Headlines That Crypto Investors Might Have Missed

Forbes

a day ago

Crypto adoption is accelerating, although investors might have overlooked some important ... More developments
With the debate and coverage surrounding the Big Beautiful Bill that has continued its bruising journey through both houses of Congress dominating business headlines and media coverage, crypto investors might feel that issues pertaining to the sector have been relegated to the back burner. This could not be further from the truth, as even in the BBB there had been potential conversation of inclusion of an amendment to address the taxation issues related to crypto miners and stakes. Even though this amendment, proposed by Senator Lummis, was not ultimately included in the bill itself, the fact that this crypto taxation issue has made it to such high levels of debate should be seen as positive for potential future tax alterations.
As the crypto landscape continues to evolve and become part of the ongoing policy conversation in the United States, as well as in other nations, it is paradoxically also a time for some investors that might feel like crypto issues are receding from the headlines. Geo-politics and political debates do tend to attract attention and focus at the expense of every other issue, but let's take a look at two major developments that crypto investors might have overlooked during this busy period for busy and political news.
Circle and Ripple Becoming Banks
In addition to the rapid entrance by TradFi institutions across the globe into the blockchain and cryptoasset space, and these efforts have been substantial in nature, two of the largest crypto native firms in the world are making moves to enter the banking sector. Following a highly successful IPO, which in turn follows years of proving itself to be a stablecoin issuer willing to work with regulators and policymakers, Circle has applied for a national trust charter to operate under the name First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. If approved by the OCC this bank would both oversee the management of reserve assets back stopping USDC as well as offering digital asset custody services to institutional customers. In addition this charter would help Circle fulfill expected requirements of the GENIUS Act.
Ripple, which recently issued the RLUSD stablecoin to expand existing cross-border payment solutions, has also submitted an application for a national banking license to the OCC. Although currently regulated by the NYDFS, the OCC application – if approved – would enhance the reporting, transparency, and compliance requirements for both Ripple and its native stablecoin. Interestingly the application for a national banking license occurred almost simultaneously with the announcement that Ripple was dropping its appeal against the SEC related to the long running legal dispute between the firm and the SEC.
With these two leaders of the crypto space actively working to enter the TradFi banking sector, stablecoins (those issued by these two and others) look set for even larger adoption going forward.
Visa and Mastercard Embracing Stablecoins
In another headline related to the fast growing stablecoin sector of the cryptoasset landscape, payment giants Visa and Mastercard area rapidly pivoting to embrace stablecoin and other tokenized payments. Specifically, the $187 billion in fees paid by merchants annually has presented a lucrative opportunity for firms such as Shopify, Coinbase, and Stripe allowing payments to operate outside of established merchant-processor channels. Both Visa and Mastercard had previously been involved in the crypto and stablecoin payment sector, but have recently doubled down on these efforts.
Specifically, Visa is allowing banks to deploy tokens and stablecoin settlement directly onto its existing network, and Mastercard has further expanded its partnership with Paxos, which has been growing since launching in September 2021. Regardless of how these partnerships and agreements evolve over time the implications are clear and have been persistently growing over time. Instead of fighting against the trend toward tokenized payments and on-chain transactions, some of the largest payment processors in the world are actively embracing stablecoins and other tokenized payment solutions.
These developments represent one of the most significant developments in terms of crypto adoption, and are happening under the proverbial radar.
Even as the doldrums as summer approach, and the legislative process continues to grind forward for policy solutions, the TradFi sector and crypto native sector are converging at an accelerating rate. Policy advocates and investors of all sizes would be well advised to keep a close eye on this progress.