Blockchain & Digital Assets Weekly Briefing - Week 18
- May 1
- 9 min read
Week ending 1st May 2026
Bitbank enables Bitcoin credit card payments in Japan, The Open Network and Telegram give AI agents crypto wallets, Gemini opens trading to AI agents, Israel approves a regulated Shekel stablecoin, and Tether expands Twenty One Capital into a broader Bitcoin platform.
Bitbank lets Japanese users pay credit card bills with Bitcoin.
TON gives AI agents their own crypto wallets inside Telegram.
Gemini lets AI agents trade crypto directly on its exchange.
Israel greenlights first regulated Shekel stablecoin.
Tether pushes to turn Twenty One Capital into a full-scale Bitcoin platform.
Bitbank lets Japanese users pay credit card bills with Bitcoin
Bitbank, one of Japan’s longest-running licensed crypto exchanges, has launched a credit card that allows users to repay monthly balances directly with Bitcoin held on the platform. The company, founded in 2014 and licensed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) since 2017, developed the product with EPOS Card, the fintech arm of Marui Group.
The new “EPOS Crypto Card for Bitbank” is being positioned as the first credit card in Japan that settles repayments directly from a crypto exchange balance rather than a linked bank account. Unlike prepaid crypto cards or debit-style products already available in parts of the market, the Bitbank card operates through standard credit card infrastructure while giving users the option to cover their bills with Bitcoin.
Under the system, customers spend through the Visa network as they would with a traditional credit card. At the end of the billing cycle, Bitbank converts Bitcoin from the user’s exchange account into Japanese yen to settle the balance. Users can still choose standard fiat repayment methods if preferred.
The card also includes a 0.5% cashback program paid in cryptocurrency. While Bitcoin is currently the only supported repayment asset, rewards can reportedly be received in Bitcoin, Ether, or Astar and deposited back into users’ Bitbank accounts. The company has indicated it may expand support to additional digital assets over time.
The launch reflects a broader shift in Japan’s regulated crypto sector toward integrating digital assets into consumer financial services rather than limiting them to trading and investment use cases. Japan has historically maintained one of the world’s stricter crypto regulatory frameworks following the 2014 Mt. Gox collapse, requiring exchanges to obtain FSA registration and comply with custody and consumer protection standards.
Industry observers see the move as part of a wider trend in crypto payments infrastructure, where exchanges and fintech firms are experimenting with ways to connect blockchain-based assets to existing payment rails. However, practical adoption may still depend on user willingness to spend volatile assets such as Bitcoin for everyday expenses, especially in markets where tax treatment and conversion costs remain considerations.
Bitbank’s rollout signals that regulated exchanges are increasingly competing not only as trading venues, but also as providers of consumer financial products designed to bring crypto into mainstream payment behavior.
TON gives AI agents their own crypto wallets inside Telegram
The Open Network, the blockchain ecosystem closely tied to Telegram’s more than one billion users, is pushing deeper into the intersection of AI and digital assets with the launch of “Agentic Wallets” — a new infrastructure standard designed to let AI agents independently execute onchain transactions.
The feature, introduced by TON Tech, enables AI-powered agents operating within Telegram to hold funds, make payments, interact with decentralized applications, and execute blockchain transactions without requiring users to manually approve every action. Instead, users assign spending limits and permissions in advance, while maintaining custody over their primary wallet and the ability to revoke access at any time.
The launch reflects a broader industry trend toward “agentic AI” — autonomous software systems capable not only of generating recommendations, but also taking financial actions on behalf of users. Until now, one of the major limitations facing AI agents in crypto has been the inability to transact securely without exposing private keys or relying on continuous user confirmation. TON’s framework attempts to solve that problem through dedicated, self-custodial sub-wallets assigned to each agent.
According to TON Tech, the system is designed to support a wide range of use cases, including automated trading bots, staking and DeFi management tools, subscription payments, portfolio automation, and AI-powered commerce inside Telegram. Developers can integrate the standard without requiring upgrades to existing TON wallets, while the framework is also compatible with external AI models and developer tooling.
The timing is significant for the TON ecosystem. After explosive growth tied to Telegram mini-apps and tap-to-earn games in 2024, onchain activity on TON later slowed sharply, with active wallet numbers falling from prior highs above one million addresses. The network is now positioning AI infrastructure as a potential new growth engine.
