BitcoinKE

AVAX One, a Nasdaq-listed digital asset treasury company, has agreed to tougher debt terms with an institutional lender that exclude its nearly 14 million AVAX tokens, worth about $88 million, from a new minimum liquidity requirement.
AVAX One’s lender has tightened the terms of its debt agreement refusing to count the company’s Avalanche (AVAX) tokens toward a new minimum liquidity requirement.
The lender has also accelerated capital recovery, increasing monthly redemptions to one-tenth of the original principal from one-twenty-fifth.
The amended terms require AVAX One to maintain at least $3.5 million in liquidity, with only cash and Bitcoin eligible to meet the threshold. This means the company’s large AVAX treasury cannot be used to meet the requirement regardless of its market value.

BITCOIN | America’s Largest Bank Says Bitcoin Dominance as Institutional Crypto Asset is Unlikey to Change

The company also paid $1.3 million to secure a waiver of a default and agreed to faster debt repayments, with monthly redemptions rising to one-tenth of the original principal from one-twenty-fifth.

The tighter terms highlight a key distinction between crypto treasury assets and liquid reserves:
While AVAX One’s AVAX holdings represent a substantial asset base, its lender does not regard those tokens as equivalent to cash or Bitcoin for meeting near-term liquidity obligations.

EXPERT OPINION | Crypto Has Split into 4 Major Segments @Bitwise CEO says the crypto market has effectively split into four major segments:
stablecoins and payments, Bitcoin as a macro asset, tokenization and on-chain finance, and blockchain infrastructure.
Bitwise CEO:… pic.twitter.com/fNtxmpOBgD
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) May 17, 2026
AVAX One’s shares have fallen about 42% since July’s departure of CEO, Jolie Kahn.
The move underscores the gap between AVAX and more liquid assets such as cash and Bitcoin in the eyes of institutional lenders, despite AVAX One holding millions of tokens.


REPORT | 80% of AI Agents Choose Bitcoin as a Long-Term Store of Value




Stay tuned to BitKE on Bitcoin developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
_________________

Tether is expanding its real-world asset (RWA) tokenization business into Saudi Arabia starting with institutional real estate as the stablecoin issuer seeks to extend its blockchain infrastructure beyond digital currencies.
Tether said its Hadron platform will provide the technology to issue and manage tokenized real estate assets for institutional investors in Saudi Arabia. First Data will serve as issuer and market operator, while fintech firm BKN301 will connect the platform to banking and compliance infrastructure.

“BKN301’s role in this initiative is to ensure that Hadron by Tether’s tokenization capabilities are seamlessly connected to the banking, payments, and compliance infrastructure required for institutional deployment,” said Stiven Muccioli, CEO of BKN301 Group.
“We look forward to supporting First Data and Tether in building a robust tokenized asset ecosystem in the Kingdom.”


The initiative could later extend to other asset classes, including energy and infrastructure finance, the companies said.
The move gives Tether a foothold in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom pursues economic diversification and financial-sector modernization under its Vision 2030 programme.
Tether launched Hadron in 2024 as a platform for tokenizing traditional assets. The company has increasingly positioned tokenization as a major business alongside its USDT stablecoin, including through its tokenized gold product, XAUT.
The Saudi expansion also follows Tether’s growing push into regulated capital-market infrastructure in Africa.
In July 2026, Tether signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to explore asset tokenization, blockchain-based financial infrastructure and digital-asset use cases. The partnership is expected to examine the use of Hadron to issue and trade digital versions of securities, potentially including fractional ownership.

Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange Accelerates Push into Tokenized Assets in Partnership with $USDT Issuer, Tether
For the NSE, the latest agreement represents ANOTHER MILESTONE in a digital transformation strategy that has gathered pace over the past two years under Chief… pic.twitter.com/rauEzyOaAW
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) July 28, 2026
Taken together, the Saudi and Kenyan initiatives show Tether seeking a broader role in financial-market infrastructure, moving beyond USDT issuance toward the tokenization and settlement of traditional assets on blockchain networks.

Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange Accelerates Push into Tokenized Assets in Partnership with USDT Issuer, Tether

Saudi Arabia is rapidly transitioning toward an on-chain, Sharia-compliant digital financial infrastructure as part of its Vision 2030 agenda.
This shift is unlocking liquidity in traditionally illiquid sectors, facilitating foreign direct investment, and creating a secure, asset-backed digital settlement layer to protect national wealth and drive economic modernization. Against this backdrop, the collaboration is well timed and creates a foundation for future expansion into other digital asset classes, including energy, infrastructure project finance, and other strategic real-world assets.


