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Meanwhile is a life insurer with premiums and claims in cryptocurrency, creating core financial products denominated in Bitcoin (BTC). Meanwhile’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems allow users to easily apply for their BTC life insurance policies, a tax-advantaged way to make a portion of policyholders’ Bitcoin active.
Y Combinator Releases Crypto Startup Guide: Focus on Asset Tokenization, Stablecoins, and AI Trading Agents
Y Combinator has released a startup guide for the crypto sector, noting that over the past year, growth in the crypto industry was driven by institutions rather than consumers for the first time. Use cases are shifting from speculative trading to real-world financial needs such as oil hedging and cross-border corporate treasury flows, and the firm expects crypto adoption to accelerate further.The firm believes that various asset classes will accelerate toward tokenization, expanding from stablecoins and equities to real estate titles, debt, and commodities. Meanwhile, startup equity and small-value assets that were previously difficult to securitize may also enter the market through on-chain issuance. Around these assets, financial infrastructure such as trading, lending, and derivatives will continue to develop, and AI agents may become important financial participants.For startup directions over the next 6 months, Y Combinator is focusing on AI fundraising, USD and other fiat stablecoins, neobanks, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, trading platforms, and crypto API infrastructure for AI agents. The firm believes that while traditional financial institutions face challenges, this also creates startup opportunities for a new generation of fintech companies.
Japanese bitcoin industry raises approximately 800 million yen via BTC in-kind contributions, partners with ANAP subsidiary to deploy Lightning Network routing
Meanwhile, the company signed a basic cooperation agreement on Lightning Network routing business with ALC, utilizing the BTC held by ALC as liquidity for its operated channels to jointly build Japan-based routing infrastructure. The raised funds will be allocated to payment infrastructure development, talent recruitment, routing business, and R&D, with a primary focus on advancing "aurora," a Lightning payment service that can integrate with merchants' existing payment systems via API.
Bank of Korea Warns: Mounting Vulnerabilities in the AI Sector from Heavy Reliance on External Financing and Intensifying Circular Finance as Long-Term Interest Rates Rise
According to Yonhap News Agency, Section Chief Kim Yun-kyung and Investigator Wang Jae-kun of the Bank of Korea’s Investigation Bureau noted in their October 27 report, "Major Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Funding in the AI Industry," that intensifying fundraising competition in the AI sector recently has heightened dependence on external funding and expanded circular finance, fueling growing warnings about financial risks triggered by AI. The report notes that this year, hyperscale data center operators have substantially broadened external financing primarily through long-term corporate bonds, while AI-focused cloud companies have increasingly turned to GPU-backed credit and convertible bonds. AI firms are also actively leveraging off-balance-sheet financing instruments such as special purpose vehicles, joint ventures, and leasing. Meanwhile, the volume of circular transactions between hyperscale firms and AI chipmakers for future sales, facilitated by supply chain investments, continues to grow. The report assesses that while the financial health of major leading enterprises remains solid and the likelihood of AI-related financial risks materializing is currently low, vulnerabilities are steadily building amid rising long-term interest rates. Primary risk factors include delays in AI monetization and the propagation of shocks stemming from circular finance. Particular attention should be directed toward the potential risks posed by AI cloud companies that exhibit inadequate financial buffers and low information transparency. The report emphasizes that as South Korea stands to benefit the most from the AI boom, its deep integration into global supply chains could amplify the transmission intensity of real-economy and financial shocks triggered by AI compared to previous cycles. It is essential to continuously monitor the accumulation of potential vulnerabilities and the likelihood of risks materializing.
OpenAI Nears Completion of Up to $30 Billion Funding Round, Pre-Money Valuation Reaches $1.25 Trillion
According to CNBC, OpenAI is nearing the completion of a financing round of up to $30 billion, with a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion, excluding funds raised in this round. Insiders said this round is led by investors from the UAE and Coatue, and has been positioned as an "opportunistic" transitional financing ahead of an IPO. On Thursday, OpenAI told investors that it aims to secure executed documents before next weekend, although the final financing amount is still being finalized. Meanwhile, OpenAI is negotiating a commercial agreement to obtain more compute capacity from the UAE. In February, the company told investors that its goal is to invest approximately $600 billion cumulatively in compute infrastructure by 2030. OpenAI filed a draft prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a confidential basis in June, but has not yet disclosed a listing date. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar stated in August that the company "will become a publicly traded company in 2027," while CEO Sam Altman remarked in September that it would not be wise to go public at this time.
