crypto anymore. That is the interesting part. The technology is slowly moving into everyday financial products. Your Wallet Is Becoming More Like an App Crypto wallets used to feel like something built for people who already understood crypto. That is changing. Better security, simpler interfaces and biometric authentication are making wallets easier to use. Instead of remembering complicated passwords or handling every transaction manually, users can interact with their assets in ways that feel closer to normal mobile apps. The wallet is no longer just where you store crypto. It is becoming a gateway to payments, investments and digital identity. Stablecoins Are Getting Practical Stablecoins have also moved beyond being mai...

Does a Fed Rate Hike Always Cause Bitcoin to Drop?

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  A Federal Reserve rate hike is often viewed as bad news for Bitcoin. Higher interest rates can tighten financial conditions, strengthen the U.S. dollar and make traditional yield-bearing assets more attractive. But a Fed hike does not automatically mean Bitcoin will fall . What matters is not just what the Fed does, but what investors expected the Fed to do and what policymakers signal about the path ahead. Why Bitcoin Can Come Under Pressure When the Fed raises interest rates, borrowing becomes more expensive and liquidity can tighten across financial markets. Higher Treasury yields can give investors more incentive to hold relatively safer dollar-denominated assets rather than volatile assets such as Bitcoin. A stronger dollar can also create additional pressure on risk assets. That can produce a familiar reaction: higher yields, stronger dollar and weaker appetite for risk. Bitcoin can therefore come under selling pressure around a rate hike, particularly when markets...

The ETH Trade BTC Cannot Offer Wall Street

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  Wall Street now has a reason to look at Ethereum that Bitcoin simply cannot replicate: yield . BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, ETHB, gives investors exposure to Ether while also passing through staking rewards. That creates a different investment thesis from a traditional Bitcoin ETF, where investors primarily depend on BTC price appreciation. BlackRock itself describes ETHB as combining ether-price exposure with rewards from staking. That difference is becoming more important as institutional investors look beyond simply holding crypto. Ethereum is also positioned at the center of the tokenization push. Financial institutions are increasingly exploring blockchain-based versions of stocks, bonds, funds and other assets, giving ETH a second narrative alongside its role as a digital asset. And the money is starting to reflect that interest. BlackRock's Ethereum products have recently attracted strong demand even as flows across the broader crypto ETF market hav...

Coinbase CEO Says Bitcoin Has Bottomed and Eyes $400K

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  Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes Bitcoin may have already reached the bottom of its current market cycle, with the cryptocurrency potentially heading much higher in the years ahead. $400K Bitcoin Target Armstrong said a $400,000 Bitcoin price by 2030 is a reasonable target. That would represent a major increase from Bitcoin's current level of around $79,000. His outlook comes as Bitcoin attempts to recover from a prolonged downturn. Recent technical signals have also turned more positive, with Bitcoin recently forming a bullish golden cross. Why Armstrong Is Bullish Armstrong points to continued growth across crypto, including stablecoins, tokenization and broader adoption. If these trends continue, he believes Bitcoin could enter a stronger growth phase over the next several years. Armstrong's $400K forecast is a long-term prediction, not a guarantee. Bitcoin still faces major risks, including interest rates, market volatility and changing investor sentiment.

Germany is preparing to change how cryptocurrency gains are taxed

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  Germany is preparing to change how cryptocurrency gains are taxed, potentially ending one of the country's biggest advantages for long-term crypto investors. What Is Changing? Germany's Finance Ministry has proposed a 25% flat tax on crypto gains . The new rules would apply to crypto assets acquired from January 1, 2027 , with crypto platforms expected to begin withholding the tax in 2028. Under the current system, individuals can potentially avoid tax on crypto gains when assets are held for more than 12 months. The proposed rules would remove that long-term holding advantage for assets bought from 2027 onward. Are Any Crypto Assets Exempt? The proposal does not appear to create exemptions for specific assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or stablecoins. The main distinction is the date the crypto was acquired . Assets acquired before January 1, 2027 would remain subject to the existing rules, while assets acquired from that date would generally fall under the proposed 25%...

Hunter Biden Is Launching a Meme Coin Called LAPTOP

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A political meme coin war is getting a new contenderand this one is coming from Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden has announced LAPTOP , a meme coin named after the infamous laptop that became a major political story in the U.S. The token is scheduled to launch on Base on September 9 , with a total supply of 1 billion tokens . But the most unusual part isn't the name. It's what happens to the supply. 20% is already earmarked Hunter Biden's project plans to distribute 20% of the total supply to two groups: people who lost money on the $TRUMP meme coin and subscribers to Biden's Substack. That puts LAPTOP directly into the political meme-coin economy that has grown around tokens connected to U.S. political figures. But the project has an even bigger incentive built into its tokenomics. 30% could disappear Up to 30% of LAPTOP's remaining supply could be burned if three specific conditions are met. First, a Democrat must win the 2028 U.S. presidential election. S...

