Mastercard said it's deepening its commitment to the "always-on" economy, buffing out its stablecoin settlement capabilities.

Mastercard Expands Stablecoin Settlement via Circle's USDC, Ripple's RLUSD and Beyond

Mastercard is expanding its global settlement network to include regulated stablecoins, intraday options, and weekend and holiday processing, giving card issuers and acquirers new tools to manage liquidity beyond traditional banking hours. Key Takeaways Mastercard adds USDC, RLUSD, PYUSD, and three

Mastercard Opens Stablecoin Settlement to 6 Partners Across USDC, RLUSD and PYUSD

Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are reportedly backing a new shared stablecoin platform aimed at faster, cheaper cross-border settlement, according to a Coindesk report published Wednesday by reporter Ian Allison, citing three people familiar with the plans. Key Takeaways Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe a

Report: Payments Giants Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe Back Stablecoin Platform for Faster Payments

Institutional crypto activity took a mixed turn this week as major financial institutions continued expanding into digital assets even while investor demand for Bitcoin funds weakened. Mastercard secured regulatory approval to grow its crypto operations in New York, underscoring how traditional paym

Crypto Biz: Mastercard Expands Crypto Push as Bitcoin ETF Outflows Grow

Mastercard has launched Agent Pay for Machines, a new payment framework that allows AI agents to authorize, coordinate, and settle transactions across its global network. The launch includes more than 30 partners, including Coinbase, Ripple, Stripe, and Solana Foundation, as companies test commerce

Mastercard’s AI Payment Debut Brings Coinbase, Ripple and 30+ Partners Into Agent Commerce

Bitcoin erased Wednesday's post-election rebound Thursday as a technology stock selloff spread to cryptocurrencies, triggering hundreds of millions in forced liquidations.

Bitcoin fell to about $76,500, down nearly 5% and back near levels seen before Wednesday's jump above $80,000. Ethereum shed more than 5%, while other major tokens suffered comparable losses. Roughly 90% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies were in the red during the selloff, while roughly $428 million in crypto longs were liquidated in one hour.

Wall Street offered no shelter. The S&P 500 lost about 2.6% in late-morning trading, while the Nasdaq sank nearly 4%, approaching a correction, or a 10% drop from its peak.

The election is part of the answer, but anxiety over AI spending and interest rates is making the damage worse.

The election rally meets the AI selloff
Democrats' sweep of Congress initially rattled investors expecting tougher oversight of industries favored by President Donald Trump. Stocks rallied Wednesday as traders bet gridlock would limit major policy changes and falling oil prices would ease inflation. Bitwise Europe analyst André Dragosch also told Decrypt the Democratic sweep was "largely priced in."

Thursday brought a different interpretation. Investors weighed what Democratic control might mean for the data-center boom, particularly in states where voters oppose rising electricity costs and new facilities.

And the new political configuration is already moving things. Voters in at least 29 U.S. jurisdictions backed restrictions on data-center development, although not every measure is binding. UBS estimates potential pauses could threaten 30% of planned U.S. data-center capacity additions in 2028, per Reuters.

"We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout," Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told Reuters.

Chipmakers and AI infrastructure companies took the hit first. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped about 8%, while CoreWeave and Nebius fell by double digits. Tesla also tumbled roughly 9.5%, extending losses after Elon Musk spent heavily backing Republican candidates. Investors were also questioning the returns on massive AI investments.

The S&P 500 had the biggest bearish intraday movement in months, dropping almost 4% in minutes.


"The market's moving from the promise of AI to the price of AI," Ted Parkhill, chief executive of Incline Investment Management, told Reuters.

The political shift also threatens crypto's ambitions in Washington. Democratic control complicates efforts to revive the stalled Clarity Act, a proposed federal rulebook for digital assets. The new Congress will not take office until January. Politics alone cannot explain Bitcoin losing thousands of dollars in an hour.

Why Bitcoin's rebound fell apart
Wednesday's rally looked dramatic, but much of its buying pressure came from traders closing losing bets against Bitcoin. About $378 million in short positions were liquidated in one hour as Bitcoin pushed above $80,000, according to CoinGlass data.

Today’s reversal flipped the liquidation machinery in the opposite direction. Exchanges automatically close underfunded longs as prices fall, generating more selling and the enormous red candles visible on Bitcoin's hourly chart.



Crypto was already vulnerable before the election. The market had lost roughly $300 billion in value over the previous month, amid concerns about AI spending, rising borrowing costs and the fallout from last week's multibillion-dollar Binance hack.

Traders also expect another Federal Reserve rate increase in December as inflation persists. Friday's October jobs report could alter those bets; higher rates generally hurt demand for speculative investments.

Technically, Bitcoin's still-forming daily candle is threatening a bearish engulfing pattern, potentially swallowing Wednesday's green body and erasing the breakout in a single session.

The hourly chart shows selling through $79,000 to near $76,100. The next test is $75,000, while reclaiming $80,000 could ease the pressure—but Thursday's candle has not closed, so the pattern remains unconfirmed.