OPINION | Africa’s Capital Market Opportunity: Is Tokenization the Secret Key to Unlock Africa’s Economic Potential? – By CEO, Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)





Stay tuned to BitKE for the latest tokenization updates globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
__________________________

Africa-focussed DeFi startup, Fonbnk, is expanding beyond stablecoin payments and digital-asset transactions through a partnership with digital lender, Tala, that will bring embedded, onchain credit to its platform.
The partnership will allow Fonbnk users to access stablecoin-based credit lines directly through the platform combining Fonbnk’s digital-asset infrastructure with Tala’s lending and underwriting capabilities.
The companies say the integration is intended to reach users who already transact through digital assets while creating the possibility of developing onchain credit histories for individuals and businesses.

“Not everything should be onchain.” – Hein, @FlowTraders #ParisBlockchainWeek pic.twitter.com/6AVceHQMDh
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) April 17, 2026
For Fonbnk, the move reflects a broader shift in the stablecoin industry from payments and remittances toward a wider financial-services stack. Rather than simply allowing users to move or hold digital dollars, stablecoin platforms are increasingly looking to add credit and other financial products.
Tala brings more than a decade of experience lending in emerging markets while Fonbnk provides the distribution channel and stablecoin infrastructure.

“We are meeting customers through the financial channels they already trust and use,” Tala founder and CEO, Shivani Siroya, said, describing Fonbnk as a way to reach customers already using stablecoin rails.

Fonbnk founder and CEO, Christian Duffus, said partnering with Tala allows the company to add lending without having to build an underwriting operation from scratch.

But the opportunity comes with a significant caveat, particularly in Kenya:
making credit easier to access does not necessarily make it easier to repay.

Kenya has one of Africa’s most developed digital-credit markets, but the expansion of lending has also exposed lenders to increasingly difficult repayment conditions.
Gross non-performing loans in Kenya’s banking sector rose from KES 576.1 billion ($4.45 billion) in June 2023 to KES 657.6 billion ($5.07 billion) in June 2024, according to data cited from the Central Bank of Kenya. The deterioration has been linked to a difficult operating environment affecting businesses and households.

The pressure is also visible among digital lenders.

STATISTICS | Non-Performing Loans for Digital Lenders in Kenya Hit 40% in 2024, Reveals Latest Study

Kenyan buy-now-pay-later company Watu reported an 85% decline in 2024 profit to about $1.2 million, down from $7.6 million a year earlier, as defaults and weaker repayment behaviour weighed on its core markets. The company targets informal-sector borrowers, including boda boda operators, making its experience a useful reminder of the risks involved in extending credit to customers with irregular incomes.

FINTECH AFRICA | Kenyan BNPL Startup, Watu, Sees 85% Profit Plunge in One Year Amid Rising Loan Defaults

The broader SME lending market has faced similar pressure.
Kenyan commercial banks and microfinance institutions wrote off 95,179 SME loans worth KES 8.8 billion ($68 million) in 2024, with the number of written-off accounts increasing sharply as businesses struggled with high costs and financing conditions.
There is also an important lesson from Kenya’s earlier experiments with crypto-based credit.
In 2023, Tugende Kenya defaulted on a $5 million loan from Goldfinch, a decentralised credit protocol. Goldfinch said the problem was partly linked to an unauthorised $1.9 million intercompany loan from Tugende Kenya to its Ugandan affiliate. The transfer breached the facility agreement and left the Kenyan business short of capital needed to grow its own loan portfolio.

DeFi | Tugende Kenya Defaults on $5 Million (~ 4% of TVL) Loan from GoldFinch DeFi Protocol

The case became an important example of the limitations of bringing real-world credit onto blockchain rails. Putting a loan agreement, repayments, or investor exposure onchain does not eliminate the underlying risks of borrower management, cash-flow shocks, governance failures, or weak underwriting.

Goldfinch ultimately recovered only a fraction of the original principal through the restructuring process.

In a December 2024 update, the protocol said Tugende had made a $460,000 exit payment, following an earlier $1 million community contribution and roughly $1 million in interest payments over the life of the facility.

That history matters as Fonbnk and Tala move in the opposite direction:
bringing traditional digital lending into an ecosystem increasingly built around stablecoins and onchain financial infrastructure.

The attraction is clear. Stablecoins can provide faster settlement, programmable payments, and a common digital-dollar rail across markets where traditional financial infrastructure remains fragmented.
But credit remains fundamentally different from payments.
A stablecoin transaction can settle almost instantly. A loan still depends on whether a borrower generates enough income to repay it.
That distinction could become increasingly important as fintech companies attempt to turn stablecoin wallets into full financial accounts.
For Fonbnk, the Tala partnership therefore represents more than another product feature. It is a test of whether stablecoin infrastructure can become a foundation for credit in emerging markets without simply reproducing the same risks that have already challenged banks, microfinance institutions, and digital lenders.
The next phase of onchain finance may consequently be less about whether credit can be placed on a blockchain and more about whether better data, underwriting, and risk management can make that credit sustainable.

