The FCA has urged clubs to rethink deals with unauthorized crypto and trading sponsors, warning that fans risk losing all their money and teams face legal and reputational fallout. Update (June 3, 1 pm, UTC): This article has been updated to include a comment from a spokesperson at BingX. The United Kingdom's financial regulator has warned football clubs, including those in the Premier League, to avoid sponsorship deals with unauthorized financial companies amid concerns that fans are being pushed toward risky crypto and trading platforms with no protections. In a Wednesday press release, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said several unauthorized firms, including crypto businesses and online trading platforms, are using football sponsorships to target “unwitting” supporters. Read more
The payments giant said USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD and other stablecoins will support new settlement options across multiple blockchains. Mastercard announced its plans to expand its settlement capabilities to let issuers and acquirers settle some card transactions using regulated stablecoins. On Wednesday, Mastercard said the new capabilities will include intraday, weekend and holiday card settlement, supporting both fiat currencies and onchain settlement through regulated stablecoins. The company said the new options are designed to give its partners more flexibility in managing settlement liquidity and timing. The expansion shows stablecoins moving deeper into mainstream financial infrastructure as major payments networks test tokenized dollars for settlement. It follows Mastercard securing a New York BitLicense in May, allowing its US transaction services unit to conduct regulated digital asset business activity in the state. Read more