Crypto World
Kraken’s Krak Launches US Debit Card as Payward Expands Services
Kraken’s consumer payment app, Krak, has rolled out a multi-asset debit card in the United States, letting customers pay with crypto and fiat while earning cashback. The card supports spending from more than 600 assets and currencies, converting holdings into US dollars at the point of sale, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
The move expands Kraken’s push toward everyday finance products that sit alongside trading. It also positions a rewards model that depends on asset balances rather than credit-based payments—an angle aimed at consumers who are wary of accumulating monthly credit-card debt.
Key takeaways
- Krak launched a US multi-asset debit card that can draw from 600+ assets/currencies and converts them into USD at checkout.
- Users can choose the order in which balances are spent, allowing multiple holdings to contribute to a single purchase.
- Cashback can be earned up to 2%, paid in US dollars or Bitcoin, with rates tied to average assets held across Krak, Kraken, and Kraken Pro.
- The cards are issued by Lead Bank on Visa and powered by Stripe Issuing, with physical and virtual options for eligible US customers.
- Kraken says it has already issued 135,000 multi-asset cards in the UK and EEA since a December 2025 launch.
A debit card built for crypto and fiat spending
Krak’s new card is designed to work like a conventional debit instrument, but with a key difference: the funding sources can include both traditional currencies and crypto assets. When users make a purchase, holdings are converted into US dollars at the point of sale.
Rather than forcing customers to pick a single wallet or balance up front, the card can pull from multiple assets during one transaction. Krak says users will be able to set the order of assets that get spent first, giving customers control over how their portfolio is applied at checkout.
For investors and traders considering real-world utility, the practical takeaway is that Krak is trying to remove friction between “holding” and “spending.” Instead of treating crypto as a separate ecosystem from everyday commerce, the card aims to make it operationally comparable to a multi-currency payment tool—though users still need to understand that conversion happens at the moment of purchase.
Cashback up to 2%—but tied to average balances
Krak says the cashback program can reach 2% and is delivered either in dollars or Bitcoin. The determining factor is not simply transaction behavior; the company says cashback rates depend on the average assets held across Krak, Kraken, and Kraken Pro.
This structure mirrors a broader trend among crypto payment products: loyalty incentives increasingly target longer-term account engagement rather than short-term promotional activity. It also helps explain Krak’s emphasis on balances across multiple Kraken properties, effectively blending “payments” with “customer stickiness” across the ecosystem.
Krak is marketing the card as an alternative to rewards programs typically offered by credit cards. In a survey of 2,001 US adults commissioned by Krak via Morning Consult, 42% of credit card holders said they worry about paying off their monthly balance. In the same survey, 60% said they would switch to a debit card offering rewards without taking on debt.
While the survey does not prove how many people will actually adopt Krak’s card, it does clarify why the company believes the debit + rewards format can resonate in a market where credit-card interest costs remain a consumer concern.
How the card works: Visa issuance and Stripe Issuing
Operationally, Krak’s card is backed by established payment infrastructure. The card is issued by Lead Bank on the Visa network, and Krak says it is powered by Stripe Issuing. The company also indicates both physical and virtual versions are available to eligible customers in the United States.
For users, that combination typically matters for practical adoption—virtual cards can be used for online spending, while physical cards cover in-store purchases. For builders and partners watching the sector, it underscores how crypto-native finance products increasingly rely on mainstream rails to scale distribution and compliance workflows, even when the “wallet logic” remains crypto-specific.
From UK/EEA rollout to US expansion
Krak did not start from scratch in payments. Kraken says it has issued more than 135,000 multi-asset cards in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) since launching there in December 2025.
That history matters because it frames the US card as an expansion of a live product rather than a brand-new concept. It also suggests Krak is carrying operational learnings from earlier markets—such as how customers choose spending order across assets and how cashback eligibility and conversion behavior work in practice.
Still, readers should watch how US users experience the same mechanics. The US rollout may face different consumer habits, regulatory requirements, and asset availability expectations compared with UK/EEA customers, even if the core product design is similar.
Kraken’s broader push beyond trading
The card launch fits into a wider strategy at Kraken’s parent company, Payward. In remarks at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi discussed plans to expand the firm’s financial services offering, including pushing into additional asset classes and more traditional financial products.
