Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency

Every year, workers around the globe send approximately $900 billion to their families back home and, when it comes to helping them send that money, the market is suddenly up for grabs. The reason is the recent momentum behind stablecoins, which offer an easy way to move money across borders-and for a far cheaper price than legacy transfer systems, whose fees can reach as high as 6%.

As Bitcoin enters 2026 with sustained institutional adoption and price stability following the 2024-2025 bull run, self-custody remains a cornerstone of the asset's sovereignty promise. Yet the landscape has evolved significantly. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have unlocked access to passive investors comfortable with Wall Street's "trust me, bro" brokerage models, while physical attacks on crypto users have surged to record levels, known as "wrench attacks".

Figure Technology Solutions reported that its loan origination system produced $2.705 billion in volume during the fourth quarter of 2025, up 131% from the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary operating data released Monday. Compared to the prior quarter, the volume increased 9.5%. The volume was driven by the company's consumer loan marketplace, which includes home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans and personal loans, as well as third-party loans traded on Figure Connect.

Iran's national currency, the rial, has completely collapsed against the U.S. dollar as the country's economic crisis worsens. The value of one rial is now worth $0.00 right now. On the open market, one U.S. dollar now trades for roughly 1.4 million rials, a collapse that has erased decades of purchasing power and fueled widespread unrest. The currency's plunge isn't new, but the pace of decline in 2025 and early 2026 has been dramatic.

Covered calls, protective puts, and collar strategies that once defined sophisticated Bitcoin trading are now standard tools across the most liquid altcoin markets. This shift marks a turning point in how altcoins are perceived and traded. XRP, SOL, and ETH are no longer just speculative assets for retail traders chasing 10x returns. They're becoming institutional products: vehicles for structured yield generation, volatility management, and portfolio hedging.

Credit card payments move trillions of dollars every year, yet the way those transactions settle has barely changed in decades. A December 2025 report from Amplify ETFs highlights a shift that could change that. Since November 6, 2025, Ripple and Mastercard have been running a live pilot that settles real credit card transactions on the XRP ( ) Ledger using RLUSD-Ripple's USD-backed stablecoin.

JPMorgan Asset Management has placed a very traditional product on the Ethereum blockchain: a tokenized money market fund called the My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY). It launched on Dec. 15, 2025, and runs on the bank's Kinexys Digital Assets platform. Investors access the fund through Morgan Money, with ownership interests issued as blockchain tokens delivered directly to their onchain addresses.

Prenetics Global Limited said it has ended its bitcoin purchasing program and will redirect its capital and strategic focus entirely toward IM8, its fast-growing consumer health and longevity brand co-founded with David Beckham. The Nasdaq-listed health sciences company said it ceased daily bitcoin purchases on Dec. 4, following approval from its board of directors, and will not pursue future acquisitions of the cryptocurrency.

The Bank of Russia has set out a new framework to regulate cryptocurrencies, proposing tiered access that would allow everyday investors to buy digital assets alongside professional market participants, while maintaining tight controls on risk and usage. In a concept paper released Tuesday and submitted to the government for review, the central bank said both qualified and non-qualified investors would be permitted to acquire crypto assets, but under different rules, limits and testing requirements.

The finance industry has gone through many changes over the years, but the pace of change has accelerated over the past decade. Crypto trading, commission-free trading, and enhanced fintech apps are some of the big shifts that have taken place in this sector. Some fintech ETFs give investors exposure to this trend while setting up for long-term returns that can outpace the S&P 500. These are some of the top funds to monitor.

Dr. Michael Burry, the man behind The Big Short and, more recently, the Cassandra Unchained Substack newsletter, sees an AI bubble, and he's betting against it with bearish put options against two of the highest flyers out there: Palantir ( NASDAQ:PLTR) and Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA). Even if there weren't an AI bubble, I'm sure there are a multitude of scenarios that could play out and result in pretty painful plunges for shares of the two companies.

RMJDT is being pitched as a ringgit-pegged token tied to Johor's Crown Prince. It was launched by his company, Bullish Aim, and issued on Zetrix, a network connected to Malaysia's national blockchain infrastructure. The token is intended for payments and cross-border trade settlement, with the project also announcing a 500 million Malaysian ringgit ($121 million) Zetrix-token treasury to support the network's day-to-day operations.

When PayPal launched almost three decades ago, the company made its name as one of the world's first fintechs. Now, PayPal faces a slew of competitors, from the payments colossus Stripe to Big Tech giants like Apple. "One of the challenges when you are at a certain scale and you've been around for a while is the very classic innovator's dilemma," Alex Chriss, the president and CEO of PayPal, told Fortune.