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Mastercard expands on-chain settlement in bet on stablecoins and always-on finance

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Mastercard expands on-chain settlement in bet on stablecoins and always-on finance

Mastercard is expanding its settlement network to support regulated stablecoins, a move that could help bring blockchain-based payments deeper into the plumbing of the global financial system.

The company said Wednesday it plans to offer issuers and acquirers additional settlement options, including intraday, weekend and holiday settlement as well as on-chain settlement using regulated stablecoins. The new capabilities will operate alongside existing fiat settlement processes and are designed to give financial institutions more flexibility in managing liquidity.

Mastercard will initially support settlement using Circle’s USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD and SoFiUSD. The stablecoins will be available across blockchain networks including Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Polygon (POL), Base, Arbitrum (ARB) and XRPL.

While the announcement may appear technical, it reflects a broader shift underway in financial markets. Traditionally, card transactions are authorized instantly, but settlement between banks and payment providers often occurs later in batches and is limited by banking hours. Mastercard’s new framework moves the network closer to an always-on model where value can be transferred and settled around the clock.

“The next phase of stablecoin adoption is about real-world utility, especially in settlement, where timing and liquidity matter most,” Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets, said in a statement.

The significance extends beyond payments. Stablecoins have long been used primarily for crypto trading, but banks, payment firms and asset managers are increasingly viewing them as settlement assets that can move money instantly across borders and outside traditional banking schedules.

The rollout comes as competition intensifies among payment networks and financial institutions seeking to modernize settlement infrastructure. Circle, Ripple, Paxos and other stablecoin issuers have increasingly positioned their products as alternatives to legacy correspondent banking rails for cross-border payments and treasury operations.

Several financial institutions, including Cross River, Lead Bank, CBW Bank, ARQ and Nuvei, are expected to be among the first participants supporting stablecoin settlement in the U.S. and Latin America.



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Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB): One of the Top Stocks in the Jeff Bezos Portfolio

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Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB): One of the Top Stocks in the Jeff Bezos Portfolio


We just covered the Jeff Bezos Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks and Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) ranks 2nd on this list.

In the summer of 2011, Bezos Expeditions participated heavily in the transformative $112 million Series B funding round for Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), which valued the nascent home-sharing platform at just over $1 billion. Led by venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, this capital injection occurred at a time when Airbnb was shifting from a quirky marketplace for couch-surfers into a legitimate global travel alternative. Bezos recognized that Airbnb’s model, which aggregates global lodging inventory without owning a single piece of physical real estate, closely mirrored Amazon’s digital marketplace dynamics. His early funding provided the financial cushion required for Airbnb to expand its international operational teams, navigate complex local regulatory hurdles, and scale its global trust and safety frameworks.

Here’s Why Jim Cramer Is Happy With AirBnb (ABNB)

Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash

Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) recently posted Q1 2026 financials, which highlighted strong international travel demand and substantial operating leverage. The firm posted quarterly revenue of $2.67 billion, representing a 18% year-over-year increase, while net income was $160 million. Total nights and experiences booked expanded by 11% year-over-year, driven by an accelerating recovery across the Asia-Pacific region and cross-border travel trends. Airbnb’s unique business model allowed it to convert a major chunk of its revenue directly into free cash flow, generating an impressive $1.7 billion during the quarter.

While we acknowledge the potential of ABNB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: Growth Stock Portfolio: 12 Stock Picks by Carl C. Icahn and Chris Rokos Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.



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Can dip buyers lift Bitcoin after Mt. Gox moves $730M BTC?

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Can dip buyers lift Bitcoin after Mt. Gox moves $730M BTC?


Collapsed crypto exchange Mt. Gox moved 10,306 BTC worth $730.78 million into a new wallet, likely its own. This marks the first major BTC transfer in 2 months, according to Arkham data.  

Equally, it’s a significant token transfer by Mt Gox as the October deadline to complete creditor refunds nears. 

Mt Gox BTC transfer
Source: Arkham

At the same time, 116.3 BTC, worth $8.2 million, returned to the Mt Gox hot wallet, as change. In the past, such transfers by Mt. Gox have preceded distributions to creditors. 

However, for now, none of the assets have been deposited into exchanges or custody providers. Even after the token movement, the Mt. Gox main wallet still holds 34.5k BTC worth $2.39 billion.