CASE STUDY | The GoldFinch Wind-Down and The Hard Reality of DeFi Credit in Emerging Markets




Stay tuned to BitKE for deeper insights into On-Chain developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
__________________

Japan’s financial regulator has called on cryptocurrency exchanges to introduce withdrawal delays and additional safeguards as authorities move to curb increasingly sophisticated scams involving digital assets.
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) said that it had jointly requested the measures with the National Police Agency citing growing losses among crypto exchange users and cases in which funds obtained through fraudulent schemes are being transferred to exchange accounts.
Under the request, exchanges should restrict cryptocurrency withdrawals for a specified period after customers deposit fiat currency or purchase digital assets. Platforms have also been asked to require customers to register withdrawal addresses in advance and introduce a waiting period before newly registered addresses can be used.
The request was submitted to the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association, the country’s self-regulatory organization for cryptocurrency exchanges.
The FSA and police also proposed
customer-specific withdrawal limits,
stronger monitoring of transactions and account access environments,
phishing-resistant multifactor authentication, and
checks to confirm that the name of a bank remitter matches the holder of the corresponding crypto account.
The proposed measures are not binding regulations. The FSA said exchanges should decide how to implement the safeguards based on their individual operations, services, and exposure to potential misuse.
The move comes as Japanese authorities increase scrutiny of cryptocurrency platforms and seek to prevent exchange accounts from being used to receive or move funds obtained through fraud.
The measures reflect a broader shift toward placing additional friction on cryptocurrency withdrawals, particularly immediately after funds enter an exchange, in an effort to give customers and platforms more time to detect suspicious activity.


REGULATION | South Korea Tightens Crypto Exchange Controls with 5-Min Reconciliations and Kill Switches After Bithumb Incident




Stay tuned to BitKE on crypto developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
__________________

Block’s Bitcoin business posted a sharp decline in gross profit in the second quarter, underscoring pressure on the company’s cryptocurrency operations even as its broader business delivered strong growth.
Gross profit from Block’s Bitcoin Ecosystem fell 31% year-on-year to $72 million, while total company gross profit rose 25% to $3.17 billion. Bitcoin revenue declined 13% to $1.89 billion, according to the company’s quarterly results.


The Bitcoin business was the only one of Block’s three main segments to report a decline in gross profit.
Commerce Enablement gross profit increased 18%, while
Financial Solutions rose 43%.
Block attributed the weaker Bitcoin profitability partly to a decision to lower fees on certain Cash App bitcoin transactions, as well as changes in bitcoin trading dynamics. The company did not quantify how much each factor contributed to the decline.

INTRODUCING | Cash App Begins Rolling Out Stablecoin Payments Functionality

The result reduced the implied gross margin of the Bitcoin business to about 3.8%, from roughly 4.8% a year earlier, despite Block reporting 59 million monthly transacting actives on Cash App in June 2026. The company did not provide bitcoin-specific transaction volumes or customer numbers making it difficult to determine whether increased activity offset the lower fees.
Block also recorded an $88.5 million bitcoin remeasurement loss during the quarter compared with a $212.2 million gain a year earlier, reflecting changes in the value of bitcoin held on its balance sheet.

REALITY CHECK | One of the Largest Bitcoin Miners Sees Over Half a Billion Dollars in Losses in Q2 2026

The figures highlight a growing distinction between Block’s broader financial performance and its Bitcoin operations. The company raised its 2026 gross-profit forecast after reporting strong second-quarter results, helped by Cash App growth, improved margins and cost reductions.
For investors, the key question is whether Block’s lower-fee bitcoin strategy can generate enough additional activity to compensate for the decline in revenue earned per transaction.


STABLECOINS | Bitcoin Purist Jack Dorsey’s Firm, Block, Capitulates and Reluctantly Embraces Stablecoins




Stay tuned to BitKE for updates into Bitcoin market developments.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
_____________________

MARA Holdings swung to a $611 million net loss in the second quarter, as a decline in Bitcoin prices reduced the value of its digital-asset holdings and underscored the risks of relying on mining as the company pivots toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The loss compared with an $808 million profit a year earlier.
Revenue fell 27% to $175 million with lower average Bitcoin prices accounting for much of the decline. MARA also recorded about $343 million in unrealized mark-to-market losses on digital assets as Bitcoin prices weakened.
The results came despite stronger mining operations. MARA produced 2,422 Bitcoin during the quarter, up 3% from a year earlier, while its energized mining capacity rose 22% to 70.3 exahash per second.

The disconnect highlights the challenge facing large Bitcoin miners:
improving production does not necessarily translate into higher earnings when the value of their Bitcoin holdings and mining output falls.

