Polygon has successfully tested a new agent payment system that processed more than 11 million verified payment updates per second across 25 hubs while maintaining final settlement anchored to Polygon Chain. The development comes amid growing industry focus on AI agents as potential drivers of cryptocurrency adoption.
Industry leaders warn that AI agents could enable crypto hacks far exceeding today's billion-dollar breaches, even as adoption accelerates with Coinbase's x402 protocol processing 14 million AI agent payments over the past month, primarily in USDC on Base and Polygon networks.
Visa is searching for a new stablecoin settlement and over-the-counter partner with cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the U.S., Canada, UK, and Singapore following Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK, the payments firm Visa had previously been working with.
MoneyGram is extending its MoneyGram Ramps cash-to-crypto service to the Solana blockchain, expanding its global cryptocurrency-to-cash offerings. The announcement was made by Chairman and CEO Anthony Soohoo at Consensus 2026.
Western Union has partnered with stablecoin infrastructure provider Rain to launch Stablecard, a digital wallet and Visa-branded card that allows users to hold and spend USDPT, Western Union's US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Anchorage on Solana. The product is now available in 37 markets globally.
Visa announced the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an infrastructure layer allowing banks and financial institutions to integrate stablecoin payments into its network serving over 200 million merchants. The move comes as Japan's JCB card network also partnered with Circle to test USDC stablecoin payments across 40 million merchant locations.
Visa announced the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an infrastructure layer allowing banks and financial institutions to integrate stablecoin payments into its network serving over 200 million merchants. The move comes as Japan's JCB card network also partnered with Circle to test USDC stablecoin payments across 40 million merchant locations.
JCB, Japan's largest bank card issuer with 140 million users worldwide, has announced a partnership with Circle to integrate stablecoin payment capabilities into its network, bringing cryptocurrency payments to regular retail stores.
Swift announced its blockchain-based ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 banks from six continents preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenized deposits for 24/7 cross-border payment availability. The system moved from concept to activation in nine months.
Ripple and Bitso are expanding their payments partnership by integrating Bitso's Mexican peso-backed stablecoin MXNB onto the XRP Ledger's decentralized exchange, targeting regulated liquidity for cross-border settlement in the US-Mexico corridor.
MoneyGram launched MGUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain, issued by Stripe-owned Bridge. The stablecoin will power services across MoneyGram's global network of 60 million customers and 500,000 retail locations.
MoonPay introduced the MoonAgents Card, a stablecoin debit card enabling AI agents to spend directly from self-custodied wallets at any Mastercard merchant. The card links onchain wallets to traditional payment rails without requiring preloading or moving assets offchain.
Western Union announced it will launch USDPT, a Solana-based stablecoin, next month to serve as an alternative to SWIFT for agent settlements. The company is also introducing a 'Stable Card' for global consumer payments and a network connecting digital wallets to its retail infrastructure.
The OCC released a 376-page proposed rule on February 25, 2026, marking the first substantive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuance under the GENIUS Act. The proposal covers licensing, 100% reserve backing, a two-business-day redemption window, a $5M minimum capital floor, and a strict prohibition on paying yield to holders.
