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Visa Launches Stablecoins Advisory Practice to Guide Banks and Businesses Through the Next Phase of Digital Payments
Visa is making a very deliberate move deeper into the stablecoin economy, announcing the launch of its new Stablecoins Advisory Practice under Visa Consulting & Analytics, a step that feels less like a side experiment and more like infrastructure thinking finally catching up with market reality. The tone of the announcement matters here: this is not framed as speculation or hype, but as a value-added advisory service aimed squarely at banks, fintechs, merchants, and enterprises that are already feeling pressure to decide whether stablecoins belong in their payments stack, and if so, where exactly. With the stablecoin market now exceeding a $250 billion capitalization and Visa’s own stablecoin settlement volumes accelerating toward a $3.5 billion annualized run rate as of late November, the company is positioning itself as both guide and gatekeeper, helping clients navigate market fit, strategy, and real-world implementation without breaking their existing systems in the process.
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Klarna × Privy: Rethinking the Crypto Wallet for Everyday Users
Klarna quietly crossed an interesting line this week, the kind that only looks obvious in hindsight. The global digital bank and flexible payments provider has signed a research partnership with Privy, the wallet infrastructure platform owned by Stripe, to explore and co-design potential wallet solutions aimed at powering a new generation of crypto products for Klarna users. It’s not a product launch yet, and that restraint matters. This is framed as research, exploration, and design — Klarna taking a measured step into infrastructure rather than hype, which already tells you something about how seriously it’s approaching crypto this time around.
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N3XT Launches Fully Blockchain-Powered Bank for Programmable B2B Payments
N3XT introduced what it calls the first fully blockchain-enabled commercial bank, designed for instant, programmable B2B payments. Its infrastructure supports conditional settlement, automated workflows, and composable financial logic — capabilities that could sharply reduce friction in cross-border transactions. The launch reflects a broader movement toward institutional-grade blockchain rails aimed at modernizing global payment systems rather than serving speculative retail markets.
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Ostium Labs Raises $24M to Disrupt Global CFD Trading on Blockchain Rails
Ostium Labs, Co., landed fresh attention this week after announcing $24 million in new funding that positions it squarely at the center of one of the most interesting shifts in market infrastructure. The company behind the Ostium protocol—an onchain perpetuals platform built entirely on blockchain rails—secured a $20 million Series A co-led by General Catalyst and Jump Crypto, paired with an earlier unannounced $4 million strategic round, bringing its total funding to $27.8 million.
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Datavault AI Lands $150 Million Bitcoin Investment to Power Blockchain Data Exchanges
Datavault AI Inc. (Nasdaq: DVLT) has signed a $150 million securities purchase agreement with Scilex Holding Company (Nasdaq: SCLX), a deal executed entirely in Bitcoin at spot prices via Coinbase. The funding, split into two tranches—an initial $8.07 million closing on September 26, 2025, and a $141.93 million follow-up pending shareholder approval—will accelerate Datavault’s blockchain-secured data trading platforms and supercomputing infrastructure.
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