Backed, the leading issuer of tokenized stocks, today announced that global cryptocurrency exchange BitMart has joined the xStocks Alliance – a network of infrastructure, exchanges, and platforms set to shape the next era of onchain capital markets.

While payments may not literally make the world go round, the world certainly functions through the transfer of value for goods and services. As we all know, the world is on a one-way express train into a fully digital era. What was once a straightforward process — cash or card — has evolved into a complex, dynamic ecosystem with evolving technology, shifting consumer expectations, and global economic forces. This evolution isn’t happening for its own sake; it is driven by a simple truth: consumers want (more) choice, and merchants who fail to provide that choice risk being left behind.

The Midnight Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the Midnight network, a privacy-focused blockchain, has announced a strategic integration with Fireblocks, an enterprise platform for secure digital asset custody, settlement, trading operations, and stablecoin payments.

HoneyCoin, a transformative global payment orchestration platform, announced a $4.9 million funding round led by the global venture firm Flourish Ventures. Flourish is joined by a dynamic mix of regional and global investors: Visa Ventures, TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, and Antler. The new capital will accelerate the scale of operations, expand its product suite, and bring on new senior hires to strengthen its position as a prominent player in the payments industry.

Payoneer announced a collaboration with Citi to launch real-time, blockchain-enabled treasury transfers

Fasset, a leading UAE-based digital asset platform, has officially launched in the Kingdom of Bahrain, introducing tokenized US stocks as part of its offerings. Bahrain residents can now invest in leading US companies, gold, and cryptocurrencies through a secure, all-in-one financial superapp.

Gowd, the global fintech platform empowering borderless financial services, proudly announces two key additions to its executive leadership: Juan Trujillo as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Raul Guisado as Head of Expansion.

A new report titled “The Rise of OTC and Stablecoins: Africa’s Quiet FX Revolution” sheds light on a transformative shift in how cross-border transactions are conducted across Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings reveal a surge in the adoption of stablecoins and over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency trading, signaling a major evolution in the region’s financial landscape.

Hex Trust, a leading digital asset financial institution specializing in custody, staking, and markets services, has announced support for Etherlink, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 2 network built on Tezos. As part of the integration, Hex Trust now offers custody support for xU3O8, a tokenized uranium asset issued on Etherlink, reinforcing its commitment to the real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem.

Avalanche, the world’s leading smart contract platform announced today that it has partnered with Quboid, a leading blockchain-based loyalty and customer engagement platform. The partnership leverages Avalanche's renowned high performance and latest technological advancements to offer enhanced scalability, security, and decentralization for enterprise loyalty programs. The move marks a major milestone in Avalanche's mission to make the loyalty economy more decentralized and practical for businesses and consumers alike.

Clearpool, an onchain credit marketplace, has announced a strategic partnership with Cicada Partners, an onchain credit risk advisory and management company. As part of the collaboration, Cicada will structure and underwrite PayFi lending opportunities for select borrowers, manage their Credit Pools through Clearpool’s Port Vaults, and serve as the administrative and monitoring agent on behalf of lenders.

Akurateco, a cutting-edge white-label payment software provider, has announced a new integration with Whitepay, a leading cryptocurrency payment gateway. This collaboration allows all Akurateco customers – ranging from payment providers to acquirers and enterprise merchants – to start accepting crypto payments from their end users, offering new levels of flexibility at checkout.

Animoca Brands and Provenance Blockchain Labs (ProvLabs), today announced they have formed a strategic partnership to co-develop NUVA, a vault marketplace that connects real-world asset (RWA) issuers with investors.

Ripple announced it has agreed to acquire Rail, a stablecoin-powered platform for global payments,

MetaMask, the world’s leading self-custodial web3 wallet developed by Consensys, today announced a strategic integration with Sei, a fast-growing Layer-1 blockchain platform. This development brings native support for the Sei network into MetaMask, enabling MetaMask’s users to seamlessly access Sei’s ecosystem of decentralized applications (dapps) and Sei-native assets from within their wallet. By adding Sei to its list of supported networks, MetaMask expands its cross-chain interoperability and continues its push toward an inclusive, multi-chain user experience, with now 11 chains integrated.