The Ark Invest founder said the fluctuation in the crypto market is healthy. "Bitcoin's in a four-year cycle and we're through a little more than half of it," Wood said.

Regulators are investigating the technology giants over concerns their financial apps are violating competition rules. That and expanding tech in emerging markets highlight this week's American Banker global payments roundup.

The industry's top leaders, including The Most Influential Women in Payments, will be on hand to discuss innovation, compliance, risk, crypto and more.

Federal agencies need to speak with one voice when it comes to allowing legitimate crypto businesses full access to financial services.

The distributed ledger developer announced the grant program in tandem with its real-world asset token standard.

The Federal Reserve's top regulator said banks drop customers they see as too risky, and anti-money-laundering actions are "just straight-up-the-middle risk management and banking."

Executives from Circle, Coinbase and Custodia Bank are among those cheering the Trump administration's pro-crypto moves.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said reserve banks will no longer factor "reputational risk" into master account decisions. The crypto industry is encouraged by the commitment, but says more changes are needed.

The money-transfer company's move came after the U.S. State Department last week renewed sanctions against the island nation. That, plus Klarna and Standard Chartered get bullish on crypto; Trump's not the first politician to rail at pennies; and other international payments and fintech news.

Hester Pierce, a Republican SEC appointee, said industry watchdogs had previously been practicing regulation by enforcement with digital assets.