Fidelity Timmer: AI High-Yield Bonds Under Pressure; Bubble Risk Lies in Debt Rather Than Stock Valuations
Fidelity Global Macro Head Jurrien Timmer (@TimmerFidelity) posted on X that high-yield data center bonds suffered a sharp pullback last week, sparking market concerns over the outlook for AI infrastructure development. Timmer contrasted the current AI boom with the price action of the 1998–2000 internet bubble, highlighting that the key difference is that corporate earnings are currently robust while equity valuations are actually declining, whereas in 1999, stock price appreciation vastly outpaced earnings growth. However, he noted that certain segments of the credit market are sending divergent signals, suggesting that if a bubble exists, it is more likely forming on the debt side rather than in equity valuations—an early warning dynamic that similarly emerged from credit markets during the dot-com era. Meanwhile, AI-linked investment-grade bonds remain resilient, backed by the strong fundamentals of major cloud providers. Timmer indicated that the recent softness in high-yield AI debt could represent a market "clearing," which need not necessarily be detrimental to broader market conditions.
Nscale Exposes Multiple Risks Ahead of IPO: Data Centers Barely Operational, Actual Compute Capacity Less Than 1% of Target
Odaily News: AI data center developer Nscale plans to raise up to $3 billion through an IPO as early as this month, but has been revealed to be facing challenges including construction delays, equipment failures, regulatory issues, and employee complaints. Its flagship project—originally planned to build a 30-megawatt data center—is approximately 6 months behind schedule overall, and to accelerate construction, the company arranged for hundreds of construction workers to stay in a floating hotel. Additionally, the project has experienced liquid cooling system leaks and transformer fires. Local safety inspections also identified 10 violations, including ungrounded exposed components in high-voltage systems.Nscale was spun off from crypto mining company Arkon Energy in 2024. It has secured over $103 billion in contracts but has almost no data centers in operation. As of August, its actually built target compute capacity was less than 1% of its overall plan, relying heavily on leased capacity from other data center operators to fulfill contracts. The company's IPO filings show that Microsoft and Anthropic account for approximately 85% of its contract scale; Anthropic has committed to spending approximately $44.6 billion on dedicated AI chip infrastructure for the Monarch campus in West Virginia, but Nscale has yet to secure the financing and long-term chip supply agreements needed to fulfill that contract.Meanwhile, Nscale is seeking an IPO valuation of up to $35 billion. CEO Josh Payne previously summarized its model as "owning land, power, data centers, chips, and software," but multiple projects have yet to achieve this vertically integrated model, with power supply, grid connection, construction progress, and customer delivery all constituting potential bottlenecks. (Bloomberg)
Bitcoin Faces $11 Billion Options Expiry, With US Midterm Elections Set to Amplify Market Volatility
Odaily Report: Approximately $11 billion worth of Bitcoin options are set to expire on October 30, accounting for about one-third of Deribit's total open interest in Bitcoin options. Coupled with the approaching US midterm elections on November 3, the market may face greater volatility.Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 mark on Monday this week and has since hovered around that level, trading at approximately $81,100 in the Singapore market on Thursday. Among the soon-to-expire options, call options outnumber put options, with strike prices concentrated at $90,000, $95,000, and $100,000 — contracts at these levels are likely to expire worthless in the short term. Meanwhile, approximately 70% of the expiring options' Gamma is concentrated in the $75,000 to $82,000 range. Adam Haeems, Head of Asset Management at Tesseract Group, noted that if market makers hold short positions, their hedging activities could accelerate Bitcoin's decline below the $75,000 to $78,000 range; if they hold long positions, it could cushion the downside.Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, pointed out that some option sellers may wait until after the US midterm elections on November 3 to establish new positions, resulting in a lack of常规 Gamma supply to buffer price fluctuations. Volatility could increase further around the announcement of election results.Additionally, the battle for congressional control could also affect the Trump administration's ability to advance crypto-friendly policies. A Bloomberg Market Pulse survey shows that if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress, the median year-end Bitcoin price forecast is $90,800; if Democrats control both chambers, it is $76,450; and if Congress is split between the two parties, it is $84,100. Paul Howard, Senior Director at Wincent, expects that after market volatility hit historic lows over the past year, Bitcoin market volatility in November may rebound significantly. (Bloomberg)
Bank of Korea Warns: Mounting Vulnerabilities in the AI Sector from Heavy Reliance on External Financing and Intensifying Circular Finance as Long-Term Interest Rates Rise
