News linked to both this project and an event.
the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) approved the country's first spot ETF that directly holds Bitcoin and is aimed at retail investors on October 20. The product falls under the "other alternative investment funds" category and provides investors with regulated Bitcoin exposure.FINMA exempted the fund from the usual diversification requirements, while requiring enhanced custody, disclosure, and investor suitability assessments, and warning of Bitcoin price volatility and the potential risk of significant losses. The issuer, manager, ticker, and listing date have not yet been announced. (Bitcoin.com News)
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) stated that it has approved for the first time an exchange-traded fund (ETF) aimed at individual investors that enables direct investment in Bitcoin. Under Swiss law, the product is classified as an "Other Alternative Investment Fund" with specific risks. Other fund management firms have already submitted applications or announced plans to apply for Bitcoin ETFs.
Odaily Report: Bitcoin News posted on X that Bitcoin rose about 2.4%, hitting a five-day high near $82,830 and rebounding from a low near $80,600 caused by weekend selling. Market expectations for another Fed rate hike have declined significantly, with traders now pricing in about a 12% probability that the Fed will raise rates at its October 28 meeting. Higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data last week had briefly sparked concerns about further monetary tightening; meanwhile, falling oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields improved investor sentiment.
U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that despite setbacks in the U.S. legislative process and leadership changes, the SEC will continue to advance a comprehensive crypto market structure. Previously, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to clear the Senate's 60-vote procedural threshold on September 15, shifting the policy focus to federal regulators using existing authorities to provide regulatory clarity. During Atkins' tenure, the SEC announced interim regulatory exemptions in September to ease certain tokenized stock trading; Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House crypto council, departed, having previously participated in CLARITY Act negotiations.
market analysts are divided on whether Bitcoin can return to $100,000 before the end of 2026.Ryan Rasmussen, Head of Research at crypto asset management firm Bitwise, believes that factors such as institutional demand through ETFs and corporate Bitcoin purchases, concerns over inflation and government debt, and an improving regulatory environment are expected to push Bitcoin to higher levels by year-end, potentially even breaking through $100,000.Adam Morgan McCarthy, Head of Research at London-based crypto trading and market data firm LO:TECH, expects Bitcoin to trade mainly in the $85,000 to $95,000 range through year-end. He noted that inflation pressures and the possibility of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve will continue to weigh on Bitcoin's performance. U.S. consumer prices rose 0.6% month-over-month in September, with core CPI up 0.3% month-over-month, complicating the outlook for monetary policy.Luca Invernizzi, Senior Derivatives Trader at Nomura's crypto unit Laser Digital, said Bitcoin will remain primarily driven by macroeconomic factors and U.S. long-term Treasury yields in the near term. However, market leverage has been largely flushed out, and if Bitcoin effectively breaks above $90,000, it could trigger a new round of short-covering. James Butterfill, Head of Research at CoinShares, also believes that the contradiction between inflation and a weakening job market will influence the Fed's subsequent policy decisions and Bitcoin's trajectory. (CoinDesk)
Odaily reports: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said during the October 13 earnings call that tokenization is becoming an important trend spanning multiple asset classes and could bring more products, clients, and business. The bank has already tokenized bonds, money market funds, and real estate for some clients.DeFi, prediction markets, and automated trading are also under discussion, but Goldman Sachs has not announced related specific products. Solomon said blockchain-related activity remains relatively small in scale at present.Goldman Sachs uses its proprietary GS DAP platform to provide blockchain-based financial asset infrastructure and participated in the tokenization service launched by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in July, and is evaluating scalable applications. Solomon said tokenization can reduce costs, automate processes, and improve liquidity across asset classes.Solomon said Goldman Sachs supports the passage of the CLARITY Act, despite reservations about some provisions, and is participating in discussions with regulators on market rules. The bank reported third-quarter net revenue of $18.68 billion, with equities business revenue up 72% year-over-year to $6.4 billion. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily reports: Polygon Labs has announced the completion of its acquisition of Coinme, a US-regulated crypto payment service provider, with plans to leverage stablecoin infrastructure to enter the payments market dominated by Visa and Stripe. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron stated that the acquisition will help Polygon Labs own customer relationships and capture revenue that previously flowed to intermediaries; Polygon Labs has now become a payments-focused company that uses blockchain to move money. In January, Polygon Labs launched Open Money Stack to support stablecoin payments and cross-border transfers, and to charge fees for currency exchange and money transfers. Marc Boiron said the regulated payments business is expected to become profitable by 2027. Data shows that Visa's payment volume exceeded $12.3 trillion in fiscal year 2025, while Stripe's payment volume reached $1.9 trillion. Through the acquisition of Coinme, Polygon Labs will control more business processes in areas such as crypto asset, stablecoin, and fiat currency conversion, rather than handing customers over to third parties. Polygon Labs' unified payments platform is currently still in technical preview and not yet fully open; early users include Tazapay, Mesh, Toku, and Kira.
