What’s going on here?

Major retailers like Amazon and Walmart want to get cozy with stablecoins – and that budding interest could turn the digital tokens into something serious.

What does this mean?

Stablecoins are a specific type of cryptocurrency that have their value “pegged” to that of another asset – typically a regular currency like the US dollar, or gold. Theoretically, that should make stablecoins more, uh, stable than other kinds of cryptos.

Amazon, Walmart, Expedia, and even some airlines seem convinced: they’re all looking into adopting stablecoins as a form of payment. That’d let them bypass card providers’ swipe fees, which can add up to billions of dollars a year. Plus, payments would be faster – settling in a matter of minutes, rather than days.

It’s good timing: a bill that would regulate stablecoins is working its way through Congress right now. If passed, it’ll likely lead to wider adoption of the digital tokens.

Why should I care?

For markets: Friday the 13th is lucky for some…

📉 Investors ditched shares in Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express after the news. In fact, Friday was one of the worst days on record for Visa’s stock.

💰 That makes sense. If some of the world’s biggest firms offer alternative payment options, those four companies will miss out on billions.

💡 Unless, of course, they make a digital transition of their own – think integrations with blockchain technology.

The bigger picture: America has that “je ne sais quoi”.

Nearly all stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar – 95% of them, to be precise. That means dollar bills for America… literally. Issuers have to back each stablecoin with a real reserve, and they often pick short-term US government bonds. (They’re low risk and easy to buy and sell.)

So as stablecoins become more mainstream, demand for dollar-denominated debt should increase. That’s got Europe jealous: officials are worried that too much funding will flow through US-backed systems, sidelining the euro.

What’s going on here?

A source let it slip that Mitsubishi’s in talks to buy US gas producer Aethon Energy – and at nearly $8 billion, it’d be the Japanese conglomerate’s biggest buy yet.

What does this mean?

📈 This deal would deepen Mitsubishi’s bet on natural gas – and seemingly at the right time, too. Demand for the stuff is rising: Asia’s expected to double its consumption of natural gas by 2050.

📍 Aethon’s wells are a short hop from major natural gas exporting terminals on the Gulf Coast, making the firm a prime candidate for supplying the continent.

🛢️ Japan’s government even encouraged companies to stock up recently, wary of supply being squeezed. See, natural gas is a “bridge fuel” for many economies, meaning it’s key in the transition from old-school energy to clean, green alternatives.

Why should I care?

For markets: Oil isn’t exactly slipping through.

Rising tensions in the Middle East have made it trickier for oil tankers to navigate the Strait of Hormuz – a very busy and very narrow shipping passage. Rates on key routes there have increased by as much as 40% in the last few days alone. That’s serious: around a fifth of the world’s oil travels through the waterway, so consistently higher prices or long delays would seriously impact global supply chains. In the short term, those rising rates should mean more profit for shipping firms.

Zooming in: We’re going nuclear.

There’s electricity in today’s energy industry (pun intended). As well as Mitsubishi’s potential deal, Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc just bid $19 billion for Santos – one of Australia’s biggest gas developers. Makes sense: the bigger AI gets, the more power its data centers require. In fact, global AI use has forced companies and governments to explore new fuel sources – nuclear included. The World Bank even just ended its formal ban on nuclear financing, and the Asian Development Bank may follow suit.