Bitcoin is on a steep slide, but demand holds

Mt. Gox’s latest token transfers occur amid a strong market-wide downturn, although neutral in itself. In fact, Bitcoin extended its bearish streak, breached $70k support, and fell to a 7-week low of $69,277.

As of this writing, Bitcoin [BTC] traded at $69,406, down 4.5% on the daily charts. In a major twist, however, this market drop has created an ideal opportunity to accumulate at a discount.

Bitcoin spot netflowBitcoin spot netflow
Source: CoinGlass

Over the past three days, demand for BTC has recovered significantly amid this drop. As such, $4.45 billion worth of BTC has flowed out of exchanges.

On shorter timeframes, $2.84 billion left exchanges, signaling strong buying activity in the market. Such elevated outflows suggest that investors now perceive BTC as cheap enough to reenter the market.

Historically, Bitcoin has tended to recover on the price charts once buyers aggressively buy the dip.

Can dip buyers lift BTC?

Although dip buyers have returned to the market with strength, Bitcoin’s structure remains extremely weakened. In fact, the Bitcoin Momentum Index Bias indicated that short-term market momentum turned bearish.

As a result, momentum continues to decline, and sellers currently have the upper hand in the market. Thus, the demand observed over the past three days has yet to fully absorb the overall market pressure, leaving it somewhat inadequate.

BTC momentum bias indexBTC momentum bias index
Source: TradingView

On top of that, Bitcoin fell below the MACD SMAs, which are currently stuck between $74k and $77k, further confirming trend strength.

These indicators suggest that, although buyers have tried, their demand is insufficient to trigger a trend reversal. Therefore, the market could see further losses, with $65k as the next support level.

However, if buyers hold on and boost existing bullish pressure, Bitcoin could reclaim $70k and target $74k.

Final Summary

  • Mt Gox moved 10,306 BTC worth $730.78 million into a new wallet after 2 months, as the October deadline nears. 
  • Bitcoin [BTC] market structure remains extremely weakened despite the increased dip buying. 



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UK House of Lords committee calls on Bank of England to reconsider proposed stablecoin restrictions

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UK House of Lords committee calls on Bank of England to reconsider proposed stablecoin restrictions

A U.K. House of Lords committee said the Bank of England (BOE) should reconsider its proposed limits on consumer stablecoin holdings in a new report.

The cross-party Financial Services Regulation Committee of the U.K. Parliament’s second chamber also advised reconsideration of requirements for stablecoin issuers to hold at least 40% of backing assets in central bank deposits yielding no interest in its “Stablecoins: waiting for regulation” report published Wednesday.

Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, such as a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar or the pound sterling.

As central banks and lawmakers have constructed regulatory frameworks for the use and issuance of stablecoins in recent years, the Bank of England has stood out for proposing what many industry figures deemed unnecessarily stern restrictions.

The U.K.’s central bank proposed limits of 20,000 pounds ($27,000) per coin for individuals and 10 million pounds ($13.5 million) for businesses, which some observers said risked making the country uncompetitive compared to neighboring markets which would have no such limitations.

“Given the early stage of the GBP stablecoin market, rather than pre-emptively impose holding limits, the Bank should consider monitoring the growth of the market and imposing holding limits only if the financial stability risks clearly warrant it,” the House of Lords committee said.

The report questioned the rules on backing assets, saying they “could have a significant impact on the business viability of stablecoin issuers in the U.K.”

For its part, the BOE is planning to ease the proposed restrictions, with Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability, admitting they were “overly conservative,” last month.

The BOE is “looking very hard at whether there are different ways we can manage what we think is an important risk as stablecoins come into play,” Breeden said in an interview with the Financial Times.



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As Microsoft seeks to be AI’s center of gravity, CEO Satya Nadella makes the case in San Francisco

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As Microsoft seeks to be AI's center of gravity, CEO Satya Nadella makes the case in San Francisco

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella proclaimed a “new paradigm” on Tuesday in a keynote at the company’s Build conference in San Francisco. He was talking about the advent of agentic AI, but for anyone who has followed Nadella’s company closely in recent years, he could have just as easily been talking about Microsoft.

After taking an early lead in the AI race by forging a close alliance with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI beginning in 2019, Microsoft, and OpenAI, are both now playing catch-up in a heated field of rivals that include Google, Anthropic, Meta, and even SpaceX.