Sethi said diversification across multiple asset classes could reduce dependence on any single market cycle. He also described tokenization as “a large part” of the company’s effort to broaden its financial offerings, and compared the company’s target end state to major incumbent banks—arguing it needs products and services “not too different to a JP Morgan or a financial institution.”
That message lands at a time when several large exchanges are broadening their businesses beyond spot trading. Coinbase and others have expanded into areas such as equities, derivatives, prediction markets, tokenized assets, and pre-IPO products—signaling that the competitive battleground is shifting toward multi-vertical financial platforms.
Krak’s debit card adds a consumer-facing layer to that trend. Instead of asking users to interact with crypto primarily through trading screens, Kraken is moving toward everyday financial touchpoints—spending, rewards, and balance-based incentives—that could keep customers engaged even when they are not actively trading.
Kraken is also continuing to expand its regulated offerings. Separately, the company launched trading in more than 7,000 US-listed stocks for customers in the EEA earlier this week, reinforcing the pattern of “financial services first” expansion.
Next, investors and consumers should watch how Krak’s US rollout performs against its UK/EEA track record—particularly around card issuance eligibility, cashback mechanics, and how users manage multi-asset spending order in real transactions.
After several days of trading mostly sideways, or even charting new losses, bitcoin’s price finally headed in the opposite direction at the start of the new business week, topping $64,500 for the first time in 7-8 days.
However, this rather minor rally has been jeopardized long before it had the opportunity to grow into something more spectacular, as the selling pressure has mounted on several fronts. There’s also a dark horse outside the on-chain data, showing another threat.
Bull Trap in the Making?
Starting with miners, popular analyst Ali Martinez outlined the growing concern within the community about the increasing selling pressure. The backbone of the Bitcoin network has been taking profits lately as BTC rose to $64,600 earlier. Data from CryptoQuant shows that they have disposed of 1,648 BTC over the past ten days or so, which, according to the analyst, adds “roughly $106 million in potential selling pressure.”
Second, he listed the spot Bitcoin ETFs. As recently reported, investors gaining exposure to BTC through these financial vehicles withdrew almost $400 million worth of the cryptocurrency last week, in stark contrast to the over $850 million in net inflows the previous week.
Third, Martinez referred to Strategy’s recent behavior. The company has not only paused its BTC purchases indefinitely, but it has also made multiple sales over the past few months. Its total holdings have declined by more than 3,300 in just weeks.
The analyst noted that a worrisome portion of BTC’s supply has hit exchanges recently, as their balances have increased by 24,700 units over the past ten days. This means that $1.6 billion worth of BTC has increased the potential sell-side liquidity.
Lastly, he outlined the Coinbase Premium metric, which continues to be in the negative for well over three months now. Such a reading means that “BTC is trading cheaper on Coinbase than Binance, signaling weaker US demand or active selling from US-based participants.”
Consequently, Martinez believes BTC’s rally toward $64,600 won’t last long and brought up the next potential support zones that could halt a potential nosedive. The first is located between $63,110 and $61,850, where more than two million BTC were previously transacted, and makes it a notable support. If it breaks, though, Martinez warned that the next one could be all the way down at $54,300.
The Dark Horse
There’s no need to sugarcoat this – it’s the war in the Middle East and the volatile developments. Whenever something big happens, it tends to impact the crypto market. However, there have been conflicting announcements and reports from both sides (as usual) lately.
For instance, reports claimed yesterday that the US and Iran had extended their ceasefire on the day it was supposed to expire. Meanwhile, Trump reportedly threatened to bomb Oman, which is a US ally.
More recent information on the matter came from the POTUS himself, who just claimed that there are no ongoing or scheduled peace talks between the two. Moreover, he added that the Naval Blockade remains in full force, while the Strait of Hormuz, which he also said is now a US territory, is “open and operating.”
For now, BTC remains calm around $64,000, but these developments could quickly increase the volatility.
The post Bitcoin Surges Past $64K as Warning Signs Mount: Is This a Bull Trap? appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Interstice Digital has launched a cross-chain swap engine with FalconX connecting the Canton Network with Ethereum, Solana and Robinhood Chain.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, the non-custodial engine allows assets to be swapped across the four networks without Interstice taking custody or executing transactions on users’ behalf.
