Visa is searching for a new partner to handle stablecoin settlement after BVNK, which previously filled that role, was acquired by Mastercard earlier this year, according to documents reviewed by CoinDesk. The payments company’s request for product calls for a firm that can support swaps across multiple stablecoins and provide settlement services for the newly introduced Open USD project. Visa is specifically seeking a settlement and over-the-counter partner with cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Singapore, a requirement that narrows the list of candidates. The documents say the partner would support Open USD, a project backed by Stripe, Visa and Mastercard that is designed to work with more than one stablecoin. The search comes as stablecoins remain a key battleground for major payments companies even while other parts of the crypto market stay subdued. CoinGecko data cited by CoinDesk puts the sector’s total market capitalization at about $300 billion. The report also points to Stripe’s late-2024 acquisition of Bridge for $1.1 billion as a move that increased competitive pressure. Last month, Visa launched its Visa Stablecoin Platform, with OUSD as the first supported token. Visa declined to comment.

A dense batch of overnight developments across crypto and AI put institutional treasury moves, exchange remediation, Ethereum roadmap changes, and U.S. regulatory timing in focus. Strategy disclosed share sales, BTC disposals, and a larger dollar reserve, while BitMine and Sharplink updated major ETH accumulation plans. Bitget published a compensation plan tied to abnormal price moves in TUT, LOBSTER, and BICO perpetual contracts, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it will review a proposed customized issuance framework for certain crypto-related investment contracts on Aug. 14. Elsewhere, Vitalik Buterin’s latest Ethereum roadmap comparison elevated quantum resistance, privacy, and AI-assisted verification, large wallets continued moving BTC and ETH, and several AI infrastructure financings pointed to growing use of debt markets to fund chip purchases and compute buildouts.

Gate said it has launched a special review and risk-control investigation after unusually sharp volatility hit the perpetual futures markets for TUT (TUTUSDT), 龙虾 (龙虾USDT), and BICO (BICOUSDT) on Aug. 9, 2026. The exchange said users whose positions were liquidated and who fall within the compensation scope will receive full compensation in USDT. Gate has also opened a dedicated handling channel, allowing affected users to contact the platform through official routes including VIP account managers and online customer service. According to the statement, the exchange will help complete the compensation process within three business days, with funds to be credited to users’ spot accounts. Gate also said it will keep strengthening abnormal trading detection, risk controls for low-liquidity markets, dynamic risk-parameter management, and its pricing and liquidation mechanisms.

Bitget has detailed a compensation plan for users hit by abnormal price moves in TUTUSDT, LOBSTERUSDT and BICOUSDT contracts on Aug. 9, between 15:10 and 15:15 (UTC+8). The exchange will use the market’s fair price and account equity snapshot taken at 15:00 to issue USDT compensation to contract users whose short positions were force-liquidated because of the mark price anomaly. The coverage spans unified accounts, classic cross margin and isolated margin modes. Reference compensation prices are 0.21 USDT for TUT, 0.027 USDT for LOBSTER and 0.0897 USDT for BICO. Bitget also said it is strengthening monitoring of abnormal trading and concentrated positions, applying tougher listing and ongoing evaluation standards for high-risk trading pairs, dynamically adjusting leverage and position limits, and refining its mark price and liquidation mechanisms. Xie Jiayin, head of Bitget’s Greater China business, said the mark price issue and severe liquidity imbalance for the three contracts on Aug. 9, 2026 triggered abnormal liquidations of some short positions, causing nearly $40 million in user losses.

Binance is set to launch two USDT-margined perpetual contracts on Aug. 6, according to an official announcement cited by BlockBeats. The exchange said the KOUSDT perpetual contract will go live at 17:00 on Aug. 6, 2026, Beijing time. Five minutes later, at 17:05 Beijing time, Binance will list the RDDTUSDT perpetual contract. The update was published by BlockBeats on Aug. 6 and attributes the schedule directly to Binance’s official notice. No additional contract details were provided in the source text.

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.

Foresight News has published its July 2026 columnist report, ranking contributors by article readership, content quality, publishing activity, and related metrics. The list includes a Top 5 popularity ranking, a No. 1 “most diligent” columnist, and a Top 3 newcomer list, with one featured article highlighted under each column. The popularity ranking includes Future 小哥哥, Biteye, Web3 小律, 富贵, and 鸭特 TATAYA. Their recommended pieces span topics such as NEAR’s investment case, crypto projects shutting down in a bear market, OUSD and Circle’s capital narrative, BitMEX and perpetual contracts, and what Web3 neobanks are building. The “most diligent” spot went to 昊恪然［芒格门徒］, whose featured article discusses BTC falling below 64K ahead of an FOMC decision, ETF outflows, and geopolitical tension affecting crypto flows. In the newcomer ranking, Foresight highlighted Corundum｜刚玉, Money in Motion, and Surf, covering regulation, cross-border capital flows, and AI-driven crypto market research. The report ends with a standard disclaimer stating that the article does not constitute investment advice.

Spark, the lending and liquidity arm tied to Sky, formerly MakerDAO, has shelved its consumer app indefinitely and is now focusing on business-facing stablecoin infrastructure. CEO Sam MacPherson told CoinDesk that the stablecoin market is heading toward deeper fragmentation, with issuers and platforms spreading liquidity across more tokens and networks. Spark’s bet is that this trend creates demand for an intermediary layer that moves liquidity between those systems. Two products are being used to make that case. Robinhood Earn, which offers roughly 7% APY on USDG deposits, drew more than $200 million in 24 days through an on-chain vault structure involving Morpho, Steakhouse Financial, Ethena, Maple and Spark. On Uniswap v4, Spark said its stablecoin foreign-exchange layer handled about $1.5 billion over 30 days and accounted for around 30% of stablecoin-to-stablecoin swap volume after deploying roughly $150 million into USDS-USDT and USDS-PYUSD pools. Spark is pushing this strategy during a weaker DeFi market, with annual revenue down from about $80 million in the bull market to roughly $20 million now. MacPherson also said on-chain payments could reach $3 trillion by 2030, citing expected regulatory developments including the GENIUS Act and the possible advance of the Clarity Act.