Every Sunday I sit down with coffee and try to make sense of the past week in crypto. Some weeks feel quiet. This was not one of them. Between payment giants planting flags in new regions, regulators swinging the hammer again, and a few surprises nobody saw coming, there’s a lot to unpack. Let’s dive in.
Another Week, Another Seismic Shift in Crypto
If you blinked, you missed Visa quietly becoming one of the biggest stablecoin advocates on the planet. Meanwhile, China reminded the world it still views crypto the same way it views fireworks in a library. Throw in new reporting rules from the UK, some painful exchange hacks, and a fresh layer-1 hitting mainnet, and you’ve got seven days that actually moved the needle.
Visa Just Turned Stablecoins Into Everyday Money (In Half the World)
Forget pilots and press releases. Visa teamed up with Aquanow and flipped the switch on real, 365-day stablecoin settlement across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA for the acronym lovers). Issuers and acquirers in the network can now settle in USDC and other approved stablecoins whenever they want.
Why does this matter? Because most of us still think stablecoins live exclusively on chains and DeFi apps. Visa just dragged them into the same rails that process your morning coffee purchase. In my view, this is the single biggest mainstream adoption story of the year so far. When a payments behemoth with 4.2 billion cards in circulation says “yeah, stablecoins are fine,” the conversation changes overnight.
“Continuous settlement capabilities” might sound boring until you realize it means merchants in Lagos or Dubai can get paid in stablecoins on a Sunday night and have fiat in their bank Monday morning. That’s new.
China Reaffirms: Crypto Still Very Much Not Welcome
While Visa was opening doors, Beijing was busy nailing them shut—again. The People’s Bank of China held a multi-agency meeting and came out swinging: virtual currencies have no legal tender status, shouldn’t circulate, and stablecoins are apparently a national security headache.
Honestly, this felt more like a reminder than news. China’s stance hasn’t budged since 2021. Still, the timing is interesting. Stablecoins are exploding globally, Tether just passed $120 billion in circulation, and suddenly Beijing feels the need to restate the obvious. My take? They see the writing on the wall and want zero confusion.
UK Traders, Meet Your New Tax Overlord
Starting January 2026, every crypto platform operating in the UK has to collect your full name, address, tax ID, and transaction history—then ship it straight to HM Revenue & Customs. This is the OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework finally landing, and it’s about as fun as it sounds.
Privacy folks are already screaming. Traders who thought they were flying under the radar just got a rude awakening. On the flip side, this probably accelerates institutional comfort with the space. Clear rules, clear reporting—love it or hate it, ambiguity is shrinking fast.
- Personal details required
- Full transaction history
- Direct reporting to tax authorities
- No opt-out
Tether Packs Up and Leaves Uruguay
Energy costs killed Tether’s mining adventure in Uruguay. Thirty of thirty-eight employees got pink slips, and the rigs are either moving or getting sold. It’s a reminder that Bitcoin mining is still brutally sensitive to electricity prices, even for giants sitting on billions in profits.
Funny enough, Tether never really needed the hashrate. This was more of a “show we’re serious about sustainability” play that didn’t pan out. El Salvador probably sent a quiet thank-you note.
Upbit Discovers a Very Expensive Bug
South Korea’s biggest exchange lost roughly $30 million in SOL and assorted tokens after someone exploited an internal wallet vulnerability. Upbit paused withdrawals, moved everything to cold storage, and patched the hole. Crisis averted—mostly.
Incidents like this are why self-custody evangelists never shut up. But let’s be real: most people still park funds on exchanges for convenience. When the convenience breaks, trust takes a hit. Upbit will survive; retail nerves, maybe less so.
Animoca Bets the Farm on Stablecoins and RWAs
Animoca Brands, the web3 investment machine behind half the games you played in 2022, just told CNBC they’re going all-in on stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization next year. They’re even launching their own RWA marketplace.
I’ve been saying RWAs are the sleeper narrative of this cycle. Trillions of dollars in real estate, bonds, and private credit are begging for on-chain efficiency. Animoca has the relationships and the balance sheet to actually move the needle here.
Do Kwon Wants a Five-Year Cap
Terraform Labs’ founder filed papers asking a New York judge to cap any prison sentence at five years. The filing is 23 pages of legal gymnastics arguing that anything longer would be excessive given the circumstances.
Look, I’m not here to litigate Terra again. But five years for allegedly causing $40 billion in losses feels… optimistic. We’ll see what the judge thinks.
Australia Finally Tables Crypto Licensing
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 had its first reading. If passed, every crypto platform touching Australian customers will need a financial services license. This has been in the works forever; nice to see movement.
Quick Hits You Shouldn’t Ignore
- Securitize became the only firm fully licensed for tokenized securities infrastructure in both the EU and US. BlackRock’s fingerprints all over this one.
- Binance launched “Prestige” for ultra-high-net-worth clients. Because apparently VIP wasn’t exclusive enough.
- MoonPay scored a New York Trust Charter—huge for US on/off-ramping.
- Polymarket got CFTC blessing for regulated US access. Election betting season might actually happen legally next time.
- Japan wants exchanges to pre-fund compensation reserves for hacks. Smart.
- Monad mainnet went live with a chunky airdrop. Early testers are happy.
- JPMorgan randomly closed Strike CEO Jack Mallers’ accounts. Banking crypto firms remains a mood, apparently.
So where does this leave us?
The big picture feels clearer every week. Traditional finance isn’t coming for crypto—they’re already here, building parallel rails that happen to settle on-chain. Regulators are splitting into two camps: those embracing the tech with guardrails and those still pretending a total ban is realistic in 2025.
My personal read? The Visa news outweighs everything else this week. When the same company that processes 65,000 transactions per second decides stablecoins are ready for prime time across entire continents, we’re past the “if” phase and deep into the “how fast” phase.
Buckle up. The next twelve months are going to be something else.
