News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Bitcoin News on X, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Iran's BitBank, alleging that the exchange processed Bitcoin payments made by ships under the Hormuz safety insurance scheme. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that, as of June, these payments had been transferred to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Babak Zanjani's network had used the exchange to move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Bitcoin payment channels are not exempt from OFAC oversight.
Wintermute released its weekly market report, as the Federal Reserve voted unanimously 12-0 on September 21 to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%. Sixteen officials project at least one more rate hike this year, with inflation not expected to return to the 2% target until 2029. Two key catalysts previously monitored by the market—the FOMC rate decision and the CLARITY Act—have both materialized: the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate (49-50 vote, falling short of the 60-vote threshold), prompting the SEC and CFTC to immediately state that they would establish crypto regulatory frameworks under their current authority. The market adjusted for only a single trading session before reclaiming its losses. BTC traded between $75,000 and $81,000 this week, closing at $81,159—the first time since last November it has breached the 50-week moving average; ETH gained 6.7%, trading in the $2,350–$2,600 range. Regarding ETF capital flows, net outflows totaled $746 million from Tuesday to Wednesday, partially reversed by $593 million in inflows from Thursday to Friday, resulting in a five-day net outflow of approximately $6 million. Outflows triggered by the CLARITY Act were nearly fully offset within 48 hours. At the start of this week, both BTC and ETH broke above the range resistance ahead of the U.S. equity market open. Fueled by approximately $250 million in short liquidations, BTC briefly surged to $86,000, setting an eight-month high. Wintermute’s analysis suggests:
Odaily News: The People's Bank of China stated in its financial education campaign that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether do not have legal tender status and cannot be circulated as currency; conducting virtual currency-related businesses within China constitutes illegal financial activity and is strictly prohibited.Without approval from relevant authorities, domestic entities and offshore entities under their control may not issue virtual currencies overseas, and no entity or individual, domestic or foreign, may issue RMB-pegged stablecoins offshore. The People's Bank of China reminds the public not to participate in virtual currency issuance, trading, investment, or mining activities, to be vigilant against high-yield investment scams, and to avoid renting out bank cards or payment accounts, or buying and selling virtual currencies for money laundering purposes as instructed by others.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced that, after receiving regulatory approval, it will launch BCH and UNI futures on October 19. Market participants can choose to trade larger contracts and smaller contracts: BCH Futures (250 BCH) and Micro Bitcoin Cash Futures (25 BCH); UNI Futures (10,000 UNI) and Micro Uniswap Futures (1,000 UNI).
Odaily reports: David Ripley, Co-CEO of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, stated that Europe has taken a more pragmatic approach to crypto regulation, with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) providing clarity on market rules. In contrast, the U.S. regulatory environment is more adversarial.Ripley noted that the CLARITY Act has been slow to advance, with related efforts ongoing for years. He believes that if the U.S. continues to delay pushing forward crypto regulatory legislation, it may cede its leadership in financial innovation to the European Union.Kraken obtained a MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) in June 2025, allowing it to operate across all 30 member states of the European Economic Area (EEA). (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: Vladimir Chistyukhin, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, stated that Russia's crypto industry may already have the conditions needed to operate legally by the end of 2026, with related regulation progressing as planned. A large-scale set of secondary regulatory rules is currently being drafted, and fine-tuning of internal rules is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in August establishing a framework for the management of digital currency and digital rights, but Bitcoin payments remain prohibited. The central bank has approved public trading of Bitcoin on Russian crypto exchanges. Non-qualified investors can purchase Bitcoin and other assets worth 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,582) through a single intermediary, while qualified investors are not subject to restrictions. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto wallets and digital asset custody services in December, and expects trading volume for the related business to reach 4 trillion rubles (approximately $47 billion) in its first year of operation.
Odaily reports: Bitcoin News posted on X that Core Lightning is urging node operators to immediately disable experimental features, as developers are investigating a vulnerability that could put channel funds at risk. This is Core Lightning's second warning within a few weeks, following an August patch and the release of the 26.06.7 upgrade after a series of AI-generated CVE reports. Core Lightning has not yet disclosed how the experimental feature could be exploited.
