FinTech, Payments & Blockchain

Washington – September 18, 2026 -- The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) and PubKey DC will host the fourth annual Freedom Tech DC summit on Sept. 22-23 at the National Press Club and PubKey DC, expanding the invite-only event's scope beyond Bitcoin and stablecoins into AI, data center development, energy grid resilience and national security.

Summit rebrand signals broader policy mandate for Bitcoin Policy Institute

Formerly known as the Bitcoin Policy Summit, the event's expansion reflects BPI's growth as it takes on freedom technology policy issues, builds out its leadership team, and becomes a founding partner in the State Department's new Freedom Tech Excellence Program.

Tacoma, WA – September 18, 2026 -- Sound Credit Union and the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard Center for Business Analytics will host the second annual HuskyHack fintech competition on September 18, 2026, offering a $15,000 grand prize to the winning team.

Student Teams Get 24 Hours to Build Fintech Solutions

Students from colleges and universities across Washington State will compete individually or in teams at the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Participants have 24 hours to develop a product, prototype, or concept aimed at helping consumers manage their finances with greater confidence while building trust in financial services. The specific challenge topic will be disclosed at the opening ceremony.

Toronto – September 18, 2026 -- Thomson Reuters has become the only provider named a Leader across four IDC MarketScape categories covering value-added tax, sales and use tax, global trade, and e-invoicing compliance.

ONESOURCE Pagero earns Leader status in worldwide e-invoicing assessment

IDC positioned the company's e-invoicing and continuous transaction control (CTC) solution as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Compliant e-Invoicing 2026 Vendor Assessment (doc #EUR154882626, September 2026). The platform now covers compliance across more than 90 jurisdictions, serving over 65,000 active e-invoicing customers and a business network reaching approximately 14 million companies globally.

Washington, D.C. – September 18, 2026 -- The fourth annual CBC Summit USA will convene 200 executives, regulators and legislators on Sept. 17, 2026, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to address crypto banking, compliance and stablecoin infrastructure.

Wyoming Stable Token Commission and Congressman Kevin Kiley headline keynote sessions

The one-day program brings together traditional financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, fintechs, government agencies, law firms and compliance organizations. Panel discussions will incorporate audience questions alongside keynote appearances from the Wyoming Stable Token Commission and Congressman Kevin Kiley.

LONDON – September 17, 2026 -- Sokin has released a Model Context Protocol (MCP) connector that links its licensed payment infrastructure directly to AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, allowing finance teams to prepare cross-border payments without leaving the chat interface.

Sokin's MCP connector processed 10 multi-currency invoices in under 10 minutes during testing

In internal testing, the connector handled 10 multi-currency invoices and treasury moves in under 10 minutes, a task that would normally require manual keying by accounts payable staff. Every instruction generated by the AI agent is still presented to the customer for confirmation, and existing Sokin approval rules apply before any payment settles on its rails.

New York – September 17, 2026 -- Active ETFs have moved into the mainstream of adviser portfolios, with 71% of surveyed advisers planning to increase their use over the next two years, according to MSCI Inc.'s (NYSE: MSCI) ETF Intelligence Survey 2026, which polled 450 advisers across the U.S. and Europe.

Already, 87% of respondents hold active ETFs, and the shift is displacing incumbent fund structures rather than simply adding new options. Fifty-eight percent of advisers say a new active ETF allocation from a manager they already use would most likely replace an existing mutual fund or UCITS holding.

Riyadh – September 17, 2026 -- Thunes has expanded its Direct Global Network to add payout services across six Middle East markets, giving Members faster and more transparent access to bank accounts, mobile wallets, and cash pickup points in Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, South Yemen, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.

Members can now process payouts in local currencies through direct API integration with Thunes or via existing Swift connectivity, extending reach into millions of bank accounts and mobile wallets across the region. The rollout follows Thunes' September 2025 expansion of real-time payments in Saudi Arabia.

Beijing – – September 17, 2026 -- The New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS-backed lender championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has approved 139 projects worth roughly $43 billion by the end of 2025, funding renewable energy, transport infrastructure, affordable housing and clean water access across emerging markets.

Xi Jinping Joins New Delhi Summit as BRICS Marks 20 Years

Xi will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under the theme 'Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.' The gathering marks two decades of BRICS cooperation and arrives as Global South economies push for more self-reliant development models.

Tinley Park – September 17, 2026 -- Payroc, a global payment-processing acquirer processing more than $125 billion in card volume annually, has won four categories at The Digital Banker's Global Cards & Payments Innovation Awards 2026.

Payroc sweeps gateway and in-store payment categories

The company was named Best Payments Gateway Provider for its multi-region gateway serving merchants, independent software vendors, SaaS platforms, independent sales organizations and enterprise channel partners. Payroc also won Best POS & In-Store Payments Solution Provider, recognizing its card-present and in-store payment capabilities for merchants and partners.

St Cyrus, Scotland – September 17, 2026 -- ECOSSE has moved into its public phase following a September 4 launch, shifting the project from pre-launch activity to live platform operations built around its $ECOS token and a separate whisky-focused real-world-asset (RWA) initiative.

Public phase follows September 4 launch and prior token sale activity

The $ECOS Token Sale was already live ahead of the official launch date. With the public phase now active, participants can track vesting schedules and claim allocations as scheduled portions become available.

$ECOS token underpins digital participation across the ECOSSE platform

ECOSSE says $ECOS supports eligible platform participation, select services, and marketplace functions where available, forming the utility layer of its digital ecosystem separate from any future physical-asset offering.