BITCOIN | Another Bitcoin Mining Firm Sees Positive Economics as it Diversifies into AI Infrastructure

MARA has increasingly responded by shifting capital toward power and data-center infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing. The company has been pursuing an energy-backed infrastructure strategy, including its planned acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power, as it seeks revenue streams less exposed to Bitcoin’s price cycles.
In a letter to shareholders, MARA CEO, Fred Thiel, said Bitcoin mining still represents the core of MARA’s business and will continue to generate cash flow that supports its other investments.

“Ultimately, we do not view Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure as competing businesses,” said Thiel.
“Our capital allocation philosophy remains straightforward. Every megawatt should be deployed into its highest-value application. In some markets, that will continue to be Bitcoin mining. In others, it will be AI infrastructure, sovereign cloud, or enterprise computing.”

AI | Another Crypto Mining Firm Shifts Focus to AI Infrastructure with a $6 Billion Deal

The strategy marks a significant change for a company historically valued primarily as a leveraged bet on Bitcoin. MARA sold about 20,880 Bitcoin for $1.5 billion in the first quarter, using part of the proceeds to reduce convertible debt while redirecting capital toward its AI infrastructure plans.

The broader mining industry is following a similar path.

INSIGHTS | AI is Disrupting Bitcoin by Making Mining Increasingly Unsustainable

CleanSpark has also expanded its power and data-center footprint while exploring AI and high-performance computing opportunities reflecting a growing view that scarce electricity and data-center capacity may offer more predictable long-term economics than Bitcoin mining alone.
For MARA, the pivot is therefore less about abandoning Bitcoin than reducing its dependence on it. The company’s latest results show that even higher production can be overwhelmed by Bitcoin-related losses strengthening the case for its attempt to turn its power assets into an AI infrastructure business.


BITCOIN | Bitcoin is Bleeding Mining Power to Artificial Intelligence as Crypto Revenue Shrinks




Stay tuned to BitKE for insights into the evolving Bitcoin mining space.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
_________________

Japanese stablecoin issuer, JPYC, has raised 6 billion Yen ($38 million) in an extended Series B funding round bringing its total funding since 2021 to about $106 million as it seeks to accelerate adoption of its regulated Yen-backed stablecoin.
The latest round added Japanese logistics firm, AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings, as a strategic investor.
The companies plan to integrate JPYC into logistics and payment operations with AZ-COM expected to use the stablecoin to settle payments with about 2,300 contractors and business partners, including truck drivers, marking one of Japan’s first large-scale enterprise stablecoin payment deployments.

STABLECOINS | Major Japanese Logistics Firm Explores JPYC Yen Stablecoin for Payments

JPYC said the fresh capital will be used to expand its financial and Web3 ecosystem focusing on
payments,
remittances, and
broader real-world
use of its Yen-pegged stablecoin.
The company has also been testing stablecoin payments with retailers such as Lawson as it looks to move beyond crypto-native applications.
The fundraising comes as Japan steps up support for regulated stablecoins and on-chain finance. While dollar-backed stablecoins continue to dominate the roughly $315 billion global market, Japanese policymakers have increasingly backed domestic Yen-denominated alternatives to strengthen the country’s digital payments infrastructure.

REALITY CHECK | One of Japan’s 3 ‘Mega Banks’ Raises Doubt on USDC Growth Amidst Competition, Negative Growth




Stay tuned to BitKE on stablecoin updates globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
_________

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has signed legislation establishing Russia’s first comprehensive legal framework for cryptocurrencies with the core provisions set to take effect on Sept. 1, 2026, formalizing oversight of exchanges, brokers, and other digital asset service providers.
The law requires crypto trading to take place through entities licensed by the Bank of Russia and maintains the country’s ban on using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services. Retail investors will be limited to buying approved digital assets through licensed intermediaries and must pass a knowledge test while qualified investors will face fewer restrictions.

REGULATION | Russia’s Largest State-Owned Lender Plans Crypto Wallet Rollout and Custody Services

Existing market participants have until July 1, 2027, to comply with the new licensing regime.
The legislation marks Russia’s biggest overhaul of digital asset regulation since legalizing cryptocurrency mining in 2024 and allowing crypto for certain cross-border trade settlements, as Moscow increasingly turns to digital assets to facilitate international commerce while keeping domestic crypto payments prohibited.


