Stripe plans stablecoin card rollout in more than 100 countries. Culture & Trends Writer Payments company Stripe expects its stablecoin card programs to be running in more than 100 countries by the end of 2026, CoinDesk reported Monday. The cards let people and businesses spend dollar-linked digital tokens at checkout. Henri Stern, CEO and co-founder of crypto wallet company Privy, gave the timeline in an interview with CoinDesk. Stripe acquired Privy in 2025, and Stern has taken on an added role overseeing stablecoins and crypto across Stripe. Current card customers include Morse, Ramp and Kraken. Card spending triples in a year. About $1.2 billion in stablecoins was spent through cards last month, according to data from Paymentscan cited by CoinDesk. That is triple the amount a year earlier. The figure remains a small share of global card payments. Stablecoins as a whole make up a market of more than $300 billion. Visa and Bridge program already under way. Stripe's expansion target matches one announced in March by Visa and Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company Stripe owns. CoinMarketCap reported that their jointly issued card program was then active in 18 markets. It launched in 2025 with a focus on Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The planned rollout would add Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Cardholders can spend directly from stablecoin balances in self-custody wallets such as MetaMask and Phantom. Transactions run across Visa's network of 175 million merchant locations. Bridge originally converted stablecoin balances to fiat currency at the point of sale, so merchants were paid in local money. Through Bridge's partnership with Lead Bank, card transactions can now be settled on-chain with Visa instead. Lead Bank also takes part in a Visa pilot testing stablecoin settlement between card issuers and acquirers. Visa is also evaluating support for stablecoins that businesses create on Bridge's platform, as distinct from those issued by Tether or Circle. A wider Stripe stablecoin lineup. Open Standard has launched a stablecoin called OUSD for businesses on Stripe. Stern said OUSD gives businesses better economics than any other stablecoin, and that developers can now choose it across Stripe's stablecoin offerings. Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams recently left to run Open Standard full time, CoinDesk reported. Stern told CoinDesk that Stripe, Bridge, Privy, Tempo and OUSD are meant to work closely together without tying customers to Stripe. He described the approach as agnostic about both the stablecoin and the blockchain used. Stripe is also exploring tokenized deposits and decentralized finance (DeFi) uses, according to CoinDesk. The company has not yet detailed those plans. Culture & Trends Writer I cover what the internet is actually talking about: the new release, the viral moment, the creator beef, the product launch. My job is to explain it fast and clearly, without the breathless hype. I read the timeline...

Bridge launches open Standard stablecoin OUSD | coincu news. Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company acquired by Stripe, has announced the launch of OUSD, a new stablecoin it describes as built on an "Open Standard. Unfortunately, this resource does not provide the full text of the news :(

Solana Foundation's new hires: what does it mean for SOL? The Solana Foundation just poached a Binance marketing chief and a payments veteran from Polygon Labs, betting these hires can unlock institutional deals as SOL struggles to recover. But will relationship-builders actually move the needle for token holders? This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. The Solana Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit that supports the development of the Solana blockchain (CRYPTO:SOL), recently announced the hiring of Rachel Conlan, former marketing chief at Binance, as chief strategy officer, and Jamal Raees, a veteran from Polygon Labs, as general manager of payments. This announcement was made on September 24, 2026. The foundation believes that these new hires will help it secure partnerships with banks, asset managers, and payment companies as financial assets increasingly move to blockchain technology. Currently, Solana leads the way in tokenized stock trading, holding more tokenized stocks than any other blockchain. As of September 25, SOL was trading at $117 - a 2.7% increase for the day - yet it remains down 5.8% for the year and has fallen 39.2% over the past 12 months. So, will these new hires generate renewed interest and demand for SOL among investors? The Solana Foundation hired a marketing chief and a payments executive. Rachel Conlan brings extensive experience from her three years at Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, where she served as global chief marketing officer. Her background also includes senior positions at OKX, CAA Sports, and Havas. At Solana, she will focus on fostering institutional partnerships, driving ecosystem growth, and leading sales initiatives that attract companies to the Solana network. Jamal Raees, joining