According to Yonhap News Agency, Section Chief Kim Yun-kyung and Investigator Wang Jae-kun of the Bank of Korea’s Investigation Bureau noted in their October 27 report, "Major Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Funding in the AI Industry," that intensifying fundraising competition in the AI sector recently has heightened dependence on external funding and expanded circular finance, fueling growing warnings about financial risks triggered by AI. The report notes that this year, hyperscale data center operators have substantially broadened external financing primarily through long-term corporate bonds, while AI-focused cloud companies have increasingly turned to GPU-backed credit and convertible bonds. AI firms are also actively leveraging off-balance-sheet financing instruments such as special purpose vehicles, joint ventures, and leasing. Meanwhile, the volume of circular transactions between hyperscale firms and AI chipmakers for future sales, facilitated by supply chain investments, continues to grow. The report assesses that while the financial health of major leading enterprises remains solid and the likelihood of AI-related financial risks materializing is currently low, vulnerabilities are steadily building amid rising long-term interest rates. Primary risk factors include delays in AI monetization and the propagation of shocks stemming from circular finance. Particular attention should be directed toward the potential risks posed by AI cloud companies that exhibit inadequate financial buffers and low information transparency. The report emphasizes that as South Korea stands to benefit the most from the AI boom, its deep integration into global supply chains could amplify the transmission intensity of real-economy and financial shocks triggered by AI compared to previous cycles. It is essential to continuously monitor the accumulation of potential vulnerabilities and the likelihood of risks materializing.
South Korean retail investors net bought $3.548 billion of SOXL since October, accounting for nearly 74% of total net US stock purchases during the same period
According to Odaily, data from the Korea Securities Depository shows that from October 1 to 22, South Korean individual investors accumulated approximately $4.8 billion in net purchases of US stocks, of which the triple-leveraged US semiconductor ETF (SOXL) saw net purchases of $3.548 billion (approximately 4.7 trillion Korean won), accounting for 73.9% of total net US stock purchases during the same period.Meanwhile, as the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has fallen 18.83% cumulatively this month, from October 1 to 23, individual investors net purchased a combined 315.4 billion Korean won in single-stock leveraged products related to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, marking the first resumption of monthly net purchases since regulatory tightening at the end of July. (Chosun Ilbo)
Kalshi and Polymarket crypto event contracts hit a record $2.7 billion in weekly trading volume, with 15-minute BTC price predictions emerging as a new hotspot
According to Dune data, nominal trading volume for crypto-related event contracts on Kalshi and Polymarket reached $2.7 billion last week, setting an all-time high. Bitcoin short-term up/down contracts were particularly active, with Kalshi's 15-minute Bitcoin price prediction contracts seeing single trades exceeding $1 million, and some traders using trading bots to capture opportunities in the final seconds before contract expiration.Cryptocurrency has now become the second-largest trading category on both platforms after sports. Crypto trading platforms including Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, and Kraken are expanding their businesses by applying for relevant licenses or partnering with prediction markets. Meanwhile, declining spot trading volume on centralized exchanges is also pushing crypto platforms to seek business diversification. However, as multiple U.S. states mount legal challenges against sports-related prediction contracts, the regulatory trajectory could also affect the industry's development. (Bloomberg)
U.S. Treasury Plans to Expand Sensitive Technology Investment Restrictions on China and Other Countries, Further Tightening AI and Biotechnology Regulations
The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued proposed rules to implement the COINS Act, aiming to further expand U.S. outbound investment restrictions in certain sensitive technology sectors targeting "countries of concern." The existing regime primarily targets entities related to China, while the proposed rules seek to further tighten restrictions on AI and semiconductors on that basis, extending the regulatory framework to encompass additional sensitive technologies and jurisdictions. In the AI sector, certain investments that remain permissible post-filing under current rules will be converted to outright prohibitions; regarding semiconductors, high bandwidth memory, photonic chips, and radiation-hardened chips will also be subject to stricter restrictions. Meanwhile, biotechnology has been added as a priority regulatory domain, covering areas such as brain-computer interfaces and automated laboratory software.
