Stablecoins in APAC are accelerating.And Polygon is powering the majority of it, accounting for 91% of all stablecoin transfer volume in the region 👇 https://t.co/Imoc4VcqA2 ...

RT Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan)The folks saying this winter is worse than 2018 or 2022 don't remember 2018 or 2022.In 2018, we had $3000 bitcoin and a "global computer" with no applications and limited throughput. In 2022, we had a total market collapse and a regulator that wanted to put us out of business.Today, we have stablecoins going to $3 trillion, tokenization going to $200 trillion, a positive regulatory climate, better tokenomics, BlackRock and Apollo building on DeFi, massively built out infrastruct ...

🗞️ Need to catch up on the news? Here's our top 10 from today:🔸 CFTC Chair Michael Selig says the agency will no longer sit idly by while overzealous states undermine federal jurisdiction over prediction markets.🔹 Meta secures patent for AI technology that mimics deceased users' social media activity and continues posting and messaging on their behalf.🔸 Germany's central bank president advocates euro-pegged stablecoins and retail CBDC to reduce EU reliance on US dollar payment systems.🔹 Standard Chartered s ...

🇪🇺 NEW: Germany's central bank president advocates euro-pegged stablecoins and retail CBDC to reduce EU reliance on US dollar payment systems. https://t.co/0nsd1h47Yq ...

🇩🇪 JUST IN: Germany’s central bank president said euro-pegged stablecoins and a retail CBDC could strengthen EU payment independence as US dollar-backed coins gain regulatory momentum. https://t.co/Ky4ALh8rpB ...

RT Peter (📖, ✍️, 🔑) (@petertherock)Last week in stablecoins on @0xPolygon was madness:→ Polygon reached a new weekly high of 28M @USDC transactions, surpassing Solana’s 22M to become the most active USDC chain across the ecosystem (h/t @AlliumLabs)→ USDC transfers also hit a weekly record 103M, giving Polygon 46% market share and 2.6x the transactions the next largest chain did→ Across all USD stablecoins, Polygon recorded 32.6M transactions, up 67% over the observed period and now just 0.6M behind second-p ...

Core Viewpoint - Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggests that hedging on prediction markets could provide price stability similar to stablecoins, potentially making fiat currency unnecessary [1][2]. Group 1: Current State of Prediction Markets - Buterin argues that prediction markets are currently over-converging to short-term bets, which lack long-term societal value, leading to an increase in "corposlop" [1]. - He emphasizes the need for prediction markets to shift focus from short-term cryptocurrency price bets and sports betting to more meaningful applications [1]. Group 2: Proposed Use Case for Prediction Markets - Buterin proposes that prediction markets should be utilized for hedging, allowing users to mitigate losses by betting on scenarios that could negatively impact them [3]. - An example provided is a shareholder in a biotech company betting on a political party's election victory that would harm the company, thus creating a win-win situation for the bettor [3]. Group 3: Alternatives to Stablecoins - Buterin critiques stablecoins for not being truly decentralized as they are pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, which undermines their intended purpose of providing price stability [4]. - He suggests that instead of creating an "ideal stablecoin," the focus should be on eliminating the concept of currency altogether [5]. Group 4: Personalized Prediction Markets - The vision includes creating prediction markets for major categories of goods and services, allowing users to buy positions based on their expected future expenses [5]. - Each user would have a local LLM (Large Language Model) that understands their expenses and offers a personalized basket of prediction market shares [6].

Group 1 - Mastercard Inc is considered one of the best long-term stocks to buy on the NYSE [1] - Truist Financial launched its first open banking integration with Mastercard's open finance platform, allowing secure connections of financial data to fintech apps [1][3] - Truist reported $548 billion in assets at the end of 2025, emphasizing customer control and trust in digital experiences [3] Group 2 - Daiwa Securities upgraded Mastercard from Neutral to Outperform with a price target of $610, citing positive factors for the stock [3][4] - The renewal of Mastercard's credit card agreement with Capital One reassures investors about the company's outlook [4] - Stablecoin payments are viewed as potential earnings opportunities for Mastercard rather than a threat [4] Group 3 - Potential credit card regulations by the Trump administration are expected to be relaxed, which could benefit Mastercard [5] - Mastercard announced the launch of an AI agent suite for enterprises, aligning with the rapid growth of AI tools in the financial services sector [5] - The market for AI tools in financial services is projected to reach $97 billion by 2027 [5] Group 4 - Mastercard is a global payments processor with solutions that include credit card, debit card, and cyber services [6] - The company aims to make payment transactions simple, safe, and accessible [6] - Mastercard has been in business since 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York [6]

Core Viewpoint - Standard Chartered has significantly reduced its end-of-year price target for XRP by 65%, revising it from $8 to $2.80 due to the recent downturn in the crypto market [1] Market Performance - The digital asset market has faced severe challenges, with Bitcoin experiencing a 28% decline over the past month, reaching a low of $60,000 before a slight recovery [2] - XRP has also struggled, briefly dropping to $1.16, its lowest price in 15 months, and is currently down approximately 28% over the last month [3] XRP's Recent Trends - XRP started 2026 positively, with a 25% increase in the first week, driven by ETF inflows and favorable regulatory conditions [4] - The total amount locked in XRP ETFs peaked at $1.6 billion but has since decreased by 40% to just over $1 billion as of February 13 [4] Broader Crypto Forecasts - Standard Chartered has also revised its year-end targets for other cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin from $150,000 to $100,000, Ethereum from $7,000 to $4,000, and Solana from $250 to $135 [5] - The bank anticipates that XRP will perform similarly to Ethereum, benefiting from the development of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets [5] Legislative Developments - A potential catalyst for XRP's price recovery is the Clarity Act, a significant crypto market bill currently under consideration in the US Senate [6] - US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the passage of the Clarity Act could aid in the recovery of the crypto market [6] - Progress on the Clarity Act had stalled due to disagreements among banking leaders and crypto executives, but recent discussions have been described as productive [7]

📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ Lyn Alden joins us to make sense of the “everything, everywhere, all at once” macro moment. A fourth-turning-style unwind of the long-term debt cycle, rising fiscal dominance, and a rare, headline-level clash over Fed independence—plus what a Kevin Warsh Fed might actually do under real-world constraints. We dig into the “gradual print” era, why gold is ripping, how a more multipolar monetary order could emerge (gold, ...