TON’s strategy also leverages its unique relationship with Telegram. Telegram previously designated TON as the primary blockchain infrastructure for its mini-app ecosystem, giving TON developers direct access to Telegram’s massive global user base. That distribution advantage could become increasingly important as AI-powered financial assistants move into mainstream messaging platforms.
The launch arrives amid growing competition across the crypto industry to build financial rails for autonomous AI systems. Ethereum developers recently introduced ERC-8211, a comparable execution standard for AI agents, while centralized exchanges and fintech firms are also experimenting with AI-assisted trading infrastructure.
Industry researchers have increasingly argued that blockchain networks may become foundational infrastructure for autonomous AI economies because they provide machine-native payments, programmable ownership, and permissionless settlement systems. Recent academic work on the so-called “Agent Economy” suggests that decentralized networks could enable AI systems to function as independent economic actors rather than passive assistants.
While the technology could improve efficiency and automation in digital finance, it also introduces new questions around oversight, security, and user accountability. Autonomous agents capable of executing trades or payments without step-by-step confirmation may reduce friction, but they could also amplify operational or security risks if permissions are poorly configured or exploited.
For TON, however, the launch signals a clear strategic direction: positioning Telegram as not just a messaging platform connected to crypto, but as a potential operating layer for AI-driven financial activity.
Gemini lets AI agents trade crypto directly on its exchange
Gemini, the U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014, is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence with the launch of “Agentic Trading”, a system that allows AI models such as ChatGPT and Claude to execute crypto trades directly on behalf of users. The company says the feature is the first agentic trading product integrated into a regulated U.S.-based crypto exchange.
The rollout reflects a broader shift across both finance and technology toward “agentic AI” — systems designed not just to generate responses, but to autonomously complete tasks, make decisions, and interact with external platforms. Large technology firms including Google and OpenAI have accelerated investments in this area over the past year as businesses look for AI tools capable of automating increasingly complex workflows.
Under Gemini’s new system, users can connect AI assistants directly to their exchange accounts through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard originally introduced by Anthropic. Once connected, the AI can monitor markets, place orders, analyze spreads, retrieve historical price data, and manage risk parameters automatically. Gemini said users can issue instructions in plain language rather than manually coding trading strategies.
The exchange also introduced a set of modular tools called “Trading Skills”, which give AI agents access to specific market functions such as real-time pricing, candlestick analysis, and spread monitoring. Gemini says the system is intended to appeal both to sophisticated quantitative traders and retail users experimenting with automated strategies for the first time.
The launch comes as competition intensifies among crypto exchanges seeking to differentiate themselves beyond traditional spot trading. Exchanges have increasingly added AI-driven features, prediction markets, staking services, and derivatives products as trading volumes normalize following the volatility-driven surge of previous crypto cycles. Gemini itself expanded its regulated offerings after securing a Designated Contract Market license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in late 2025.
Reaction across the crypto industry has been mixed. Supporters argue AI agents could make advanced trading strategies more accessible by reducing the technical barriers associated with algorithmic trading. Critics, however, warn that widespread deployment of autonomous trading agents could amplify market instability if multiple systems respond simultaneously to the same signals during periods of stress.
Those concerns mirror broader debates emerging across financial markets as AI systems gain greater autonomy. Recent academic research into AI agents suggests adoption is rising rapidly in finance and other knowledge-intensive industries, though researchers continue to study the risks associated with automated decision-making and coordinated behavior among AI systems.
For Gemini, the launch positions the company at the intersection of two of the industry’s fastest-moving trends: artificial intelligence and digital assets. Whether agentic trading becomes a mainstream feature or a niche tool for advanced users may depend on how effectively exchanges balance automation, transparency, and risk management in increasingly AI-driven markets.
Israel greenlights first regulated Shekel stablecoin
According to a Coindesk report, Israel has approved its first regulated shekel-backed stablecoin, marking a significant step in the country’s effort to bring digital assets into its mainstream financial system. The stablecoin, called BILS, will be issued by Israeli crypto firm Bits of Gold after completing a two-year regulatory pilot overseen by Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority.
Founded in 2013, Bits of Gold is one of Israel’s longest-operating crypto companies and reportedly serves more than 250,000 registered users. The company is licensed as a financial asset service provider and has previously partnered with traditional financial institutions in the country.
The BILS token is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg with the Israeli shekel, with reserves held in domestic bank accounts under regulatory oversight. According to reports, the stablecoin was developed using the Solana blockchain, alongside infrastructure support from crypto custody provider Fireblocks and auditing oversight from EY.