Odaily News: On September 16, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed the amended H.R. 8957, the "American Reserve Modernization Act," by a vote of 28 to 21, which aims to enshrine the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Reserve program into federal law.The bill proposes that Bitcoin lawfully held by the federal government and not designated for other statutory purposes be held for at least 20 years from the effective date of the legislation, during which it may not be sold, exchanged, auctioned, pledged as collateral, or otherwise disposed of. The bill still needs to pass the House and Senate and be signed by Trump.The bill also requires the Treasury Department to establish the relevant reserve within 180 days of the effective date and to publish an annual proof-of-reserves report covering holdings, transactions, and private key control. The Treasury Department and the Commerce Department will study lawful and budget-neutral methods of increasing Bitcoin holdings, but this provision does not authorize direct purchases. (Bitcoin.com News)
Kraken joined X's U.S. Cashtag partner program on September 16. After users click on ticker tags such as BTC on X, in addition to viewing related posts and price charts, they can also follow a trading link to jump to the Kraken app or website, where they can log in or sign up to complete a purchase, with the transaction still executed on Kraken's side. A 2024 experiment by the UK Financial Conduct Authority involving more than 9,000 consumers showed that push notifications increased trading volume by 11%, while points and sweepstakes increased trading volume by 12%.
Bitcoin stabilized at the $75,000 level following the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike and the Senate's rejection of the Clarity Act, as the market had already priced in the negative developments and displayed strong resilience. Analysts expect prices to remain range-bound in the near term.
Odaily News: A 2021 firmware vulnerability in the hardware wallet Coldcard resulted in insufficient randomness in some recovered seeds. Since July 30, attackers have transferred approximately 1,600 to 1,800 BTC from affected wallets, involving thousands of addresses, with an estimated value exceeding $100 million.Coldcard manufacturer Coinkite stated that it must be assumed that someone used AI to review its public firmware. The vulnerability has existed for about five years, and whether AI was involved in the related attacks has not yet been confirmed.Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby used a Claude Opus 4.8 audit agent and discovered a vulnerability in the Zcash Orchard shielded pool circuit dating back to 2022, which in testing could generate unlimited counterfeit ZEC without a trace. Developers completed the fix within days, and no theft of coins has been confirmed.Statistics from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis show that on-chain writes carrying malware instructions and command-and-control information rose from about 2.06 per day to 11.1 per day, an increase of 440%. (Bitcoin.com News)
Bitcoin News posted on X that attackers accessed a small number of Blink custodial accounts and withdrew funds. Blink stated that the vast majority of funds remain safe, and non-custodial wallets were not affected; the Bitcoin payment protocol Spark, which it uses, supports multiple Lightning Network wallets, but it has not yet been confirmed that Spark was the source of this security incident.
Odaily News: The cyber investigation unit of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Police Agency in South Korea identified 26 Polymarket users by analyzing public blockchain transaction records and on-chain open-source intelligence, and filed cases on suspicion of illegal gambling. Among them, 18 individuals have been transferred to prosecutors, with cumulative bets totaling $12.7 million and a single user betting as much as $4.1 million.Police launched a preliminary investigation in March and began filing cases against those involved starting in May; South Korea's Korea Communications Standards Commission only ordered the blocking of Polymarket on August 18, and the transactions under investigation by authorities occurred during a period when the platform was still normally accessible. Police are advancing the investigation under Article 246 of South Korea's Criminal Act. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily Report: Vietnam plans to issue licenses to its first batch of crypto asset service providers in 2026 under a pilot legal framework, and allow the first batch of digital asset platforms to begin operations. Nguyen Duc Chi, Deputy Minister of Finance of Vietnam, met with Mariana Kuhnel, Executive Director of the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), in Vienna on September 15 to discuss bilateral cooperation and the exchange of financial regulatory experience.Vu Thi Chan Phuong, Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, stated that the regulatory mechanism will cover service providers and investor transactions, with a focus on risk management, investor asset protection, and anti-money laundering. Kuhnel proposed that both sides hold online technical seminars and strengthen coordination through the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: Singapore-based compliant stablecoin payment company Dtcpay has announced the completion of a $25 million Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with SBI participating through two Singapore investment entities. Dtcpay provides stablecoin and fiat currency acceptance, storage, and trading services.The funds from this round will be used to expand its merchant network, build infrastructure, develop enterprise portal and consumer application features, and enter more regulated markets. Dtcpay has integrated with WalletConnect and launched a Visa-linked stablecoin-to-fiat card. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily reports: Bitcoin News posted on X platform that the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on September 16 advanced the "American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026" by a vote of 28 to 21, which seeks to codify into federal law the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established by Trump through executive order, and would require the government to hold confiscated Bitcoin for at least 20 years.The bill would also require public proof of reserves, independent audits, and a study on increasing Bitcoin holdings without raising taxes, government borrowing, or the federal deficit; the bill still needs to pass the full House and the Senate. Arkham Intelligence estimates that the U.S. government holds approximately 324,500 Bitcoin, worth about $24.7 billion, but the exact size has not yet been confirmed by unified government disclosure.