FalconX, a digital asset prime brokerage serving institutional investors, provides liquidity for the engine, which is designed to connect Canton’s institutional markets with assets and trading activity on public blockchains, giving users a route between tokenized assets on Canton and liquidity on networks such as Ethereum and Solana.
Canton is a public blockchain built for institutional finance, with privacy and permissioning controls designed for regulated transactions and tokenized assets. Its ecosystem includes major financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas.
Interstice is a wholly owned subsidiary of Everyrealm and is backed by investors including a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Galaxy and Brevan Howard. The company did not disclose which assets are initially supported or provide transaction volume figures for the swap engine.
Related: FalconX cuts 10% of workforce amid prolonged crypto market slump: Report
Canton expands institutional tokenization activity
The integration comes as more traditional financial institutions use Canton for tokenized assets and blockchain-based settlement.
In July, electronic trading platform Tradeweb executed an onchain US Treasury trade in which Franklin Templeton transferred a tokenized Treasury security to Virtu Financial in exchange for tokenized cash.
Tradeweb provided execution and price discovery, while Canton synchronized settlement between the two assets in real time. Tradeweb said it was the first real-time purchase and sale of a tokenized US Treasury settled against USDCx, a USDC-backed stablecoin issued on Canton, with other participants including Societe Generale, Digital Asset and Blockdaemon.
Societe Generale has also deployed its euro- and dollar-denominated stablecoins on Canton for tokenized collateral, repo financing and institutional settlement, while Visa has tested private stablecoin settlement on the network.
Other initiatives include a Japanese government bond collateral pilot involving Mizuho and Nomura and S&P Dow Jones Indices placing its iBoxx US Treasuries Index on Canton.
PoC trial for digital collateral management using Japanese government bonds. Source: JPX
Magazine: Solana’s fee overhaul increases burn and makes resource hogs pay
[PRESS RELEASE – Dubai, UAE, August 18th, 2026]
BNB Chain, one of the largest blockchain ecosystems worldwide, today announced BNB Agent Studio v2, an update to its AI agent development platform. The release expands what autonomous agents can do with money, from earning their own income to operating inside owner-defined financial limits enforced onchain.
BNB Agent Studio launched in July, allowing developers to describe an AI agent in a single prompt and deploy it to BNB Smart Chain (BSC). In its initial release, agents could spend but not earn. v2 closes that gap: agents can now be hired and paid directly, with funds settling to their wallet through a standard receiving interface that completes the ERC-8183 commerce flow end to end.
The update also introduces Altana, a new self-custodial wallet option built to resolve one of the central constraints in agent design: how much authority an agent should hold over a user’s funds. Agents using Altana operate through scoped session keys governed by spending limits, allowlists, and time bounds set by their owner in advance. These permissions are recorded onchain, allowing anyone to verify what a given agent is authorized to do, and can be revoked instantly without key rotation or downtime.
Altana joins TWAK (Trust Wallet AgentKit), the platform’s existing wallet option for agents that require continuous, autonomous signing without a person in the loop. With both options now available, builders can match the wallet architecture to the agent’s purpose: TWAK for always-on autonomous operation, or Altana for agents that require clear, verifiable boundaries around fund access. A yield agent, for instance, can harvest and restake earnings without holding access to principal; a lending agent can top up collateral without the ability to withdraw it.
v2 also adds TypeScript support alongside the platform’s existing Python SDK, and introduces a Paymaster that covers gas on BSC Testnet, removing the manual funding step previously required to begin testing an agent.
Key updates in v2:
- Agents can now be paid for their work, completing the ERC-8183 commerce flow end to end.
- Altana, a new self-custodial wallet option, enforces spending limits, allowlists, and time bounds onchain.
- TypeScript is now supported alongside Python.
- A Paymaster covers testnet gas, removing manual wallet funding for testing BNB Agent Studio.
- A standard provider interface replaces per-provider integration work for cloud deployment.
BNB Agent Studio v2 is live now, with existing agents continuing to run without migration. BNB Chain currently hosts more registered AI agents than any other network.
BNB Agent Studio is available at bnbchain.org/en/bnb-agent-studio.
