Payment volume processed on crypto cards has climbed to a record $12.5 billion, up 140% year-to-date, according to data from paymentscan.xyz, first shared by The Kobeissi Letter.

The figure is also 247% higher than levels recorded in October 2025.

The surge is being driven by growing use of stablecoins as a payment rail and a broader push for cheaper, faster cross-border transactions, The Kobeissi Letter said.

BREAKING: The total volume of payments processed on crypto cards has reached a record $12.5 billion, up +140% year-to-date.

This also marks +247% growth compared to levels seen in October 2025.

Continued adoption of stablecoins as a payment rail and the push toward…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

A credit union founded by postal workers in 1930 is now custodying real Bitcoin for its members. St. Cloud Financial Credit Union CEO Jed Meyer explains how its patent-pending hybrid custody model gives each member individual Bitcoin ownership in a multisig vault. He also covers how the credit union has grown to more than 20 BTC under custody without even trying.

Chapters:00:00 St. Cloud Financial Credit Union’s Path to Bitcoin01:08 Stablecoins, Dollars, and Bitcoin as New Money Networks02:26 Bitcoin ETF vs. Credit Union Custody: The Hybrid Custody Model03:18 Bringing Main Street Into Bitcoin With Direct Buy and Sell04:45 Minnesota Custody Law, NCUA Exams, and the CLARITY…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Mortgage rates just hit their highest level in nearly three years, and homebuyers are already pulling back. HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami explains why the 10-year Treasury yield keeps climbing since talks with Iran broke down, and why the Federal Reserve has turned hawkish. He also explains how mortgage spreads are keeping 30-year rates from climbing above 8%.

Chapters:00:00 30-Year Mortgage Rates Hit 7.28%, Highest in Nearly Three Years00:52 Iran Talks, the Fed, and Why the 10-Year Yield Keeps Rising01:58 Mortgage Spreads Explained: Why Rates Aren’t Above 8.6%03:28 What It Would Take to Get Meaningful Home Price Cuts04:43 Homebuilders, Profit Margins, and Mortgage…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

For generations, property has been the default place to store wealth, but Leon Wankum says that run is over. The author of Digital Real Estate, published by Bitcoin Magazine Books, explains how fiat debasement since 1971 inflated a monetary premium in real estate. He argues Bitcoin, as absolutely scarce money, is now pulling that premium away. He also explains why both residential and commercial real estate will feel the shift.

“Digital Real Estate is required reading for anyone who owns property and hasn’t yet considered how Bitcoin is set to disrupt the real estate market.” 🏡

Buy Leon Wankum’s ‘Digital Real Estate’ now in the Bitcoin Magazine bookstore…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Strategy just spent six times more buying back Stretch than buying Bitcoin. Is that the right move for MSTR shareholders? StoneX Senior Equity Research Analyst Mark Palmer explains why STRC is foundational to Strategy’s fundraising, and how the $4.9B USD Reserve is pushing the preferred stock back toward par. He also explains why Strategy won’t simply raise the dividend rate.

Chapters:00:00 StoneX Analyst Mark Palmer on Strategy (MSTR)00:12 Stretch Buybacks vs. Buying Bitcoin: $176M vs. $29M01:00 The $4.9B USD Reserve and Stretch’s Path Back to Par01:56 Why Strategy Won’t Raise the Stretch Dividend Rate04:17 Daily Dividends and Ex-Dividend Date Volatility06:53 June’s…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Crypto-anarchist, former Bitcoin Core contributor and cypherpunk legend Amir Taaki is in trouble again. 

Writing on X Tuesday, the developer said that he was questioned by Singaporean police before being deported from the country about “what I work on.” 

British-Iranian programmer Taaki, who was one of the first Bitcoin contributors, claims he has been in trouble with certain countries since spending time fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in Syria years ago. 

Just got questioned for 6 hours by glow police then deported from Singapore. Everything about what I work on.

The extralegal glow regime charge my friends with fake things like money…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Spain has just shown every property owner in Europe that the rules around their asset can be rewritten by decree. Bitcoin is the one asset where that cannot happen.

I direct the Masters in Bitcoin at the Universidad de las Hespérides. My field focuses on how people build wealth over decades, not weeks. In Spain, for generations, the answer to long-term family wealth was land and property until now. 

Last week the government made that path close to impossible. I am not writing to dismiss real estate. I am writing because Spain has just threatened one of the few long-term wealth-building tools ordinary families had, and they will need another one.

Two decrees, one message

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Crypto exchange OKX has raised new funding at a $25 billion valuation, the company said on Tuesday, revealing investment from top digital asset companies. 

The crypto exchange said in an announcement that stablecoin giant Circle, fintech firm Ripple and British bank Standard Chartered’s investment arm, SC Ventures, all participated in the fundraise. 

We’re announcing a strategic investment from @Circle, QRT, @Ripple and SC Ventures by @StanChart at a $25 Billion pre-money valuation.

This is how we’re aligning critical builders behind our vision for the next generation of onchain markets.

— OKX (@okx) October 6, 2026

Earlier this year, the Intercontinental Exchange…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Artificial intelligence and digital assets are beginning to converge, with AI models showing a preference for bitcoin and stablecoins, according to research cited by BlackRock . 

In a new report, the $15 trillion Wall Street giant said that card networks and automated clearing houses involve human-driven onboarding, fees that make tiny payments uneconomic and slower settlement and finality.

The report, “The Machine-Native Economy”, is a bet that the next big source of crypto demand won’t be human investors but software. As AI agents begin booking travel, buying data and renting computing power on their own, BlackRock argues, they will need payment systems that run around…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

The Treasury Department is scrapping two long-stalled crypto surveillance proposals, handing a major win to privacy advocates and the digital asset industry.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network filed notices Monday withdrawing its 2020 “unhosted wallet” rule and a 2023 plan to brand international crypto mixing a “class of transactions of primary money laundering concern.” Both notices are set to appear in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

In a Monday statement, the Washington crypto policy group Coin Center said the news was “a significant victory for financial privacy.” 

“The definition of mixing was extraordinarily broad, sweeping in common techniques…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine