PayPal Launches Pay with Crypto

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Introduction

Welcome to the Tokenized newsletter, brought to you by the creators of the Tokenized Podcast; Simon Taylor of Fintech Brainfood and Pet Berisha of Sporting Crypto, written by Jeremy Batchelder.

We are the newsletter for institutions that need help preparing for a Tokenized future.

We run through the headlines every week, what it means for you and a market readout. Always with an institutional, business-focused perspective. 

Join us every week as we meet your Tokenization needs.

Pssst. Sign up to our inaugural Tokenized Event on Sept 11th in London here!

Simon’s Market Readout 💬 

When a large company that most people have never heard of, called FIS, adds stablecoins and partners with Circle to do so, the temptation is to think of this as just another company cashing in on the stablecoin hype. 

But I see something much bigger here.

What they're doing at FIS is fascinating. They have a product called the Money Movement Hub, and the Money Movement Hub is designed to be the one place that a financial institution or bank can have all of their payment needs met. 

Now that sounds like a "so what? What's the big deal there?" moment.

Well, the big deal is this: traditionally, you had a different payment system for every single type of payment. 

You want to use ACH? You got to use this system. 

You want to use cards? You got to use that system. 

You want to integrate all of this with your internal accounting systems? You got to use something else entirely. All of those systems were historically owned by companies like FIS, but they always struggled to roll all of those together for their client base.

But Money Movement Hub is really bringing all of those traditional payment rails together into a single central platform for their clients, of which there are 13,000. 

And because there are 13,000 of them, as they come onto Money Movement Hub, and as stablecoins come onto Money Movement Hub, then to most of the banks, stablecoins look like just another rail—just another option in that product they already have.

And that is one of those things where slowly, then suddenly, things go mainstream. This could be a very interesting few years indeed. 

So see beyond the press releases, see beyond the people cashing in on the headline cycle, and see what the real signal is here.

Stories You Can't Miss 📰

🏦 FIS Partners with Circle to Unlock USDC for Financial Institutions

Global fintech leader FIS has announced a partnership with Circle to enable U.S. financial institutions to offer USDC transactions to their customers through FIS' Money Movement Hub.

Key Points:

• FIS infrastructure solutions will integrate with Circle's stablecoin functionality, enabling domestic and cross-border USDC payments for bank customers

• The partnership launches following the GENIUS Act passage, positioning stablecoins to integrate with traditional finance

• FIS' Money Movement Hub becomes the first solution to integrate with Circle, offering institutions access to multiple payment networks in one place

The Tokenized Take:

• Infrastructure convergence accelerating: FIS serves over 20,000 financial institutions globally - this partnership creates a massive distribution channel for USDC adoption across traditional banking

• Post-GENIUS Act momentum: The timing capitalizes on regulatory clarity, with major infrastructure providers now confident enough to build stablecoin integrations

• Money Movement Hub strategy: By making USDC just another payment rail alongside traditional networks, FIS is normalizing stablecoin usage for institutions that may have been hesitant to adopt crypto-native solutions

💳 PayPal Enables U.S. Merchants to Accept 100+ Cryptocurrencies

PayPal launched a new payment option allowing smaller U.S. merchants to accept over 100 cryptocurrencies through their online payments processing platform, with promotional fees of 0.99% in the first year.

Key Points:

• Merchants can accept everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to memecoins like Trump's token and Fartcoin, with crypto converted to PYUSD stablecoin then to USD for settlement

• PayPal's promotional 0.99% fee (rising to 1.5% after year one) undercuts the 1.57% average credit card processing rate, making crypto payments cost-competitive

The Tokenized Take:

• Mainstream crypto commerce acceleration: PayPal's merchant network creates instant distribution for crypto payments, potentially normalizing digital asset transactions for everyday purchases

• PYUSD utility expansion: By routing all crypto payments through their stablecoin, PayPal strengthens PYUSD's role as settlement infrastructure while capturing more transaction volume in their ecosystem

💸 Stablecorner ⚖️ → The Genius Act Creates Mainstream Legitimacy for Stablecoins

The passage of the Genius Act represents a watershed moment for stablecoins, creating the regulatory foundation needed for institutional adoption. As Cuy Sheffield observed in the latest episode of Tokenized Podcast:

"Now it feels like we're at day one of there are no excuses. You've got the framework in place. It's about the best that anyone in the industry could ask for. Now it's time to build."

The psychology shift is as important as the regulatory clarity. Kean Gilbert from Lido noted that stablecoins have achieved mainstream legitimacy from both sides - issuers now have regulatory certainty while consumers benefit from enhanced protection. This creates instant adoption potential at institutional levels.

But a paradox emerges: while stablecoins have regulatory recognition, they're not yet mainstream products for US consumers. As Cuy pointed out, most Americans still haven't used a stablecoin. This gap between institutional legitimacy and consumer adoption represents the next frontier.

The real opportunity lies in B2B cross-border payments. Atik from Acctual highlighted how the "stablecoin sandwich" enables businesses to operate more borderlessly - both sides transact in local currencies while leveraging stablecoins as the settlement layer. For import-export businesses, this offers an "easy button" for global payments without requiring sophisticated treasury operations.

Incumbents are pivoting from threat to opportunity. Western Union's CEO announcing plans to use stablecoins for instant settlement, build crypto on/off ramps through 500,000 locations, and offer wallet services to 150 million users signals a strategic shift. This isn't defensive positioning - it's recognition that stablecoins are infrastructure for the future of money movement.

The regulatory foundation is set. Now execution determines who captures the mainstream adoption wave.

📰 Some More News:

🏦 Tokenization, Stablecoins & Finance

• Goldman Sachs and BNY have announced the ability to tokenize the $7.1 trillion money market industry on Canton (Read more here)

• Belo Partners with OpenTrade to Launch USDC and USDT Yield Products Across Latin America (Read more here)

• Anchorage Digital partners with Ethena Labs for GENIUS compliant stablecoin (Read more here)

• WisdomTree unveils its stablecoin strategy for its USDW coin (Read more here)

• Interactive Brokers mulls stablecoin launch: Reuters (Read more here)

• Cboe equities exchange takes the next step and files for Canary's staked INJ fund (Read more here)

• Former BlackRock executive joins Joe Lubin's Ethereum treasury company SharpLink as co-CEO (Read more here)

• BNP Paribas goes live on DLT settlement system Fnality, executes swap payment (Read more here)

• MUFG, Japan’s largest bank to tokenize real estate for retail investors (Read more here)

• UAE Lender RAKBANK Offers Retail Customers Crypto With Bitpanda (Read more here)

• Sky's Grove Expands to Avalanche With $250M RWA Plan, Partnering With Centrifuge, Janus (Read more here)

• Ethereum Wallet MetaMask Adds Stablecoin Yield With DeFi Giant Aave (Read more here)

🤑 Funding and M&A

• Bitfinex-backed Layer 1 Plasma raises $373 million in 10-day token sale (Read more here)

• French tokenized MMF startup Spiko raises $22m in funding (Read more here)

• D2X Raises $5M to Expand Crypto Derivatives Exchange for Institutions (Read more here)

• Zodia Markets Raises $18.25M to Fuel International Expansion, Stablecoin Payments (Read more here)

💼 Government & Policy

• Swiss National Bank expands wholesale CBDC trials (Read more here)

• Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access (Read more here)

• Hong Kong rules require identity of every stablecoin holder (Read more here)

Tweet of the Week 🐤 

From Nik Milanovic

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