4,000 BTC taken. The coins still haven't moved. 🚨

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Liquid Network lost roughly 95% of its Bitcoin reserve after attackers exploited a validation bug in its infrastructure. The attackers claim they’re “white hats” and say they didn't steal anyone's private keys. Instead, they exploited a flaw that allowed them to withdraw the BTC. Blockstream has since patched the affected nodes. But here's the strange part: The 4,000 BTC hasn't moved since the incident. If the attackers really are white hats, the funds could eventually be returned. If not, the Bitcoin is sitting there as one of the biggest potential crypto thefts of the year. Rescue mission or ransom? The blockchain may have the answer. 👀

Dormant Bitcoin Wallets Are Moving. What Are Long-Term Holders Telling Us?

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  Bitcoin holders who stayed silent for years are starting to move their coins again. That sounds bearish at first. But dormant Bitcoin becoming active doesn't automatically mean long-term holders are selling. The more important question is where those coins are going. In early September, more than 626 BTC that had been sitting in dormant wallets for years moved during the first five days of the month. The coins were worth more than $50 million at the time. For investors, these movements offer a rare look at what some of Bitcoin's oldest holders may be thinking. When dormant Bitcoin moves to an exchange This is the signal traders usually pay the most attention to. If old coins move from long-term storage into an exchange wallet, the holder may be preparing to sell. That can mean: Taking profits after a major price increase Reducing exposure Preparing for a market downturn Or, in some cases, simply moving coins for another reason The important point is that an e...

Altcoins Are Coming to Your Stock Brokerage

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  The biggest change coming to altcoins may not be a new token. It may be where you buy them. For years, buying altcoins meant opening a crypto exchange account and learning a market that operated separately from traditional investing. That gap is getting smaller. Major brokerages including Charles Schwab, E*TRADE and Interactive Brokers are expanding crypto access, bringing more digital assets closer to the platforms investors already use for stocks and ETFs. And investors are already showing which altcoins they want. Solana and XRP are getting the attention The growing access doesn't mean investors are buying every altcoin. Far from it. Solana and XRP are attracting much of the demand through the ETF market. U.S. spot XRP ETFs had attracted roughly $1.68 billion in cumulative inflows by September 1, while Solana ETFs had brought in about $1.31 billion. That tells us something important. Traditional investors are becoming more comfortable with altcoins, but they're...

Privacy Coins Are Back. Is the Altcoin Rotation Real?

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For most of the year, Bitcoin has been the center of the crypto market. Now, some of the market's forgotten coins are suddenly making noise again. Zcash (ZEC) has been leading the move. It jumped nearly 40% over the first week of September, broke above $1,200 and entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. That is a big comeback for a coin that has spent years outside the market's main spotlight. But Zcash isn't moving alone. Privacy-focused assets have started attracting fresh attention, while XRP and several other altcoins are also showing signs of renewed strength. So the obvious question is: Are we finally seeing the beginning of another altcoin rotation? Why privacy coins are suddenly interesting Zcash's comeback has several possible drivers. Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25, giving traditional investors a regulated way to gain exposure to ZEC. The fund had grown to more than $400 million in assets...

Tokenization Just Crossed the Line Into the Future of Finance

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  What if the next big change in your investment portfolio has nothing to do with which stock or crypto you buy but with how those assets move? For years, tokenization sounded like another crypto buzzword. Now, some of the biggest names in finance are starting to build around it. Tokenization means taking a real-world asset such as a stock, bond, Treasury or fund and creating a digital version of it on a blockchain. The idea is simple: make financial assets easier to move, trade and use. And if the technology works at scale, it could change how investors interact with financial markets. Wall Street is starting to move One of the biggest signs came from DTCC , a major piece of America's financial infrastructure. In 2026, DTCC processed real production trades involving tokenized securities, with more than 30 firms participating. The transactions included U.S. Treasuries, equities, repo and securities lending. DTCC plans to launch its tokenization service in October 2026. T...