from Polygon Labs, has experience in payment systems and stablecoins from his previous work at Bridge (now part of Stripe) and Wyre. His role will involve building relationships with payment companies and businesses interested in moving funds over the Solana platform. Lily Liu, the president of the Solana Foundation, emphasized that these hires align with the foundation's vision of a "Token Supercycle," which involves transitioning money and assets to continuously operating internet networks. Because Solana's network is already equipped to handle high trading volumes, these positions will focus primarily on distribution and sales rather than technical engineering. However, specifics such as issuers, venue partners, volume targets, or settlement assets weren't disclosed, leaving stablecoins as the likely default for any institutional investments. Solana leads tokenized stocks, but the sec's new rules favor compliant venues. The foundation reports that Solana has surpassed $620 million in tokenized stocks, a lead over other blockchains. However, this advantage has largely come from offshore platforms and tracker tokens, which mimic stock prices without offering holders voting rights or formal approval from the issuing companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced new rules - known as the Innovation Exemption - that may impact trading in tokenized stocks. Under the new regulations, tokenized stock venues must be U.S.-based, use verified wallets, grant token holders full voting and dividend rights, and give companies 30 days' notice before tokenizing their shares. START NOW: Finally! You can open a SoFi Crypto account and access 25+ cryptocurrencies without juggling apps or logins. This means that the previous lead in tokenized stocks doesn't guarantee automatic success in a more regulated environment, and $620 million still represents a small fraction of the entire U.S. stock market. The new hires may help bridge this regulatory gap, but Conlan's past association with Binance, which faced legal issues in the U.S., complicates their strategy for attracting U.S. venues, especially without an active U.S. venue license or issuers' consent. Solana also faces competition from financial institutions like Lloyds, NatWest, and Barclays, which are developing their own blockchain solutions, as demonstrated by their recent transaction of tokenized deposits on September 24. Stablecoin payments on Solana pay little to SOL holders. While Solana stands to gain from these developments, SOL holders may benefit less directly. The network attracts new users and generates fees from developers and platforms operating on Solana, especially if compliant tokenized stocks and payment solutions are implemented. For SOL holders, the main benefits come from transaction fees paid in SOL and staking incentives, which involve locking up SOL to help maintain the network. In 2026, Solana has processed over $5 trillion in stablecoin transactions according to the foundation. Despite this impressive volume, transaction fees are remarkably low, at just 0.000005 SOL per signature - less than a tenth of a cent at a SOL price of $117. As a result, stablecoin transactions generate minimal fees for SOL holders. Additionally, interest in Solana-focused investment funds has declined sharply, with inflows dropping 96% in a single week in early September. While SOL's recent price increases are noteworthy - up 14.9% over the past month and 4.1% over the past week - these gains occurred largely before the new appointments. Do the Solana Foundation's hires move SOL? At this stage, the answer seems to be no. The Solana Foundation has identified a critical challenge: attracting compliant venues, securing investor protection, and collaborating with issuers. These are relationship-focused roles that suit a strategy chief and a payments executive, yet the new hires appear to bring more expertise and connections rather than immediate investment demand for SOL itself. Any institutional investments they might attract are likely to involve stablecoins rather than boosting SOL's price directly. Without a U.S. issuer consenting to tokenize its shares on Solana or the establishment of a compliant U.S. venue on the network, the impact of these hires on SOL's value remains limited. Finally! Access 25+ cryptocurrencies the easy way. After years of waiting for a good option, SoFi now offers access to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, along with more than 25 total digital assets. What stands out isn't just the selection, it's the integration. You don't need a separate app, a new login, or a different funding source. Crypto lives next to the rest of your portfolio, which makes position sizing, rebalancing, and capital deployment far easier for investors who actively manage risk. If you're an active investor who wants crypto exposure without stepping outside a regulated financial ecosystem, SoFi is a top choice. Get started here. (Sponsor) Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable - no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more - basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing