Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge aim to expand stablecoin-linked Visa cards to 18 countries, and plan 100-plus by the end of the year, while testing stablecoin settlement with Lead Bank. Global payment giant Visa is expanding its stablecoin card partnership with Stripe-owned Bridge, expanding the rollout of stablecoin-linked Visa cards worldwide and testing onchain settlement. Visa and Bridge are expanding their joint card program to 18 countries, with plans to reach more than 100 across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East by the end of the year, according to a Tuesday announcement. The expansion follows the program’s initial launch in April 2025, which first supported markets in Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Read more
Strive’s Joe Burnett argues AI-driven deflation may force looser policy, pushing Bitcoin toward $11 million a coin by 2036 and a $230 trillion market cap. Technological deflation driven by artificial intelligence could help push Bitcoin above $10 million within a decade by pressuring central banks to keep expanding the money supply, according to a report from Strive strategist Joe Burnett. Burnett, Strive’s vice president of Bitcoin strategy, said in a report published Monday that faster productivity gains from AI will push down prices across goods and services, squeezing margins and prompting policymakers to respond with sustained monetary expansion. His “base case” calls for Bitcoin (BTC) to reach $11 million in the first quarter of 2036, he wrote. The forecast rests on a set of aggressive assumptions, including that Bitcoin would grow to about 12% of the value of global financial assets and that global wealth would compound at 7% annually through 2036. With Bitcoin currently accounting for about 0.2% of al...
Ether needed to hold a key support recently established at $1,800, coinciding with the lower trend line of a classic chart pattern that warns of a drop below $1,500. Ether’s (ETH) rally stalled late Monday just above $2,000 due to stiff overhead resistance, as the technical setup suggested that downward momentum would increase if the ETH/USD pair breaks below $1,800. Key takeaways: ETH price must hold above $1,800 to avoid another leg down. Read more
The move follows a 52.58% Snapshot vote on a $42.5 million funding package for Aave Labs, now headed to the ARFC stage before any binding onchain decision. The Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), a major governance delegate and service provider within the Aave ecosystem, said it will not renew its engagement with the Aave DAO and plans to wind down over the next four months. In a statement on Tuesday, ACI founder Marc Zeller said the organization would continue governance activity and complete outstanding commitments before transferring its infrastructure and responsibilities to the DAO or successor providers. “The Aave Chan Initiative was built for Aave. Without a future in the Aave ecosystem, the name no longer applies. ACI will wrap up as our obligations conclude,” Zeller wrote. Read more
Big Four firm Deloitte attested to $17.6 million in reserves backing USAt, Tether’s new US-regulated stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. Deloitte & Touche, one of the Big Four accounting firms, issued an independent attestation on the reserve report backing USAt, a new US-regulated stablecoin from Anchorage, which is issuing USAT with Tether’s support. In a letter dated Feb. 27, Deloitte said it examined Anchorage’s assertion that the USAt (USAT) Reserve Report was prepared in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ 2025 criteria for asset-backed, fiat-pegged tokens. The report covers reserves as of Jan. 31, 2026. “In our opinion, management’s assertion that the USAt Reserve Report is prepared in accordance with the criteria set forth therein as of the Report Date is fairly stated, in all material respects,” Deloitte wrote. Read more
Bybit says most of the $300 million “saved” came from users backing out after real-time warnings, highlighting how exchanges are shifting from recovery to preemptive fraud stops. Bybit said it blocked or disrupted more than $300 million worth of suspected scam-related withdrawals in the fourth quarter of 2025 after rolling out an AI-assisted risk monitoring system designed to flag malicious transactions before funds leave the exchange. In a company blog post, Bybit said its system flagged about $500 million in withdrawal requests during the quarter and that more than 4,000 users were “protected” after the platform issued real-time risk alerts or blocked transactions outright. Bybit’s head of group risk control, David Zong, told Cointelegraph that much of the $300 million total reflects withdrawals users voluntarily cancelled after seeing warnings, meaning the funds remained in their accounts rather than requiring clawbacks or reimbursement. Read more
Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi said she had no knowledge of the token, as Kyodo reported the FSA was considering whether unregistered operators were involved. A cryptocurrency using the name of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi briefly surged to a market value of about $27.7 million before sliding sharply after Takaichi publicly denied any connection to the token. In a statement posted on X, Takaichi said she had no knowledge of the “Sanae Token,” adding that neither she nor her office had granted any approval related to it. She said the clarification was issued to prevent public misunderstanding. “Due to the name, it seems there are various misunderstandings, but regarding this token, I have absolutely no knowledge of it, nor has my office been informed about what this token entails,” she wrote. Read more