REGULATION | Russia Introduces Crypto Bill With Severe Criminal Penalties and Prison Time for Unregistered Operations



Sign up for BitKE updates for all the latest developments on crypto regulation globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
________________

BlockTower, the regulated issuer of ZARU, its Rand-backed stablecoin, has announced that Luno Global has listed ZARU/USDT and ZARU/USDC trading pairs. This is the first time an institutional-grade ZAR stablecoin has listed on a large, regulated crypto exchange, giving the Rand its first continuous, on-chain secondary market – available 24/7 on Luno’s exchange – and its first direct on-chain link to the world’s two largest dollar stablecoins. The listing builds on ZARU’s existing footprint. Since launch, ZARU has been available to retail customers through Easy Equities and Luno Global’s instant trade feature in South Africa, and to qualified institutions over-the-counter. Luno has since extended that reach further with a joint campaign with Tether that pays up to 15% back in Tether Gold to customers who pay with ZARU at 1 million merchants across South Africa. Luno Global is making the new exchange pairs available to customers in
South Africa,
Nigeria,
Kenya, and
Uganda,
and will add further regions as regulation permits.
https://bitcoinke.io/2026/02/introducing-zaru/ Why a Rand Stablecoin, and Why Now The Rand is one of the most actively traded emerging-market currencies in the world, with deep, sustained demand across a wide range of capital market instruments – from spot FX and derivatives to offshore-listed products. Until now, that global Rand trading activity had no regulated, on-chain venue to settle in – the ZARU/USDT and ZARU/USDC pairs on Luno Global are, in effect, Rand FX moving onchain. The wider market is moving the same way. Non-USD stablecoin supply has grown 50 times since 2020, from $44 million to $2.20 billion, according to research by Keyrock and Bitso. Emerging-market currencies are leading the shift: the Brazilian Real volume traded has compounded at roughly 20% a quarter for two years to $5.3 billion, and the Mexican Peso set successive quarterly trading records. The Rand ranks among the most liquid and heavily traded emerging-market currencies, with strong bilateral trade flows from a resource-rich, industrial and services economy. How ZARU Works BlockTower is an authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP 55172) and Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) in South Africa. ZARU is backed 1:1 by cash-equivalent reserves held in a segregated account at Standard Bank. Sanlam Specialised Asset Management (Pty) Ltd, a licensed financial services provider part of the Sanlam group of companies, manages the underlying assets. Jacques Le Roux, the CEO of Sanlam Financial Markets, elaborated: “For institutional holders, the reserve management structure is the point. It is the same operational discipline we apply across our asset base, now standing behind a Rand stablecoin.” Moore Johannesburg attests the reserves monthly, and the reports are available online for holders to inspect at any time. ZARU can now be accessed in two ways: direct minting and redemption through the BlockTower issuance platform for qualified institutional clients, and secondary liquidity on exchange. Luno Global provides one of the most accessible secondary venues through the ZARU/USDC and ZARU/USDT pairs. BlockTower is adding further centralised exchanges, decentralised exchanges and OTC desks to build multiple venues of liquidity for ZARU across jurisdictions. Dedicated Institutional Liquidity BlockTower has partnered with Currency Hub, an authorised Financial Services Provider and Crypto Asset Service Provider regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, as ZARU’s dedicated market maker, who will quote two-way prices on the ZARU exchange-listed pairs. “Continuous liquidity is what turns a listing into a market,” according to Warren Deats, CEO of Currency Hub. Liquidity on Luno Global’s exchange and OTC desk enables treasuries and trading desks to move size in and out of ZARU at attractive spreads, around the clock in secondary markets. https://bitcoinke.io/2026/01/south-africa-approves-300-crypto-firms/ What Comes Next BlockTower’s plan extends beyond ZARU. The company aims to be the emerging-market stablecoin issuer and wallet-as-a-service provider of choice for capital markets and the payments industry, and is planning stablecoin launches across key African and APAC markets. As more emerging-market stablecoins move on-chain, cross-peg pairs between them become possible, creating liquidity pools and network effects that did not exist before, particularly with established financial institutions involved. In closing, Vighnesh Patel, the CEO of BlockTower, had this to say: “Institutionally trusted, regulated liquidity for ZARU is foundational to building real onchain capital markets and FX. This listing on Luno Global is a major step in that direction. For any institutions interested in exploring what ZARU can unlock for your business, drop us an email at sales@blocktower.tech.” https://bitcoinke.io/2026/06/valr-stablecoin-milestone/
Stay tuned to BitKE on crypto developments across Africa.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
__________________

Cloudflare has unveiled programmable stablecoin wallets for AI agents allowing autonomous software running on its network to hold funds and make payments for APIs, content, and other online services as the company expands its push into machine-to-machine commerce.
The new Cloudflare Wallets service introduces two wallet types:
Account Wallets, controlled by users or organizations, and
Virtual Wallets, which are assigned to AI agents with programmable spending limits, merchant allowlists, and transaction caps.
The company also launched cloudflare.pay, enabling customers to reserve human-readable identities for their agents.
The launch builds on Cloudflare’s Monetization Gateway, introduced in July 2026, which enables websites and applications to charge AI agents using the x402 protocol, an open standard that embeds stablecoin payments into HTTP requests.