Google Dodged a Breakup of Its Ad Business

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Google just avoided one of the biggest threats to its advertising empire. On September 2, a U.S. federal judge rejected the Department of Justice's request to force Google to sell AdX , its advertising exchange, despite previously finding that Google illegally monopolized parts of the digital advertising market. Instead of breaking up the business, the court imposed behavioral remedies designed to make Google's advertising infrastructure more accessible to competitors. Google keeps AdX AdX sits at the center of Google's digital advertising system, connecting publishers with advertisers through automated auctions. The DOJ had argued that Google's control over multiple parts of the advertising supply chain created a conflict of interest that could not be fixed simply by changing Google's behavior. Its preferred solution was structural: force Google to divest AdX. The judge rejected that approach. For Google, that's a major win. The company gets to keep the infras...

Nigeria Is Returning to the FTSE Frontier Index

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  Nigeria is about to become visible on another major global investment map. FTSE Russell has named 10 Nigerian companies as newly eligible constituents of its FTSE Frontier Index Series, ahead of the country's return to Frontier Market status on September 21, 2026 . The companies include Dangote Cement, First HoldCo, MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank, GTCO, Aradel Holdings, Nestlé Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Presco and Stanbic IBTC Holdings . Together, the 10 companies represent about ₦67.14 trillion in market capitalisation . Why this matters Nigeria has been outside FTSE Russell's market classification for roughly three years. Its return means Nigerian equities will once again appear more prominently in global frontier-market benchmarks followed by international investors and index-linked funds. That could create a new channel for foreign capital to enter the Nigerian stock market. The biggest beneficiaries are likely to be companies with large market capitalisations and s...

Bitcoin Just Got a Golden Cross. History Says Watch What Comes Next

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  Bitcoin's 50-day moving average has crossed above its 200-day average for the 12th time since 2012 , creating the widely watched “golden cross.” Across the previous signals, nine produced an average 24.9% gain over 90 days . That would put a hypothetical $100,000 position around $124,900 . But history isn't a guarantee. The signal is also a lagging indicator, meaning much of Bitcoin's recovery can happen before the crossover actually appears. So the real question isn't whether the golden cross is bullish. It's whether this time Bitcoin can turn the historical pattern into another sustained move higher.

Bitcoin Just Got Hit by an Oil Shock. Now $75K Is the Line

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  Bitcoin's latest selloff wasn't caused by crypto alone. Renewed U.S.-Iran fighting around the Strait of Hormuz sent another shock through global markets, pushing Brent crude to $94.65 a barrel and sending Bitcoin below $77,000. The move quickly turned into a leverage event. About $115 million in crypto long positions were liquidated within an hour as Bitcoin broke through short-term support levels. Oil is becoming the problem The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world's most important energy routes, so any threat to shipping immediately raises concerns about supply disruptions. That's exactly what markets are pricing in. Brent has since moved even higher, reaching around $95.52 as tensions continued into Friday. Reuters reported that Brent was on track for its strongest weekly gain since July as traders worried about further disruption. For Bitcoin, rising oil prices create another problem. A sustained energy shock can increase inflation pressure, pot...

Binance Added Stock Options for More Than 1,000 Equities

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The line between crypto exchanges and traditional financial markets is getting harder to see. On September 1, Binance launched options on more than 1,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs for eligible users outside the United States. But the more interesting part isn't simply the number of assets. It's how the contracts are structured. Binance is connected to the actual shares Binance's options are physically settled . That means exercising an option can result in the underlying stock or ETF shares being delivered rather than simply paying the trader the difference in price. The infrastructure behind the product is also tied directly to traditional securities markets. Binance's ADGM-regulated broker, Nest Trading Limited, routes orders to Alpaca Securities , which handles execution, clearing, settlement and custody. So a Binance option on an actual U.S.-listed security ultimately connects to the underlying equity. That's much closer to how conventional stock op...

Ethena Launched a Neobank App in 48 Countries

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  Ethena is taking USDe beyond crypto trading. On September 1, Ethena Pay launched its beta across 48 countries , bringing savings, payments, card spending and transfers into a single self-custodial app. Every balance is denominated in USDe , Ethena's synthetic dollar. The United States and European Union aren't included in the initial rollout, with expansion dependent on local regulatory requirements. Three tiers, different rewards Ethena Pay has three membership levels: Standard, Pro and VIP . Standard is free and offers 5% APY on balances up to $5,000. Pro requires either locking $2,000 worth of ENA or referring 10 users. It raises the rate to 6% APY on balances up to $15,000. Then there's VIP. Users can qualify by locking $10,000 in ENA or referring 50 people . VIP keeps the 6% rate but increases the eligible balance to $50,000 . The card adds another incentive Ethena Pay also comes with a payment card that pays cashback in AVAX . Standard users receive 4%...

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