Tightening KYC regulations and growing scrutiny on the digital economy are triggering more investor demand for privacy-preserving digital assets like Monero. Privacy-preserving cryptocurrency Monero surged to a new all-time high on Tuesday as tightening digital asset regulations contribute to heightened investor demand for privacy coins. Monero (XMR) rose to a new all-time high above $687 on Tuesday, up around 14% rise over the past 24 hours, according to TradingView data. Monero has gained roughly 45% in the past week, becoming the 12th largest crypto by market cap as the total market capitalization of privacy-focused coins rose by 3.5%, and trading volume soared 32%, CoinMarketCap data shows. Read more
By integrating WalletConnect Pay, Ingenico is testing whether stablecoins can function as a practical alternative to card networks in everyday commerce. Payments terminal provider Ingenico has partnered with WalletConnect Pay to enable in-store stablecoin payments across its point-of-sale (POS) systems, marking one of the clearest pushes yet to bring cryptocurrency payments into everyday retail checkout. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Ingenico said the integration allows customers to pay using stablecoins including USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC) and USDt (USDT) directly from their WalletConnect-compatible mobile wallets without relying on traditional card networks. Supported wallets include MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Transactions are initiated at the terminal and are settled through WalletConnect Pay’s infrastructure. Read more
Franklin Templeton is amending institutional money market funds to support stablecoin reserves and onchain cash use without launching new crypto-native products. Franklin Templeton has amended two Western Asset institutional money market funds (MMFs) to plug directly into the emerging US stablecoin regime and tokenized cash infrastructure rather than launching new crypto native products. According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, Franklin Templeton is adapting the two long‑running Western Asset institutional funds so they can be used more directly in US GENIUS‑aligned stablecoin reserve structures and blockchain‑enabled distribution channels, without changing their status as Securities and Exchange Commission‑registered 2a‑7 MMFs. The changes are designed to allow the funds to serve as regulated, government-backed collateral for payment stablecoins and other tokenized cash uses without altering their core regulatory status. Read more