RT Santiment (@santimentfeed)🗣️ According to our social media data, the top trending stories driving crypto markets today are:🇺🇸 Fed Hawkish Message: Reporters and traders replayed Powell’s hawkish FOMC message: the Fed held rates at 3.50–3.75% and said no cuts until clear inflation progress. Powell flagged rising near‑term inflation from energy shocks and kept the dot plot at one cut in 2026. Markets parsed higher inflation odds and fading rate‑cut hopes, sending short‑term volatility in risk assets like B ...

RT Brother Lyskey 🥷 (@Lyskey)The market for privacy on Bitcoin is huge. Now imagine that across all ERC-20 tokens.This upcoming launch basically means:- private BTCFi- private stablecoins- private AI agent payments (z402)Above all, it creates a new revenue engine for the entire ecosystem.Very excited about the direction Starknet is taking. ...

Core Insights - Circle stock (CRCL) has gained 22% this week, reaching above $100 for the first time this year, despite pressures from the U.S.-Iran war on risk assets [2][3][5] - The stock is up 26% year-to-date (YTD) and is one of the few crypto stocks performing positively amid a bear market for crypto prices [4][6] Market Performance - CRCL stock closed the week at almost $102 after peaking above $108 on March 5 [3] - The stock's rally occurs alongside a broader market context where crypto prices have faced corrections due to geopolitical tensions, particularly with oil prices rising above $90 [5][6] Adoption and Future Predictions - Circle is focusing on AI agent payments, with CEO Jeremy Allaire stating that USDC is the most widely used stablecoin among AI agents [6] - A market analysis predicts that CRCL could rise to $120 if the bullish trend continues, supported by increased adoption of USDC, which accounted for $1.28 trillion of the record $1.78 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume last month [7] Strategic Positioning - Circle aims to dominate the AI agent payments sector, competing against other stablecoin issuers like Tether and Ripple [8] - Allaire emphasized the potential of stablecoins in AI commerce, highlighting their advantages over traditional payment systems [8]

x402 protocol hit 50m+ transactions for AI agent payments. all settling in USDC on Base. google's agent payments protocol also USDC. tether has zero presence in machine-to-machine commerce. when your trading bots pay your research bots, they won't be routing through offshore banking rails. the stablecoin war isn't about market cap. it's about which rails the machines choose. ...

What if every HTTP request could pay instantly? 💡x402 reactivates 402 “Payment Required,” unlocking microtransactions, AI agent payments, and chain-agnostic instant settlement.The internet finally has learned to transact.https://t.co/ZGnY0p51UP ...

Group 1 - The core viewpoint is that payments are expected to be the next significant use case for the cryptocurrency industry, with a focus on stablecoins and cross-border transactions [1][2] - Coinbase's CEO highlighted the $40 trillion annual volume of cross-border payments, with 75% being business-to-business, indicating a strong growth potential for stablecoins in this area [2] - The integration of payment features into Coinbase's retail app and the new Base app is seen as a powerful development, enhancing the company's role in the payments market [2][3] Group 2 - Coinbase reported a successful third-quarter earnings, surpassing expectations on both revenue and profit [4] - The CEO is advocating for cryptocurrency market structure legislation to be passed by the end of 2025, noting a bipartisan consensus on the issue [4] - Following the earnings report, Coinbase shares experienced a 3.31% gain in after-hours trading after a 5.59% decline during regular trading [5]

Protocol Adoption - BNB Chain projects are adopting the x402 protocol, aiming to change traditional online payment systems plagued by inefficiency and high costs [1] - CHI Labs is hosting a discussion on October 29th regarding the adoption of the x402 protocol on BNB Chain [1] Innovation and Future Trends - BNB Chain is becoming a hub for innovation in AI agent payments [1] - The industry is inviting ecosystem builders to pioneer a new future for AI agent payments [1]