Author: Isabella Taylor

Alchemy Pay has joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program as the payment gateway seeks closer ties with global payment infrastructure.  Summary Alchemy Pay joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program to explore fiat-crypto payment integration with global commerce. Mastercard says the program links crypto builders with card rails, compliance standards, and payment partners. Related crypto.news coverage shows Mastercard expanding stablecoin, wallet, and crypto card partnerships worldwide this year. The company said the move will support future work on on-chain payments and digital asset commerce. Alchemy Pay said it wants to pursue deeper integration through future initiatives within the Mastercard ecosystem. The company said…

CoinMarketCap has warned crypto users that it has not launched any official token or coin.  Summary CoinMarketCap said it has no official token or coin, making CMC token promotions fake. The warning comes as scammers keep using trusted crypto brand names to target users. Crypto.news has reported similar phishing schemes involving MetaMask, fake links and social media impersonation. The platform said any promotion for “CMC Tokens” should be treated as fake and likely part of a scam. The warning targets users who may see social media posts, messages or ads claiming that CoinMarketCap has issued a token. The platform’s message…

Block’s Square has reportedly enabled roughly one million U.S. merchants to accept Bitcoin payments.  Summary Square’s auto-enrollment push has now enabled roughly one million U.S. sellers to accept Bitcoin payments. Lightning Network support lets customers pay in BTC while merchants receive U.S. dollars by default. Block’s wider Bitcoin strategy includes Cash App rewards, Bitkey custody, and proof-of-reserves reporting across products. The rollout uses the Lightning Network, allowing customers to pay in BTC while sellers receive U.S. dollars by default. The update follows Square’s earlier plan to bring Bitcoin payments to eligible sellers by 2026. Block said in 2025 that the…

Charles Schwab has started rolling out Schwab Crypto to select retail clients, giving eligible users direct access to spot Bitcoin and Ether trading.  Summary Schwab Crypto lets eligible retail clients trade Bitcoin and Ethereum beside traditional investment products. Charles Schwab Premier Bank will custody assets, while Paxos handles execution and sub-custody services. The launch adds fee pressure as Morgan Stanley expands ETrade crypto trading at lower costs. In a Tuesday post on X, the firm said the service lets clients trade crypto beside other investment products across Schwab platforms. The rollout follows Schwab’s April plan to launch the product in…

DeFi mobile platform Legend has announced plans to shut down after nearly two years of operation, adding another closure to a growing list of crypto applications struggling to remain viable. Summary Legend said it will shut down on July 12 after failing to reach a sustainable scale despite raising $15 million from major crypto investors. Former Compound Finance executives launched Legend as a mobile DeFi app designed to combine trading, borrowing, and yield services into one platform. Step Finance, Parsec, Balancer Labs, and ZeroLend have also announced closures this year amid hacks, weaker activity, and funding pressure. According to a…

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has backed Kalshi in its appeal against Ohio regulators, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to affirm federal oversight of prediction markets.  Summary CFTC says Ohio went too far by treating Kalshi’s federally regulated event contracts as sports gambling. The Ohio appeal adds to wider state battles over Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Robinhood. Trump-appointed CFTC Chair Michael Selig says the agency will defend its authority over prediction markets. The agency filed an amicus brief in KalshiEx LLC v. Matthew T. Schuler, et al., on May 12. The case centers on…

Denis Beau urged immediate private-sector mobilisation to build euro stablecoins, breaking publicly with ECB president Christine Lagarde’s slower approach. Summary Banque de France deputy governor Denis Beau called for all relevant European players, public and private, to mobilise now to develop euro-based tokenised money. Beau’s position conflicts with ECB president Christine Lagarde, who favours a central bank digital euro targeted for launch around 2029. Dollar-pegged stablecoins account for 98% of the total stablecoin market, raising fears of digital dollarisation across European payment infrastructure. Denis Beau, deputy governor of the Banque de France, called on May 12 for a “mobilization of…

An Aave vote opening May 15 would transfer 30,765 ETH to Aave LLC as part of the Kelp exploit recovery. Summary A binding Arbitrum Improvement Proposal was launched May 12 with a vote opening May 15 to transfer 30,765 ETH worth $71 million to Aave LLC. A Manhattan federal judge cleared the transfer path on May 9 but preserved the legal claim of terrorism creditors holding $877 million in unpaid North Korea judgments. The 30,765 ETH was frozen by Arbitrum’s Security Council on April 21 after being linked to the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus…

MARA Holdings sold $1.5 billion in bitcoin in Q1 2026, dropping to the fourth largest public BTC holder. Summary MARA sold 20,880 bitcoin at an average of $70,137 in Q1 2026, generating $1.5 billion and using $1.1 billion to repurchase convertible notes. The company now describes itself as a digital infrastructure company, with up to 90% of non-hosted mining capacity under review for AI and HPC conversion. MARA agreed to acquire Long Ridge Energy and Power, a 505-megawatt Ohio gas plant, in a $1.5 billion transaction to anchor its AI data center buildout. MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) sold 20,880 bitcoin…

The DTCC Chainlink Collateral AppChain partnership will automate 24/7 collateral management across global markets by Q4 2026. Summary DTCC will integrate the Chainlink Runtime Environment into its Collateral AppChain to automate pricing, valuation, margining, and settlement across financial markets. The Collateral AppChain targets a Q4 2026 production launch and extends a 2024 Smart NAV pilot that included JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and Franklin Templeton. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov called collateral management the killer application that traditional finance has been waiting for from blockchain infrastructure. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has announced that its Collateral AppChain will integrate the Chainlink Runtime…