About BNB Chain
BNB Chain is one of the largest and most active blockchain ecosystems in the world. Its multi-chain architecture spans BNB Smart Chain (BSC), opBNB, and BNB Greenfield, giving developers the flexibility to choose the environment best suited to their application. With high throughput, low transaction costs, and full EVM compatibility, BNB Chain is built for high-speed trading, AI agents, privacy, and instant payments. It is the blockchain with superior distribution and deep liquidity, built for global markets and the next billion users. For more information, users can visit www.bnbchain.org.
The post BNB Chain Launches BNB Agent Studio v2, Giving AI Agents the Ability to Earn appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Beyond the supply of drones, the British government has also provided long-range Storm Shadow missiles during the conflict. These stockpiles were reportedly replenished in November, according to Bloomberg.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces have used such missiles for strikes within both Russia and Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine in recent months.
Following a Ukrainian strike on Russia’s Bryansk region with the use of Storm Shadow missiles in March, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the U.K. was complicit in the attacks and that there was blood “on the hands of the British military.”
Russian authorities said that the latest round of overnight strikes saw over 600 drones launched toward Moscow between Monday evening and early Tuesday, while the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses took down 180.
In Ukraine, 10 people were killed Tuesday morning following a Russian strike on a “busy intersection” in Pechenihy, Kharkiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” said Zelenskyy, calling on allies to “complement our just kinetic responses with their own actions to put pressure on Russia and support Ukraine.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on Aug. 18, a framework that would let token issuers raise up to $75 million a year without registering the offering and, under a separate safe harbor, remove some tokens from the definition of a security altogether. The… Read the full story at The Defiant
For over two months, bitcoin has struggled below $70,000, hovering around $62,000 to $65,000. Still, experts believe that the broader macro market condition is moving in favor of the apex crypto.
Crypto exchange Bitfinex stated in its latest edition of the Bitfinex Alpha report that two of the three conditions that can support a BTC rally have been met. If successful, this can supercharge the next market phase, which is expected to be more favorable for the bulls.
Two of Three Conditions Met
The Bitfinex report outlined “lower expected rates and already-loose financial conditions” as the two conditions that have already been met.
The inflation rate fell from 3.50% in June to 3.40% in July, partly due to a drop in energy prices. It is expected that the Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates in the coming weeks. With short-term Treasury yields dropping and stocks like the S&P 500 soaring, investors have increased their appetite for risk assets.
Meanwhile, tech-focused hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure have brought in “a separate source of supply-driven inflation.” However, this capital has failed to flow into the crypto market.
The Final Piece of the Puzzle
The Bitfinex Alpha report claims that if the capital flowing through the equities market, the tech sector, and the AI market can enter the crypto ecosystem, a price surge for the largest digital asset will naturally follow. This is what it tags as the third condition to be met for a smooth rally.
Presently, capital flow through spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has decreased. For instance, the fund lost around $385 million in weekly flow during the same week that equities like the S&P 100 soared.
Additionally, corporate Bitcoin treasuries have turned negative. Strategy, the leading BTC holder, has slowed down its bitcoin acquisitions. It even sold some of its holdings in separate weeks this year alone.
Stablecoin supply has also reduced, staying below its May record.
“In such a thin market, relatively small changes in flows could produce an outsized move in either direction,” Bitfinex explained.
This indicates that if capital flows favor the crypto market, BTC could once again attain or surpass $70,000. Conversely, a prolonged negative flow can send bitcoin to a lower support level, around $57,000.
The post Bitcoin Now One Step Away from Exiting Bear Market: Bitfinex Alpha appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
HashKey taps Hong Kong's first regulated stablecoin to settle insurance and trade deals
Following institutional trials, the HKD-pegged asset is being put to work to capture part of Hong Kong’s $49 billion trade corridor with the United Arab Emirates
In the 2025 ruling disqualifying Chattah, Judge David Campbell established that under federal law, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada could have appointed its own interim U.S. Attorney after Chattah. Instead, Campbell ruled that such “procedure was not followed” by the Trump Administration.
