applications

Paymentscan data shows that the total recharge amount of cryptocurrency payment cards has surpassed $10 billion for the first time, reaching approximately $10.33 billion, an increase of 82% since the beginning of the year and about 250% year-on-year. This data reflects the cumulative recharge scale of cryptocurrency payment cards and related payment projects, rather than the trading volume of cryptocurrency exchanges.Reports indicate that stablecoins are becoming the main driving force behind the popularity of cryptocurrency payment cards. Compared to volatile assets like Bitcoin, stablecoins can complete payment settlements through traditional card networks, lowering the access threshold for merchants and making them more suitable for cross-border payments, remittances, and daily consumption scenarios in high-inflation areas.As payment companies, cryptocurrency exchanges, and asset management institutions continue to improve stablecoin infrastructure, cryptocurrency payment cards are gradually becoming an important gateway connecting digital assets to real-world consumption. However, as the scale of application expands, regulatory agencies will also pay more attention to issues such as consumer protection, sanctions screening, tax reporting, reserve asset transparency, and transaction monitoring.

The latest report from payment infrastructure company Cybrid shows that the adoption of stablecoins by enterprises is accelerating towards becoming mainstream. Among the 468 corporate executives and business leaders surveyed, as many as 42% of companies are already using stablecoins for cross-border payments, and 88% of respondents indicated they are very likely to adopt them within the next 12 months, while only 2% of respondents said they would rely entirely on traditional payment networks.Data shows that companies using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs; for large enterprises processing over $100 million monthly, cost savings can reach up to 47%. The most common use cases for companies using stablecoins are: payroll disbursement, vendor payments, and customer payments. In addition, 71% of respondents emphasized that clear regulatory policies (such as the recently passed stablecoin regulatory bill GENIUS Act in the U.S.) are the most critical factor driving their expansion of stablecoin usage, with its importance even surpassing the level of infrastructure improvement.With the growth in demand, the supporting infrastructure in the industry is also continuously expanding. Data from payment platform Paybis shows that in the first four months of 2026, B2B transactions accounted for nearly 98% of the total stablecoin payments on its platform. This Monday, Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) also announced the expansion of its digital asset custody platform, allowing institutional clients to store and circulate Circle's USDC directly through the bank.

According to Crowdfund Insider, the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Laura Liang, stated at the Caixin Summer Summit that Hong Kong will continue to expand its digital asset regulatory framework and promote the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial services sector to consolidate its position as an international financial center.Laura Liang pointed out that regulatory agencies will improve the institutional framework around areas such as digital asset trading, custody, investment consulting, and asset management, while adhering to the regulatory principle of "same business, same risks, same rules," achieving a balance between innovation and investor protection.She stated that as the application of AI in the financial industry accelerates, regulatory focus will include potential risks such as model reliability, algorithm bias, data privacy, and cybersecurity, emphasizing that financial institutions need to strengthen risk management during the innovation process.In addition, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and relevant regulatory agencies have expanded the regulatory sandbox mechanism, allowing financial institutions to test generative AI applications in a controlled environment to promote technological implementation and compliant development. Analysts believe that Hong Kong is further enhancing the openness and standardization of its financial markets through a dual regulatory framework for digital assets and AI, while also increasing its competitiveness in the global capital markets.

According to Jinshi reports, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Xu Zhengyu, stated that two licensed stablecoin issuers participated in the central bank digital currency and tokenized deposit-related projects led by the Monetary Authority. The Monetary Authority will continue to follow up, urging institutions to implement relevant application scenarios and explore more applications of compliant stablecoins in the digital finance sector.In addition, the Monetary Authority has established the Ensemble project framework working group to promote the construction of local unified standards and achieve interoperability between central bank digital currency and tokenized assets.

