The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Adit Ventures Management and other companies, according to ChainCatcher. The regulator alleges that the defendants defrauded investors and client funds in investments tied to pre-IPO shares of companies including SpaceX and Klarna.com. The brief did not disclose additional details such as the full list of defendants, the amount of money involved, or the litigation timeline. Based on the available information, the case centers on alleged misconduct in pre-IPO equity investments rather than public market trading. No further allegations, responses from the companies, or court details were provided in the source text.

Seventeen of the largest U.S. banks have said The Clearing House will build on-chain clearing and settlement for tokenized deposits, linked to RTP and CHIPS for round-the-clock operation. The article argues that this is not simply a blockchain story. It is a liquidity story, centered on netting and liquidity-saving mechanisms that let banks settle large payment flows with far less prefunded cash than a gross, real-time model requires. CHIPS, for example, settles about $2 trillion a day with roughly $96 billion of prefunded liquidity, versus an estimated $442 billion under transaction-by-transaction gross settlement, according to the figures cited in the piece. That contrast sits at the core of the stablecoin debate. Stablecoins can move in seconds, but they generally require 100% prefunding. The article says this tradeoff resembles RTP, which also gives up netting in favor of prefunded instant settlement. At the same time, stablecoins have gained traction in areas traditional rails do not cover well: Global South payment corridors, weekends, merchant settlement, and access to transferable dollars outside the U.S. banking system. The piece also argues that stablecoins are not inherently incapable of netting. What is missing is clearing infrastructure around par exchange, redemption, and multilateral net settlement. It points to firms including Better Money Company, Ubyx, Glacis Labs, Cycles, and Circle’s CPN as signs that a token-era clearing layer is beginning to take shape.

Apple has launched a new iPhone leasing program in the United States through a partnership with financial services company Klarna, offering devices starting at $17.99 per month. The program, called Upgrade, is available through Apple’s retail stores and online store, with contract options spanning one, two, or three years depending on the product line. At the end of the term, customers must return the device, pay an additional amount to buy it out, or move to a newer model. The report says Apple plans to extend similar leasing options to other products, including Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad. The company has also discontinued its previous iPhone Upgrade Program with Citizens Bank and is moving existing users to the new Klarna-backed service. The new plan does not require a deposit or charge late fees, though contracts can be terminated after three consecutive months of missed payments. The move comes as Apple faces rising component costs. TechInsights said higher memory and related component prices could add as much as $300 to an iPhone bill of materials, while Morgan Stanley estimated Apple may need to raise the price of the iPhone 18 Pro by about $200 to preserve margins. IDC data cited in the report also showed iPhone replacement cycles have stretched to nearly four years, with installment plans and trade-ins remaining common in developed markets such as the U.S.

Stripe and Jito Labs unveiled FullSend, a routing system that reduces Solana transaction inclusion latency to ~50ms by bypassing RPC nodes and sending transactions directly to block leaders. It also offers MEV protection and has a 99.999% success rate in tests.

DoorDash partners with Stripe to test stablecoin-based cross-border payments on the Tempo blockchain, aiming to cut costs and boost speed as mainstream commerce embraces crypto payments.

PayPal's stock fell from $307 to $41.49, wiping out 86% of market cap. Its alumni—Musk, Thiel, Hoffman—created over $2 trillion in value. New CEO from HP faces a painful restructuring.

PayPal shares tumbled nearly 20% after the company reported soft results and announced a CEO change. Revenue rose to $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, but weaker earnings guidance and rising competition weighed on the stock.

Google and Stripe are building rival AI payment standards as checkout moves into chat interfaces. Stripe is extending deeper through Bridge, Privy, and Tempo, while Circle’s USDC sits in a strong position as a shared settlement layer across both camps.