Weekly Wrap: Bitcoin Breaks Out

X Considers Stablecoin Payments: Social media platform X is reportedly considering paying influencers and content creators in stablecoins. Reports say that X, owned by Elon Musk, is in talks with Circle Internet Group (NYSE: $CRCL) about using its USDC stablecoin (CRYPTO: $USDC) to pay people. Stablecoin payments would include royalties to content creators and influential users of the platform who regularly upload content. Musk’s other company, SpaceX (NASDAQ: $SPCX), already uses stablecoins to facilitate cross-border payments.

A.I. Use In Crypto Crimes Has Risen 40%: Artificial intelligence (A.I) is increasingly being used in cryptocurrency crimes, according to a new report from TRM Labs. TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company, says A.I. use in crypto crimes has risen 40% in the past year, with the increase driven primarily by online scammers. The firm’s 2026 “AI-in-Crime Adoption Index” places A.I. use in crypto crimes at an “emerging level” of 54 out of 100. That’s up from 28 out of 100 in 2024. “AI has not invented new crimes. It removed the constraints on old ones,” said TRM Labs in its report.

Crypto Card Spending More Than Doubles: Payments on cryptocurrency-focused cards has more than doubled from a year earlier to reach $759 million U.S. in July. Spending on crypto cards increased 2.5 times in July from a year earlier supported by nearly nine million purchases settled through dollar-backed stablecoins, according to venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The monthly amount being spent on crypto cards has risen from less than $1 million U.S. in October 2023 to more than three-quarters of a billion dollars today. Crypto card payments let people spend digital assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins at merchants.

Stanley Druckenmiller Buys Hut 8, Riot Platforms And Bitdeer: Famed investor Stanley Druckenmiller has taken a shine to crypto miners turned data centre operators. Druckenmiller opened new positions during the second quarter in Hut 8 (NASDAQ: $HUT), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: $RIOT), and Bitdeer Technologies (NASDAQ: $BTDR). Druckenmiller’s biggest best in the data centre space is Bitdeer, where he purchased 3.1 million shares worth $38 million U.S. Druckenmiller is best known for helping investor George Soros execute his lucrative bet against the British pound in 1992, a trade that netted a profit of $1 billion U.S.

Tether Remains Dominant Stablecoin: Tether’s USDT (CRYPTO: $USDT) remains the world’s dominant stablecoin despite rising competition in the digital asset space. Data from NOWPayments shows that USDT continues to be the dominant stablecoin by business transaction volumes. However, Circle Internet Group’s USDC stablecoin is gaining momentum. In the first half of this year, USDC transactions increased 209% year-over-year and transaction volume rose 101%. Tether’s USDT transaction activity declined over the same period.

Bitpanda Hit With European Fine: Austria’s government has fined Bitpanda the equivalent of $81,150 U.S. for breaches of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. It was the first fine doled out as part of MiCA enforcement actions in Europe. Bitpanda is a privately held Austrian crypto investment and trading platform founded in 2014. According to Austrian authorities, Bitpanda failed to submit a cryptocurrency white paper at least 20 working days before publishing it. Bitpanda also circulated a marketing communication before publishing the required white paper. Bitpanda said it has rectified the issue.

Visa Searches For Stablecoin Partner: Credit card giant Visa (NYSE: $V) is in search of a new stablecoin settlement partner after its previous partner in the space, BVNK, was acquired by rival Mastercard (NYSE: $MA). Visa has reportedly issued a request for product talks about the ability to swap and support a range of stablecoins, as well as handle settlement for the Open USD stablecoin project. Visa is a leading member of the Open USD project, along with payment firm Stripe and Mastercard.

Short Sellers Lose $3 Billion As Bitcoin Rises: Short sellers quickly lost close to $3 billion U.S. on their bearish bets as the price of Bitcoin jumped above $70,000 U.S. Market data shows that traders and investors who were short Bitcoin lost $2.70 billion U.S. as the price of BTC got as high as $72,000 on Aug. 20. Liquidations due to the sharp rise in Bitcoin’s price impacted 172,108 professional traders, according to data from CoinGlass. It’s the biggest loss on Bitcoin short bets since 2021.