Together, the two products create both the payment acceptance and payment spending infrastructure needed for autonomous AI commerce.

Cloudflare said AI agents will eventually be able to use the wallets to purchase APIs, AI inference, Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, datasets, and online content without requiring human-managed payment methods. Wallet funding, stablecoin support, and payment capabilities will roll out in the coming months.
The company is positioning the service as a trust layer for AI commerce allowing businesses to verify which person or organization is behind an autonomous agent before completing transactions. Cloudflare says its network spans more than 330 cities and serves roughly one in five websites globally giving it a large footprint to support emerging agent-to-agent payments.
The launch comes as competition intensifies to build payment rails for AI agents.
In early August 2026, the x402 protocol was transferred to the Linux Foundation with backing from companies including Google, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Shopify and Cloudflare, while rivals such as Stripe and Paradigm are developing alternative machine payment protocols for autonomous software.


INTRODUCING | Tempo Blockchain by Stripe Goes Live with an Agentic AI Open Framework Payments Standard




Stay tuned to BitKE on crypto AI developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
___________________

スペースXは上場企業としての最初の決算発表で、ウォール街の四半期売上高の予想を上回った一方、暗号通貨が2026年上半期に下落したことでビットコイン保有分の価値が5億4000万ドル減少したことを開示した。

過去3か月の$BTCのパフォーマンス。pic.twitter.com/FlavTWp5z2
— BitKE（@BitcoinKE）2026年8月6日
イーロン・マスク率いる同社は、第2四半期の売上高が78億ドルで、アナリスト予想の69億ドルを上回ったと報告した。一方、純損失は前年の10億ドルから5億4100万ドルに縮小した。

Western UnionはStableCardをローンチした。これはデジタルウォレットおよびVISAブランドの決済カードで、送金大手がオンチェーン決済へと拡大する中で、ユーザーが米ドル連動のステーブルコインであるUSDPTを保有・送金・利用できる。
このサービスは、ステーブルコインのインフラ提供者であるRainと共同で開発され、37の市場でローンチし、年末までに60以上へ拡大する。ユーザーは
Western Unionの送金を直接USDPTウォレットに受け取れ、
資金を対応する暗号資産ウォレットへ送金し、
どこでもVISAが使える場所で残高を利用できる。Apple PayやGoogle Payを通じても利用可能。

A16z-backed blockchain gaming studio, Proof of Play, is shutting down saying its core thesis that fully onchain games could create sustainable player engagement and token value failed to materialize despite years of development.
The company said it will wind down operations, open-source the code behind its flagship title ‘Pirate Nation’, and transfer stewardship of the PIRATE token to an independent foundation.


Proof of Play launched in 2022 with an ambitious vision of building games that lived entirely onchain, arguing that game logic, assets, and economies should exist permanently on public blockchains rather than centralized servers. The startup raised funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and built technology including its own Apex Chain rollup to support the model.
The shutdown marks another setback for the blockchain gaming sector which attracted billions of dollars during the 2021-2022 crypto bull market but has struggled to produce games capable of retaining mainstream audiences once token incentives faded.

Gaming Dominates Blockchain Connections at 51%, Says August 2022 DappRadar Report

Several once-prominent Web3 gaming projects have either shut down, pivoted away from crypto or significantly scaled back operations over the past two years.

Only 19% of Mainstream Gamers are Interested in Web3 Games, With South Africa Leading, Reveals Latest Survey

Proof of Play’s closure also comes as parts of the crypto industry are reassessing some of the foundational ideas that drove the last cycle.

Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, which initially embraced the concept of “Base is for everyone,” recently acknowledged that its bet on an on-chain social economy was a ‘wrong bet’ that had left the Base ecosystem lagging in areas such as trading, payments, and tokenization.

“In case it’s not obvious, the first quarter of 2026 was a punch in the face . . .,” acknowledged the Founder of Base Layer, Jesse Pollak.
The entire social side of the market that many of us had been building towards – Farcaster, Zora, miniapps, and yes, creator coins – disintegrated completely.

REALITY CHECK | ‘We Made the Wrong Bet on Social,’ Base Blockchain Creator Admits

The broader decentralized internet thesis has similarly become more pragmatic.
Earlier visions of replacing nearly every centralized online service with decentralized alternatives – from social networks and gaming platforms to cloud infrastructure and consumer application – have struggled to achieve meaningful adoption. Instead, user activity has increasingly concentrated around financial applications such as stablecoins, tokenized assets, and decentralized exchanges, while many consumer-focused Web3 projects have either shut down, returned to more centralized architectures or shifted toward hybrid models that prioritize user experience over full decentralization.

