Morning Minute: A Big Day for Stablecoins

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors mostly chop on day; BTC at $87,000
• Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement to U.S. banks, leveraging Solana
• FDIC greenlights proposal showing how U.S. banks can issue their own stables
• Rainbow Wallet announces TGE for Feb 5, 2026 along with airdrop
• Cantor Fitzgerald calls for $200B+ price target on HYPE in new report

💵 A Big Day for Stablecoins

Two separate announcements today pointed in the same direction.

Stablecoins are moving deeper into the U.S. financial system.

📌 What Happened

First, Visa expanded its USDC settlement program to U.S. banks, enabling participating institutions to settle obligations using Circle’s USDC on Solana.

The expansion allows banks and payment firms to move funds outside of traditional banking hours, with onchain settlement finality and integration into Visa’s existing treasury and reconciliation systems.

Visa has previously tested stablecoin settlement internationally and with select partners, but this marks a broader U.S. rollout.

At the same time, the FDIC approved a proposed rulemaking to implement the GENIUS Act, outlining how FDIC-supervised banks could issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries.

The proposal describes application requirements, governance standards, reserve and liquidity expectations, and ongoing supervisory oversight.

Banks would be required to maintain high-quality reserves backing issued stablecoins and operate within defined risk-management and compliance frameworks.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking about it—they’re preparing to use it” - Visa’s Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships Rubail Birwadker

“Fintech and crypto innovators increasingly ask us to bring stablecoins into their existing product suite.” - Gilles Gade, founder, president, and CEO of Cross River Bank

A powerful milestone in the mainstream adoption and acceptance of USDC, with Visa announcing that all US card issuers (banks, fintechs, crypto firms) can now settle directly with Visa using USDC.  Visa also working with Circle to prepare for launching on @Arc.

Dollar digital… pic.twitter.com/c7ilmCrXWY

— Jeremy Allaire - jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) December 16, 2025

🧠 Why It Matters

Stablecoins are increasingly being treated as payments infrastructure rather than a niche crypto product.

Visa’s expansion shows how large payment networks are integrating stablecoins into existing systems, while the FDIC’s proposal outlines the framework banks would use to issue and manage them.

The combination matters.

Institutional adoption tends to accelerate once large financial intermediaries and regulators move in the same direction.

BlackRock predicted stablecoins would be a mega force of 2026 impacting the global economy, in their 2026 outlook report.

It looks like they will be right…



🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

• Crypto majors were mostly 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 top movers
• Bitwise forecasted new Bitcoin all-time highs in 2026, pointing to structural factors like institutional capital inflows, regulatory clarity, and continued adoption to outweigh historical bearish factors
• The SEC ended its four-year investigation into AAVE, closing the file without recommending enforcement action
• VISA expanded its stablecoin pilot to more US Banks and to include settlement on Solana
• The FDIC approved a proposal to implement the GENIUS Act, outlining how FDIC-supervised banks could issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries
• Trump said he would be open to nominating Democrats to the SEC and CFTC, a shift that could help unblock the stalled Senate crypto market-structure bill
• Elizabeth Warren raised concerns about DEX risks, flagging PancakeSwap and alleging links to Trump-connected flows and North Korea–tied laundering
• The FTC said Nomad must repay recovered funds after the $186M 2022 bridge hack
• Hong Kong influencers face charges related to their promotion of the collapsed JPEX exchange, which left investors with roughly $206 M in losses
• The South Korean government approved about $15M in debt relief for crypto traders

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

• The Bitcoin ETFs have seen net outflows of $635M so far this week, with ETH seeing -449M
• KindlyMD was warned it risked Nasdaq delisting after shares stayed under $1, and said it had until June 2026 to regain compliance

In Memes / Onchain Movers

• Memecoin leaders are mostly red with Fartcoin leading; DOGE -1%, Shiba -2%, PEPE -1%, PENGU -3%, BONK -2%, TRUMP -1%, SPX +1%, and FARTCOIN +4%
• Burwick Law shared an ongoing lawsuit against Pump Fun and Solana
• WOJAK rebounded 60% to $31M; Anon +60% to $23M and 1 jumped 42% to $7M

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:

• Cantor Fitzgerald released a 62-page report on Hyperliquid, calling for a $250B market cap on a 10-year time frame
• Hyper Foundation to vote on recognizing the Assistance Fund HYPE as officially burned and thus removed from circulating supply
• BNB announced a new stablecoin “unifying liquidity across use case” is coming soon
• Rainbow Wallet announced their TGE coming Feb 5, 2026
• RedotPay raised $107M in a Series B round to expand its stablecoin payments platform
• Tether co-led an $8M round into Speed, backing Lightning-based stablecoin payments
• Worldcoin launched their WorldID on Tinder to help solve its bot problem

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

• NFT leaders were mixed; 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 will appear on the Las Vegas Sphere, securing a roughly $500,000 ad placement