payment

Circle has partnered with payment technology company Volante Technologies to integrate USDC-related workflows into Volante's existing payment platform. Financial institutions can incorporate stablecoin payments and settlements into their existing systems without having to build a separate digital asset technology stack.Volante's clients include four of the top five corporate banks globally and seven of the top ten banks in the United States. These institutions will be able to evaluate processes such as USDC minting, redemption, wallet registration, fund injection, and inter-wallet payments, and use them in parallel with existing payment rails.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Bitcoin software provider Breez announced that applications built on its Breez SDK now support users receiving stablecoin payments from over 30 networks using their Bitcoin balance.Breez stated that after the recipient selects the network and amount of the payer, the SDK generates a deposit address and displays the amount received, while the payer pays from their wallet as usual; Flashnet completes the exchange in the background, and the funds ultimately enter the recipient's non-custodial wallet in the form of Bitcoin, or in the form of USD if the stable balance feature is used.In June of this year, Breez launched the ability to send USDT/USDC, allowing a single Breez-powered balance to transfer stablecoins bi-directionally across almost all networks. This update is the latest in a series of usability upgrades, following the rollout of features such as Passkey login, Cash App instant account opening, and stable balance. Breez also launched a reference application called Glow in August to showcase the capabilities of the SDK.The Breez SDK is a developer toolkit that allows applications to add Bitcoin payments without having to build their own payment infrastructure, covering wallet creation, sending and receiving, and Lightning Network payments. Developers can provide Bitcoin functionality with minimal code, without needing to run nodes or manage liquidity.In July of this year, Breez announced a partnership with Turnkey, allowing developers to add non-custodial Bitcoin support to wallet applications running on their own servers.

A survey by the Democratic Party of the U.S. Senate claims that the stablecoin USDT issued by Tether has become a major payment method for Iran. The survey shows that among over 800 sanctioned cryptocurrency wallets, about 84% primarily or exclusively use USDT.The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had previously stated that its review of blockchain records, sanctions lists, and asset seizure notices found that the sanctioned wallets are mainly distributed across the Tron and Ethereum networks and have conducted USDT transactions.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Citigroup has reached a partnership with Coinbase, allowing Citigroup's institutional clients (including large multinational corporations) to accept customer stablecoin payments through Citigroup's merchant acquiring services. Coinbase will provide the stablecoin payment channel and underlying blockchain technology, automatically converting stablecoins into fiat currency, with Citigroup acting as the custodian bank to complete the funds settlement.At the same time, Coinbase's payment clients can leverage Citigroup's banking capabilities to receive, hold, and make payments using tools similar to bank accounts. The cash received will automatically be converted into stablecoins and stored in Coinbase, currently earning an annualized reward of 3.75% in interest-like benefits.

According to CoinDesk, the stablecoin payment company RedotPay, headquartered in Hong Kong, announced on Monday that it has completed financial audits and compliance reviews for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, both of which were conducted by one of the Big Four accounting firms. This move is a necessary preparatory step for applying for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

UsePaid posted on X that X Money payments have currently been suspended, and the team is addressing the payment issues. Existing balances remain secure, and related fees will continue to accumulate.UsePaid stated that before restoring full payment services, a web portal will be launched as a temporary fund application channel, and they are committed to resuming payment operations as soon as possible.

Payment company Block announced the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network into the x402 payment standard. The x402 protocol can complete verification and unlock data through Lightning Network invoices and payment preimages after the server returns an HTTP 402 payment request.Steve Lee, head of Block's open-source Bitcoin development department Spiral, stated that this integration is aimed at instant, low-cost micropayment scenarios. Block has not yet disclosed the timeline for integrating this standard into Cash App, Square, or Bitkey, and the related Python implementation still needs to be tested through real nodes.

Revoke.cash stated that Limit Break's payment processor has a known vulnerability, and users who traded NFTs on the Magic Eden Ethereum marketplace may still retain relevant contract authorizations.The vulnerability has been addressed by white hat security researcher 0xQuit. Currently, NFT assets are expected to be unaffected, but users should still check and revoke affected authorizations to reduce subsequent risks.

The Circle Foundation announced two grants to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to explore the application of digital payments and digital financial infrastructure in humanitarian aid and development projects.The Circle Foundation stated that the relevant programs will study how to utilize digital payments and regulated payment-type stablecoins to disburse funds to aid recipients more quickly, transparently, and at a lower cost.For the UNDP, the grant will be used to establish and operate a "Digital Asset Innovation Pool," helping country offices expand previous digital payment pilot projects conducted in Syria, Haiti, Guatemala, and Gambia from single projects to regular project execution, and provide support such as regulation, operations, and beneficiary protection; this mechanism will not replace traditional banking channels but will serve as a complementary option outside the existing payment system.For the WFP, the grant will support the establishment of governance, risk management, funding, reconciliation systems, and compliance tools necessary for stablecoin payments, and integrate local fintech and mobile payment services. Over the next three years, the WFP plans to test 2 to 3 payment channels connecting its payment system with local financial service providers and markets to assess the performance of stablecoin payments in terms of efficiency, transparency, and resilience.

According to CoinDesk, the stablecoin issuer Tether stated that its assets held in the licensed digital bank EQIBank in Dominica account for less than 0.034% of the group's total assets. Based on Tether's disclosed total group assets of $18.775 billion in June, its related exposure is approximately $64 million, but Tether did not disclose the specific amount.It was reported that EQIBank processes customer funds through the U.S. payment processor Capstone, which utilizes accounts at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan for fund transfers. U.S. prosecutors have seized funds related to Capstone's accounts and filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit, accusing it of making false representations about its business to the bank. EQIBank stated that approximately $89 million in funds have been seized, equivalent to about 80% of its monetary assets, which may expose it to liquidation risks.Previously, EQIBank provided banking services to Tether, including processing wire transfers related to the purchase and redemption of USDT. Tether stated that it is not aware of the actions related to Capstone as alleged by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform that Block has joined the x402 Foundation and is providing Bitcoin Lightning Network support for the AI agent-oriented open payment standard x402.x402 embeds payments directly into HTTP, allowing AI agents to autonomously pay for goods, services, and other agent tool fees. Block stated that the Lightning Network is suitable for the billions of instant, low-cost micropayments expected to be generated by the agent economy.

