Kalam Crypto #87: Visa to settle USDC via Solana & ETH ETF application

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten."  Tony Robbins

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 87th edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, Visa expanded USDC settlement over Solana, ARK Invest filed first spot Ethereum ETF and fair value accounting rules are coming to crypto. All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

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Global News 🌍

Visa expands stablecoin settlement capabilities with Circle’s USDC via Solana: The partnership will enable Visa to send USDC payouts on Solana to merchant acquirers, like Nuvei and Worldpay, who can then route USDC payments to their end merchants. Solana was selected due to its high performance and ability to send and receive stablecoins at higher speeds and lower costs than competitive chains. This is Solana’s third bullish announcement in the past two weeks, after Maker DAO’s proposal to shift from Ethereum to Solana, and the integration of Solana pay with Shopify, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world.

FASB update Bitcoin accounting regulations: The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved groundbreaking accounting rules for companies holding bitcoin on their balance sheets. The new regulations allow companies to report their bitcoin assets at "fair value" to capture the most up-to-date value of the asset. Compared to the existing rules which treated bitcoins as an intangible asset, and only allowed companies to report impairment but not appreciation of the asset’s value. Many public companies could not hold bitcoin on their balance sheet before this rule change. Fair value accounting rules kick in starting in 2025.

Lightning Round ⚡️

First Spot ETH ETF Application: Asset managers ARK Invest, headed by tech investor Cathie Wood, and 21Shares, the world's largest issuer of crypto exchange-traded products, filed for first spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF). 

Ripple Buys Fortress: Ripple, the issuer of XRP, has acquired Fortress Trust, a Nevada-based chartered trust company with a crypto and Web3 focus,

Tweet Of The Week 🐥

CoinMENA News 🗞️

🎁Earn 20 USDC 🎁

Deposit or Withdraw USDC via the Stellar network, our recently added feature, and earn $20 USDC! Act now, this offer is limited to the first 1,000 CoinMENA users to complete such deposit or withdrawal. Terms and conditions apply, see full campaign details in this blog post.

🎣Beware of phishing scams: This week, Vitalik Buterin’s X (Twitter) account was hacked, and the hacker stole $700,000 worth of crypto and NFTs. Please remain vigilant and never share your password, OTP, or credit card details with anyone! CoinMENA will never ask you for this private information. Check out our latest video about this subject. Stay vigilant our beloved users!

Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s question: This type of scam involves using email, phone, or text to entice individuals into providing sensitive information: Answer: Phishing

This week’s question: Who founded the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), which oversees the Stellar network?

a) Vitalik Buterin

b) Jed McCaleb

c) Roger Ver

d) Charlie Lee

See the answer in next week’s newsletter. Or check out our new learning platform https://university.coinmena.com/