Autor Cointelegraph by Nate Kostar

Crossmint, a stablecoin and wallet infrastructure provider, launched an API that enables AI agents to make payments using eligible Visa credit and debit cards, bringing physical card-based transactions to agent platforms.According to Tuesday’s announcement, the service uses Visa Intelligent Commerce and Basis Theory’s payment infrastructure to allow AI agents to make purchases without access to users’ card numbers while operating within predefined spending limits.Crossmint said the payment capability is available through its lobster.cash tool, which can be connected to platforms including Claude Code, OpenClaw, Hermes and Zo Computer. Developers can immediately integrate the payment system through the company’s API and documentation.Crossmint co-founder Alfonso Gómez-Jordana told Cointelegraph the company’s broader payments infrastructure supports both card and stablecoin transactions. Unlike some competing systems that rely on newly issued virtual cards, he said Crossmint tokenizes users’ existing Visa cards, allowing customers to retain card rewards while authorizing spending by AI agents.”Developers building payment capabilities into agents have had no standardized way to handle card credentials, so many have resorted to workarounds that expose raw card numbers directly to the agent environment,” Gómez-Jordana said.He said Crossmint is also working with Mastercard and American Express to expand support for agentic card payments beyond Visa.Related: Liquid launches ChatGPT and Claude trading app with live market executionRacing to build human-absent agentic paymentsCrossmint’s launch is part of a broader effort to give AI agents the ability to hold funds, access services and complete transactions without direct human involvement.Crypto companies have been among the earliest movers. In February, Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets, allowing AI agents to hold, spend and trade cryptocurrency through the company’s x402 payments protocol. MoonPay followed in March with an open-source wallet framework designed to let AI agents manage crypto assets and transact across blockchain networks from a single wallet. In May, Circle launched a suite of tools that allows AI agents to hold wallets, discover services and make programmable payments using USDC.Traditional payment companies have also entered the market. Visa introduced its Visa CLI agent payments tool in March before launching Intelligent Commerce Connect, infrastructure designed to allow AI agents to make purchases through tokenized payment credentials and spending controls.Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicted earlier this year that billions of AI agents could eventually use stablecoins for payments, arguing that autonomous software would require its own financial infrastructure.Source: Cointelegraph Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves

Bitwise completed its takeover of Superstate’s Crypto Carry Fund (USCC), giving the asset manager control of a tokenized investment vehicle that uses market-neutral crypto trading strategies to generate yield.Bitwise said on May 7 it would assume management of the fund from Superstate as the infrastructure company shifted its focus toward FundOS, its tokenized fund platform. The fund is available to qualified purchasers and seeks to generate yield through crypto cash-and-carry trades, a strategy that captures the premium between cryptocurrency futures and spot prices. It retains the USCC token ticker and existing smart contracts following the transition.According to Bitwise, the fund held approximately $259 million in assets under management as of May 29 and reported around a 4% yield. Fund disclosures show the portfolio includes a mix of cash collateral, tokenized Treasurys exposure and crypto assets, including staked Solana (SOL), EtherFi’s wrapped Ether (eETH) and XRP (XRP).Superstate’s website shows USCC shares are supported on DeFi protocols including Aave, Kamino and Morpho for borrowing and lending activities. Bitwise, a San Francisco-based crypto asset manager founded in 2017, said it manages approximately $11 billion in client assets across ETFs, private funds, separately managed accounts and staking products.Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund. Source: SuperstateRelated: Bitwise calls HYPE ‘most mispriced’ crypto despite 77% rise this yearTokenized active-strategy funds see rapid growthThe takeover comes amid rapid growth in tokenized active-strategy funds, a category that includes funds tied to crypto carry trades, index strategies and volatility-focused products.RWA.xyz data shows tokenized active-strategy funds grew from roughly $449 million in assets in June 2025 to about $1.38 billion by the end of May 2026, an increase of more than 200% over the 12 months. Source: RWA.xyzThe category’s largest products include the EU-traded Spiko Amundi Overnight Swap Fund, with roughly $428 million in distributed value, the Mantle Index Four Fund with about $134 million and the Sailing Investment Limited Partnership Fund with around $105 million.Asset managers are also bringing actively managed crypto strategies to the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market. In March, T. Rowe Price amended plans for an actively managed crypto ETF that would be permitted to invest directly in digital assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana and XRP.The following month, Goldman Sachs filed to launch an actively managed Bitcoin income ETF that would generate yield by selling options tied to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products.Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves

Anchorage Digital launched a settlement platform that allows institutions to trade on crypto venues while keeping assets in custody at its federally regulated bank, which it said will help manage counterparty and operational risks.According to Monday’s announcement from the company, Coordinated Multiparty Settlement (CMS) connects trading venues, prime brokers and institutional clients through a shared settlement layer while keeping assets at Anchorage Digital Bank throughout the trade lifecycle.Anchorage said CMS verifies funding obligations and coordinates settlement across participants, reducing the number of asset transfers needed to complete trades. The company said the system is designed to reduce the need for pre-funded exchange accounts, a common practice in crypto markets.In a Monday X post, Anchorage said much of crypto trading still takes place on offshore platforms where “a single platform acts as exchange, custodian, and settlement agent” and client assets are often commingled and titled to the exchange.Source: Anchorage Digital on X.comUnder the CMS model, prime brokers manage client balances and credit relationships, trading venues act as matching engines and Anchorage provides custody and settlement services.The rollout will begin with foreign exchange trading platform Spotex, which Anchorage said processes billions of dollars in daily volume, with additional venue integrations under development.Related: Anchorage Digital, Mexico’s Grupo Salinas partner on stablecoin cross-border settlementInstitutional trading infrastructure continues to evolveFinancial institutions and digital asset companies are fast expanding infrastructure for tokenized assets and institutional trading, with the Canton Network emerging as one focal point for those efforts as firms explore blockchain-based settlement.  In December, DTCC partnered with Digital Asset and the Canton Network to support the tokenization of DTC-custodied US Treasury securities, with plans to expand the initiative to additional asset classes. Two months later, Fireblocks integrated the network, enabling banks, custodians and asset managers to custody and settle assets on a blockchain built for regulated financial markets. Banks are also investing in digital asset custody and market infrastructure. In May, Standard Chartered agreed to acquire Zodia Custody while spinning out Zodia Solutions, a standalone platform serving institutional digital asset clients. The transaction consolidates the bank’s custody operations while creating a separate company focused on services for financial institutions.Magazine: ETH bears growling, Tom Lee’s buying, XRP to ‘explode’: Market Moves