As Nadella kicked off the company’s conference on Tuesday, the CEO delivered a message designed to show the strength and breadth of Microsoft’s AI initiatives, and to re-ignite some of the buzz the company had at the onset of the AI revolution just a few years ago. Even the choice to hold the Build event in San Francisco for the first time since 2016 seemed designed to send a message.

If there was one unifying theme to the sweep of product announcements and partnerships made by company executives, it’s that Microsoft’s portfolio of technology—from AI models to devices to chips—anchors it at the center of the AI industry.

“It’s a new paradigm,” Nadella said of the agentic era. Agents “reason continuously. They generate and run code dynamically. They take actions across files and devices, as well as across the network.”

Nadella announced “Project Solara,” which the company pitched as a purpose-built agentic platform for devices that could include a desktop device and badge that people may wear to interact with their agents.  

The company also revealed a new family of home-grown AI models, including a fresh image model, coding model, and its first reasoning model. Nadella also brought Peter Steinberger, the founder of open-source agent tool OpenClaw, on stage to announce that the trendy personal AI assistant will be integrated into Windows. In addition, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang joined virtually as Nadella detailed major upgrades to custom infrastructure that is optimized for AI workloads and discussed Nvidia’s recently announced PC “superchip” that will pair with Windows. 

Nadella said that Microsoft will be unveiling a Copilot super app this summer that will combine chat, coding, and a function named Autopilot. Fortune on Friday first reported on the super app, a project that will also include Copilot Cowork and is led by Copilot chief Jacob Andreou. Autopilot is designed to connect to an agent named Scout, the first of a new category of agents that Nadella said will be able to join group chats in Microsoft Teams or handle email threads in Outlook.

Microsoft faces immense pressure to prove it is still relevant in an ultra-competitive AI world with many rivals. It’s clashing with Amazon over chips and infrastructure (and for business with OpenAI and Anthropic), while jockeying with the top AI labs for model supremacy. Data center capacity constraints, over-reliance on OpenAI and a Copilot assistant that trails rivals have challenged Microsoft’s early lead.

Microsoft is aggressively fortifying its weak spots. It has more recently given greater priority to train Copilot on its servers, is deploying homegrown chips, and has a new deal with OpenAI that provides it and its longtime partner greater flexibility to compete. 

Nadella in his keynote said Microsoft, and the technology industry, are transitioning from a cloud-native era to an “agent-native stack” he explained as agents executing tasks in both software and hardware environments.

“There are really two stories people can tell about this moment,” he said. “One is that technology concentrates power, reduces human agency, and leaves the society to absorb the consequences. The other is that we use this next wave to unlock opportunity for developers, scientists, enterprises, and every community.

Our job is to make the second story true.”



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Logistics M&A accelerates as WWEX and Auctane form ShipStation Global

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Logistics M&A accelerates as WWEX and Auctane form ShipStation Global


Dallas-based WWEX Group and shipping software provider Auctane have completed their merger, creating a new company called ShipStation Global that executives say will become one of the industry’s most comprehensive AI-enabled logistics platforms for small and midsize businesses.

The newly formed company combines WWEX Group’s freight brokerage and transportation services network with Auctane’s portfolio of shipping technology products, including ShipStation, Stamps.com, Metapack and Packlink.

The merged company is backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, while CVC Funds and other WWEX investors retain minority stakes.

“Small and mid-sized businesses have been forced to stitch together multiple tools and relationships just to keep up,” ShipStation Global CEO Tom Madine said in a news release. “We’re combining the best AI-powered shipping software in the market with one of the country’s most powerful freight networks.”

The merger creates a logistics platform serving more than 3 million customers and handling over 3 billion shipments annually. ShipStation Global’s network includes more than 75 less-than-truckload carriers, 350 regional, national and international carriers, 600 technology partners and approximately 45,000 truckload carriers.

The platform connects parcel, LTL, truckload and international shipping services through a single interface.

ShipStation Global’s portfolio includes ShipStation, Stamps.com, Worldwide Express, GlobalTranz, Metapack, Packlink, Unishippers, JEAR Logistics and BLX Logistics. The company will be headquartered in Texas with offices in Dallas and Austin.