Analysis: Bitcoin Dominance Rises to Highest Level Since May as Market Awaits New Catalysts
Odaily reports: Bitcoin's market dominance rose to 60% on Wednesday, reaching its highest level since May of this year and holding near that level, reflecting investors' preference for holding Bitcoin over altcoins. Meanwhile, Bitcoin fell below $82,000 on Thursday, giving back gains from the previous day's brief break above $84,000. Small-cap tokens saw more pronounced declines, with the CoinDesk Memecoin Index dropping over 5%, the Computing Select Index falling 3.5%, and the DeFi Select Index down 2.5%.Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said that the crypto market's prior outperformance relative to other assets has shifted to trading more closely in line with equity markets, with investors awaiting new industry catalysts. Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Indian exchange Giottus, noted that Bitcoin ETF inflows have yet to form a sustained trend, and investors should avoid chasing rallies while monitoring ETF fund flows and Federal Reserve policy signals. (CoinDesk)
OKX Star: Calls for Joint Industry-Level Security Standards, Opposes Security Becoming a Competitive Domain
According to official sources, in response to recent security incidents involving Bybit, Bitget, and Binance, OKX founder and CEO Star stated that security should not be an area of commercial competition, but rather a shared responsibility of the entire crypto industry. Over the past decade, major exchanges have made significant progress in private key protection, but potential risks remain in access control and wallet management systems. He emphasized that no system is absolutely secure, and any major security breach at any exchange could undermine trust in the entire industry.Star called on major exchanges in the crypto industry to strengthen cooperation and jointly establish stricter industry security standards and coordinated response mechanisms, including adding verification and security delays for large withdrawals to unknown addresses and smart contract authorization transactions, and implementing key security restrictions at the cryptographic signing layer. Meanwhile, the industry should establish real-time security incident reporting, joint monitoring of suspicious funds, and rapid response mechanisms, and promote collaborative research in areas such as quantum-resistant cryptography and AI-driven security threat defense. He emphasized that no single company can safeguard the future of the crypto industry alone.
Analyst: Hacker Has Not Yet Moved the Bitcoin Stolen from Binance
Odaily reports: According to monitoring by on-chain analyst Yu Zhan, Binance appears to have suffered a large-scale security incident in the early hours of today, with approximately $3.43 billion in assets stolen. This figure excludes about $2.43 billion in stablecoins that stablecoin issuers helped freeze.Among the stolen assets, the largest single item was 18,270 BTC, worth approximately $1.44 billion, and the relevant BTC has not yet been moved. Meanwhile, the hacker is converting other altcoins into ETH, and the ETH held has now reached approximately 467,000, worth about $1.06 billion.
Market Awaits Fed Decision as BTC Short-Term Options Bearish Sentiment Cools Notably
Odaily reports: Bitcoin rose about 0.8% since midnight (UTC) on Monday to $81,400, after briefly falling below $80,000. Ethereum gained 0.9%, Asian chip stocks led a tech rebound, South Korea's KOSPI rose 6.6%, SK Hynix climbed about 11% on roughly 7x year-over-year profit growth, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.The Federal Reserve is about to announce its rate decision, and the CME FedWatch tool shows the market sees about a 92% probability of rates being held steady. Traders will focus on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference to gauge whether there is any possibility of a rate hike ahead. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $176 million on Tuesday, marking a second consecutive trading day of inflows.On the derivatives side, crypto futures trading volume rose 7.5% over the past 24 hours to $163.2 billion, open interest increased only 1.3%, and liquidations rose 38% to $183.6 million. Bitcoin rose 2.3% while open interest actually fell 0.1%; Ethereum rose 2.7% with open interest up 1.7%, indicating the price rebound has not yet been accompanied by large-scale new leverage. ZEC open interest grew 14%, higher than its 6.3% price gain over the same period, making it one of the large crypto assets with the most obvious new position building.In the options market, Deribit data shows that Bitcoin's one-week put/call skew has dropped from nearly 10% a week ago to less than 1%, indicating that demand for short-term downside protection has weakened somewhat, though the one-month, three-month and six-month tenors remain clearly skewed toward puts. Meanwhile, gold futures open interest fell 10%, while open interest for Tether's gold token XAUT rose 11.6%, showing divergent capital flows. (CoinDesk)
SOL perpetual contract trading share drops to 6%, Solana seeks transformation to shed Meme coin dependence and compete for Wall Street market
