Crypto & Web3

Stablecoin developments were a recurring theme across several newsletters. American Banker Fintech covered the launch of Open Standard's "shared stablecoin" and examined Tether's Iran problem as a bank partner issue. Banking Dive Newsletter reported that Fiserv's stablecoin system has started operating. Lombard Notes addressed the inevitability of local stablecoins, while Payments Wrap Up covered a test by Lloyds and Visa of faster, round-the-clock cross-border settlement using stablecoins. Fintech Notebook covered signals about Chime's stablecoin strategy, and Stack and Story reported on a Senate report concerning USDT's role in an Iran finance web, as well as Circle and Hyperliquid's lobbying efforts to rewrite MiCA.

Stack and Story also provided extensive coverage of Bitcoin and Ether markets, including a quarter in which Bitcoin ETFs saw $6.3B in flows that the newsletter said hides a fade, a $3.1B BTC ETF streak alongside ETH flipping red, a report on Bitcoin ETFs flipping green while Ether leaks, and an examination of IBIT flows said to hide a basis trade rather than belief. The same newsletter covered Binance's EU loophole drawing regulator heat and, separately from American Banker Fintech's framing, examined whether AI tracing of the Bitget hack mattered.

Bankless covered a range of topics including a rally in CryptoPunks, described in two separate posts, as well as Blast L2 winding down with an Oct. 26th withdrawal deadline. The newsletter also reported on the Ethereum Foundation launching zkAPI for private AI payments, Derive V3's ambitions in onchain options, NEAR's role in stopping Bitget's hackers without breaking privacy, Bitwise teasing a NEAR ETF launch, and Coinbase completing its U.S. derivatives stack with CFTC approval.

Other newsletters touched on related subjects without extensive elaboration. The Fintech Blueprint published a podcast on Stripe's Tempo and its work on-chain cash settlement, featuring Head of Market Development Simon Taylor. Fintech Wrap Up referenced reports covering distributed ledger technology and the future of payments in Canada, AI agents paired with stablecoins, and closing the agentic adoption gap.