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.

The US government has already returned about $100 billion in tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to a UPI report and court filings from US Customs and Border Protection. That figure accounts for roughly 60% of the estimated $166 billion in "Liberation Day" tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in 2025. CBP said more than 330,000 importers paid the duties, covering over 53 million customs entries. Refunds are being processed through the CAPE system, and the agency has received more than 250,000 refund claims so far. It added that the total value of potential and approved refunds still in processing stands at about $129 billion. The refunds stem from a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in February, which found that IEEPA allows the executive branch to regulate trade during emergencies but does not give it the power to levy tariffs. The court said taxing authority under Article I of the US Constitution belongs to Congress. The Trump administration’s 10% tariffs on most countries exporting to the US, announced in April 2025, were based on IEEPA. After losing the case, the administration moved to impose new tariffs on global goods under different legal authorities.

India has proposed bringing back merchant fees for a limited set of Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, transactions, marking a potential end to the zero-fee framework that has been in place since January 2020. The government submitted the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill to the Lok Sabha on Aug. 4-5, seeking changes to Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Under the proposal, banks and payment service providers would be allowed to charge a merchant discount rate of 5 to 7 basis points on specific UPI payments. The fee would apply only to large merchants with annual turnover of roughly 10 million to 15 million rupees, and only for transactions above 2,000 rupees. Person-to-person transfers and transactions involving small merchants would remain free. The government has also set aside 20 billion rupees in subsidies for fiscal 2027. A parliamentary standing committee had earlier said the zero-fee model was not sustainable and that a viable revenue source was needed. The update was cited by CryptoBriefing and carried by Techub.

Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng said India has a large crypto user base, but wider adoption still depends on clear regulation. He argued digital assets should complement UPI, not compete with it.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha urged the Indian Parliament to recognize cryptocurrencies as a formal asset class, citing a policy gap that has driven over 4.8 trillion rupees in crypto trading offshore. Despite no budget relief, mounting investor pressure keeps reform hopes alive.

ECB President Christine Lagarde said Europe remains heavily dependent on foreign card and payment infrastructure, warning that dollar stablecoins and non-European networks could weaken the region’s payment sovereignty without a digital euro and unified settlement framework.

Binance still lacks direct INR spot pairs despite FIU-IND registration. The key hurdles are banking integration and RBI rules. Watch for bank partnerships, TDS cuts, and SEBI circulars in 2026 as potential triggers.

India attracted $340 billion in crypto inflows from June 2024 to June 2025, per OECD, ranking first in Asia. Despite harsh taxes, the country has 119M crypto users. On July 2, Parliament quizzed the RBI on crypto policy for the first time. Three regulatory paths lie ahead.