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What next as BTC tops $68,000 after Iran confirms Khamenei death

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What next as BTC tops $68,000 after Iran confirms Khamenei death

Bitcoin jumped to $68,000 early Sunday, recovering nearly all of Saturday’s war-driven losses within hours of Iranian state TV confirming that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

Khamenei held ultimate authority over Iran’s military, foreign policy, and nuclear program. Under Iran’s constitution, a temporary council of the president, head of the judiciary, and a Guardian Council jurist assumes leadership duties until the Assembly of Experts appoints a successor.

U.S. president Donald Trump, meanwhile, has urged Iranians to overthrow the regime, calling this “probably your only chance for generations.” Tehran has continued firing missiles at Israel, and Israeli strikes on Iran are ongoing. Whether a period of mourning affects military operations remains unclear.

Trump added U.S. attacks would continue for as long as necessary.

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But bitcoin moved before any of those questions were answered. The $64,000 to $68,000 swing happened on thin Sunday liquidity, driven by a single headline. That’s a roughly $80 billion market cap move in hours.

The read across crypto and broader risk markets is that a leadership vacuum makes a ceasefire more likely than continued escalation, creating a swift flight to risk assets.

Oil and equity futures open later on Sunday, and monitoring their moves may tell whether the optimism holds or whether Sunday’s bounce gets faded the same way Wednesday’s push to $70,000 did.

Iran sits at the center of a region responsible for roughly a third of global crude exports. If markets interpret Khamenei’s death as raising the probability of regime destabilization or disruption to supply routes, energy prices could spike, pressuring global inflation expectations and tightening financial conditions. That would typically weigh on risk assets, including crypto.

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However, if traders believe succession mechanisms will stabilize decision-making and avoid broader war, risk assets may continue to find support.

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Visa Direct Integration Lets OwlTing Users Fund USDC Straight From a Debit Card

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Visa Direct Integration Lets OwlTing Users Fund USDC Straight From a Debit Card

The integration marks the latest expansion of Visa’s stablecoin infrastructure, which now spans settlement, card spending, and direct on-ramp capabilities.

Nasdaq-listed fintech firm OwlTing Group (OWLS) has expanded its collaboration with Visa to integrate Visa Direct into its OwlPay payment infrastructure, creating a card-to-wallet on-ramp that lets eligible U.S. debit cardholders fund USDC transactions without needing a standalone exchange account.

The capability is now live inside OwlPay Harbor, the company’s enterprise-grade on/off-ramp layer, and is also accessible to consumers through OwlPay Wallet Pro, a self-custody digital wallet. A subsequent phase will bring the on-ramp to OwlPay Cash, the firm’s consumer remittance app.

Once funded, users can spend USDC at U.S. retailers via gift cards, transfer assets to third-party platforms, or send funds globally through settlement channels including pushes to eligible Visa debit cards, local bank accounts via the Circle Payments Network, and cash pickup through MoneyGram.

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OwlTing CEO Darren Wang framed the integration as an effort to close the gap between existing card infrastructure and digital dollar rails. The company holds money transmission licenses or equivalents in 41 U.S. states as of March 2026, according to the announcement.

Visa’s Expanding Stablecoin Footprint

The partnership adds another layer to Visa’s rapidly growing stablecoin strategy.

The payments giant launched USDC settlement in the U.S. in December 2025 with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank on Solana, and in March expanded its collaboration with Stripe-owned Bridge to bring stablecoin-linked Visa cards to more than 100 countries. Visa’s stablecoin-linked card spending alone hit a $3.5 billion annualized run rate in late 2025, growing roughly 460% year over year, according to an Artemis report.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

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Coinbase CEO Backs US Treasury Secretary‘s Push to pass CLARITY Act

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Coinbase, Cryptocurrencies, Law, Politics, Congress

Brian Armstrong, the Coinbase CEO who withdrew the crypto exchange’s support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in January, said “it’s time” for the legislation to pass after months of delays.

In a Thursday X post, Armstrong said that Coinbase agreed with comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he urged Congress to act on the crypto bill soon. According to the CEO, the current version of the legislation, after months of negotiations between lawmakers and representatives from the crypto and banking industries, was a “strong bill.”

“It’s time to pass the Clarity Act,” said Armstrong.

Coinbase, Cryptocurrencies, Law, Politics, Congress
Source: Brian Armstrong

Armstrong’s endorsement of the bill came about three months after the CEO said that the company could not support the legislation “as written,” leading to lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee postponing a markup on CLARITY necessary for its approval.

At the time, Armstrong said that he expected the bill to pass “in a few weeks,” but concerns over ethics, tokenized equities, stablecoin yield and other crypto-related issues have stalled progress since January.

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Related: Coinbase CEO denies White House clash, says negotiations are ongoing

The expected markup for the bill in the banking committee, not scheduled as of Friday, will follow approval from the Senate Agriculture Committee in January. Both committees need to address different aspects of securities and commodities regulations before a potential vote for the CLARITY Act in the full chamber.

Coinbase legal chief Paul Grewal said last week that lawmakers were “very close to a deal” on the bill.

Is the crypto industry’s influence growing in Washington?

Since before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, many experts have questioned the influence of the crypto industry on elections, lawmakers’ decisions and White House policies.

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Executives at Coinbase and Ripple Labs have been parties to the discussions with administration officials on the CLARITY Act, and Armstrong reportedly met with the president before Trump posted a social media message calling for immediate action on crypto market structure.

The relationships may have benefited Coinbase and other companies seeking crypto-friendly laws and regulations under Trump. Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved Coinbase’s application for a national bank trust charter, following December approvals for Paxos, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle and Fidelity Digital Assets.

Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

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