Binance Pay is making crypto spending a real-world experience on the French Riviera. In a new push to bring stablecoins into daily life, Binance has partnered with payments app Lyzi to enable crypto transactions at more than 80 merchants across southern France. From small boutiques in Nice to beachfront shops in Cannes, users can now pay in stablecoins like USDT or FDUSD with the tap of a phone. Crypto Meets Everyday Spending This expansion is more than a novelty. It’s part of Binance’s broader effort to demonstrate that crypto can do more than just sit in a wallet or trade on exchanges. The French Riviera rollout allows users to spend stablecoins on food, fashion, wellness, and entertainment, categories that tourists and locals regularly engage with. With the summer travel season underway, it’s a timely move. Source: Shutterstock Binance Pay works like any other QR-based mobile wallet, but with one difference: the funds come directly from a crypto balance, and payments are settled in seconds. Users can choose from a list of supported stablecoins and pay in-store without converting to euros first. That simplicity is key to making digital assets usable beyond speculation. DISCOVER: Next 1000X Crypto: 10+ Crypto Tokens That Can Hit 1000x in 2025 Why France? France has quietly positioned itself as one of Europe’s more crypto-friendly countries. Regulatory clarity and growing fintech support have helped projects like this one move forward faster than they might elsewhere. Binance’s local team, operating under full registration with French regulators, is using the region to pilot new consumer payment flows before bringing them to bigger cities or international markets. Binance CoinPriceMarket CapBNB$96.66B24h7d30d1yAll time The choice of the Riviera is strategic. The area pulls in millions of visitors each year, many of whom are already familiar with crypto. By launching here, Binance gets real-time feedback from a global audience without needing a massive nationwide rollout. It’s a contained but high-impact setting that gives the company room to iterate. Stablecoins in the Spotlight The payment method here is intentional. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins offer price predictability. That matters when you’re selling a product with a fixed euro price. The system currently supports major stablecoins like USDT and FDUSD, both of which are pegged to the U.S. dollar and widely used for transactions in crypto markets. Binance Pay and Lyzi are using this as a proof of concept: if users are comfortable paying in stablecoins and merchants are happy with fast, low-fee settlement, there’s no reason the model can’t expand across Europe. That said, adoption still depends on ease of use, education, and a sense of trust in both the technology and the coins themselves. DISCOVER: 9+ Best High-Risk, High-Reward Crypto to Buy in July2025 Looking Ahead More regions could follow if this pilot succeeds. Binance has hinted at plans to broaden merchant support, add more stablecoin options, and expand into other European cities. As stablecoin regulation tightens across the EU, early rollouts like this could give Binance an advantage in understanding what users want from crypto payments. This is not a flashy PR campaign or tech demo. It’s a quiet, steady step toward mainstream utility. On the Riviera, paying in crypto is no longer an idea. It’s just part of the checkout process. DISCOVER: 20+ Next Crypto to Explode in 2025  Join The 99Bitcoins News Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates Key Takeaways

• Binance Pay is now live at over 80 merchants across the French Riviera, enabling real-world crypto payments in USDT and FDUSD.


• Users can spend stablecoins in categories like food, fashion, and wellness, making crypto part of everyday transactions.


• France’s clear crypto regulations and tech-friendly ecosystem made it an ideal testing ground for this stablecoin payment rollout.


• Stablecoins provide price stability, allowing merchants to accept crypto payments without worrying about volatility.


• If the pilot succeeds, Binance may expand stablecoin payments to other parts of Europe with broader merchant support.

Kenyan crypto firms are worried that proposed regulations could give a Binance-linked group too much control. The Virtual Asset Chamber […]

