The Daily: Visa pilots stablecoin payments, Bloomberg’s LTC, SOL and XRP ETF approval odds hit 100%, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! Crypto is attempting to regain its footing, BRN Head of Research Timothy Misir told The Block, noting whale buying, ETF inflows, and a strong defense of the $110K level have stabilized BTC, though conviction across the market remains uneven.

In today’s newsletter, Visa pilots stablecoin payments, Bloomberg’s Litecoin, Solana, and XRP ETF approval odds hit 100%, Starknet launches bitcoin staking, and more.

Let’s get started!

P.S. CryptoIQ is now available to everyone. Take the test for a chance to win $20,000!

Visa pilots stablecoin payments for businesses sending money abroad

Visa is piloting stablecoin funding for Visa Direct, letting businesses, including banks and remittance providers, send cross-border payments more efficiently.

• The pilot aims to slash settlement times from days to minutes, boosting liquidity and speeding up payouts.
  Circle’s USDC and EURC are the first stablecoins being tested, with more assets potentially added as demand grows.
• Visa treats those stablecoins as “money in the bank” or available balances for payouts, enabling businesses to send money abroad without locking up large sums of cash days in advance.
• The firm said recipients can still be paid in local currency, even if businesses pre-fund in stablecoins.
• Asked if Visa plans to issue its own stablecoin, “it’s hard to rule anything out,” a spokesperson said.
• However, they noted the firm is currently focused on scaling use cases for existing stablecoins through cards, settlement, and bank integrations.

Bloomberg analyst puts odds of Litecoin, Solana and XRP ETF approvals at 100%

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas said the odds of SEC approval for Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and other spot crypto ETFs are now effectively 100% after the agency’s new generic listing standards made the 19b-4 filing and deadline process “meaningless.”

• Balchunas’ comments followed a slew of recent 19b-4 withdrawals for Solana, XRP, Cardano, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Polkadot, and Hedera ETFs, as well as Ethereum staking ETFs, the SEC’s website shows, following its generic listing standards approval.
• The regulator’s move fast-tracks pending crypto ETF applications and cuts potential review timelines for new submissions from 240 days to as little as 75.
• Balchunas said certain ETF launches could come “any day” now once their S-1 filings get the green light, with the proposed Solana ETF products already on their fourth amendment, signaling progress.

Starknet launches bitcoin staking in BTCFi expansion

Starknet has launched non-custodial bitcoin staking, allowing BTC holders to earn rewards while helping secure the Layer 2 network — a move the project branded the “bitcoin strategy for OGs.”

• In parallel, the Starknet Foundation is allocating 100 million STRK ($14 million) to boost the BTCFi ecosystem on Starknet and incentivize borrowing, collateral use, and yield strategies.
• Furthermore, Re7 Capital announced it will debut an institutional-grade BTC yield product on Starknet in October, combining off-chain derivatives, DeFi, and BTC staking returns.
• The rollout marks Starknet’s push to position itself as Bitcoin’s execution layer, expanding beyond its Ethereum roots.

Robinhood eyes overseas prediction market launch

Robinhood is exploring overseas launches for its prediction markets business and has engaged with regulators like the UK’s FCA on possible frameworks, according to Bloomberg.

• CEO Vlad Tenev said its U.S. platform has processed 4 billion prediction market event contracts to date, with half of that volume coming in Q3 alone.
• In the U.S., prediction markets are regulated as futures, but abroad they’re often treated more like gambling products.
• Kalshi and Polymarket are currently the two largest prediction market platforms. Coinbase has also shown interest in breaking into the niche.

Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs rebound to top $1 billion in combined daily inflows

U.S. Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs drew a combined $1.07 billion in net inflows on Monday, reversing recent outflows.

• The Ethereum ETFs led, adding $547 million after five straight days of losses, driven by Fidelity’s FETH and BlackRock’s ETHA, with $202.2 million and $154.2 million of inflows, respectively.
• The Bitcoin ETFs collectively added $522 million, again dominated by Fidelity’s FBTC with inflows of $298.7 million amid market resilience following a mid-September pullback.

In the next 24 hours

• Eurozone CPI data are released at 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday. U.S. mortgage data follows at 8 a.m.
• U.S. FOMC member Thomas Barkin will speak at 12:15 p.m.
• Sui, dYdX, and EigenLayer are set for token unlocks.
• TOKEN2049 gets underway in earnest in Singapore. BTC in D.C. continues.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

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