TOKENIZATION | Robinhood Chain’s Tokenized Assets Surge 5x as OnChain Stock Trading Accelerates

Industry data has long shown that only a small fraction of decentralized applications attract significant user activity, with most seeing limited adoption.
For Proof of Play, the outcome underscores the challenge of building sustainable businesses around Web3. While the company developed technology for fully onchain games, it concluded that the model had not generated sufficient player demand or economic viability to justify continued operations.


REPORT | South Africa’s Carry1st Was One of the Few Winners in a Declining Web3 Gaming Market in 2023




Stay tuned to BitKE for deeper insights into Web3 developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
___________________

脆弱なColdcard生成のBitcoinウォレットを狙った継続的な盗難による確定損失は、100百万ドルを超えた。ブロックチェーン研究者は、3回の連動した攻撃の波と、約7,300のアドレスからおよそ1,596ビットコインを吸い上げた14件の小規模な事件を特定した。
Galaxy Researchは、盗難はColdcardのシード生成プロセスの欠陥に起因し、その結果、ウォレット回復フレーズを作成する際に用いられるランダム性が弱まり、攻撃者がハードウェアデバイス自体を損なうことなく私鍵を再構築できるようになったと述べた。同社は、確認された損失について「高い確信」を持っている一方で、疑われる第4の波が到来すれば、盗まれた資金の総額は約2,055ビットコイン、またはおよそ1億3000万ドルにまで膨らむ可能性があるとしている。

エジプトは、2026年上半期（H1 2026）に最も多くの資金を引き寄せた国です。
The Big Dealによる新しいレポートによると、
エジプトが合計3億2700万ドルで首位、次いで
ナイジェリア（2億5400万ドル）、
ケニア（1億2600万ドル）、そして
南アフリカ（8300万ドル）でした。
最新統計では、ケニアの首位記録が終了しています。2025年を通じて、ケニアはクリーンエネルギーとフィンテック企業を中心に、約10億ドルを調達して大陸のスタートアップ資金を牽引していました。これはまた、2021年初め以来のケニアにとって最も小さい下落幅でもあります。


ビッグ4が集めた資金は「わずか」58%にとどまりました。

African stablecoin infrastructure provider, Yellow Card, has raised $40 million in a strategic funding round led by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, alongside participation from existing and new institutional investors, the company said.
The list of investors include:
SC Ventures by Standard Chartered
Sony Innovation Fund
Polychain Capital
Blockchain Capital,
and additional strategic investors.
The funding will scale Global USD Accounts, Yellow Card’s end-to-end dollar account for businesses, and expand the stablecoin rails connecting it to markets worldwide. This brings Yellow Card’s total financing to over $120 million in equity financing.

Pan-African Crypto Exchange, YellowCard, Secures $40 Million in Series B Funding Round

“Stablecoins are here to stay, but their adoption will depend on robust infrastructure and clear real-world utility.
Yellow Card is building those rails for businesses across Africa, enabling them to access and move value efficiently across markets. We believe YC is well positioned to scale across Africa and beyond and look forward to supporting its next phase of growth,” said Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures.
FUNDING | Leading African Stablecoin On/Off Ramp, Yellow Card, Closes $33 Million Series C Funding

The funding will support Yellow Card’s global expansion as demand grows for regulated stablecoin payment infrastructure in emerging markets.

“Sony Innovation Fund is actively investing across the web3 technology stack, and we are excited to back Yellow Card as it builds the stablecoin infrastructure layer that emerging markets need to move money faster, more reliably, and at global scale,” said Austin Noronha, Managing Director, Sony Ventures-US.
“By combining robust APIs, deep local fiat rails, institutional-grade security, and a strong regulatory-first approach, Yellow Card is making stablecoin-powered payments practical for banks, fintechs, and enterprises. As the company rapidly expands beyond Africa into broader emerging markets across LATAM, EMEA, and APAC, we look forward to supporting its vision of becoming a trusted bridge between traditional finance and the next generation of digital money.”

FUNDING | Leading African Web3 Gaming Publisher, Carry1st, Announces Strategic Investment from Sony Innovation Fund

The company said it plans to
accelerate product development,
expand licensing efforts, and
strengthen its cross-border payments network
across emerging markets.
The investment comes less than a year after reports that SC Ventures was preparing to raise a dedicated digital asset fund in 2026, underscoring Standard Chartered’s growing commitment to on-chain financial infrastructure.