According to a Reuters report cited by CoinDesk, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, stated in an interview that the company plans to enter approximately 50 emerging and developing markets. The reason is that businesses and individuals in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are increasingly using stablecoins for payments and other financial services. Allaire believes that blockchain technology is transitioning from the early adoption phase to mainstream expansion. Allaire also noted that clearer regulatory frameworks, such as the U.S. GENIUS Act, are driving stablecoin adoption. He welcomed banks developing their own digital currencies and pointed out an increasing trend of AI agents using USDC for micropayments.
Odaily reports: Alex Taaffe, Chief Revenue Officer of digital asset trading firm GSR, stated that the on-chain issuance of real-world assets (RWAs) continues to increase, but investor demand has yet to match, and the growing number of issuers and blockchains has further fragmented liquidity in the tokenized market.Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO of ether.fi, said that stablecoins facilitate cross-border transfers, but broader adoption depends on whether they can be used for everyday spending; Yvonne Chia, Head of Communications at USDD, believes that issuers should prioritize improving user experience.The stablecoin market cap stands at $306 billion, up approximately 2% year-over-year and about 74% over the past 12 months. Ilya Podoynitsyn, co-founder and CEO of FinHarbor, pointed out that service providers still need to address regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions and adjust their infrastructure and compliance systems.Miguel Morel, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, said that on-chain data can be used to assess counterparty risk and the source of client deposits. Pulkit Gupta of Nomad Capital noted that crypto market liquidity has been relatively weak over the past three months, making it more difficult to exit altcoin investments. (Cointelegraph)
According to The Block, Standard Chartered Bank has pushed back its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach a $2 trillion scale from 2028 to 2030. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's Global Head of Digital Asset Research, stated that stablecoin supply has consistently hovered between $300 billion and $320 billion over the past 12 months, currently standing at approximately $309 billion. The stagnation in growth is viewed as a cyclical, rather than structural, issue. Despite the slowdown in supply growth, usage continues to climb—average monthly on-chain transfer volume neared $10 trillion in 2026, a significant increase from $4 trillion in 2025, with May alone recording a record-high $19 trillion in on-chain transfers. Stablecoin velocity has also doubled from 15x in 2025 to approximately 30x. Specifically, USDC velocity rose from 45x to 80x, primarily used for payments and AI agent-to-agent transactions; USDT velocity remains around 7x, mainly serving dollar savings demand in emerging markets. Kendrick noted that competition is most intense in mature market payments and traditional finance alternatives, with potential challengers including OUSD, stablecoin infrastructure provider M^0, and the multi-bank shared stablecoin network A+. On the regulatory front, the U.S. GENIUS Act is expected to take effect in January 2027, and its global rollout effectiveness will be a primary risk factor influencing the realization of the forecast.
Odaily News: Fairshake-affiliated entities Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress have spent a combined $2.7 million to support Democratic and Republican candidates running for U.S. House seats in 2026. The spending comes 22 days before the U.S. midterm elections.The expenditures include over $76,000 in supportive advertising for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson; California Representative Pete Aguilar and New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer received $512,000 and $500,000 in support, respectively.Fairshake announced days ago that it plans to support 32 additional House candidates in 2026, with 6 of them each receiving $1 million in supportive media placements. As of August, Fairshake held $122 million in cash and planned to allocate at least $30 million in media spending to oppose Sherrod Brown's run for the Ohio Senate seat.All of the aforementioned candidates voted in 2025 to support the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act). The bill aims to establish market structure rules for cryptocurrencies and expand the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) regulatory enforcement authority, but it failed a Senate procedural vote in September. (Cointelegraph)
Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi stated that Hyperliquid has limited user base overlap with centralized exchanges, with many users who cannot complete compliant KYC or have difficulty accessing mainstream platforms using Hyperliquid as their primary trading gateway. While Hyperliquid's market share has grown, trading volumes on centralized exchanges have not declined; both sides are expanding, and the market resembles an expansion of boundaries rather than a one-way transfer of share. Haseeb predicts that the crypto market will perform well over the next 6 to 12 months and believes that crypto investment will gradually integrate into fintech, digital banking, consumer products, stablecoin backends, and AI, among other sectors.
