Kraken is bringing its Krak multi-asset debit card to the U.S., giving customers a way to spend from more than 600 currencies and digital assets through a single card. The card automatically converts selected holdings into U.S. dollars at the point of purchase, while customers can choose which assets are spent first and even combine multiple balances in one transaction. It also offers up to 2% cashback, with rewards available in either U.S. dollars or Bitcoin, adding a consumer-rewards angle to the crypto-to-payments story. The U.S. launch is particularly significant because it pushes Kraken beyond its traditional role as a crypto exchange and deeper into everyday financial services. The company says more than 135,000 Krak cards have already been issued across the UK and European Economic Area since December 2025, giving the U.S. rollout an established base to build on. More broadly, the product shows how crypto companies are increasingly trying to make digital assets spendable alongside traditional currencies rather than keeping them confined to trading platforms.
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The Gateway to Digital Asset: On-Chain Data Infrastructure
In the early stage of the digital asset market, this data access problem drew limited attention, since most digital asset services were small-scale pilots for a narrow set of participants. JPMorgan’s deposit token project, for example, functioned as a restricted payment instrument for a small group of institutional clients. In an environment where participants and use cases were clearly defined, transaction types stayed simple, and real-time precision carried limited importance.
On-chain data faced a lower bar at the time, since operations did not need every state to match in real time. Eventual consistency, the final state converging after a short delay, was often enough. A limited number of self-hosted nodes, an external RPC (Remote Procedure Call) endpoint, or a basic on-chain data API could support most operational needs in this environment.
This approach breaks down as on-chain environments expand. Asset types have diversified and transaction volumes have grown quickly, and data infrastructure now has to process more data, faster and more accurately. As digital asset services move into full-scale operation, the technical bar has risen from simple data lookup to something far more precise, timely, and reliable.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Stripe Treasury Launches in Australia
Stripe has launched Treasury in Australia, bringing payments and global money-management capabilities together for businesses. The expansion strengthens Stripe’s embedded-finance offering and gives Australian businesses more tools to manage money within their existing workflows.
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TenPay Global and ShopeePay Bring QR Payments to China
TenPay Global and ShopeePay are launching QR-payment capabilities in China. The partnership expands cross-border payment options and makes it easier for users to transact through familiar digital wallets.
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Visa Partners With Able and Onafriq to Expand Credit Access in Africa
Visa is partnering with Able and Onafriq to expand access to credit across Africa. The initiative highlights how payment networks are increasingly using fintech partnerships to reach underserved consumers and businesses.
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Malaysia Recognizes TNG eWallet for Wage Payments
Malaysia has recognized TNG eWallet as an option for wage payments. The move gives digital wallets a larger role in everyday financial infrastructure and further blurs the line between wallets and traditional banking services.
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🏦 Banking
Revolut Applies for Finnish Banking Licence
Revolut has applied for a Finnish banking licence as it continues its European expansion. Securing the licence would strengthen its position across the European banking market and support the fintech’s push toward becoming a more fully fledged bank.
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Prevail Bank Chooses Jack Henry for Open Banking and AI Innovation
Prevail Bank has selected Jack Henry to support an open technology ecosystem and AI-driven innovation. The partnership reflects how smaller banks are increasingly turning to modern technology platforms to compete through digital capabilities.
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Starling to Roll Out Weekly Smart Money Tools
Starling Bank plans to release weekly “smart tools” designed to help millions of customers manage their money. The strategy shows digital banks continuing to differentiate through frequent product innovation and personalized financial-management features.
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Experian Brings Personalized Credit Scores to ChatGPT
Experian is bringing personalized credit scores to ChatGPT in what it describes as a UK first. The integration points toward conversational AI becoming a new interface for accessing highly personalized financial information.
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💼 Fintech
EIB Launches Fintech Fund in Poland
The European Investment Bank has launched a fintech fund in Poland to support financial-technology companies. The initiative could provide additional capital for fintech innovation and strengthen Poland’s position as a European financial-technology hub.
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Prosus Invests in Navi to Support Fintech Expansion
Prosus is investing in Indian fintech Navi as the company expands its financial-services business. The investment reflects continued investor interest in India’s rapidly growing fintech ecosystem.
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Nationwide Launches Free Credit-Score Widget
Nationwide is introducing a free-to-use widget designed to make credit scores easier for consumers to understand. The product focuses on financial literacy while making credit information more accessible through a simpler user experience.
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Salad Finance Raises £4.3M to Support Credit-Invisible Workers
Salad Finance has raised £4.3 million from UK retail investors across five bond offerings. The fintech plans to use the funding to support workers who struggle to access traditional credit, targeting a major gap in consumer finance.
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🪙 Crypto
Binance Lets AI Agents Trade Crypto
Binance is allowing AI agents to execute trades, opening the door to increasingly autonomous crypto activity. The development raises both opportunities and questions around how users should control and monitor AI-driven financial decisions.
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Bitcoin Hits Highest Price Since June as $3B in Shorts Are Liquidated
Bitcoin reached its highest price since June as roughly $3 billion in short positions were liquidated. The sharp move highlights the role leveraged trading can play in accelerating crypto-market rallies.
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Prediction Markets Face Growing Tensions in Washington
Executives from CME and Kalshi have clashed over the future of prediction markets in Washington. The dispute reflects growing competition and regulatory uncertainty as prediction markets move closer to the mainstream financial ecosystem.
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XRP Posts Its Best Week Since the 2024 Election Rally
XRP has recorded its strongest weekly performance since its 2024 election-era surge as a Bitcoin-driven short squeeze boosts crypto markets. The rally highlights renewed momentum across major digital assets.
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Bitcoin Briefly Touches $70,000 on Trump Crypto Push
Bitcoin briefly reached $70,000 amid renewed attention surrounding Trump’s crypto push. The move underscores how political developments and expectations around crypto policy continue to influence digital-asset markets.
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📈 WealthTech
Singapore WealthTech Keenai Launches One-Account Hub
Singapore wealthtech firm Keenai has launched a one-account hub designed to consolidate financial services in a single platform. The approach reflects growing demand for wealth-management experiences that bring multiple financial products together rather than leaving investors to manage fragmented accounts.
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⚖️ Regulation
Standard Chartered Becomes First G-SIB to Issue Digitally Native Notes on Euroclear
Standard Chartered has become the first global systemically important bank to issue digitally native notes on Euroclear’s D-FMI. The milestone demonstrates how major banks are moving tokenized securities closer to established capital-markets infrastructure.
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