A Galaxy Research report shows that Meme coins' share of Solana trading volume has fallen from over 50% at the end of 2024 to 15%–20% in Q2 2026. In addition, SOL has declined nearly 20% year-to-date, and U.S.-listed spot and staked SOL ETFs recorded outflows for two consecutive weeks this month, totaling approximately $50 million. Meanwhile, Solana's share of on-chain perpetual contract trading volume has dropped from 17% to 6%. The Solana Foundation has reportedly issued a statement saying that Solana's transformation is underway, attempting to shift from a growth model reliant on Meme coins and speculative trading toward more mainstream financial applications such as stablecoins and tokenized assets, in a bid to win adoption from Wall Street institutions.However, with the crypto market downturn and the rise of competitors such as Hyperliquid, Solana faces challenges in transforming its growth model. Market analysts point out that the key to Solana's future lies in whether it can attract stable assets, developers, and users, rather than relying solely on speculative trading to drive growth. (Bloomberg)
Zcash Co-Founder Proposes Halting Automatic Community Grants Funding, Says Program Holds Over $125M
Odaily Report: Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe has submitted a proposal to stop the automatic allocation of block rewards to the Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) program and redirect the remaining 8% of block rewards originally allocated to the program to the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM). He stated that ZCG currently holds over $125 million in funds and will receive several million more before the funding inflow stops, and that the existing grants program was not designed to manage funds of this scale.According to the draft proposal, ZCG holds 91,452.98 ZEC and approximately $8.8 million in USD-denominated assets, with $2.4 million in outstanding grant commitments. Bowe noted that the current 8% allocation mechanism generates over $68 million worth of ZEC per year, while the Financial Privacy Foundation disclosed that ZCG's spending in the first quarter of 2026 was only $1.53 million. If the proposal is approved, the original allocation percentage will be redirected to the NSM, and the total Zcash issuance will not increase. Meanwhile, the separate 12% of block rewards allocated to the Coinholder-Controlled Fund will remain unchanged. ZCG will still be able to retain and manage its existing assets, continue approving grants, and fulfill outstanding commitments.The proposal has not yet specified an activation block height and has not been included in the currently planned NU7 network upgrade; it would require a future network upgrade to take effect. (The Block)
Bitcoin Falls Below $80,000 Ahead of Fed Decision, Put Option Demand Remains Dominant
Odaily Report: Bitcoin fell below $80,000 on Tuesday, down about 0.4% since UTC midnight and touching a low of around $79,700. Ethereum dropped 0.5%, while the DeFi index fell 1.8%, the largest decline among CoinDesk-tracked indices. Meanwhile, South Korea's KOSPI rose 3.1% as Asian tech stocks strengthened, but the crypto market failed to follow the rebound.On the macro front, the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and announce its rate decision on Wednesday. CME FedWatch data shows the market sees about a 90% probability that the Fed will keep rates unchanged, with traders watching whether there is still any chance of a rate hike this year.In the options market, the $72,000 put expiring December 25 was the most-traded Bitcoin option over the past 24 hours, and the 25 Delta put/call skew for Bitcoin options across maturities is positive, indicating the market still has demand for downside protection. (CoinDesk)
Analysis: Bearish Sentiment Heats Up in BTC and ETH Options Markets as Risk-Off Mood Intensifies
following a suspected North Korean hacker attack on Binance involving $6.3 billion, Bitcoin briefly fell to $76,400, its lowest level since September 18, before rebounding somewhat. Ethereum touched a low of $2,170 before recovering to around $2,220.Risk-off sentiment has intensified in the market, with bearish sentiment heating up in both BTC and ETH options markets. Among the options with the highest trading volumes, put options account for the majority, and 25 Delta skews across multiple expiries have risen simultaneously, reflecting increased demand for hedging against downside risk. Meanwhile, weakness in U.S. tech stocks has also added pressure to the market, with Nasdaq 100 index futures falling 2.3%. (CoinDesk)
OKX Star: Calls for Joint Industry-Level Security Standards, Opposes Security Becoming a Competitive Domain
According to official sources, in response to recent security incidents involving Bybit, Bitget, and Binance, OKX founder and CEO Star stated that security should not be an area of commercial competition, but rather a shared responsibility of the entire crypto industry. Over the past decade, major exchanges have made significant progress in private key protection, but potential risks remain in access control and wallet management systems. He emphasized that no system is absolutely secure, and any major security breach at any exchange could undermine trust in the entire industry.Star called on major exchanges in the crypto industry to strengthen cooperation and jointly establish stricter industry security standards and coordinated response mechanisms, including adding verification and security delays for large withdrawals to unknown addresses and smart contract authorization transactions, and implementing key security restrictions at the cryptographic signing layer. Meanwhile, the industry should establish real-time security incident reporting, joint monitoring of suspicious funds, and rapid response mechanisms, and promote collaborative research in areas such as quantum-resistant cryptography and AI-driven security threat defense. He emphasized that no single company can safeguard the future of the crypto industry alone.
