Western Union will launch a stablecoin named USDPT on the Solana blockchain in early 2026, with Anchorage Digital Bank serving as the token issuer, the company announced Tuesday. The payments provider said the token will enable users to send, receive, spend and hold digital assets through its compliance infrastructure. CEO Devin McGranahan had indicated in July that the company was exploring stablecoin integrations for remittance services.

Nasdaq-listed shipping company OceanPal Inc. closed a $120 million private placement to establish SovereignAI Services LLC, a subsidiary focused on blockchain and AI infrastructure developed with the NEAR Foundation. Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and G20 Group participated alongside the NEAR Foundation. The funds will support a NEAR Protocol-based digital asset treasury and a confidential AI cloud platform using NEAR and Nvidia technologies.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) launched the public testnet for Arc, a Layer-1 blockchain designed to integrate programmable money with real-world economic activity, on October 28, 2025. The testnet has attracted participation from over 100 institutions across global finance and technology sectors, including BlackRock, Visa, and Amazon Web Services. The network offers predictable dollar-based fees, sub-second transaction finality, and direct integration with Circle's platform.

Kyrgyzstan has launched KGST, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the som, while advancing a central bank digital currency initiative. The National Bank is piloting the digital som through a three-stage closed blockchain program targeting government and commercial payment systems. The country is also exploring plans for a national digital asset reserve.

MetaMask has launched a multichain account feature enabling users to manage EVM and non-EVM addresses through a single account. The wallet provider stated that Bitcoin network support will be added in future updates.

Citi and Coinbase announced a collaboration to develop digital asset payment capabilities for institutional clients. The partnership will initially focus on streamlining fiat-to-crypto transfers and expanding into always-on settlement infrastructure, addressing long-standing friction in institutional funding workflows.

U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna announced plans to introduce legislation prohibiting the president, members of Congress, and their immediate families from trading, owning, or creating cryptocurrencies. The proposal follows President Donald Trump's October 24 pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served four months for anti-money laundering violations. Khanna stated the legislation would extend existing stock trading restrictions to digital assets, calling the pardon "blatant corruption."

Coinbase's x402 payments protocol processed nearly 500,000 transactions between October 14 and October 20, marking a 10,780% increase from the previous month, according to Dune Analytics data. The protocol enables AI agents and users to conduct instant stablecoin payments without intermediaries by utilizing the HTTP 402 status code. Friday recorded the highest daily transaction count at 239,505, while Thursday saw peak transaction volume reaching $332,000.