Cardano has laid out Dijkstra, its next major upgrade, rolling out in two phases to make the network faster and more scalable.

Phase 1, targeted for late 2026, brings Leios, which lets Cardano process far more transactions at once and lifts throughput. Phase 2, planned for 2027, adds Peras, which speeds up finality so blocks confirm and payments settle much faster. Both phases go through testnet and on-chain governance approval before they reach mainnet.

Why it matters: more speed and capacity help Cardano stay competitive with faster chains and make it more usable for real apps and payments, without giving up its community-governed rollout.

Payments giant Stripe has reportedly agreed to acquire OpenRouter, an AI model marketplace, for more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg, in one of the biggest AI deals of the year.

OpenRouter is a gateway that routes apps to the best AI model for each task and budget, and says it has 8 million users and access to more than 400 models. The reported price is a 5x-plus jump from the $1.3 billion valuation it hit in May, and would give Stripe a much deeper foothold in AI infrastructure.

Stripe declined to comment, so the terms rest on reporting rather than an official confirmation from either side. Still, it signals how fast payments and AI infrastructure are converging.

Phantom, one of the most popular multichain crypto wallets, has integrated Google Pay, letting users top up their in-app cash balance directly from a linked card in a few taps.

The Google Pay option feeds Phantom Cash, the wallet's USD-pegged balance, and joins existing funding methods like Apple Pay, debit cards and bank transfers. Buying and selling stablecoins inside the wallet stays fee-free, and the same balance powers a virtual card usable anywhere Visa, Apple Pay or Google Pay are accepted.

It is part of Phantom's push to make self-custodial crypto feel like a mainstream payments app. The feature rolls out first in the US, with wider availability said to be on the way.

Hardware wallet maker SafePal has disclosed a security incident: an authorization flaw in its order-tracking system let outsiders access the order records of about 39,800 customers who ordered between March 2025 and April 2026.

The exposed data covers names, emails, phone numbers, shipping addresses and purchase details. Crucially, it did not include seed phrases, private keys, wallet passwords or payment card data, which SafePal says it never stores, and the company says it found no evidence that any wallets or funds were affected.

The bigger danger is targeted phishing and impersonation. SafePal says it has patched the flaw, engaged an independent security firm, cut order-data retention to 90 days, notified affected users by email and taken down more than 30 fraudulent sites.

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The mix shows where the meta is heading. Perp DEXs dominate the board, while tokenless giants like Base, MetaMask and Arc could each be the airdrop of the year. A few are weeks out, like DGrid AI, Propr and Interfold.

Crypto card spending across major Layer-2 networks reached $341M in July, led by Base at $184M and Optimism at $106M.

Arbitrum recorded $51M, with Kolo emerging as the standout card, growing 174% MoM to become the fastest-growing card on the network.

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JPMorgan Chase ended its banking relationship with prediction-market platform Polymarket last year amid regulatory concerns, according to the Financial Times.

The bank reportedly notified Polymarket in October to find a new banking partner. Polymarket has since established a relationship with another lender, although its identity remains undisclosed.

JPMorgan still maintains ties with Polymarket across multiple entities and operational integrations and could remain a candidate to underwrite a potential IPO.

Polymarket said it continues to have a “close, active relationship” with JPMorgan, including in areas related to customer fund flows.

Binance bStocks has overtaken xStocks to become the second-largest tokenized stock issuer, with $610.6M in value, according to Token Terminal.

Ondo Finance remains the market leader at roughly $927M, while xStocks follows closely behind at $601.2M.

bStocks reached more than $600M in value within two months of launching, highlighting the rapid growth of tokenized equities and Binance’s ability to leverage its large crypto user base.

The tokenized stock market tracked by Token Terminal has expanded from roughly $80M to $2.7B over the past year, more than 30x growth.

Binance’s bStocks allow eligible users to gain exposure to U.S. equities through onchain tokens, with supported positions convertible 1:1 to and from the underlying stocks.

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, reported $508M in adjusted revenue in Q2, up 17% YoY, while remaining adjusted EBITDA positive at $23M despite weaker crypto spot volumes.

Platform transaction volume fell 13% YoY to $310B, but Payward gained spot market share for the third consecutive quarter as activity expanded beyond crypto trading.

Asset-based and other revenue now accounts for 60% of total revenue, up from 55% a year earlier, highlighting Payward’s shift toward a broader financial platform.

Funded accounts jumped 42% to 6.6M, while assets on the platform reached $40B, with the company pointing to strong momentum in Europe following its MiCA authorization.

Payward is also expanding through acquisitions, recently adding Bitnomial, Reap, and Magic Labs’ wallet infrastructure to its derivatives, payments, and embedded-wallet offerings.

The company’s IPO plans remain on hold, with no new timeline announced.