The cryptocurrency payment card service Gnosis Pay announced that it will close its card business on December 20 and shift its focus to a B2B model.Gnosis Pay stated that funds in users' Safe accounts will still be accessible after the service ends, but if users wish to continue using a card for spending, they will need to open a partner account and switch to a new card.

According to The Block, the Solana Foundation announced the appointment of Rachel Conlan as Chief Strategy Officer and Jamal Raees as General Manager of Payment Business to expand institutional adoption and payment operations. Conlan previously worked at Binance for three years and held senior management positions at companies such as OKX; Raees comes from Polygon Labs and will be responsible for collaborating with payment companies, enterprises, and ecosystem partners to promote Solana as a global payment infrastructure.The Solana Foundation stated that this year, Solana's stablecoin trading volume has exceeded $50 trillion, the on-chain real-world assets (RWA) scale has surpassed $4.5 billion, and the supply of tokenized stocks has exceeded $620 million.

According to Specter Investigation monitoring, the privacy stablecoin payment network Payy Network is suspected to have been attacked, with approximately 1.8 million USDC transferred away.The attacker previously obtained initial funds through the privacy protocol Railgun, then exchanged the stolen USDC for ETH and dispersed the funds to three addresses.

On the morning of the event "Intelligent Payment Qianhai · Welcoming APCE" held on that day, Tencent announced the official launch of TenPay Go, the first payment application for overseas users coming to China. This tool supports foreign card payments, Apple Pay, and other payment methods for individuals coming to China to make purchases within the WeChat Pay merchant network.According to Caixin, TenPay Go has currently partnered with seven major international card organizations, including UnionPay and VISA, and can bind nearly 60 overseas wallets. TenPay Go will also collaborate with Shenzhen Tong to create a transportation card service, which can be activated for immediate use by overseas individuals, allowing them to scan codes to take the Shenzhen subway and buses, with internal testing expected to launch in late September.

Oracle announced the expansion of its Digital Assets Data Nexus platform, adding payment execution integration, configurable wallets and smart contract controls, as well as AI-driven transaction monitoring and risk analysis features.This upgrade supports connecting existing bank payment systems with digital asset transaction execution through the ISO 20022 messaging standard, helping banks establish a unified operational model for the flow of funds between traditional currencies and digital currencies, while enhancing ledger visibility, compliance controls, and operational efficiency. The platform will also support integration with Oracle Banking Payments and Swift Ledger, covering application scenarios such as tokenized deposits, stablecoins, CBDCs, digital bonds, and real-world assets. Oracle stated that the relevant features are planned for release in fiscal year 2027.

According to Bloomberg, the UK digital bank Revolut launched the UK's first facial recognition checkout system "Pay with Smile" on September 23, allowing customers to complete payments in-store through facial recognition.This feature operates on the Revolut Register terminal, where users can complete facial identity verification by clicking "Pay with Smile" on the screen during checkout, a process similar to unlocking a smartphone or accessing a banking app. Facial data is end-to-end encrypted, merchants do not store personal data, and users must actively choose to opt-in in the Revolut app settings, with the ability to withdraw consent at any time. Revolut charges a 0% processing fee for Pay with Smile transactions to alleviate the burden on independent merchants.The pilot will take place from September 24 to 26 at three Kiss the Hippo cafes in Bloomsbury, Chelsea, and Soho in London, with plans to roll out the feature to all 12 locations later this year. Sales promotion for the Revolut Register terminal will be launched at the appropriate time.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform that the x402 Foundation has incorporated the Lightning Network payment specifications into its open internet payment standards. x402 was originally developed by Coinbase, aiming to allow AI agents and applications to automatically complete payments and continue executing tasks upon receiving a "402 Payment Required" response, without the need to create accounts, input credit card information, or manage API subscriptions.The protocol is now governed by the Linux Foundation, with participation from companies such as Cloudflare, Google, AWS, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and American Express. With the incorporation of the Lightning Network, AI agents can utilize the Satoshi payment API calls, data, computing power, MCP tools, and other digital resources, and cryptographically prove payments through Lightning Network pre-images.

The PermissionDelegationV1_1 upgrade of the XRP Ledger entered a 14-day activation countdown on September 21, having received support from 29 of the 35 trusted validator nodes. If the support rate remains above 80% during this period, the upgrade could officially activate as early as October 5 at 11:18 UTC; at least 28 validator nodes must continue to support it, or the countdown will reset.This feature allows accounts to split permissions by role. For example, a stablecoin issuer can allow a connected compliance system to approve customer accounts holding its tokens while keeping the keys with full control offline; operational accounts can gain payment permissions but cannot change keys or delegate authority to others. Each trustee can have up to 10 permissions, and the main account can modify or revoke them at any time.This is the network's second attempt to introduce this feature. The original version had vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit to make others pay transaction fees with improperly signed transactions, and by repeatedly submitting high-fee transactions, they could deplete the victim's XRP balance. This vulnerability was reported by community testers on September 15, 2025, and validator nodes were advised to reject the amendment, so it was never activated. The fixed version was released with xrpld 3.3.0, changing the way unauthorized transactions are rejected, ensuring that fees are not deducted before signature verification.