According to Bitcoin News on X, Deutsche Bank plans to provide Bitcoin and digital asset custody services for European institutions and corporations by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory review and approval. Gerald Podobnik, Co-Head of the Corporate Bank, stated that the service will operate alongside the existing system, with specific configurations determined by client demand, regulatory requirements, and the bank's risk appetite.
Odaily reports: CoinShares noted in its latest research report that the Fed's hawkish policy shift and the stalling of the CLARITY Act are the two major short-term pressures currently facing the crypto market. According to the report, the Fed believes inflation remains too high, and its latest interest rate projections no longer show any room for rate cuts before 2027, which has provided support for the dollar and short-term U.S. Treasury yields. Combined with the Iran conflict driving up energy prices, the possibility of another rate hike within the year has increased. CoinShares believes that if the inflation outlook does not improve significantly, or if there is no major shift in monetary policy expectations, BTC may struggle to effectively break above $80,000 before the end of the year.On the regulatory front, the main disagreement over the CLARITY Act remains centered on ethics provisions, and a revised version could potentially be reintroduced as early as the beginning of next year. Since Bitcoin's regulatory status is relatively clear, the bill's setback has limited impact on it, while Ethereum and other altcoins face greater regulatory uncertainty.
According to The Block, Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, stated at the New York Avalanche Summit that he has resumed buying cryptocurrency to position for the next cycle. He noted that the core issue in current crypto investment lies in determining which blockchain will achieve widespread adoption in which industry. He emphasized that the first major stock exchange to adopt blockchain would mark a "watershed moment" for the industry, as the entire financial ecosystem would then be forced to align with that chain's compliance requirements. O'Leary also mentioned that Bitcoin is expected to account for 1%~3% of alternative asset allocations, comparable to institutional gold holdings. On the regulatory front, he anticipates the Clarity Act will face difficulty passing before the midterm elections, but progress on digital asset tax policies will drive further regulatory implementation.
Odaily reports: Digital asset management company Grayscale stated in an analysis published on September 17 that the latest Federal Reserve rate hike is closer to a "mid-cycle adjustment" rather than a major monetary policy shift.The Federal Open Market Committee raised the target rate range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4% on September 16, stating that the hike aims to bring inflation back to the 2% target in a more timely manner. Grayscale believes that this rate hike, along with a possible second hike later this year, is unlikely to cause major changes in the digital asset market.Grayscale noted that from March 2022 to July 2023, the Federal Reserve raised rates by a cumulative 525 basis points, with sustained tightening increasing returns on cash and yield-bearing assets and raising the opportunity cost of holding Bitcoin; the current environment, by contrast, is a single rate hike following years of hikes, cuts, and holding steady.Grayscale stated that the impact of rate hikes will vary by crypto business model. Stablecoin issuers could benefit from increased interest income on reserve assets, and higher yields on tokenized bonds and money market funds could also attract capital inflows into on-chain financial products. On September 17, Bitcoin briefly rose above $77,000, with short position liquidations in the crypto market reaching nearly $260 million during the rebound. (Bitcoin.com News)