Bitcoin erased Wednesday's post-election rebound Thursday as a technology stock selloff spread to cryptocurrencies, triggering hundreds of millions in forced liquidations. Bitcoin fell to about $76,50

Bitcoin Erases Election Rally as $428M in Crypto Longs Are Liquidated

The crypto industry’s hope of getting a long-awaited regulatory framework through the U.S. Congress suffered yet another blow Tuesday as Democrats won control of both chambers in the U.S. midterm elections.

"For crypto, the Democratic sweep may well be the final nail in the Clarity Act's coffin," Mati Greenspan, a crypto market analyst, a market expert, bitcoin maximalist and founder at Quantum Economics, told CoinDesk, adding that in his opinion it’s a sad day for crypto.

"The bill couldn't even clear a procedural vote in September, when Republicans controlled both chambers,” Greenspan said. “Now the industry faces the prospect of starting from scratch in a divided Washington."

Greenspan is not alone.

"The Clarity Act is likely dead in the water in its current form," said Stefan Muehlbauer, head of U.S. government affairs at blockchain security firm CertiK.

The industry spent heavily on the elections, hoping to secure legislation that sets out how cryptocurrencies and the companies that handle them would be regulated. Crypto political action groups (PACs) spent roughly $170.5 million, according to figures Anton Golub shared with CoinDesk.

The head of exchange go-to-market at Forte and a former crypto exchange executive said Republicans were on the receiving end of at least $125.5 million of that crypto lobbying spend.

Despite control of Congress and a crypto-friendly president, Donald Trump, the Clarity Act failed to advance in September. With Democrats now taking back both chambers, the industry’s chances of passing the bill in its current form have narrowed further, Golub said.

The Forte founder said he agrees the bill is in serious trouble, although he credits Trump with changing how regulators treat the industry today.

"Trump created a friendlier environment for crypto companies, but his family's involvement also gave Democrats a reason to oppose crypto-friendly legislation," Golub said.

One obstacle has been the fight between banks and crypto firms over stablecoin rewards. Banks oppose allowing exchanges to pay customers rewards on dollar-backed tokens, fearing that deposits could leave traditional bank accounts.

Golub said Republicans failed to settle that dispute when they controlled Congress. He believes the bill’s chances of passing in its previous form have collapsed.

But he doesn’t expect the election to stop crypto trading products from expanding. Golub pointed to Tuesday’s decision by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow a single-stock perpetual futures on qualifying U.S. exchanges, though a federal judge indicated Tuesday that these products might not be allowable under the CFTC.

Perpetual futures allow traders to bet on asset prices without owning the underlying assets or having to close their positions on a fixed date. Trading in these contracts has grown as crypto exchanges expand into stocks, commodities and other traditional assets.

"I expect perpetual futures to become a much bigger part of US derivatives trading, beyond crypto into equities and other markets," Golub said.

Muehlbauer expects Democrats to increase scrutiny of crypto firms and Trump’s cryptocurrency dealings through congressional hearings and investigations, particularly over money laundering, cybersecurity and consumer protection.

Brent Fulfer, co-founder of venture capital firm TBV, offered a different view.

"Clarity already died in September with Republicans running the Senate," Fulfer said. He noted that more than 70 House Democrats had supported the bill and argued that legislation with bipartisan support and safeguards against conflicts of interest could last longer.

Jason Fernandes, a longtime crypto entrepreneur and founder of AdLunam, struck a more conciliatory tone, saying he sees an opportunity for the industry to work with Democrats rather than fight them.

"Some regulation and enforcement against bad actors, while it can get scary for even good industry folks, overall it makes the pie much bigger," Fernandes said.

He said crypto companies should support Democratic efforts to clean up the market, provided lawmakers take a measured approach instead of punishing the entire industry for the actions of just a few.


But others are not so optimistic. Shady El Damaty, co-founder of Human.tech, believes Democrats will likely take the opportunity to investigate Trump’s crypto interest, political donations and prediction markets, which they have been promising to do and which CoinDesk has widely reported, including in this in-depth article.

El Damaty singled out Robinhood, which has pushed into tokenized stocks, predicting greater scrutiny of its offerings. His warning comes as Amazon, Tesla, SpaceX and other major companies have objected to a separate plan by OKX and the New York Stock Exchange parent, Intercontinental Exchange, to trade tokenized versions of their shares. Those objections do not directly concern Robinhood.

"Oh, and Robinhood is likely toast," El Damaty said. "I love them, but they will likely come under intense scrutiny for their stock token offerings and aggressive crypto strategy."

The crypto industry’s hope of getting a long-awaited regulatory framework through the U.S. Congress suffered yet another blow Tuesday as Democrats won control of both chambers in the U.S. midterm elec

Democratic Sweep Puts the Clarity Act’s Future in Doubt

Samsung Wallet’s Stablecoin Account is now live for eligible U.S. Galaxy users across roughly 82 million compatible devices. The feature lets users buy, hold, send and receive USDC on Solana directly inside Samsung Wallet, with Coinbase powering USDC as the default dollar stablecoin and Bastion providing regulated custody infrastructure. Users can transfer USDC to compatible wallets and eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries, moving stablecoins from a specialist crypto product toward a mainstream consumer payments and remittance tool. The service requires a supported Galaxy device running Android 13 or later, a Samsung Account, identity verification and biometric authentication; New York residents are excluded from the initial rollout.

