S&P Global Ratings has assigned its top "AAAm" rating for principal stability to BlackRock's new tokenized money-market fund, the BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle, or BRSRV. The rating is the highest given by S&P in the category for principal-stability funds. It is based on the credit quality of the fund's investments and counterparties, its term structure, and management's ability to maintain a stable net asset value. S&P said it found no weaknesses in BlackRock's advisory management and organization, credit research and analysis, risk management, or compliance. The fund's tokenization framework, meanwhile, was described as operationally resilient, using a permissioned design that restricts transactions to whitelisted wallets, which helps reduce network, smart-contract, and blockchain risks. BRSRV launched as an open-end management investment company, with the specific goal of making its shares eligible as qualified reserve assets for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. Its portfolio will consist of cash, U.S. Treasury securities with maturities of 93 days or less, and overnight repurchase agreements collateralized by Treasury instruments, keeping the weighted average maturity at or below 60 days and the weighted average life at or below 120 days. In a separate stablecoin stability assessment, S&P found that six of the eleven stablecoins it covers have sufficient or stronger capacity to maintain their fiat pegs. USDT, TUSD, and USDe remain at the weakest level, level 5, while USDC, EURC, USDG, and USDP are rated level 2, considered strong.

S&P Global Ratings awarded BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BRSRV, an 'AAAm' rating, its highest mark for principal stability. The rating reflects investment and counterparty credit quality, term structure, and management's ability to maintain a stable net asset value. S&P found no weaknesses in BlackRock Advisors' management, credit research, risk management, or compliance. The fund uses a permissioned architecture with whitelisted wallets to mitigate network, smart contract, and blockchain risks. Launched as an open-end investment company, BRSRV aims to qualify as reserve assets for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, holding cash, Treasuries within 93 days, and overnight repos. In a separate stablecoin assessment, six of eleven covered stablecoins show 'sufficient' or stronger fiat-peg capacity; USDT, TUSD, and USDe remain at 'weak' Level 5, while USDC, EURC, USDG, and USDP are 'strong' Level 2.

Visa has moved its stablecoin push beyond settlement pilots with the launch of Visa Stablecoin Platform, or VSP, now in limited testing. Announced on July 16, 2026, the platform is designed for commercial banks, fintechs and treasury teams, offering lifecycle management for stablecoins including minting, redemption, custody support and transfers. Visa positions the product as enterprise infrastructure rather than a simple settlement rail. The initial release supports two operating models: Wallet-as-a-Service for institutions that want Visa-provided key management technology, and Bring Your Own Wallet for firms already using external custodians such as Fireblocks, BitGo or Fystack. In beta, VSP natively supports only Open USD, or OUSD, and only on Ethereum, Solana and Tempo. The platform also ties into Visa Direct for cross-border payout conversion and is being linked with Pismo to support tokenized deposits alongside third-party stablecoins. The report argues that VSP’s launch matters not only because of its product design, but because of the economics around OUSD. The token is described as part of an Open Standard consortium backed by Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase and more than 140 financial and technology companies. Its reserve income-sharing structure, according to the article, could pressure the legacy float-based model used by incumbent stablecoin issuers. The piece also highlights VSP’s relevance to agentic commerce, while noting several current constraints: restricted onboarding, limited asset and chain support, incomplete API availability and undisclosed pricing.

WuBlockchain’s weekly roundup pulled together 10 of the crypto stories that mattered most this week, led by a fresh signal from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins that the agency is prepared to write its own crypto market structure rules if Congress does not pass the CLARITY Act. Atkins said legislation would offer a more durable framework, while the SEC has already placed rules for crypto issuance, custody, and trading on its 2026 agenda. The list also highlighted Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s launch of spot Ethereum and Solana ETPs, both listed on NYSE Arca with 0.14% fees and staking plans, as well as BNY’s move to put fund transaction processing and shareholder records on blockchain rails while keeping its traditional transfer agency system. Corporate treasury strategy remained a major theme, with Strategy reporting a second-quarter net loss of $8.22 billion tied to bitcoin fair-value changes and saying future fundraising will no longer be used exclusively to buy BTC. Other items in the roundup included Robinhood’s latest earnings call, a new OSC survey showing 25% of Canadians now hold crypto, MiCA compliance among top stablecoins, digital asset treasury firms pivoting toward AI data centers, weak July bitcoin spot activity, and Binance Research’s finding that the first half of 2026 was defined by broad on-chain contraction rather than sector rotation.

Patrick Hansen, senior director for EU strategy and policy at Circle, said the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, still has a major blind spot in its treatment of stablecoins. In a post published on July 29, Hansen said roughly 35 electronic money tokens, or EMTs, from 21 institutions have already received compliant status since MiCA took effect, with banks and e-money firms actively entering the market and local issuance gaining traction. Even so, he said the global picture remains narrow under the current framework. Among the world’s top 50 stablecoins, only USDC, USDG and EURC currently meet MiCA requirements, leaving the rest outside the regime. According to Hansen, that creates a double problem for users in the EU: they may either lose access to major stablecoins or remain exposed without adequate protections. He argued that if MiCA is meant to serve as a global regulatory model, it needs to do two things at once: help locally issued EMTs expand internationally under a competitive regime, and create a recognition mechanism for compliant foreign stablecoins instead of making local issuance the only path to market access.

Patrick Hansen, Circle’s senior director for EU strategy and policy, said that since the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, took effect, roughly 35 electronic money tokens (EMTs) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance approval. He said banks and electronic money institutions have been entering the market, pointing to solid momentum for local issuance under the new framework. At the same time, Hansen noted that only three stablecoins among the world’s top 50 by size — USDC, USDG, and EURC — currently satisfy MiCA requirements. The rest remain outside the regulatory perimeter, leaving EU users in what he described as a difficult position: either they lack regulatory protection or they may be cut off from access. Hansen argued that if MiCA is to become a genuine global regulatory model, it needs to achieve two things at once. First, it should help locally issued EMTs expand globally through a competitive regime. Second, it should create a recognition mechanism for compliant offshore stablecoins so that global issuers are brought into the MiCA framework, rather than treating local issuance as the only path to market entry.

Dutch payments firm Quantoz Payments becomes a Visa principal member, enabling it to issue Visa-branded virtual debit cards backed by regulated e-money tokens USDQ, EURQ, EURD and sponsor fintechs to launch stablecoin payment products across Europe.

MiCA has redrawn Europe’s stablecoin market. Circle’s USDC and EURC meet the new rules, while Tether did not seek the required license, leaving about $185 billion in USDT unavailable on regulated European platforms.