Stablecoin settlement, bank plans and custody risk

Fintech Confidential Weekly | September 20–26, 2026

Bitget reported $387.5 million affected by its breach and paused withdrawals in a week when SoFi began stablecoin settlement with Mastercard and the Fed proposed requirements for the stablecoin issuers it supervises.

The Clearing House selected Quant for planned tokenized bank deposits, Circle announced a $100 million investment from Binance, and reported U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF flows turned positive for the year.

For payments and finance teams, the questions are practical: which services are available now, what obligations could follow, and how reliably can a business access its money?

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This Week's Top Stories

Bitget: $387.5 million affected and withdrawals paused

Bitget's September 25 update raised its reported affected amount to approximately $387.5 million, from an initial $351.6 million. The exchange attributed the increase to Zcash and TRON transfers added to its accounting of the incident, saying the revision did not represent additional unauthorized transfers.

Following the September 24 withdrawal pause, a September 26 notice outlined a reopening schedule. Reopening remained unconfirmed at the September 26 reporting cutoff, so treasury teams still needed to verify access before relying on those balances for payments.

▶ September 28, 08:00 UTC. BTC withdrawals were scheduled to reopen.

▶ September 29, 08:00 UTC. ETH withdrawals were scheduled to reopen.

▶ September 30, 08:00 UTC. USDT withdrawals were scheduled to reopen.

▶ October 2, 08:00 UTC. Other tokens, fiat and P2P services were scheduled to reopen.

SoFi–Mastercard: stablecoin settlement is live

On September 22, SoFi announced live settlement using SoFiUSD across its debit and credit card program on Mastercard's network. The company projected more than $25 billion in annualized activity across that card program.

That figure describes the projected size of the card program; completed stablecoin settlement volume for the week was not established. For payments teams assessing a similar arrangement, funding, redemption and reconciliation deserve close review.

The Fed: proposed requirements for supervised issuers

The Federal Reserve's September 24 proposals cover reserve, capital, risk-management and custody standards, plus an application process, for the payment stablecoin issuers it supervises. Comments close 60 days after Federal Register publication, and the requirements remain proposals. Compliance and product teams can review how those proposed obligations could affect issuer selection and service design.

The Clearing House: Quant selected for tokenized deposits

On September 24, The Clearing House selected Quant to supply technology for its tokenized-bank-deposit initiative, with availability expected in the first half of 2027. Bank operators assessing the service should account for that timetable when reviewing integration and settlement requirements.

Verify access to funds, settlement terms and implementation dates before updating payment operations.

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Moves That Matter

▶ Tether discusses USDT on Bitcoin. September 25 reporting covered renewed comments from Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino about Bitcoin-based USDT infrastructure. The comments included no launch date or new technical specification.

▶ Coinbase adds fixed-rate borrowing. Morpho's September 22 announcement says Coinbase users can borrow USDC against BTC with the rate and repayment date fixed upfront. The product uses Morpho Midnight, settles on Base and sits alongside Coinbase's existing variable-rate offering.

▶ BVNK adds Stellar for business payments. On September 22, BVNK announced Stellar access through its stablecoin payment platform and API. The integration covers uses including cross-border payments, merchant payouts and treasury disbursements.

The Institutional Track

Binance commits capital to Circle

Circle announced a $100 million Binance equity investment and a five-year commercial agreement on September 22. The companies plan to expand USDC access, particularly in emerging markets.

CME plans BCH and UNI futures

On September 22, CME announced plans for Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures. The planned launch is October 19, subject to regulatory review.

▶ Bitcoin Cash contracts. Planned sizes are 250 BCH for standard futures and 25 BCH for Micro futures.

▶ Uniswap contracts. Planned sizes are 10,000 UNI for standard futures and 1,000 UNI for Micro futures.

This Week in Markets

September 20–26, 2026. Prices in USD, using Investing.com's daily historical records.

Asset	Weekly Range	End Price	Move
BTC	$80,154.90 to $87,363.20	$84,450.90	+3.94%
ETH	$2,565.59 to $2,805.41	$2,696.29	+2.42%
XRP	$1.3695 to $1.6556	$1.5276	+8.32%

Range covers the lowest daily low through the highest daily high during September 20–26. End price is the September 26 close; move compares that close with September 19. Dates follow the provider's daily records.

XRP recorded the largest percentage gain among these three assets. On September 25, CoinDesk reported nearly $800 million in year-to-date net inflows for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, citing SoSoValue.

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Tedd's Take

For financial institutions, payment companies and fintechs, offering tokenized fund access creates a commercial question: how much responsibility are you accepting for the customer's experience?

ARK's tokenized Venture Fund makes that question specific. Securitize's September 24 announcement describes access for eligible investors and periodic repurchase offers that may be oversubscribed.

As the founder of an advisory firm, I'm interested in what happens when customers expect access the fund's terms cannot provide. Complaints, manual support and pressure to arrange temporary funding could affect margins and client relationships.

Tokenized ownership may simplify administration. Its commercial value depends on the cost of operating the offering and supporting its users.

If your leadership team has already approved a similar offering, I'd be interested in the assumptions behind its projected profit. Especially who pays when customer expectations prove expensive.

The Week Ahead

September 27–October 3. This schedule combines one tentative published window with four editorial monitoring checks. The check dates are planning suggestions, with no new company event implied.

▶September 28, tentative: Solana feature window. CoinDesk reported a tentative window for general feature activations and said Alpenglow had no firm mainnet date. Check release notices to establish what actually changes.

▶September 28–October 3: Sky proposal status. Monitor the September 24 proposal to raise Grove’s maximum debt ceiling from 100 million to 500 million USDS. Passage and the applicable execution delay must be confirmed before the higher limit is treated as active.

▶September 28: Aave collateral-price review. For eligible non-U.S. users in permitted jurisdictions, Aave allows seven Coinbase tokenized technology stocks as collateral, with the last published price held over weekends and U.S. market holidays. Review price updates after the weekend because collateral assessments depend on the quoted value.

▶September 28–October 3: BitMEX account review. BitMEX’s September 23 notice leaves login and withdrawals available subject to conditions, with fees on remaining balances. Teams with an account should review withdrawal requirements and any balance-related charges.

▶September 28–October 3: Pontes operating review. The ECB’s September 21 launch announcement describes an initial wholesale settlement service, with enhancements and longer hours to follow. Review current operating terms before planning tokenized-asset settlement in central bank money.

Before the Next Approval

Forward this edition to the executive approving new products at your financial institution, payments company or fintech. Then reply with the decision your team is considering and the question that still deserves a better answer before anyone signs.