Gate announced that the first phase of its IPO Access project has officially launched, with SpaceX as the initial offering. Users can now submit their intention to subscribe through the Gate platform to participate in investment opportunities for popular company IPOs. The event adopts an "intention to subscribe" mechanism, and the platform will calculate the allocation weight based on the average locked amount during the subscription period.Ultimately, users may receive full allocation, partial allocation, or no allocation at all, with the specific results determined by the project's issuance situation and the actual allocation amount obtained by the platform. After receiving the IPO allocation, the corresponding stocks will be directly distributed to the Gate stock account. After the allocation ends, the relevant stocks will be listed on the Gate stock section on June 12, allowing users to directly engage in real stock trading or hold them, achieving a seamless transition from IPO subscription to secondary market trading.As an important part of Gate's stock business, IPO Access provides users with a new channel to participate in the subscription of globally popular companies going public. Currently, with the launch of IPO Access, Gate is gradually improving its product ecosystem covering Pre-IPO, IPO, and stock trading, providing users with a more convenient one-stop global investment experience.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently announced the establishment of the Blockchain Advisory Group (BAG) during the Proof of Talk 2026 in Paris, focusing on optimizing public systems and governance through blockchain technology. The first meeting was chaired by UNDP Deputy Administrator Xu Haoliang, with the initial in-depth topic being inclusive finance and digital finance, discussing obstacles such as fragmented payment systems, limited digital identities, insufficient interoperability, and institutional readiness, while assessing how blockchain can complement existing digital public infrastructure to enhance financial accessibility, efficiency, and transparency.BAG plans to hold two meetings each year to promote cooperation with the blockchain ecosystem around themes such as digital governance and public trust, legal identity and inclusive societies, digital financial services, climate and traceable accountability, digital labor and the future of work. Current members include 26 institutions such as the Ethereum Foundation, Filecoin Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, Algorand Foundation, Arbitrum Foundation, Celo Foundation, Web3 Foundation, and Kraken.

According to CoinDesk, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network Base has launched an AI integration tool called Base MCP, which allows users' Base accounts to connect to AI clients such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor. Users can complete transfers, token exchanges, check balances, view transaction records, and interact with DeFi applications through natural language.

YZi Labs announced the launch of its flagship global incubation program EASY Residency Season 4 (S4), with the application deadline set for June 21. This 10-week founder program adopts a "5 weeks online + 5 weeks offline in Bhutan" model, with the offline phase taking place in the newly established special administrative region of Glimpse Mindfulness City in Bhutan. Selected projects can receive up to $500,000 in investment, including a $150,000 SAFE agreement for 5% equity and a $3.5 million unlimited SAFE agreement, with founders' accommodation, meals, and workspace costs fully covered during their stay in Bhutan.This round of incubation focuses on the fields of Web3, AI, and biotechnology, including global payments, Agentic Economy, next-generation DeFi, AI infrastructure, AI × healthcare biotechnology, and Web3 × healthcare biotechnology. The mentor lineup includes Zhao Changpeng, He Yi, and Balaji, among others.

According to The Defiant, Solana officials announced that the $ENA token has officially launched on multiple mainstream applications within the Solana ecosystem.The currently integrated platforms include Phantom Wallet, Jupiter Exchange, FOMO, dFlow, Titan Exchange, Solflare, Kamino Swap, and Mayan, among others. Among them, Phantom and Jupiter, as one of the most widely used applications on Solana, provide important trading and usage channels for ENA.

According to Decrypt, Bank of England Executive Director Sasha Mills stated that the Bank of England views stablecoins as "a new form of currency" and will not "pick winners" between tokenized deposits and stablecoins. Mills mentioned that the Bank of England will open applications for "systemic stablecoins" by the end of the year, which are widely used for payments and may pose risks to financial stability, and will be regulated by the central bank.Matthew Long, Director of Payments and Digital Assets at the Financial Conduct Authority, stated that other stablecoins are regulated by the FCA, and there is still room for pound-denominated stablecoins to play a role. Mills also pointed out that 99% of stablecoins globally are dollar-denominated and do not comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act, and the UK is aligned with the U.S. on the timeline.

According to DefiLlama data, three relatively active DeFi applications, Hyperliquid, EdgeX, and Pump.fun, have collectively distributed $96.3 million in revenue to token holders over the past 30 days. Among them, Hyperliquid leads with $50.95 million, with all revenue returned directly to holders and zero incentive spending; Pump.fun returned $22.09 million to holders from a total revenue of $38.81 million; EdgeX allocated $23.26 million from $8.26 million in protocol revenue, indicating it may have tapped into reserves or other income sources.In terms of annualized data, Hyperliquid's revenue over the past year reached $946 million, Pump.fun at $481 million, and EdgeX at $236 million. This trend reflects that the crypto community is shifting from focusing on trading volume to actual revenue. Yearn.Finance founder Andre Cronje pointed out that DeFi in 2026 is no longer just a venue for speculation but is becoming the backend infrastructure of the on-chain economy, with the stablecoin market reaching $320 billion, decentralized exchanges having monthly spot trading volumes exceeding $160 billion, and perpetual contract DEX monthly trading volumes reaching $540 billion.

