Mastercard and Circle are strengthening their partnership to enable settlement in USDC and EURC stablecoins across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA). This marks the first time acquiring institutions in the region can settle transactions using stablecoins, signaling a major step in merging blockchain assets with traditional payment infrastructure. Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services will be the first acquirers to adopt the new system.

The initiative allows institutions to settle in fully reserved USDC and EURC, bringing faster, more secure, and efficient digital payments for merchants. This builds on previous collaborations between Mastercard and Circle, including crypto card solutions like Bybit and S1LKPAY. The move is expected to cut friction in cross-border payments and strengthen liquidity across emerging markets, unlocking new opportunities for digital trade.

Executives from Mastercard, Circle, and regional partners hailed the collaboration as transformative. Mastercard emphasized its commitment to building secure, regulated infrastructure for tokenized money, while Circle highlighted the milestone as a step toward borderless, real-time commerce. With stablecoins gaining traction, this partnership sets the stage for wider adoption in global payments.

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HONG KONG – August 28, 2025 – BTC Inc., the organizer of the world’s largest Bitcoin conferences, today announced that Bitcoin Hong Kong 2026 will take place in Hong Kong on August 27 – 28, 2026. Following record-breaking growth in recent years, the return to Hong Kong highlights it’s pivotal role in the global Bitcoin economy.

The momentum continues after Bitcoin Asia 2025 saw over 20,000 sold passes, building on the success of Bitcoin Asia 2024, which featured some of the industry’s most influential voices. This year edition lineups have included notable speakers such as Eric Trump, CZ, Belaji Srinivasan, Adam Back, Bilal Bin Saquib and Dr. Xiao Feng, underscoring the…

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has officially adopted Nasdaq’s Market Surveillance platform to boost its oversight of derivatives and digital asset markets. The move replaces the agency’s decades-old system and marks a major step in modernization under Acting Chair Caroline Pham. She emphasized that as financial markets evolve, it is vital for regulators to stay ahead with tools that can detect fraud, manipulation, and abuse in real time.

Nasdaq’s surveillance system, already trusted by over 50 exchanges and 20 global regulators, brings automated alerts, cross-market analytics, and advanced monitoring across multiple asset classes. The technology offers real-time analysis with access to comprehensive order book data, giving the CFTC stronger tools to protect both traditional and crypto markets. Its flexible design also allows rapid scaling during periods of heightened trading activity.

The adoption comes as the CFTC expands its role in digital assets. Just last week, the agency launched a new phase of its “Crypto Sprint” initiative, inviting public input on regulations for leveraged and margined retail crypto trading.

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The Lightning Network is one of the most exciting and innovative technologies built on Bitcoin, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. From its early days with grassroots efforts like “PLEBNET,” to ambitious visions of Lightning Applications (LApps), and the idea of earning passive yield as a routing node operator, enthusiasm around Lightning has often outpaced its practical realities.

Many Bitcoiners expected Lightning to be a seamless, plug-and-play extension of the Bitcoin network — just as sovereign, decentralized, and accessible as running a full Bitcoin node. But the reality is more complex. Setting up and maintaining a well-connected Lightning node involves…

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DDC Enterprise Limited has officially crossed the 1,000 BTC mark in its corporate treasury, just 96 days after making its first Bitcoin purchase. The company’s latest addition of 120 BTC brings its total holdings to 1,008 BTC, positioning DDC as the 42nd largest public Bitcoin treasury globally. With an average purchase cost of $108,384 per coin, the firm is showcasing rapid accumulation at scale.

The aggressive strategy includes five purchases made in August 2025 alone, driving an astonishing 1,798% yield growth compared to its entry in May. Shareholders now hold an equivalent of 0.121298 BTC for every 1,000 shares, highlighting Bitcoin’s rising importance in DDC’s value creation strategy.

Founder and CEO Norma Chu called the milestone a crucial step forward, but not the final destination. “Crossing 1,000 BTC is an important milestone—but it’s just one step in our journey,” she said. DDC has set its sights on a bold target of 10,000 BTC by year-end, strengthening its commitment to becoming a leading force in corporate Bitcoin adoption.

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