📈 Crypto Digest

Crypto is becoming increasingly integrated into everyday services: X is turning into a trading platform, Visa is expanding its stablecoin operations, and Solana is trying to become dozens of times faster. Beyond crypto, things are heating up too: AI giants are rolling out new models, while smartphone makers are having one of their busiest launch months in recent years.

Here are 6 of the biggest stories from the past few days:

1️⃣ X added a button to trade crypto and stocks

Users in the United States can now see a Trade button next to cashtags like $BTC on X. It lets them jump directly to platforms including Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and others to buy the asset. X itself isn’t becoming an exchange, but going from a Bitcoin post to a trade now takes just a few clicks.

2️⃣ Visa is bringing stablecoin-linked cards to 100+ countries

Visa and fintech company Reap are expanding their partnership, with Visa credit cards linked to stablecoins set to launch across more than 100 markets. Reap already settles directly with Visa in stablecoins, while the cards themselves operate through the familiar payment infrastructure.

3️⃣ BitMEX shut down after 11 years

On September 23, one of the best-known crypto exchanges of the past decade stopped trading and accepting deposits. BitMEX helped turn perpetual futures into one of the crypto market’s core trading instruments. Withdrawals remain available for now. The end of an era.

4️⃣ Solana wants to cut finality to 150 milliseconds

Its new Alpenglow consensus mechanism has entered public testnet. The goal is to reduce transaction finality from roughly 12.8 seconds to just 150 milliseconds — more than 80 times faster. If testing succeeds, the improvement could be especially noticeable for payments, exchanges, and bridges.

5️⃣ OpenAI and Anthropic reignited the AI race

OpenAI’s GPT-6 Sol and Luna and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 arrived almost simultaneously. The companies are now competing not only on capabilities: both are making AI significantly cheaper. OpenAI roughly halved API prices compared with GPT-5.6, while the new Opus costs around 40% less than its predecessor.

6️⃣ September turned into a smartphone battle

More than 20 new smartphones from major manufacturers are launching or were scheduled to launch in a single month. Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Honor, Poco, and others are updating their lineups almost simultaneously, from mass-market devices to flagships and foldables.

🚀 Bottom Line

The past few days highlighted several directions the market is moving in: Visa is betting on stablecoins, X is experimenting with trading directly inside the platform, and Solana is trying to radically speed up its network. Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic are driving down the cost of AI, while smartphone makers are rolling out new generations of devices all at once.

Which of these are you planning to do soon: use AI more actively, try stablecoins, or upgrade your smartphone?

🔗 Chat • X • TonTrader