Mastercard Launches Global Stablecoin Payment Capabilities

Mastercard has announced new global end-to-end capabilities to support stablecoin transactions, enabling consumers to spend and merchants to receive stablecoins seamlessly. Through partnerships with companies like OKX and Nuvei, Mastercard is creating a comprehensive ecosystem that integrates stablecoins into traditional financial systems. Key features include wallet enablement, card issuing, merchant settlement, and on-chain remittances.
Mastercard’s collaborations with firms such as MetaMask, Kraken, Circle, and Paxos aim to make stablecoin usage as simple as using traditional money. The company is also enhancing real-time payments and cross-border transactions via its Multi-Token Network (MTN). Executives from OKX, Nuvei, MetaMask, and Kraken emphasized the importance of these innovations in bringing stablecoins into everyday financial activities. Mastercard reaffirms its commitment to building secure and accessible digital payment solutions across more than 200 countries and territories.

CME Group has announced the first trades of its newly launched options on Bitcoin Friday futures. The first trade, executed on February 23, 2025, was a block trade between Cumberland DRW and Galaxy, cleared by Marex.

According to Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME Group, these cash-settled contracts offer expirations every business day, providing traders with greater precision in managing short-term Bitcoin price risk.

Cumberland DRW’s head of options trading, Roman Makarov, emphasized the contracts’ role in enhancing liquidity, flexibility, and optionality in the growing intersection between traditional and crypto markets. Similarly, Brooks Dudley, head of digital assets sales at Marex, highlighted the contracts’ ability to provide traders with better visibility into short-term volatility.

The introduction of these options complements CME Group’s existing cryptocurrency offerings, which include physically-settled options on Bitcoin, Ether, Micro Bitcoin, and Micro Ether futures. The lower notional value and 4 p.m. New York settlement time make these contracts accessible and attractive to a wide range of market participants.

CME Group continues to expand its cryptocurrency derivatives suite, reinforcing its position as a leading marketplace for risk management solutions.

source: CME Group, February 25, 2025.

Here’s a summary of today’s key insights from Goldman Sachs Briefings:

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is optimistic about the business environment and expects capital markets activity to return to 10-year averages in 2025. He attributes this to regulatory changes and a more collaborative investment landscape.

China's AI development is expected to boost AI adoption globally by lowering costs and increasing accessibility. Some Chinese AI models are reportedly cheaper to build, prompting US AI-related stocks to drop by 10% earlier this week.

Investor sentiment is shifting in 2025. Gold is increasingly favored, with 32% of surveyed investors calling it the best investment choice, up from 5% last year. India remains the top emerging market investment destination due to its manufacturing expansion and 6.5% expected economic growth through 2030. The "S&P 493" (excluding the Magnificent 7) is expected to outperform the broader S&P 500.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management sees India’s private equity and capital markets growing but warns of high valuations. Private credit demand is expected to rise due to M&A financing needs.

US stocks remain attractive, with Goldman Sachs' Investment Strategy Group (ISG) maintaining an overweight position. They expect an 8% return for the S&P 500 in 2025 but anticipate slower outperformance versus non-US stocks over the next five years.

Despite strong gains in gold and bitcoin in 2024, ISG does not view them as strategic portfolio assets, citing volatility and lack of cash flow generation.

Nuclear energy is gaining attention due to rising power demand from AI data centers.

Bitcoin is near 100.000 Dollars

BTC 200.000$ at the end of 2025