FUNDING | Standard Chartered Venture Arm to Raise $250 Million Digital Asset Fund in 2026 – Eyes Africa as Strategic Frontier

Rather than backing speculative crypto businesses, the bank has increasingly focused on
regulated digital asset infrastructure,
tokenization, and
institutional payment networks.
Yellow Card has emerged as one of Africa’s largest stablecoin infrastructure providers operating across more than 20 African markets and supporting cross-border settlements in over 50 local currencies. The company has expanded beyond retail crypto trading into enterprise payment rails partnering with global firms including Mastercard and serving businesses using stablecoins for treasury management and international settlements.

“This investment is a vote of confidence in what we’ve spent years building: the infrastructure that lets global businesses move money without a traditional correspondent banking. But the bigger opportunity now is connecting banks themselves to stablecoin rails.
When institutions plug into this infrastructure, they’re not just modernizing payments, they’re unlocking dollar access for millions of businesses that traditional correspondent banking has left behind.
Money should move at the speed and convenience of the internet, and increasingly, banks want to move with it,” said Chris Maurice, CEO and Co-Founder of Yellow Card.

The 2023 ‘Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa’ in Botswana Features African Crypto Startups, YellowCard and Jambo

Yellow Card has facilitated over $10 billion in transactions across its network. The company supports more than 50 currencies, and holds relevant licenses, authorizations, and registrations in 22 jurisdictions across North America, Europe, and Africa. Strategic partnerships with VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, and Coinbase have positioned the company as an infrastructure layer for global payments players.
The raise highlights continued institutional interest in stablecoin infrastructure despite a broader slowdown in crypto venture funding with global banks increasingly viewing regulated dollar-backed stablecoins as a foundation for faster and cheaper cross-border payments.


REALITY CHECK | Crypto VC Participation Drops by Nearly 90% in Just 4 Years




Stay tuned to BitKE for the latest crypto developments globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
________________

ビットコインの世界最大の機関保有者であるストラテジーは、配当支払いとSTRC優先株の自己株買いの資金に充てるため、約1億4,470万ドル相当の1,638ビットコインを売却した。これにより、同社は今年2番目に大きいビットコイン売却となった。
同社は2026年7月27日から8月2日までの間に、平均価格63,957ドルでトークンを売却し、調達資金の約半分をSTRCの配当に、残りを株式買い戻しに充てた。さらにストラテジーは株式売却で2億9,060万ドルを調達し、米ドル準備高を40億ドルに引き上げた。

ナイジェリアは、仮想資産の課税に関する初の包括的ガイドラインを発行し、暗号資産の取引および仮想資産サービス提供者（VASPs）が、同国の新たな規制枠組みの下でどのように課税されるのかについて、長らく待ち望まれていた明確さを提供した。ナイジェリア歳入庁（NRS）によって発表されたこの指針では、国内で事業を行う暗号資産ユーザー、取引所、ブローカー、カストディアン、その他のデジタル資産関連企業に対して税金がどのように適用されるかが示されている。
このガイドラインでは、仮想資産を幅広く分類し、暗号通貨、ステーブルコイン、セキュリティトークン、ユーティリティトークン、そして非代替性トークン（NFTs）を含めるとしている。デジタル資産の購入、売却、交換、または処分といった課税対象となる取引（課税事由）を概説するとともに、マイニング、ステーキング、エアドロップ、その他の暗号資産関連活動によって得られる収入も取り扱っている。仮想資産取引から生じる利益は、ナイジェリアの新しい税法に基づき、課税所得として扱われる。

国庫（National Treasury）および南アフリカ準備銀行（SARB）は、国境を越えた活動に関する暗号資産マニュアル（案）（以下「マニュアル」）について、関係者による書面での意見提出を募集します。
これは、資本フロー管理規則、2026年（案）（以下「規則」）が、2026年4月17日にパブリックコメントのために公表されたこと、および、2026年5月15日に国庫とSARBが行った共同メディアステートメントによるものです。同ステートメントでは、とりわけ、暗号資産の取り扱い、保有、取引に関する公衆の懸念や、国境を越えた暗号資産取引の規制の可能性を含む事項に対応しました。共同ステートメントはさらに、規則（案）を補完するための、別個の国境を越えた暗号資産の枠組みとしての「マニュアル（案）」を、パブリックコメントのために公表することも示しました。

ケニアは、ケニア国家試験評議会（KNEC）を通じて学術資格を検証するためのブロックチェーン基盤のプラットフォームを立ち上げました。これにより、30百万件以上の試験記録をAvalancheのブロックチェーン上に移行し、証明書の不正（偽造）を抑え、検証プロセスを合理化することを目指しています。
Avalancheによると、このシステムは、雇用主、大学、政府機関が、長年にわたって偽造のリスクにさらされてきた紙の証明書に頼ることなく、学術記録を即時に確認できるようにするものです。このプラットフォームは、手作業による照合作業に伴う管理コストを抑えつつ、検証時間を短縮することが期待されています。