ECB Urges Brussels to Scrap MiCA Stablecoin Reserve Rule Tether Rejected

Binance purchased a $100 million equity stake in Circle on September 17, 2026, acquiring approximately 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 per share in a private placement at a 5% discount to the prevailing market price, paired with a five-year commercial agreement that replaces two prior short-term deals. The shares carry a lock-up of up to two years prohibiting sale, transfer, pledge, or hedge, and the lock-up is tied to the duration of the commercial arrangement. Under the agreement, Circle pays Binance a monthly incentive fee structured as a percentage of USDC held in Binance's Modular Smart Contract Wallet, while Binance commits to actively promoting USDC on its platform; either party may terminate early under specified conditions. Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the real asset Binance is buying is distribution reach into the fastest-growing crypto markets, while Binance co-CEO Richard Teng called the $100 million investment and five-year commitment a long-duration strategic bet. Circle's existing USDC supply sits at roughly $60 billion, and the deal is designed to close the gap with Tether's USDT in emerging markets ahead of the GENIUS Act enforcement cliff on January 18, 2027, which will require stablecoin issuers operating in the United States to maintain 1:1 reserves, submit to monthly attestations, and comply with federal oversight.

SoFi Technologies said its bank has begun using stablecoins to settle transactions across its Mastercard card network, making SoFi Bank's entire $25 billion card portfolio eligible for settlement through SoFiUSD, the company's stablecoin. Mastercard is supporting the payment infrastructure behind the program. The arrangement is designed to let participating merchants receive settlement funds in a SoFi Bank account and convert them to cash without requiring merchants to maintain stablecoin balances or build separate systems. SoFi said it is also in discussions with large U.S. merchants about additional stablecoin settlement arrangements. SoFi shares climbed about 1% Tuesday on the news, while Mastercard shares were up about 0.4% in premarket trading.

Visa has joined the founding validator cohort for Circle's Arc L1 blockchain, moving the payments giant from routing stablecoin traffic to helping secure the network itself. The cohort includes BlackRock, DTCC, Mastercard, and ICE. Visa's stablecoin settlement volume rose from a $3.5 billion annualized run rate in November 2025 to $7 billion by April 2026 and to an annualized $20 billion by September, a 15x year-over-year increase. Visa runs a dual-chain strategy: Solana remains the primary venue for production settlement with partners Cross River Bank and Lead Bank on a seven-day cycle, while Arc L1, which launched its mainnet on September 16, 2026, is a permissioned, USDC-native environment built for financial markets and agentic AI economic activity. Rubail Birwadker, Visa's Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, said Arc represents the compliant, high-trust network infrastructure needed to support onchain payments growth, and Circle Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok said the work reflects growing demand for USDC and settlement infrastructure. The build-out comes ahead of the GENIUS Act enforcement cliff on January 18, 2027, after federal agencies missed the July 2026 rulemaking deadline, and as Visa expands to over 160 card programs in more than 50 countries.