Agent Payments - The Wire by FourthWeb - AI, RWA, & Web3 / Web4 Intelligence (Page 11)

Real World Assets Apr 2, 2026

Google and Stripe Just Backed Coinbase's AI Payment Network

Coinbase just turned a payments protocol into infrastructure, and the backers tell you everything about where agent-to-agent commerce is headed.

Real World Assets Apr 2, 2026

Treasury's $300B Stablecoin Rulebook Could Fracture Into 50 Different Regimes

The Treasury just opened comment on a rulebook that could fragment the $300 billion stablecoin market across 50 states, or finally give it the regulatory clarity it's been begging for.

Real World Assets Apr 2, 2026

Wall Street's Crypto Play Just Asked Permission to Become a Real Bank

Charles Schwab and Citadel's crypto exchange just asked to become a bank, joining six other firms in a quiet regulatory land grab that rewrites who controls digital asset infrastructure.

Real World Assets Apr 1, 2026

Hong Kong's Stablecoin Regulation Hits Zero Approvals After 6-Month Promise

Hong Kong just missed its own deadline for approving the first regulated stablecoins, and the silence is louder than the excuse. Hong Kong's monetary authority failed to issue any stablecoin licenses by its March 2026 target, offering only vague assurances it's "advancing the process"

Real World Assets Apr 1, 2026

Kulipa Raises $6.2M to Build Stripe for Stablecoin Cards

Stablecoins just got their own Stripe for plastic cards. Kulipa raised $6.2 million seed funding to build card-issuing infrastructure specifically for stablecoin payments The platform lets fintechs and crypto wallets white-label payment cards without building card operations from scratch

Real World Assets Mar 31, 2026

A16z Bets $10M That Every Stablecoin Is Missing Critical Infrastructure

A16z just bet $10 million that stablecoins need middleware, and the partner list suggests they're right. A16z crypto led a $10 million round in The Better Money Company, building what they call stablecoins' "missing layer"

Real World Assets Mar 31, 2026

OpenFX Raises $94M to Kill Correspondent Banking With Stablecoins

A forex startup just raised $94 million to replace correspondent banking with stablecoins, and the implications for B2B payments are bigger than the round suggests. OpenFX raised $94 million to scale stablecoin-powered cross-border payments for businesses

Real World Assets Mar 31, 2026

Standard Chartered Bets $1.1B on Crypto Firm You've Never Heard Of

Standard Chartered just led a $1.1 billion valuation round for a crypto market maker most people have never heard of. SC Ventures and Ripple are backing Keyrock's open Series C at a $1.1 billion valuation, with the round expected to close soon

AI Agent Economy Mar 31, 2026

Mitsubishi Bets $147M on Africa While Silicon Valley Looks Away

Japan's biggest corporations just made a $147 million bet that Africa's startup ecosystem matters more than Silicon Valley thinks.

Real World Assets Mar 31, 2026

Crypto Just Stopped Being an Industry at Consensus 2026

Consensus 2026 just marked the moment crypto stopped being an industry and became infrastructure. Consensus 2026 in Miami drew massive institutional presence after a decade of building, with deep focus on agentic commerce

Real World Assets Mar 30, 2026

Visa Wants to Rent You AI Payments. Coinbase Lets You Own Them.

Visa and Coinbase just showed you two futures for AI agent payments, and only one of them lets you own the rails. Visa and Coinbase are both building payment infrastructure for AI agents, but Visa's is traditional card rails while Coinbase is building on crypto

Real World Assets Mar 28, 2026

Stablecoins Face Regulatory Crackdown as Wall Street Builds Anyway

Stablecoins are having a regulatory identity crisis while institutions quietly build the rails underneath them. Regulatory pressure is mounting on stablecoins as prediction markets face new compliance requirements, but institutional adoption continues accelerating

Real World Assets Mar 27, 2026

Kraken Wins Fed Banking Access as Lawmaker Demands Answers

The first crypto company to get a Fed master account just got Washington's attention, and not in a good way. Kraken's Wyoming-chartered bank became the first crypto-native company to secure a Federal Reserve Master Account in March, a milestone for crypto banking