Coinbase Financial Markets has begun offering US institutional clients access to global crypto options and perpetual futures markets through a regulated futures commission merchant, including connectivity to Deribit’s crypto options platform.Coinbase said the launch follows guidance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that allows a regulated futures commission merchant to connect US clients with global crypto derivatives liquidity. The company said Coinbase Financial Markets is the first CFTC-regulated futures commission merchant to offer such access.Deribit, which Coinbase acquired in August 2025 as part of its expansion into crypto derivatives, is the largest crypto options exchange by open interest. CoinGlass data shows Deribit held roughly $31 billion in Bitcoin options open interest on May 27, compared with $2.7 billion on OKX, $1.8 billion on Binance and $1.2 billion on Bybit.Bitcoin options open interest. Source: CoinGlassAccording to Friday’s announcement, institutional clients can begin onboarding immediately, while broader access, including retail, is expected to follow later.Related: Coinbase CEO’s finance wishlist mirrors company’s product roadmapCrypto derivatives move deeper into regulated US markets The launch comes months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC said they would explore ways to bring perpetual futures trading onshore. In a joint statement published in September 2025, the agencies said perpetual contracts had been largely confined to offshore crypto markets due to regulatory and jurisdictional constraints.The agencies added that they could consider steps to “onshore perpetual contracts” and bring activity “now flowing exclusively to foreign platforms” back to regulated US markets.Source: SEC/CFTCSince then, US derivatives venues have steadily expanded their crypto offerings. Earlier this month, CME Group announced plans to launch a crypto index futures contract tracking a basket of seven cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETG), Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP).The announcement came days after Chicago-based CME unveiled Bitcoin Volatility futures, a regulated crypto derivatives product scheduled to launch on June 1. The futures will settle to a 30-day measure of expected Bitcoin volatility derived from CME options markets.Other US crypto exchanges have also been expanding their derivatives businesses. In May, Kraken parent Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated derivatives platform that earlier this year launched the first US-regulated futures contracts tied to Injective’s INJ (INJ) token, following a similar launch for Aptos (APT) in January.On Friday, CFTC staff issued guidance on 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement, saying crypto asset derivatives may be particularly well suited to round-the-clock markets.Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves

Bit Digital purchased $20 million worth of Ether earlier this month, increasing its holdings to roughly 158,462 ETH. The Nasdaq-listed company said Thursday it acquired 8,568 ETH (ETH) on May 11 at an average price of $2,334.25 per token.CEO Sam Tabar said the purchase reduced Bit Digital’s average ETH acquisition cost and was part of the company’s strategy to grow net asset value per share through Ethereum accumulation, AI infrastructure and acquisitions.Bit Digital operates across Ethereum treasury management, AI and high-performance computing infrastructure and strategic acquisitions. Its WhiteFiber subsidiary trades on Nasdaq under the ticker WYFI.Top 5 Ethereum treasury companies. Source: CoinGeckoBased on CoinGecko data, Bit Digital’s previously reported holdings of roughly 140,008 ETH placed it behind Coinbase Global, which held about 151,175 ETH. The company’s newly announced purchase would move its treasury above Coinbase’s holdings, making Bit Digital the fourth-largest public corporate Ethereum holder.The company’s shares closed Wednesday at $2.03, while the stock was up roughly 35.5% over the past month, according to Yahoo Finance data.Source: Yahoo FinanceRelated: Ethereum under $2K: ETH whales sell as retail remains bullishEthereum fundamentals remain strong despite price weaknessThe purchase comes as some analysts argue Ethereum’s network activity remains significantly stronger than its market performance. In a Thursday report, Standard Chartered said Ethereum transaction activity and total value locked remain near record levels despite ETH trading more than 50% below its 2025 highs.StanChart’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, reiterated his ETH price targets of $4,000 by the end of 2026 and $40,000 by 2030, arguing the gap between Ethereum’s network usage and token price could narrow as stablecoin and tokenization activity continues expanding on the blockchain.The bullish outlook comes as some public companies continue expanding Ethereum treasury strategies. On Tuesday, Bitmine Immersion Technologies said it purchased another 111,942 Ether, its largest purchase of the year.Chairman Tom Lee said that Ethereum could benefit from a crypto “supercycle” driven by tokenization and AI-powered agents. According to CoinGecko data, BitMine Immersion currently ranks as the largest public Ethereum treasury holder, with more than 5.39 million ETH.The optimism contrasts with comments this week from Bankless co-founder David Hoffman, who said he sold the remainder of his ETH holdings after concluding the “ETH is Money” investment thesis had largely “played out. Hoffman said Ethereum’s network may continue growing through stablecoins, tokenization and layer-2 activity, but only a limited share of that growth ultimately accrues to ETH itself.ETH was trading around $2,013 at the time of writing, down roughly 32% year-to-date and nearly 60% below its August 2025 all-time high near $4,946, according to CoinGecko data.Source: CoinGeckoMagazine: Big Questions: Do we really only need 2–5 cryptocurrencies