The approval comes as governments and regulators globally intensify efforts to establish formal rules around stablecoins — digital tokens typically tied to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar or euro. Stablecoins have become a major segment of the crypto market, with industry estimates placing the sector’s market capitalization above $300 billion and annual transaction volumes in the trillions of dollars.
Israeli regulators described the rollout as limited and heavily supervised during its initial phase. Authorities are still working on broader stablecoin legislation, including rules around reserve custody, issuance standards and consumer protections.
For Israel, the move also aligns with wider exploration of a potential “digital shekel” ecosystem. The Bank of Israel has spent recent years researching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and blockchain-based payment systems, although BILS itself is a privately issued stablecoin rather than a state-issued CBDC.
Supporters argue that regulated local-currency stablecoins could improve cross-border payments, enable faster settlement and expand blockchain-based financial services without relying solely on dollar-backed tokens like USDC or USDT. Critics, however, continue to warn that stablecoins carry operational, liquidity and depegging risks if reserve management and oversight are insufficient.
The approval of BILS positions Israel among a growing group of jurisdictions attempting to integrate regulated digital assets into traditional finance while maintaining tighter supervision over the sector.
Tether pushes to turn Twenty One Capital into a full-scale Bitcoin platform
Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, is proposing a major restructuring of its Bitcoin-focused investment vehicle, Twenty One Capital. The plan would combine Twenty One with Bitcoin financial services firm Strike and mining operator Elektron Energy in a multi-step merger aimed at expanding beyond a simple Bitcoin treasury strategy.
The proposal marks another step in Tether’s broader expansion strategy as the stablecoin issuer increasingly deploys profits into infrastructure, energy, mining, and financial services tied to the digital asset economy.
Under the proposed structure, Twenty One would first merge with Strike before the combined company integrates Elektron Energy’s mining operations. Tether said the goal is to create what it describes as a fully integrated Bitcoin company with exposure across treasury management, mining, lending, payments, and capital markets.
Strike, founded by Bitcoin entrepreneur Jack Mallers, operates a Bitcoin trading and payments platform available in more than 100 countries. According to Tether, Strike would contribute a profitable financial services business and global regulatory infrastructure to the combined entity.
Elektron Energy, led by Raphael Zagury, brings industrial-scale mining capacity. Tether said Elektron manages roughly 50 exahashes per second (EH/s), representing about 5% of the current Bitcoin network hash rate, and has mined more than 5,500 BTC across its operations. The company also claims production costs below $60,000 per Bitcoin, positioning the operation as cash-flow positive despite ongoing volatility in mining economics.
Tether also intends to recommend Zagury as president of the merged company, while Mallers would continue in a senior executive role focused on Bitcoin products and adoption initiatives.
The proposed merger reflects a broader shift among publicly listed crypto firms. Many Bitcoin treasury companies initially focused on accumulating BTC as a balance-sheet asset, following the model popularized by Strategy. However, falling crypto prices and pressure on digital asset treasury valuations have led several firms to explore revenue-generating business lines beyond passive Bitcoin holdings.
Twenty One Capital itself was launched through a SPAC merger backed by Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald affiliates. At launch, the company held more than 40,000 BTC, making it one of the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holders.
Markets reacted positively to the merger proposal. Shares of Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI) rose in after-hours trading following the announcement, with reports showing gains between 6% and 8% immediately after the news.
While the proposal signals Tether’s ambition to build a vertically integrated Bitcoin business, several details remain unresolved, including transaction terms, governance arrangements, regulatory approvals, and timelines for completion. Tether said further information will be released as negotiations progress.
WHAT WE ARE READING (OR WATCHING)
The Cryptography Frontier
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The Dangers of AI Agents: Entire Firm’s Database Deleted by Claude-Based Agent
The Stablecoin Standard
Cross-border B2B stablecoin payments to hit $5 trillion by 2035, says Juniper Research
Meta quietly rolls out stablecoin payments four years after demise of controversial Libra project
Germany’s AllUnity expands EURAU to Solana as euro stablecoins gain traction
Visa Accelerates Stablecoin Momentum: Adding Five Blockchains for Settlement
MoonPay Korea to Power Global Distribution of Won-Backed Stablecoin
Australia draft payments vision eyes stablecoin interoperability
On the Launchpad
Western Union to Launch Solana-Based Stablecoin Plus ‘Stable Card’ Next Month
Beyond the Chain
Japan Exchange Sees Crypto ETF Listings as Soon as Next Year
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please do your own research or consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
