Stablecoins move into apps · Saylor, Bank of America fine — Wed 14 Oct

Good morning!

Stablecoin wallets are moving inside the apps people already use. Rain has made the wallet the account at the centre of its payments platform, and Base now lets apps offer stablecoin yield and loans through Aave and Morpho, without building lending themselves.

Some stories in Kaupr Daily:

💎 Cerebras CEO: everyone will soon have a personal AI assistant at home
💎 Michael Saylor says bitcoin has bottomed
💎 Strive buys 3,311 BTC, its largest purchase since January
💎 Bank of America fined $1.2 billion over money laundering and sanctions failures

This week in Kaupr Analysis: Venkat Hrushikesa Varri's Trendline on whether bitcoin's recovery holds, and Kaupr Weekly on ten movements bringing old and new finance together.

— Morten

Rain has launched wallets that its partners can offer inside their own apps, holding USDC, USDT and other stablecoins. Users sign in with a passkey instead of a seed phrase, receive money, spend with a Rain card and send to a local bank account. The wallets are built for enterprises, neobanks, platforms and AI agents.

Why it matters: Rain wants the wallet to be where users keep their stablecoins, with cards, transfers and, by the end of the year, earning built around it.

Source: Rain introduces wallets, putting the account at the center of its stablecoin payments platform — Rain (Source: press release)

Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network, has launched Earn & Borrow, a technology stack that lets platforms offer floating-rate yield on stablecoins and loans backed by crypto. It connects to lending markets including Aave and Morpho. The yield on deposits such as USDC comes from interest paid by borrowers on over-collateralised loans.

Why it matters: Base puts its average stablecoin yield at 4.45% before incentives, a rate apps can now offer without building lending themselves.

Source: Base Launches Earn & Borrow Stablecoin Yield and Lending Solution — PANews

Stripe-owned Privy and Ripple have added XRP Ledger to Privy's developer platform, so apps can offer wallets for XRP and Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin without building the infrastructure themselves. AI agents can use the wallets to hold funds and pay through x402, and users can take their keys with them to another service.

Why it matters: The wallet becomes a feature inside the app rather than a separate product, for people and AI agents alike.

Source: Ripple, Stripe-owned Privy partner to bring embedded wallets to XRP Ledger — The Block

Cerebras chief executive Andrew Feldman told TechCrunch Disrupt that personal AI assistants at home are not far away. They will run partly on the device and partly in the cloud, get to know their users well, and "will certainly have access to credit cards and be able to buy things for you". Feldman already uses agents for his calendar.

Why it matters: Once assistants buy on their owners' behalf, payments become part of what they do, and Feldman expects a security perimeter around them.

Source: Cerebras CEO says we're nearing a future where everyone has a personal AI assistant at home — TechCrunch

Strategy's Michael Saylor told Bloomberg TV that bitcoin "hit the bottom around slightly below $60,000" and expects it back above $100,000. He points to a friendlier regulatory climate, faster bank adoption and tokenised securities. Strategy itself bought only 250 BTC last week, its smallest purchase this year, and now holds 848,250 BTC.

Why it matters: Saylor's long-term forecast is growth of 20–30% a year over the next twenty years.

Source: Michael Saylor Says Bitcoin Has Bottomed And Should Get Back Above $100,000 — Stocktwits

Bitmine chairman Tom Lee cites IRS and Fundstrat estimates that $1.5–2 trillion will change hands from 2026 to 2028, and argues that younger heirs have more appetite for crypto. How much will reach digital assets is unclear, CoinDesk notes. Bitmine bought another 12,532 ETH last week and now holds about 4.9% of all ether.

Why it matters: Lee has said Bitmine will stop buying once it reaches 5% of supply, which at last week's pace could happen in about six weeks.

Source: Tom Lee sees $2 trillion wealth transfer fueling crypto demand as Bitmine buys more ether — CoinDesk

Venkat Hrushikesa Varri on whether bitcoin's recovery holds after it turned back near $87,000, and why $83,500 is the level to watch.

👉 Read the Trendline post →

Ten movements bringing old and new finance together, from bitcoin as a mainstream portfolio asset to banks split between stablecoins and tokenised deposits.

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Strive bought 3,311 bitcoin for about $280 million last week, its largest addition since January, and now holds 32,773 BTC. That places it among the five largest listed holders, behind Strategy, Metaplanet, Twenty One and MARA. Chief executive Matt Cole aims to make Strive the second-largest listed holder by the end of 2026.

Why it matters: Strive funds much of its buying through preferred shares, and is still about 11,000 BTC behind Metaplanet in second place.

Source: Strive buys 3,311 bitcoin for $280 million in largest acquisition since January — The Block

STX, the token of bitcoin layer-2 Stacks, has risen more than 50% in four weeks, outperforming bitcoin, ether and XRP. Stacks lets bitcoin holders earn yield on the Bitcoin chain while keeping their own keys. A new bonding period in November will require STX to be locked alongside the bitcoin, at about 5% of its value.

Why it matters: The more bitcoin enters Stacks, the more STX is locked away from the market, CoinDesk notes.

Source: Stacks' STX, a Bitcoin layer-2 token, has surged by 50% in four weeks — CoinDesk

The US Treasury has fined Bank of America more than $1.2 billion, saying it failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious activity, including customers linked to drug trafficking. A flaw in its sanctions screening failed to flag names on the Treasury's sanctions list as high priority. The bank says it has invested billions in fighting financial crime.

Why it matters: It is FinCEN's third-largest fine ever, after Binance's $3.4 billion in 2023 and TD Bank's $1.3 billion in 2024.

Source: Bank of America fined $1.2 billion by Treasury Department for anti-money laundering and sanctions laws violations — CNN

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Wishing you a great Wednesday — and welcome back tomorrow morning for the next edition of Kaupr Today.

Best regards Morten Myrstad Founder & Editor