Nevada senators renew criticism of Chattah
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chattah served as Nevada’s Republican National Committeewoman. Her appointment as acting U.S. attorney for Nevada last year was criticized by Democratic senators.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto described Chattah on social media as “an election denier who has advocated for political violence, suggested she would target her political enemies, and offered full support to many of [President] Trump’s blatantly illegal actions in office.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen alleged on X that “Sigal Chattah is an extremist with a record of violent rhetoric who is deeply unfit for this role.”
It is the first time OpenAI has made such a move. The extraordinary decision comes as OpenAI gears up for an anticipated IPO amid a highly competitive race with arch-rival Anthropic, and as researchers grapple with rapid advancements in AI capabilities that have left industry leaders worried about their ability to control them.
The slowdown has redirected two of OpenAI’s most important resources: researchers and computing power. Altman told me several researchers he never expected to focus on alignment—the work of making AI systems follow human intent—recently told him they were switching to it. “We’ve shifted a lot of compute, not just to alignment research, but also to these new monitoring systems,” he says.
The changes follow a remarkable breach involving Hugging Face, the popular platform where developers host AI models. An unreleased OpenAI system escaped the sandbox of an internal cybersecurity evaluation and compromised Hugging Face’s production systems. It took OpenAI researchers roughly one week to discover the incident. Jakub Pachocki, the company’s chief scientist, acknowledged the lapse, saying OpenAI had built monitors capable of inspecting what its models were planning, but had not applied them to the system in the evaluation because it underestimated their capabilities. “For AI, you should expect the unexpected,” he told me.
This is the first time a U.S. government entity has publicly replaced its blockchain infrastructure specifically on security grounds.
Bitcoin Surges Past $64K as Warning Signs Mount: Is This a Bull Trap?
All of the Sudden, A Key Vikings Position Feels a Bit Skimpy
Reverse Engineered Grill Controller Gets Open Firmware
Weekend Open Thread – Corporette.com
Weekend Open Thread: Brooks Brothers
London Mayor Sadiq Khan handed a peerage by Keir Starmer alongside 15 other Labour figures… just days before the PM leaves No10
Crypto update!!! #xrp #crypto #cryptocurrency #investing #bitcoin #financialfreedom #xlm
**SEC Chair Paul Atkins** called past S-1 crypto registration demands disingenuous amid meeting dela
Bitcoin & Ethereum: 3Q The impact of the new Fed Chair
-
Fashion4 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Ann Taylor
-
NewsBeat7 days agoCommunication cards help banking customers access services or report scams
-
Sports5 days agoThis U.S. Amateur is a glimpse into golf’s future in more ways than you think
-
Sports4 days agoBirmingham 2026: Day 6 Timetable for Irish Athletes
-
NewsBeat4 days agoMyanmar says over 300,000 Rohingya refugees verified for repatriation as exodus enters ninth year
-
Tech4 days ago11 Ways to Rank Your Videos
-
Politics3 days agoSEQ Code: The Three Letter Boarding Pass Code That Could Give You The Worst Seat
-
Entertainment6 days agoKeke Palmer Subtly Hints At Sean Evans Drama With Cryptic Post
-
Crypto World7 days agoXRP bridge drained after software mistook fake deposits for real ones
-
Tech5 days agoDeepSeek Harness launches as open source rival to Claude Code, alongside V4-Pro on API with higher prices
-
Sports6 days agoDeQuan Jones in ‘high spirits’ after successful leg surgery
-
Crypto World6 days agoPerplexity AI Predicts an XRP Scenario Few Analysts Are Discussing
-
Tech7 days agoSpaceXAI’s Grok Bot turns agents into persistent digital coworkers that can operate your apps for $120-per-month
-
Politics7 days agoHow Average Are You In The UK?
-
Entertainment6 days ago2026’s Most Ambitious Fantasy Movie Officially Scores Sequel Update
-
Business7 days agoEvolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. (EVLV) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
-
Tech7 days agoA Zoom Screen-Sharing Bug Let Anyone Take Over Other Devices On a Call
-
Entertainment6 days agoTravis Kelce Breaks Silence On ‘Crazy’ Taylor Swift Wedding
-
Fashion6 days agoThe Details Do the Dressing
-
Entertainment4 days ago10 Netflix Shows That Quietly Became Modern Classics
You must be logged in to post a comment Login