Paul Atkins, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated that the regulatory agency is considering new rules for on-chain financial markets and related software applications.Atkins pointed out that current software protocols such as DeFi are difficult to classify within the traditional regulatory framework of exchanges, brokers, or clearinghouses, as a single protocol often has multiple functions including trade execution, collateral management, liquidity routing, and settlement. His remarks are seen as the SEC adopting a more open attitude towards the crypto industry, which is friendlier compared to his predecessor Gary Gensler. Meanwhile, the SEC is also exploring innovative exemption mechanisms for tokenized securities and advancing the clarification of the digital asset classification system.

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig stated in an interview with CoinDesk that the CFTC is building tools that utilize AI to review registration applications for the U.S. crypto market and monitor trading.Mike Selig pointed out that due to federal government layoffs resulting in a reduction of more than one-fifth of the agency's staff, AI and automation technologies will be used to fill the manpower gap and improve document review efficiency. Currently, its employees are undergoing training with Microsoft Copilot, and the agency is also developing internal tools for reviewing swap data and market monitoring. In addition, Mike Selig stated that the digital asset classification guidelines jointly released by the CFTC and SEC are the most important initiative during his tenure, aimed at providing regulatory clarity for market participants. Regarding market predictions, Mike Selig reiterated the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction and emphasized that strict enforcement actions will be taken against violations such as insider trading.

According to TechCrunch, insiders who have repeatedly disclosed Apple's hardware plans stated that OpenAI is collaborating with MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Luxshare Precision to develop a smartphone. The chips are co-designed by OpenAI with MediaTek and Qualcomm, while Luxshare Precision serves as the joint design and manufacturing partner.This phone may replace traditional applications with an AI agent that completes tasks by continuously understanding the user's context, combining small edge models and cloud models to handle different requests. Specifications and suppliers are expected to be finalized by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, with mass production expected to begin in 2028.

According to crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong's post on platform X, Binance has launched the Binance debit card page, and users can currently register their intention to apply until April 30.After registration, users will be notified when support is launched in their region. According to the introduction, users can use USDC, USDT, FDUSD, BNB, etc., from their Binance financial accounts for daily card spending, with a maximum cashback of 3%, which does not affect financial earnings.

According to Decrypt, Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, stated during a hearing before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the U.S. government is currently running a Bitcoin node for cybersecurity-related testing, but is not engaged in mining.Paparo indicated that the U.S. military's interest in Bitcoin primarily focuses on its value as a computer science tool, including cryptography, blockchain, and reusable proof-of-work mechanisms, with the aim of using the Bitcoin protocol to strengthen cybersecurity and enhance military capabilities, which is still in the experimental stage. He also mentioned that maintaining the global dominance of the U.S. dollar aligns with U.S. military interests and gave a positive evaluation of the stablecoin legalization bill, the GENIUS Act, signed by Trump last summer, believing that the bill helps to solidify the global position of the dollar.

According to the official announcement from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand, the Thai SEC is publicly soliciting opinions on adjusting the licensing rules for futures contracts. The core content allows existing digital asset business operators to directly apply for a futures contract business license without the need to establish a new company, while also formally including digital assets in the category of reference targets for futures contracts.

According to official social media news, the HTX Genesis Hackathon, hosted by HTX DAO and B.AI, and co-hosted by TinTinLand and OpenCity, has entered a 1-day countdown. The event gathers industry VCs, builders, and leaders of top ecological projects. High-quality projects that stand out in the HTX Genesis Hackathon will receive ongoing computing power support, technical ecological integration, joint promotion, and deep cooperation from TRON, HTX, and B.AI.Huobi HTX global advisor Sun Yuchen and HTX DAO ambassador Molly will deliver keynote speeches at the opening ceremony. Sun Yuchen will share the latest judgments on the future development direction of the industry, focusing on the trend of AI × Web3 integration; Molly will interpret the ecological progress and collaborative path of HTX and HTX DAO.

Vitalik Buterin stated at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival that Ethereum's ultimate goal is to build a digital infrastructure where users do not need to trust any intermediaries, featuring "self-sovereignty," supporting various decentralized applications from finance, social interactions to identity verification, which will serve as trust anchors for off-chain applications (such as privacy voting, prediction markets, decentralized social).