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Where to Invest $100,000 Right Now, According to Experts

Investors face a dilemma. When the S&P 500 finished its worst quarter since 2022 last month, diversifiers like bonds and bitcoin fell too.

Even with the turnaround in mid-April, analysts at Goldman Sachs and Vanguard have projected low-single-digit annualized returns from 2024-2034.

Bloomberg asked where experts would personally invest $100,000 for their March monthly edition.

One answer that surfaced for a second time? Art.

It's what billionaires like Bezos and the Rockefellers have privately used to diversify for decades.

Why?

1. Appreciation. The ArtPrice100 Index outpaced the S&P 500 overall from 2000 to 2025

2. Low-correlation. The postwar contemporary segment has moved independently of traditional investments like stocks since ‘95.*

3. Resilience. A scarce, physical, and global asset class with decades of demonstrated demand.

Thanks to the world's premier art investing platform, now anyone can invest in works featuring legends like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso, without needing millions.

Shares in new offerings can sell quickly but...

Our subscribers skip their waitlist*

^{*According to Masterworks data. Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. See important Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.}

💡Feature of the Day

All this and more in today’s headlines!

1. Kraken Expands Crypto Banking Ambitions: Kraken is pushing to provide crypto infrastructure and services to banks, aiming to accelerate digital asset adoption across traditional finance.

2. Crypto Card Payments Reach New High: Onchain crypto card payment volume climbed to a record $833 million in May 2026, reflecting growing real-world use of digital assets.

3. Morpho Raises $175M for On-Chain Credit: Morpho has secured $175 million to expand its on-chain lending infrastructure and bridge traditional banking with decentralized finance.

4. Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines: Mastercard rolls out Agent Pay, enabling machine-to-machine payments with support from leading crypto firms.

5. Solana Enables Instant Coffee Purchases: Solana showcases real-world utility as WalletConnect Pay powers instant in-store coffee payments.

6.  💡Feature of the Day - Pi Network Sets Protocol 25 Deadline: Pi Network announces a Protocol 25 mainnet upgrade deadline for node operators.

📰 News Highlights:

Kraken Expands Crypto Banking Ambitions [Source] [Source]

Kraken is no longer positioning itself as just a crypto exchange. The company has made its ambition clear: bring crypto to every bank. That goal, amplified by Coin Bureau in June 2026, reflects a shift that has been building through multiple concrete moves over the past year.

Kraken’s banking ambitions rest on real structural moves, not just public statements. Earlier in 2026, the exchange filed for a national trust bank charter through a subsidiary.

Kraken’s charter application landed during a window where regulators are more receptive to crypto companies seeking formal federal standing than at any previous point. That window may not stay open indefinitely as political and regulatory priorities shift. 

Crypto Card Payments Reach New High [Source] [Source]

Crossing $9 billion in cumulative onchain card volume is a structural threshold that matters beyond the round number. It means this payment infrastructure has processed enough real-world transactions to prove durability across multiple market cycles, including the 2024 downturn and the 2025 recovery. 

Growing 180% year-over-year while already processing hundreds of millions per month is not early adopter activity on a small base. May 2026 volume reflects mainstream-scale infrastructure moving real money at a pace that few expected this quickly.

The structural drivers behind this growth are still active. Stablecoin supply continues to expand, more exchanges are launching card programs globally, and regulatory clarity in major markets keeps improving. 

Morpho Raises $175M for On-Chain Credit [Source] [Source] [Source]

Morpho just closed one of the biggest institutional funding rounds in DeFi history. The on-chain lending protocol raised $175 million, with Paradigm, a16z crypto, and Ribbit Capital leading the deal.

This is not a typical DeFi raise. Morpho is going after banks and pension funds, not retail traders. That focus changes what this round signals for the broader crypto market.

Morpho’s vault system also supports permissioned access, meaning only verified counterparties can participate in a given vault. That compliance layer is something banks and pension funds cannot function without, and it makes Morpho practically accessible to regulated players in a way that most DeFi protocols are not.

Mastercard Introduces Agent Pay for Machines [Source] [Source] [Source]

Mastercard is making a push into AI-powered payments with the launch of Agent Pay for Machines, a new platform that enables AI agents to make purchases autonomously on behalf of users and businesses.

The system is designed to handle transactions without requiring manual approval for each payment, instead operating within predefined spending limits and rules set by the account holder.

Agent Pay for Machines is still in its early stages, and Mastercard has not announced when it will be widely available. But the direction is clear: as AI takes on more tasks in everyday life, making payments on its own is a logical next step.

Solana Enables Instant Coffee Purchases [Source] [Source]

Solana has showcased the potential of crypto payments by sharing a 32-second video of a real-world coffee purchase completed through WalletConnect Pay. The demonstration quickly gained attention across the crypto community, with many users saying it felt as smooth as traditional payment methods.

In the clip, the customer completes the purchase using a crypto wallet connected via WalletConnect Pay, with the transaction settling in seconds. The process avoids delays and multiple confirmations, delivering a checkout experience similar to contactless card payments.

Several community members also described crypto payments as becoming “invisible,” where users no longer need to think about the underlying blockchain technology. Instead, transactions are processed seamlessly in the background while merchants receive fast settlement.

💡 Feature of the Day: 

Pi Network Sets Protocol 25 Deadline [Source] [Source] [Source]

Pi Network has announced a scheduled Protocol 25 upgrade for its Mainnet, setting a firm compliance deadline of June 18, 2026, for all Mainnet node operators. The upgrade is mandatory, meaning nodes that fail to update on time risk losing network connectivity and may no longer participate in Mainnet validation activities.

Protocol 25 represents the next phase in Pi Network’s technical roadmap, following earlier protocol upgrades that improved stability, consensus behavior, and node coordination.

Pi Network has warned node operators that the move to Protocol 25 may take more time and preparation than earlier upgrades. Because this is a protocol-level change, it requires deeper coordination across distributed nodes and careful system alignment.

😂 Crypto Meme of the Day: 

Meme of the day provided by @TheBTCTherapist

And that’s it for this today.

See you all tomorrow’s edition!

Mazel Ventura
UseTheBitcoin.com