FinTech

Mastercard has announced an expansion of its on-chain settlement capabilities, further betting on stablecoins and always-on financial infrastructure. According to CoinDesk, this move signals that traditional financial institutions’ integration of blockchain technology is accelerating, with stablecoins showing increasingly broad application prospects in cross-border payments and instant settlement. Analysts believe this willdrive the transformation of stablecoins from crypto trading mediums into mainstream financial instruments.

Prediction market platform Kalshi confirmed a $1 billion raise at a $22 billion valuation. Institutional trading volume surged 800% over the past six months, with annualized trading activity reaching $178 billion. The funding highlights the explosive growth of the prediction market industry.

Citi announces the launch of ‘Arc,’ an AI agent platform designed to scale autonomous AI agent technology across banking operations, marking a new phase in financial industry AI adoption.

Fintech giant Stripe unveiled Link at its annual conference — a digital wallet that integrates with autonomous AI agents, allowing them to securely shop and pay on behalf of users.

Elon Musk is pushing forward with plans to transform X into a super app, with its banking feature nearing launch, marking a critical step in X’s evolution toward a comprehensive financial services platform.