As of 12:00 PM UTC today, 26 June 2025, Sahara AI (SAHARA) made its debut and started trading on top tier exchanges, including KuCoin, OKX, Bitget, MEXC, CoinW, Bitrue, XT.COM, and HTX.  Sahara AI is a decentralized artificial intelligence project whose native token has surged by an astonishing 40,389% against the US Dollar following the announcement of its listing on Binance Alpha on 21 June 2025. SAHARA has a total of $51.5M raised, with significant backing from industry giants YZI Labs (ex-Binance Labs), Polychain Capital, and Pantera Capital. And now, the crypto world is buzzing with the meteoric rise of the token. The airdrop is now live. After listing, SAHARA will be available in multiple trading pairs, such as USDT, USDC, BNB, FDUSD, and TRY. Gate New Listing: $SAHARA @SaharaLabsAI Trading Pair: $SAHARA / $USDT
Trading Starts: 12:00 PM, June 26th (UTC) Trade: https://t.co/PfV8RKl6z8 Details: https://t.co/LlIqmzXz4Y pic.twitter.com/TL6njpjd9p — Gate (@Gate_io) June 25, 2025 The company also took to X to announce that “Upbit is listing $SAHARA Trading opens June 26 at 21:30 KST for KRW, BTC, and USDT pairs.” “Big thanks to our Korean community for your early support. We’re just getting started,” the company added. Introducing $SAHARA — the native utility token of Sahara AI. Designed for real-world function, $SAHARA powers a new economic model for AI. One that is collaborative, open, and built to reward real contributors. Utility, distribution, and claim details below pic.twitter.com/A3MYsHO1Po — Sahara AI (@SaharaLabsAI) June 25, 2025 Explore: 9+ Best High-Risk, High–Reward Crypto to Buy in June 2025 Some Forecast That SAHARA Could Reach $5-$10 In Short Term Some analysts predict the token could open between $0.80 and $1, with the potential to spike higher if market sentiments remain bullish. Meanwhile, social media sentiment points to possible price targets of $0.15- $0.30 in the coming weeks, with some models forecasting a gradual increase to $0.21613 by next month. The token also boasts a robust community, complete with 892.4k X followers, 200k AI trainers and 3 million annotations. This support has been fuelling speculation and some forecast that SAHARA could reach $5-$10 in the short term. Furthermore, as the predictions beyond a few months are highly speculative, some social media forecasts suggest prices could stabilize around $0.17- $0.18 by the end of the year. Sahara AI is a blockchain-based platform designed to empower developers to build, train and monetize their own AI models using high-quality datasets. “A platform where everyone can create and monetize AI models, datasets, and applications in a collaborative space, built on the Sahara Blockchain,” the company says.  “The majority of our token supply—over 64%—is dedicated to community growth, ecosystem development, and public participation, reflecting our deep commitment to empowering real users and building a sustainable, collaborative AI economy,” the company said. $SAHARA isn’t another AI token built on vibes and VCs. it’s built to actually do things. Powered by @SaharaLabsAI, it fuels a fully onchain AI economy where tokens don’t just sit in your wallet, they work as hard as you do. What can $SAHARA do?
Pay to access AI datasets… pic.twitter.com/dFXbrmjc6z — Tems_DeFi (@temsdefi) June 25, 2025 EXPLORE: 10 Best AI Crypto Coins to Invest in 2025 Key Takeaways

Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, isn’t staying quiet. The former Binance CEO has publicly rejected claims from a recent Wall Street Journal article that accused him of helping broker international deals for a crypto startup tied to Donald Trump’s inner circle. In a strongly worded thread on X, CZ called the story misleading and said the narrative had been twisted to fit an agenda. CZ denies any involvement in helping broker deals for World Liberty Financial, a crypto project tied to Trump’s inner circle. What the WSJ Claimed According to the article, CZ allegedly played a behind-the-scenes role in helping World Liberty Financial (WLF) expand its reach. Zach Witkoff co-founded the cryptocurrency venture WLF, and maintains close ties with Trump family members. The WSJ story focused on a meeting in Pakistan between WLF and entrepreneur Bilal bin Saqib. It claimed CZ helped facilitate that connection, which later led to WLF signing a memorandum of understanding with a government-backed organization in the country. In short, the paper suggested that CZ acted as a quiet connector, smoothing the path for WLF’s global ambitions. CZ Fires Back CZ wasted no time responding. In a detailed X post, CZ denies claims that he introduced WLF to foreign partners or played any role in its expansion. Another hit piece from Wall Street Journal. WSJ instead of doing journalism, has pretty much resorted to Cunningham’s Law, with negative intentions. "Cunningham's Law: The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer."… — CZ BNB (@cz_binance) May 23, 2025 He posted a direct denial, stating, “I am not a fixer for anyone.” He said he only met Bilal bin Saqib in person during a trip to Pakistan and had no role in any meeting between Saqib and WLF. According to him, Saqib and WLF had already been in contact long before he was in the picture. His message was clear: there’s no secret deal-making going on behind closed doors, and his name is being dragged into something he had nothing to do with. DISCOVER: Top 20 Crypto to Buy in May 2025 Not Just Denial, A Critique of the Process CZ denies the story published by the WSJ, arguing it ignored clarifications provided by his team ahead of publication. Beyond defending himself, CZ took issue with how the story was reported. He said that the WSJ had sent a list of questions to his team in advance, but those questions were filled with bad assumptions. He claims his team provided clarifications and corrections, but none of that made it into the final article. - Price Market Cap - - - 24h 7d 30d 1y All Time Log He also pointed to what he sees as a trend in journalism, writing something controversial first, then letting the backlash bring in attention and corrections after the fact. He referenced Cunningham’s Law to describe this: the idea that the fastest way to get the right answer on the internet is to post the wrong one. In his view, the WSJ leaned into a version of the story that was more dramatic than accurate. DISCOVER: Next 1000X Crypto: 10+ Crypto Tokens That Can Hit 1000x in 2025 Why This Is Getting So Much Attention World Liberty Financial isn’t just any crypto project. Its ties to Trump’s family and growing international presence have already raised eyebrows. The crypto space has long thrived in a grey area where influence and connections hold sway. When politics enters the picture, the complexities deepen. The mere suggestion that someone like CZ could be using his network to help WLF win foreign deals was always going to grab headlines — which is likely part of what frustrated him most. What Happens Next? At this point, there’s no official fallout, and CZ hasn’t indicated that he’ll be taking legal action. But the situation highlights how sensitive the intersection of crypto, politics, and media has become. When high-profile names are involved, especially across countries and political lines, stories like this aren’t going away anytime soon. DISCOVER: 20+ Next Crypto to Explode in 2025  Join The 99Bitcoins News Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates