The post Mastercard Bets Big on Stablecoin Market Via Potential Acquisition of Zerohash Valued at Near $2 Billion appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is eyeing to expand the stablecoin market through an intended acquisition of Zerohash. According to persons familiar with the matter, Mastercard intends to purchase the crypto and stablecoin infrastructure platform for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

Currently, the deal to acquire Zerohash by Mastercard is in the late stage, thus a possibility of the deal falling through. However, if the Zerohash deal does not go ahead as planned, Mastercard will become a key player in the stablecoin market ahead.

Mastercard Takes Advantage of Regulatory Clarity to Venture into Stablecoins

As a top payment company, Mastercard is keen to build its stablecoin amid regulatory clarity in the United States. Notably, the enactment of the Genius Act, by President Donald Trump, has attracted more institutional investors into the stablecoin market, which recently surpassed $300 billion in net valuation.

Previously, Mastercard had been competing with Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) to acquire stablecoin startup BVBK. However, people familiar with this matter noted that Coinbase has possibly won the BVBK acquisition.

The potential acquisition of Zerohash, follows its recent fundraising, led by Interactive Brokers, which raised $104 million at a $1 billion valuation.

Bigger Picture

The potential strategic acquisition of Zerohash by Mastercard will enhance the mainstream adoption of digital assets. The competition between Visa and Mastercard has been growing fierce in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).

Ultimately, if Mastercard gets to acquire Zerohash, the confidence in the blockchain payment industry will surge. Furthermore, Mastercard has hundreds of millions of customers globally and a potential stablecoin development will enhance its future growth prospects.

The post Breaking: Fed Cuts Key Interest Rate By 25 BPS, QE to Start on Dec 1; What’s the Impact on Crypto Bull Run? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The Federal Reserve has bent its knee to President Donald Trump’s request, amid the ongoing United States Government shutdown, which has lasted nearly 30 days. On Wednesday, October 29, the Fed reduced its federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to between 3.75% and 4%. 

The Fed noted that its Quantitative Easing (QE) will begin on December 1, 2025. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that December’s rate decision will be impacted by the availability of economic data, thus urging a quick resolution to the ongoing government shutdown.

The majority of the Fed’s members voted in favor of monetary action apart from Stephen Miran and Jeffrey Schmid. Notably, Miran, who was voted in by President Trump, advocated a rate cut of 50 bps. On the other hand, Schmid argued in favor of no change for the federal funds rate.

What’s the Impact of the Fed’s Policy Change on the Crypto Bull Market?

Midterm fear and uncertainty unleashed: government shutdowns’ impacts 

Following the Fed chair Powell’s announcement that the December rate decision will be impacted by data available, the midterm fear and uncertainty surged. Furthermore, Kalshi traders have reduced their conviction of an imminent Fed rate cut in December.

At press time, Kalshi traders were betting a 69% chance that the Fed will initiate a 25 bps rate cut in December. Additionally, Kalshi traders were betting a 34% chance, up from 13% earlier on Wednesday, that the Fed will maintain its rate in December.

As such, the wider crypto bull market may experience a midterm choppy consolidation in the coming few weeks.

Long-term bullish sentiment Solidified

Meanwhile, the long term crypto bull market has been solidified akin to the 2017 crypto summer, which also involved President Trump’s leadership. The now confirmed QE is a major boost to the crypto bull market amid anticipated capital rotation from Gold, which is heavily overbought.

The post Why is the Crypto Market Down Today? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The crypto market cap dropped by over 1% to hover around $3.9 trillion on Tuesday, October 28, during the late North American session. Bitcoin (BTC) price led the wider altcoin market in bearish sentiment, having dropped to a local low of about $112,412. 

Ethereum (ETH) price slipped over 3% during the past 24 hours to trade at about $3,946 at press time. Nonetheless, the fear of further crypto capitalization has gradually declined as traders await high-impact news from the United States.

Main Reason Why Crypto is Down Today?

Midterm Uncertainty Caused by Wednesday’s Fed Rate Cut 

The crypto market experienced higher volatility during the past 24 hours ahead of the upcoming FOMC data. The Fed rate jitters have sent shockwaves to the crypto market amid rising calls for an altseason 2025.

