News
Daily developments, policy and market moves across agentic payments and the agent economy.
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UK Parliament Launches Inquiry into Access to Banking Services for Crypto Firms
The Treasury Committee of the UK Parliament has opened an investigation into obstacles facing crypto firms in obtaining banking services, inviting industry, regulators and banks to provide testimony.
Russia’s Crypto Bill Set for Second and Third Readings in State Duma
The State Duma plans to advance the Digital Currency and Digital Rights bill on July 21, establishing a regulatory framework for crypto trading, custody, investor access, and cross-border settlements under central bank oversight.
EPAA Launches AI Agent Payment Working Group in Asia Pacific, HSBC Joins as Founding Member
The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) has established an AI and Agent Payment Working Group, with HSBC as a founding member, to tackle standards for agent identity, authentication, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and liability.
ACI Executive Proposes 'Digital Medina' Vision: AI Shopping Could Turn Every Transaction into a Micro-Tender
Philip Bruno, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at ACI Worldwide, envisions a future where buyer AI agents send requirements—budget, delivery, returns, and warranties—to multiple merchants, receive machine-readable composite offers, and automatically compare them, turning an ordinary purchase into a real-time 'micro-RFP.'
Natural Raises $30M Series A to Build AI Agent Payment Infrastructure
The company, co-founded by Kahlil Lalji, Eric Wang, and Walt Leung, is building a full-stack payment platform for AI agents, with six products already in production.
Sunrate and Mastercard Release AI Agent White Paper on B2B Global Payments
The report identifies 16 industry pain points and 13 application scenarios, covering procurement, accounts payable/receivable, payment routing, FX management, compliance screening, fraud prevention, and automated reconciliation.
Japan Logistics Giant Plans to Settle Fees for ~2,300 Transport Partners Using JPYC
AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings aims to use the yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC to pay transport commissions to approximately 2,300 partner firms and some individual drivers, shortening settlement times, cutting transfer costs, and increasing payment frequency.
GENIUS Act Rulemaking Deadline Passes, U.S. Regulatory Framework Still Unfinalized
As of July 18, 2026, U.S. regulators have yet to finalize most of the payment stablecoin rules required under the GENIUS Act.
40 Financial and Tech Giants Join x402 Foundation to Drive Unified Standards for Agent Payments
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Google, AWS, Stripe, Ripple, Coinbase and others join Linux Foundation-backed initiative to standardize internet-native payment protocols.
When Machines Start Spending: What Will AI Buy, and Who Will Control It?
AI hasn't learned to spend—it has been authorized to spend. Its consumption patterns, decision-making logic, and risk structures are fundamentally different from humans. And 'letting AI spend safely' may be the most scarce—and most valuable—position in this new economy.
Animoca and Visa Pilot AI Agent Shopping with Automated Payment Capabilities
Animoca Brands and Visa have completed a live pilot of AI agent commerce, integrating Visa Intelligent Commerce into Animoca’s Minds agent platform.
x402 Foundation Officially Launches, AI Agent Payment Protocol Moves to Open Governance
The Linux Foundation announces the operational launch of the x402 Foundation, with Coinbase completing the donation transfer of the x402 protocol. The protocol will now be governed jointly by enterprises in finance, payments, cloud computing, and blockchain.