UK–US Crypto Pact, Google’s AP2 Protocol, Global Stablecoin Surge, Iran Sanctions | September 17, 2025
Description
The U.S. and U.K. are teaming up on crypto regulation, with a potential joint sandbox in the works (1:29 ). Google launches a protocol to let A.I. agents handle crypto payments (3:23 ). Stablecoin adoption is exploding in real-world commerce, driven by commodity traders and emerging market infrastructure (5:17 ). And the U.S. Treasury targets Iranian operatives using crypto to fund military activities (7:11 ).
This is your essential update on the forces shaping what’s next in money.
More on stories and articles discussed or referenced in this episode:
Asgari, Nikou, et al. “UK Set to Announce Closer Co-Operation with US on Cryptocurrencies.” Financial Times, 16 September 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/3b814ced-16f5-45f4-815d-cbfb8d2c63a6.
“Counter Terrorism Designations.” Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 16 September 2025, https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20250916.
“OFAC Sanctions a Crypto-Enabled Financial Network for Facilitating Iranian Oil Smuggling.” Elliptic Blog, 16 September 2025,https://www.elliptic.co/blog/ofac-sanctions-financial-facilitators-front-companies-for-supporting-iran-in-evading-sanctions-seven-crypto-addresses-listed.
Ortiz, Sabrina. “Google's New Open Protocol Secures AI Agent Transactions - and 60 Companies Already Support It.” ZDNet, 16 September 2025, https://www.zdnet.com/article/googles-new-open-protocol-secures-ai-agent-transactions-and-60-companies-already-support-it/.
Parikh, Stavan and Surapaneni, Rao. “Powering AI Commerce with the New Agent Payments Protocol (AP2).” Google Cloud AI & Machine Learning Blog, 16 September 2025, https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/announcing-agents-to-payments-ap2-protocol.
Stanley, Aaron. “Stablecoins Aren’t Just for Crypto Trading Anymore.” Forbes, 16 September, 2025, https://www.forbes.com/sites/astanley/2025/09/16/stablecoins-arent-just-for-crypto-trading-anymore/.
“Treasury Targets Financial Network Supporting Iran’s Military.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 16 September 2025, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0248.
“US Sanctions Iranian Financiers, Others Over $100M in Cryptocurrency Transfers from Iran Oil Sales.” The New Arab, 16 September 2025, https://www.newarab.com/news/us-sanctions-iranians-over-100m-crypto-oil-sales.
Wynn, Sarah. “US and UK to Deepen Crypto Collaboration: Financial Times.” The Block, 16 September 2025, https://www.theblock.co/post/370930/us-and-uk-to-deepen-crypto-collaboration-financial-times.
The music in this episode was composed by Liborio Conti, and you can find more of his fantastic work at his YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/liborioconti.
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