Nonetheless, crypto traders are expecting the bullish outlook to return amid anticipated Fed rate cuts and the onset of Quantitative Easing (QE). Furthermore, the ongoing capital rotation from Gold to Bitcoin will be bolstered by notable cash printing from the Federal Reserve, with experts predicting $1.5 trillion in the near term.

Sell the News Impact After Altcoins ETFs

The wider cryptocurrency market experienced a slight drop following news that spot altcoin ETFs are now live, amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. The altcoin ETF hype is gradually getting factored in, as traders await QE and Fed rate cuts.

Longsqueeze Impact Caused by High Liquidations 

The crypto market recorded a notable decline on Tuesday, fueled by heavy liquidation of long traders. According to market data from CoinGlass, out of the $567 million liquidated from crypto traders during the past 24 hours, more than $409 million involved long traders. 

The post SOL vs XRP: Western Union Opts for Solana Over XRPL to Build Its Stablecoin appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The XRP community has lost a major opportunity to the Solana (SOL) ecosystem. On Tuesday, Western Union announced a strategic partnership with Anchorage Digital to launch a stablecoin dubbed USDPT on the Solana network. 

“For 175 years, we’ve been connecting people, moving $150 billion a year. Digital assets are the next evolution. We looked at alternatives and came to the conclusion that Solana was the right choice,” Devin McGranahan, CEO of Western Union, noted. 

Notably, Western Union once used Ripple Labs xRapid, which uses XRP, to facilitate cross-border payments. The pilot program between Western Union and Ripple did not gain traction, as it was negatively impacted by the recently concluded lawsuit against Ripple by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Why Western Union Chose Solana to Build its Stablecoin

Reliable, Tested, and Scalable Smart Contracts

Western Union has joined other institutional investors building on the Solana blockchain, including PayPal and Fiserv. The Solana network has been running for more than a year without any downtime amid its notable scalability and affordability. 

The Solana chain is also compliant with existing regulations, including the recently enacted GENIUS Act by President Donald Trump.

Vast Community to Adopt Its Stablecoin

The Solana’s global community has grown in the past years, fueled by its high throughput and cheap transaction rates. As such, Western Union will reach more global markets and users for its USDPT stablecoin.

Market Impact

The market impact of Western Union launching its stablecoin on Solana has a mutual benefit to both parties. As for Solana, the demand for SOL to facilitate USDPT payments will bolster its macro bullish sentiment.

On the other hand, Western Union has a higher chance of thriving in cross-border payments in the future, thus bolstering its stock market.

The post Coinbase Collaborates With Citi to Facilitate Seamless Adoption of Crypto and Stablecoin Payments appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) has partnered with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). The strategic partnership between Citigroup and Collaboration will help democratize stablecoin and crypto payments to both retail and institutional clients. 

According to Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, the collaboration with Citi will work on improving stablecoin utility and digital assets adoption. Furthermore, Citi is a top-tier bank with more than 200 million customers from over 160 nations and jurisdictions.

What’s The Market Impact of Citi’s Collaboration with Coinbase

Bull Market Fuel: Mainstream Crypto Adoption Facilitated by Institutional 

The direct impact of Citi’s collaboration with Coinbase is the enhancement of the mainstream adoption of digital assets, amid the ongoing macro bull market. With both entities serving millions of global users, their partnership will enhance crypto liquidity and demand in the short term.

“This collaboration will combine Coinbase’s years of experience building secure, streamlined, and scalable infrastructure for digital assets with Citi’s global payments network that spans 94 markets and over 300 payment clearing systems. Together we’re working to create innovative payment solutions for institutions operating at scale,” Coinbase noted. 

Both entities will be building their collaboration on the notable crypto regulatory clarity, especially in the United States. For instance, Citi users will seamlessly access stablecoin payments via Coinbase in a regulated manner through the GENIUS Act.

Stock Market Rebound on Competitive Edge 

Following the announcement, COIN shares edged 5% higher on Monday, October 27, to trade about $366 at press time. Investors have gained more confidence in the long-term growth of COIN, since the exchange has an edge over its competitors.

Notably, the COIN stock price in the weekly timeframe has signaled a potential bullish breakout towards market discovery. Meanwhile, Citi’s stock price gained 2% on Monday to trade at about $100.81 at press time.