According to PRNewswire, 3iQ’s UAE entity, 3iQ Middle East Ltd, has received in-principle approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) for a Class 4 license, marking a significant step toward establishing its regulated business locally. 3iQ stated that this approval is part of its strategy to expand its regulatory footprint across major global digital asset markets. Prior to this, 3iQ formed a strategic partnership with UAE-based digital asset investment manager Further and introduced the 3iQ Managed Account Platform (QMAP) to provide institutional investors with access to digital asset investments. The platform has already attracted $100 million in sovereign-related seed capital.
Odaily News: Crypto trader Ansem posted on X platform stating that over the past few years, crypto assets have performed at historically low levels relative to other asset classes, primarily due to factors including talent flowing into the AI industry, insufficient innovation following the DeFi boom, and gold undergoing a massive value reassessment. Combined with the large-scale liquidation event in the altcoin market on October 10 last year, both institutional and retail sentiment and positioning allocation toward altcoins are currently at multi-year lows, potentially even hitting historic lows.On the other hand, some altcoins currently possess characteristics such as reduced VC selling pressure, genuine product-market fit (PMF) built on crypto infrastructure, and benefits from an improving regulatory environment. Additionally, the massive paper gains generated by the AI supercycle could serve as a potential source of capital. He predicts that future market capital will become more concentrated in a select few tokens with fundamental support, and once these tokens attract buying interest, their prices could rise rapidly.
Apple's iPhone Duo orders have increased by 30%, and the State Administration for Market Regulation has conditionally approved Focus Media's acquisition of a stake in Chaoxin Media. Additionally, China's National Development and Reform Commission is advancing the commencement of major projects, the Reserve Bank of India has launched a special oil window, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand has revised its trading rules.
Odaily News — Global investment management firm Franklin Templeton is exploring regulatory exemptions to allow tokenized money market funds and ETFs to trade through blockchain-based trading venues. On October 9, the company met with staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force regarding legal issues including pricing, fees, and asset pools.The agenda included whether investors can exchange blockchain fund shares for tokenized National Market System (NMS) stocks through blockchain trading venues, and whether liquidity providers can charge service fees. The related issues involve pricing rules under the Investment Company Act and whether exemptions are needed.Regarding tokenized ETFs, Franklin Templeton also discussed pairing them with tokenized stocks, approved payment stablecoins, or tokenized money market funds, as well as whether liquidity pools need to obtain Investment Company regulatory exemptions. Its preliminary disclosure on September 30 listed assets under management at $1.79 trillion.Franklin Templeton's blockchain fund recordkeeping business began with the Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund launched in 2021. The BENJI token represents shares of the fund, and transferring tokens simultaneously transfers the corresponding shares, with transactions recorded and share ownership tracked by the Benji Technology Platform. (Bitcoin.com News)
Blockchain.com has applied to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for two key licenses—Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Futures Commission Merchant (FCM)—aiming to legally conduct event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives business and transition from third-party partnerships to an in-house platform.
According to CoinDesk, Raheim Hamilton, co-founder of the dark web marketplace Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and fined $5 million for operating the platform. According to information disclosed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Hamilton agreed to forfeit 1,230 BTC (approximately $101 million), 24.4 ETH (approximately $60,000), and three properties.
According to official social media announcements, HTX will host a live stream today at 20:00 titled "Market Bets on Another Rate Hike in December: Can BTC Withstand This Wave of Shocks?". During the event, crypto KOLs including Maomaojie, AlanSun, Aiden, and Crypto.0824 will conduct an in-depth discussion on expectations surrounding Fed monetary policy, macro liquidity shifts, and recent BTC market trends. The session will focus on analyzing the potential impact of intensifying December rate hike expectations on the crypto market, along with BTC’s key support levels, long-short dynamics, and the likely trajectory of future price action under macroeconomic headwinds, providing investors with a multi-dimensional reference to gauge market trends.
Odaily News: Raheim Hamilton, co-founder of darknet marketplace Empire Market, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison on October 5 in Chicago and fined $5 million. His plea agreement covers approximately 1,230 Bitcoin, 24.4 Ether, and 3 properties in Virginia.Empire Market operated from 2018 to 2020, facilitating over 4 million transactions between buyers and sellers, with transaction values exceeding $430 million. Investigators seized $75 million worth of digital assets, cash, and precious metals in the case.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that the platform required buyers and sellers to use only cryptocurrency for transactions and encouraged the use of mixing services and encrypted communications. Buyers could also rate sellers on how well they concealed drug packages, with drug sales involved in the case approaching $375 million. (Bitcoin.com News)