According to the latest reports, US authorities have begun to regulate chaos in the payment industry. First targeting high-interest credit card rates, now they are focusing on swipe card fees — the so-called "hidden costs" that merchants complain about.

Even more aggressively, the government is pushing for the enactment of the "Credit Card Competition Act." The core goal of this bill is straightforward: to break the monopoly of payment networks like Visa and MasterCard, requiring large banks to offer alternative solutions to merchants that bypass the existing dominant networks.

In simple terms, it aims to introduce more competitors and reduce merchant costs. From the merchants' perspective, this is definitely good news — fees are expected to decrease; from the payment network's perspective, the current business model faces restructuring. The card payment system has been operating for decades, and such a level of competitive shock is quite rare.

What impact will this have on the entire financial ecosystem? Increased competition in payments usually also drives higher demand for technological innovation. Interestingly, this upheaval in the traditional payment industry may also indirectly influence the market space for crypto payment solutions.