Thoma Bravo, one of the world’s largest technology-focused investment firms, acquired WWEX Group in March.

AI driving a new wave of logistics consolidation

The ShipStation Global launch comes amid a surge of mergers and acquisitions across the logistics, supply chain and transportation technology sectors as companies seek to strengthen artificial intelligence capabilities and expand end-to-end service offerings.

One of the most active acquirers this year has been Coupa. In May, the cloud-based spend management platform announced the acquisition of workflow automation startup Tonkean, just days after acquiring intelligent document processing provider Rossum.

Coupa executives said the deals will help power the company’s growing “agentic trade network,” designed to automate procurement, invoicing and supplier transactions across global supply chains. Financial terms of both acquisitions were not disclosed.

Transportation visibility provider project44 also expanded its AI capabilities in April through the acquisition of LunaPath.ai.

The all-cash transaction added more than 50 AI agents designed specifically for logistics execution and orchestration, enabling automated tasks such as appointment scheduling, proof-of-delivery retrieval, claims initiation and exception management. project44 executives said the acquisition supports the company’s vision of creating an AI-native supply chain platform.

Echo Global Logistics announced in January that it had agreed to acquire Reno, Nevada-based ITS Logistics, creating a combined company with approximately $5.4 billion in pro forma annual revenue.

Echo executives said the deal would combine ITS’ specialized logistics solutions with Echo’s technology platform, analytics and AI capabilities while expanding the company’s scale across North America.

Recent logistics and supply chain mergers and acquisitions

Acquirer / MergerTargetDate AnnouncedStrategic FocusDeal Value

The post Logistics M&A accelerates as WWEX and Auctane form ShipStation Global appeared first on FreightWaves.



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Bitcoin’s compute power dwarfs top 100 supercomputers by 600k times, says Bittensor co-founder

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Bitcoin’s compute power dwarfs top 100 supercomputers by 600k times, says Bittensor co-founder

The infrastructure supporting global computing is undergoing a massive shift. True computing power no longer belongs to isolated corporate data centers, but to open, global networks.

Speaking at the Proof of Talk summit in Paris, Bittensor co-founder and Crucible Labs partner Ala Shaabana highlighted the staggering math behind decentralized networks. To show the audience what distributed computing can do, he stacked the Bitcoin network up against traditional enterprise setups.

“We all know that Bitcoin really dwarfs the top 100 supercomputers,” Shaabana said. “Does anybody know, in comparison, what the hash rate is? It’s over 600,000 times the power of really what these supercomputers can do. And that’s just, really, it’s Bitcoin.”

To understand Shaabana’s comment, it helps to know what Bittensor actually is.

It is a Layer 1 protocol built on the same codebase philosophy as Bitcoin: a hard cap of 21 million tokens, halvings hardcoded into predetermined blocks, with no pre-mine, and no venture capital. Bittensor is a decentralized network that replaces Bitcoin’s hash-puzzle mining with running and validating artificial intelligence.

The same incentive architecture that turned Bitcoin into a computing force 600,000 times more powerful than the world’s top supercomputers is redirected by Bittensor toward AI, organized across 128 specialized problem-solving networks called subnets. Each subnet defines its own goal, and miners compete for TAO token rewards by meeting it, meaning the network’s intelligence is shaped entirely by what it chooses to reward. That design principle, borrowed directly from Bitcoin’s playbook, is the foundation of everything Shaabana argues below.

Shift in long-term bull case

Shaabana’s core logic is simple: if coordination and code could create the world’s most powerful financial computing engine, the exact same blueprint can be applied to AI. By breaking a network down into 128 individual problem-solving neighborhoods or subnets, developers can source global hardware and intelligence without a central tech monopoly.

The trick to making a distributed system work relies entirely on the incentive design. “Show me the subnet, and I’ll tell you what the miners are optimizing for,” Shaabens said, adapting a famous market quote. If you reward participants for raw compute speed, they optimize for speed. If you reward them for data storage, they optimize for storage.

By setting these programmatic goals, open networks naturally attract talent and computing power far more efficiently than standard corporations.

“The long-term bull case is no longer primarily technological,” Shaabana concluded. “It is driven by debt, liquidity, and declining trust in traditional sovereign systems. Subnets really create markets. Intelligence really is no longer locked behind issues of organization; signals will define the truth, and performance is really rewarded.”



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