Morning Minute is a day by day e-newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The evaluation and opinions expressed are his personal and don’t essentially replicate these of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.
GM!
At present’s high information:
- Crypto majors principally chop on day; BTC at $87,000
- Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement to U.S. banks, leveraging Solana
- FDIC greenlights proposal exhibiting how U.S. banks can problem their very own stables
- Rainbow Pockets broadcasts TGE for Feb 5, 2026 together with airdrop
- Cantor Fitzgerald requires $200B+ value goal on HYPE in new report
💵 A Huge Day for Stablecoins
Two separate bulletins at present pointed in the identical route.
Stablecoins are shifting deeper into the U.S. monetary system.
📌 What Occurred
First, Visa expanded its USDC settlement program to U.S. banks, enabling taking part establishments to settle obligations utilizing Circle’s USDC on Solana.
The growth permits banks and cost corporations to maneuver funds outdoors of conventional banking hours, with onchain settlement finality and integration into Visa’s current treasury and reconciliation methods.
Visa has beforehand examined stablecoin settlement internationally and with choose companions, however this marks a broader U.S. rollout.
On the identical time, the FDIC permitted a proposed rulemaking to implement the GENIUS Act, outlining how FDIC-supervised banks might problem cost stablecoins by means of subsidiaries.
The proposal describes software necessities, governance requirements, reserve and liquidity expectations, and ongoing supervisory oversight.
Banks could be required to take care of high-quality reserves backing issued stablecoins and function inside outlined risk-management and compliance frameworks.
🗣️ What They’re Saying
“Visa is increasing stablecoin settlement as a result of our banking companions usually are not solely asking about it—they’re getting ready to make use of it” – Visa’s World Head of Progress Merchandise and Strategic Partnerships Rubail Birwadker
“Fintech and crypto innovators more and more ask us to deliver stablecoins into their current product suite.” – Gilles Gade, founder, president, and CEO of Cross River Financial institution
A strong milestone within the mainstream adoption and acceptance of USDC, with Visa asserting that every one US card issuers (banks, fintechs, crypto corporations) can now settle immediately with Visa utilizing USDC. Visa additionally working with Circle to organize for launching on @Arc.
Greenback digital… pic.twitter.com/c7ilmCrXWY
— Jeremy Allaire – jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) December 16, 2025
🧠 Why It Issues
Stablecoins are more and more being handled as funds infrastructure relatively than a distinct segment crypto product.
Visa’s growth exhibits how massive cost networks are integrating stablecoins into current methods, whereas the FDIC’s proposal outlines the framework banks would use to problem and handle them.
The mixture issues.
Institutional adoption tends to speed up as soon as massive monetary intermediaries and regulators transfer in the identical route.
BlackRock predicted stablecoins could be a mega pressure of 2026 impacting the worldwide financial system, of their 2026 outlook report.
It appears to be like like they are going to be proper…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes
Just a few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
- Crypto majors had been principally flat; BTC -0.3% at $87,000; ETH -1% at $2,930, BNB -1% at $858, SOL even at $128
- NIGHT (+11%), MORPHO (+10%) and MYX (+5%) led high movers
- Bitwise forecasted new Bitcoin all-time highs in 2026, pointing to structural elements like institutional capital inflows, regulatory readability, and continued adoption to outweigh historic bearish elements
- The SEC ended its four-year investigation into AAVE, closing the file with out recommending enforcement motion
- VISA expanded its stablecoin pilot to extra US Banks and to incorporate settlement on Solana
- The FDIC permitted a proposal to implement the GENIUS Act, outlining how FDIC-supervised banks might problem cost stablecoins by means of subsidiaries
- Trump mentioned he could be open to nominating Democrats to the SEC and CFTC, a shift that might assist unblock the stalled Senate crypto market-structure invoice
- Elizabeth Warren raised considerations about DEX dangers, flagging PancakeSwap and alleging hyperlinks to Trump-connected flows and North Korea–tied laundering
- The FTC mentioned Nomad should repay recovered funds after the $186M 2022 bridge hack
- Hong Kong influencers face costs associated to their promotion of the collapsed JPEX alternate, which left buyers with roughly $206 M in losses
- The South Korean authorities permitted about $15M in debt reduction for crypto merchants
In Company Treasuries / ETFs
- The Bitcoin ETFs have seen internet outflows of $635M up to now this week, with ETH seeing -449M
- KindlyMD was warned it risked Nasdaq delisting after shares stayed beneath $1, and mentioned it had till June 2026 to regain compliance
In Memes / Onchain Movers
- Memecoin leaders are principally crimson with Fartcoin main; DOGE -1%, Shiba -2%, PEPE -1%, PENGU -3%, BONK -2%, TRUMP -1%, SPX +1%, and FARTCOIN +4%
- Burwick Legislation shared an ongoing lawsuit towards Pump Enjoyable and Solana
- WOJAK rebounded 60% to $31M; Anon +60% to $23M and 1 jumped 42% to $7M
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Right here’s a rundown of main token, protocol and airdrop information from the day:
- Cantor Fitzgerald launched a 62-page report on Hyperliquid, calling for a $250B market cap on a 10-year time-frame
- Hyper Basis to vote on recognizing the Help Fund HYPE as formally burned and thus faraway from circulating provide
- BNB introduced a brand new stablecoin “unifying liquidity throughout use case” is coming quickly
- Rainbow Pockets introduced their TGE coming Feb 5, 2026
- RedotPay raised $107M in a Collection B spherical to broaden its stablecoin funds platform
- Tether co-led an $8M spherical into Pace, backing Lightning-based stablecoin funds
- Worldcoin launched their WorldID on Tinder to assist remedy its bot downside
🚚 What is going on in NFTs?
Right here is the listing of different notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
- NFT leaders had been blended; Punks -1% at 27 ETH, Pudgy +3% at 4.69, BAYC +3% at 4.99 ETH; Hypurr’s -3% at 445 HYPE
- No notable movers
- Pudgy Penguins confirmed they may seem on the Las Vegas Sphere, securing a roughly $500,000 advert placement
