President-elect Trump's embrace of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance is a political gambit that has already paid off. But greenlighting crypto's intermingling with traditional finance would create an asset bubble that would be especially painful to pop.

As 2024 comes to a close, trends such as open banking, fights over credit card fees and the future of faster payments are still in flux.

Buy now/pay later firms launched new products and announced new operational strategies this week as they prepare for an expected increase in demand this holiday shopping season, while Revolut's CEO laid out plans for 2025.

The bank and payment company are using the technology that underpins digital assets to improve interoperability for international transactions, a major point of friction in trade finance.

The Federal Reserve issued an enforcement action against the former head of Heartland Tri-State Bank, who embezzled millions of dollars after falling victim to a crypto scam.

The embattled crypto bank announced that it will reduce operations and move to preserve capital after losing its banking partner earlier this month.

The payment company is using its Xoom transfer app to bring PYUSD to a broader market; while Barclays is reportedly in talks with Brookfield Asset Management to sell a portion of its payments business. That and more in our global payments news roundup.

The Financial Conduct Authority plans to regulate specific technology products that banks use to process payments and require testing. That and more in our global payments roundup.

The president-elect's deregulatory promises have drawn applause from banking groups, but some advisors warn that if the next administration extends that permissive posture to crypto, it could create significant headaches for banks.

Blockchain-powered transactions for businesses are still in their infancy, but use is expected to grow and banks stand to lose if they don't get up to speed.

A digital dollar is likely on the way out in favor of non-government crypto, but those betting for fewer restrictions on fees and less antitrust litigation will likely be disappointed.

Once a crypto skeptic, Trump corralled tens of millions of dollars in industry support for Republican candidates by promising to make America the Bitcoin superpower of the world.

Adam Schiff, known as a pro-cryptocurrency lawmaker, has also introduced bills that would regulate "revolving door" employment at banking regulators.

Stripe, Circle and Ripple all made deals in recent days to boost scale for a form of cryptocurrency that has struggled to reach mainstream consumers and businesses.

Visa and Mastercard face pressure to lower payment charges globally, while the London-based fintech receives more fraud reports than the country's largest banks.

The Visa Tokenized Asset Platform will allow banks to "mint, burn and transfer" tokens as more financial institutions and businesses express interest in how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology can improve their operations.

In September's roundup of top tech news: Banks and credit unions continue to shift away from banking as a service, Donald Trump announces planned launch of World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency firm and more.

Top banking trades have thrown their support behind the central bank's argument that it has discretion over access to its payments systems. Custodia is seeking to appeal a lower court ruling that affirmed that discretion.

Liberty Capital Bancshares in Texas agreed to acquire in-state peer Southwestern Bancorp; BNY announced it will buy managed-account software company Archer; Louisiana is supporting crypto but pushing back on CBDCs; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

A hearing included discussion of European laws that will put banks on the hook for fraud schemes, and whether the U.S. needs a digital identity standard.