Bitown selects Episode Six to power global card platform for cross-border payments. 4 hours ago Partnership marks Bitown's entry into the Hong Kong market with a self-serve card platform targeting global merchants HONG KONG, October 19, 2026 - Bitown, a provider of payment infrastructure for global commerce businesses, today announced it has selected Episode Six, a global provider of enterprise-grade card issuing and ledger infrastructure, as its issuer processing partner for the launch of its self-serve card platform in Hong Kong. The platform will give global merchants and enterprises a faster, more flexible way to manage cross-border payments through cards. Built for businesses managing international supplier payments, digital advertising spend, travel settlements and other B2B transactions, the platform will allow customers to issue and manage cards while reducing the friction typically associated with traditional cross-border banking. "Hong Kong is a critical launch market for Bitown because it sits at the center of cross-border commerce, digital assets and global payments," said Tom Lin, CEO of Bitown. "As more businesses look for faster, more flexible ways to move money internationally, we see a clear opportunity to build payment infrastructure that connects settlement with the global utility of cards." Bitown will launch commercial card issuing in Hong Kong through its relationship with a global card network, allowing merchants and enterprises to issue cards accepted worldwide. The company also hopes to expand into the United States through a BIN sponsorship model, with Episode Six expected to provide card issuing and processing infrastructure across both markets. The partnership comes as businesses increasingly look beyond traditional banking rails for cross-border payment infrastructure. With operations in more than 50 countries and more than 80 enterprise customers globally, Episode Six brings the scale and issuing expertise to support Bitown as it brings its card platform to market. "Bitown is a strong example of the kind of payment companies we are built to support," said John Mitchell, CEO and Co-Founder of Episode Six. "Our platform gives them the configurability to design around their customers' needs today, with the infrastructure to support additional products and markets as the business grows." About Bitown Bitown is a global provider of cross-border trade finance infrastructure, dedicated to serving businesses that need to transfer, manage, and allocate funds across different markets. Bitown offers the integration capabilities needed to break through traditional barriers, unifying payments, spending, and capital into a single platform. Speed, control, and consistency are embedded at the core of Bitown's infrastructure, enabling businesses to operate with greater flexibility and clarity in their global operations. Bitown adheres to the applicable regulatory frameworks in each jurisdiction it serves and maintains structured controls designed to ensure the security, compliance, and reliability of its financial operations. Bitown aims to help businesses expand into new markets and optimize existing operations by providing connectivity infrastructure that ensures global financial operations are secure, compliant, and seamless. About Episode Six Episode Six is The World's Local Processor(R). As a global provider of enterprise-grade card issuing and ledger infrastructure for financial technology companies, banks, and brands, Episode Six delivers the innovative capabilities needed to compete with disruptors and lead the market. Flexibility, adaptability, and resilience are built into the core of Episode Six's platform, ensuring clients maintain a market-leading position. Episode Six operates in over 50 countries, powering millions of accounts and billions in payments globally, with an expanding team located in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and India. Investors include HSBC, Mastercard, SBI Investment Co Ltd, Anthos Capital, Avenir, and Japan Airlines. For more information, visit LinkedIn.