Samsung Wallet’s Stablecoin Account is now live for eligible U.S. Galaxy users across roughly 82 million compatible devices. The feature lets users buy, hold, send and receive USDC on Solana directly 

Samsung Wallet Brings USDC on Solana to 82 Million U.S. Galaxy Devices

On 29th and 30th October 2026, Polymarket and Binance each dealt with a separate, publicly acknowledged security incident. In both cases, stolen funds in native POL arrived at addresses on Polygon PoS. At the request of the affected parties, the Polygon PoS block producers (anonymous-91 to anonymous-94) added those addresses to the Bor transaction block list.

5 attacker-controlled addresses hold about 70.49M POL: about 23.86M POL (4 addresses) from the Polymarket incident and about 46.63M POL (1 address) from the Binance incident. The funds cannot move, but nothing in the current setup lets them be returned either.

This proposal asks for a coordinated hard fork that, at a fixed block, sets the native POL balance of each listed attacker-controlled address to zero and credits the same amount to a recovery address that Polymarket or Binance has designated and verified. The change is limited to native POL balances in the addresses listed in this PIP. It is an extreme action that should not be reproduced commonly. Section 5 of the Specification and the Rationale state the conditions under which it is justified here.

On 29th and 30th October 2026, Polymarket and Binance each dealt with a separate, publicly acknowledged security incident. In both cases, stolen funds in native POL arrived at addresses on Polygon PoS

Polygon Proposes Hard Fork to Recover 70.49M POL From Hackers

CFTC Chairman Selig Releases Statement on Equity Perpetual Futures
November 03, 2026

WASHINGTON — CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig today released a statement announcing that perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities can begin trading for the first time on designated contract markets that are dually registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as notice-registered national securities exchanges to trade security futures products. 

Key excerpts from Chairman Selig’s statement:

“Today, perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities (the ‘Equity Perps’) can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges.
…

“This expansion marks a significant step towards allowing U.S. market participants, consistent with applicable law, to avail themselves of the advantages of perpetual futures that have led to their emergence as widely sought tools for risk-management and price-discovery. I believe that bringing these types of innovative products into our regulated markets ensures that American investors and traders can access these products within the protections of the CFTC’s proven regulatory framework, rather than being forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues.
…

“The Equity Perps build on the foundation of the [Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000] and the [CFTC-SEC Memorandum of Understanding]. For too long, regulatory uncertainty left innovative products, such as security futures and equity perpetual futures, stranded in what SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins has aptly described as a regulatory ‘no man’s land’ due to a lack of harmonization between the agencies. The CFTC and SEC have turned the page on that era, and are committed to delivering regulatory clarity for innovative products and a clear path to market, rather than more casualties of jurisdictional disputes.”


CFTC Chairman Selig Releases Statement on Equity Perpetual Futures November 03, 2026 WASHINGTON — CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig today released a statement announcing that perpetual futures contracts 

CFTC clears first U.S.-regulated perpetual futures on individual stocks

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance said Canton Coin is a “digital commodity” based on representations that its value is tied to the Canton Network’s programmatic operation and that the network has no central party. The staff will not recommend enforcement over programmatic minting without registration under the Securities Act or Exchange Act, while stressing that the response is fact-specific and is not a legal conclusion.

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance said Canton Coin is a “digital commodity” based on representations that its value is tied to the Canton Network’s programmatic operation and that the network 

SEC gives Canton Coin no-action relief as a digital commodity

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance added guidance clarifying that unaffiliated token holders participating in open governance are not automatically treated as a central party. The staff also distinguished permissioned from permissionless systems and explained how decentralized governance can coexist with legal entities such as DUNAs, although the FAQ has no legal force.

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance added guidance clarifying that unaffiliated token holders participating in open governance are not automatically treated as a central party. The staff also di

SEC clarifies how decentralized governance affects crypto securities analysis

Aave Labs and co-authors submitted a legal framework to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and Division of Corporation Finance arguing that well-designed decentralized lending protocols and non-custodial vaults should not be treated as securities under the Howey and Reves tests. The proposal emphasizes user control, transparent governance and the absence of a centralized party financing an enterprise.

Aave Labs and co-authors submitted a legal framework to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and Division of Corporation Finance arguing that well-designed decentralized lending protocols and non-custodial vau

Aave submits DeFi lending and vault framework to SEC crypto task force

NYSE added Broadridge, Computershare, Equiniti and Superstate to the transfer-agent network supporting its planned tokenized securities venue. The partners collectively serve nearly 5,000 listed companies, including about 99% of the S&P 500, while the proposed platform aims to offer 24/7 trading, instant settlement and stablecoin-based funding, subject to regulatory approval.

NYSE added Broadridge, Computershare, Equiniti and Superstate to the transfer-agent network supporting its planned tokenized securities venue. The partners collectively serve nearly 5,000 listed compa

Mastercard Expands Stablecoin Settlement via Circle's USDC, Ripple's RLUSD and Beyond

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