Binance Invests $100 Million in Circle Amid DOJ Iran Sanctions Probe

Mastercard has begun processing live SoFiUSD settlement for SoFi's debit and credit cards, moving the partnership beyond a trial as transactions now run on the blockchain. SoFi is migrating a card program expected to handle more than $25 billion in annualized volume, a figure that represents the size of the card program rather than a reported total of stablecoin transactions or new revenue for Mastercard. SoFi also plans to offer stablecoin settlement to other financial companies through its Galileo platform. Mastercard shares were up 1.25% to $562.815. The payoff from SoFiUSD still depends on how widely customers use it.

BlackRock predicts agentic AI could become an underappreciated source of demand for digital assets, arguing in a September report titled The Machine-Native Economy that AI agents transacting independently will need machine-native payment rails built on stablecoins, native cryptocurrencies and other onchain assets. The asset manager said existing systems such as card networks and ACH can be less suited to always-on, low-value and programmable transactions, and cited Bitcoin Policy Institute simulations in which AI models generally favored stablecoins for everyday payments and Bitcoin for long-term value preservation, while cautioning the findings reflect simulated rather than actual agent behavior. The thesis is meeting real-world experimentation: Meta and PayPal announced on Sept. 22 that users will be able to shop and check out with Meta's Muse AI agent across PayPal's merchant network worldwide. Muse, launched Sept. 8, can book travel, fill out forms and make purchases after user approval, and quickly rose to the top of Apple's App Store rankings among free apps. PayPal also operates PayPal USD, its dollar-backed stablecoin, which became available across 70 markets in March, though neither company has said PYUSD will be used for Muse purchases. The news comes as Bitcoin climbed above $86,000 this week, its highest level in eight months, up about 8.8% in September after gaining roughly 25% in August, with Ether, XRP and other major altcoins also strengthening.

Bitcoin ETFs took in $1.7 billion in inflows over a strong two-day run. The figure was highlighted in the latest episode of the Daily Wolf, where Scott Melker also discussed a new stablecoin partnership involving Mastercard and SoFi. Melker further noted that Binance is investing $100 million into Circle's global USDC expansion. No further details on the ETF flows or the partnership terms were provided.