Episode Six adds stablecoin backing checks at issuance and redemption. By: crypto.news | 10/15/2026 16:00:10 Trade global markets with WEEX: Crypto · Stocks · Gold · ETFs Start with 0.1 USDT Episode Six has launched Verified Backing for bank-issued stablecoins and tokenized deposits, adding real-time checks before tokens are created and before cash is released at redemption. * Verified Backing checks recorded backing at issuance and confirms tokens remain outstanding before redemption. * Episode Six says the checks run inside its Token Control Ledger on the issuing bank's side. * The capability covers supported tokens issued through the ledger, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits. * The company says Verified Backing is available to customers across the markets where it operates. Episode Six said in its Oct. 15 announcement that Verified Backing checks tokens against backing recorded in its E6 Token Control Ledger. At redemption, the system checks whether a token is genuine, remains outstanding, and has backing recorded for it before the bank releases funds. According to the Austin, Texas-based company, the capability covers a bank's own supported tokens issued through the ledger. The release identifies both stablecoins and tokenized deposits as products covered by the checks. Stablecoin backing checks run before issuance and payment. Before a bank creates a token, Episode Six says Verified Backing confirms that backing is available. When the holder later presents the token for redemption, the capability checks its status against the ledger's records. Under the company's description, the redemption check applies regardless of how many wallets or blockchain networks the token has passed through. Episode Six says the process runs inside the bank-side ledger, where the institution records and manages its tokenized money. The company positions the capability as a way to reduce losses involving tokens presented for payment. Its announcement focuses on whether a token remains a valid, outstanding obligation when redemption occurs, rather than relying only on its status when first issued. "For risk and compliance teams, the hardest question in tokenized money isn't whether a token was genuine when it was created. It's whether it's still genuine by the time it's redeemed," said Daryn Griggs, Episode Six's managing director of APAC. Griggs said the check helps a bank confirm that a token presented for redemption "remains outstanding and has backing recorded for it." In distinguishing the process from traditional reconciliation, Episode Six said reconciliation examines a bank's position after transactions have occurred. Verified Backing instead operates at issuance and redemption, placing checks at the points when the bank creates a token or pays out against it. Episode Six puts verification inside the issuing bank's ledger. To explain its approach, Episode Six compared Verified Backing with the move from magnetic-stripe cards to EMV chip-and-PIN payments. The company described the comparison as a move from static information toward a check performed when a transaction takes place. For tokenized money, the company says its ledger provides the record against which issuance and redemption requests are checked. The announced capability therefore sits within the infrastructure a bank uses to issue and manage its own tokens. John Mitchell, Episode Six's CEO and co-founder, described Verified Backing as an additional function of the existing Token Control Ledger. "Tokenized money is only going to become a bigger part of how banks operate, and trust in what's actually in circulation has to scale right alongside it," Mitchell said. In his description, the ledger lets banks manage tokenized money under their own operating model while checking supported tokens in real time. According to the announcement, Verified Backing is available now to Episode Six customers globally across markets where the company operates. The provider says its card-issuing and ledger infrastructure serves financial technology companies, banks and brands in more than 50 countries. US banks are developing both deposits and stablecoins. Among American lenders, Wells Fargo has described separate work on tokenized deposits and stablecoins. As crypto.news reported on Oct. 13, CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank had launched tokenized deposits in September for corporate and commercial customers. On the bank's earnings call, Scharf identified corporate transfers as a use case and said expansion would allow customers to move funds between accounts and across borders at any time. The same report detailed Wells Fargo's participation with 20 other financial institutions in a proposed stablecoin company. According to the consortium's announcement, its first product would be a U.S. dollar token, with a market launch targeted for the first half of 2027. For U.S. stablecoin issuers, reserve assets and redemption also form part of the federal rulemaking process. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed GENIUS Act regulations covering those functions, alongside risk management, custody, audits, reporting and supervision. The OCC said its proposal applies to specified bank and nonbank issuers under its jurisdiction, including subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations. Cosmos price. 16.56% Past 30 days Cosmos is currently trading at 1.76 USD. Over the past 30 days, Cosmos has risen 16.56%. Learn more about Cosmos. Banks retain compliance duties when using outside providers. In a Sept. 10 report on Cosmos' 17-company partner network, Chief Commercial Officer Eran Barak described how banks divide tokenization work among infrastructure providers. According to Barak, participating firms supply services including custody, wallet controls, transaction screening, security and connections to banking systems. Banks select providers and negotiate separate contracts, while compliance decisions and regulatory liability remain with the financial institution. Elsewhere, Canada's six largest banks have begun exploring a shared tokenized deposit system, according to a Sept. 22 report. In their joint announcement, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank said the first phase would examine transfers of tokenized Canadian-dollar deposits between participating financial institutions. The banks said other institutions could join as the project develops. 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