Analyst: Hacker Has Not Yet Moved the Bitcoin Stolen from Binance
Odaily reports: According to monitoring by on-chain analyst Yu Zhan, Binance appears to have suffered a large-scale security incident in the early hours of today, with approximately $3.43 billion in assets stolen. This figure excludes about $2.43 billion in stablecoins that stablecoin issuers helped freeze.Among the stolen assets, the largest single item was 18,270 BTC, worth approximately $1.44 billion, and the relevant BTC has not yet been moved. Meanwhile, the hacker is converting other altcoins into ETH, and the ETH held has now reached approximately 467,000, worth about $1.06 billion.
AI Could Break Encryption Algorithms, Ethereum Researchers Call for "Bunker Mode"
According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake warned that the rapid advancement of AI could accelerate mathematical attacks against the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), potentially breaking existing cryptographic systems within months under the worst-case scenario, and called on the industry to initiate "bunker mode"—transferring assets to new addresses with previously unexposed public keys to mitigate risk. Several industry insiders, however, expressed reservations. Coinbase Chief Cryptographer Yehuda Lindell stated there is currently "no evidence" that the mathematical assumptions underpinning ECDSA have been weakened; Trezor Bitcoin analyst Lucien Bourdon similarly noted that migrating assets could backfire and inadvertently create opportunities for scams. MetaMask founder Taylor Monahan was even more direct, asserting that if elliptic curve cryptography were truly compromised, "the entire world would go to zero," rendering bunker mode ineffective. Meanwhile, Ethereum has laid out a post-quantum roadmap based on hash-based signatures and ZK proofs, while public blockchains such as Solana and NEAR are also exploring their own quantum-safe alternatives, though concrete deployment timelines remain unset.
Payy has opened a 30-day claims window for the cross-chain bridge attack, and will completely shut down after the window expires.
According to official announcements, Payy has initiated a claims process for affected users following the cross-chain bridge contract hack on September 24, with a 30-day window for claim submissions. Eligible claims will be compensated in USDC on the Ethereum network. Meanwhile, Payy Wallet is currently suspended and will be completely shut down after the claims period concludes.
Ledger attacker moved nearly 3,000 ETH via Tornado Cash and Zcash, related wallets still hold approximately $38.6 million in ETH and $16.9 million in BTC
Odaily News: According to Bitcoin News monitoring, the attacker behind the Ledger supply chain theft has moved nearly 3,000 ETH through Tornado Cash in three separate transactions, and transferred the funds into the Zcash privacy pool before converting them to USDC. Investigator @YFarmX stated that despite the use of privacy tools, they have traced 108 transactions completed through Zcash by exact value matching. An estimated $2.85 million in stolen USDC is still held in 3 wallets, and Circle may be able to freeze the related funds. Meanwhile, Tether is reported to have frozen $10 million in stolen USDT; wallets associated with the attacker still hold approximately $38.6 million in ETH and $16.9 million in BTC.
1kx: Blockchain Industry Revenue Projected to Reach $100 Billion in 2026, with 283 Protocols Returning Value to Token Holders in Q3
investment firm 1kx has released its annual blockchain revenue report, projecting that total blockchain industry revenue will reach $100 billion in 2026, a year-over-year decline of approximately 28% due to the drop in crypto asset prices.The report notes that institutional and real-economy-related businesses currently contribute about 30% of blockchain industry revenue. In Q3 2026, real-economy-related business revenue surpassed blockchain infrastructure revenue for the first time. Meanwhile, publicly listed companies' share of total blockchain industry revenue has risen from 7% in 2022 to 16%.Additionally, a record 283 protocols returned value to token holders in Q3 through mechanisms such as token buybacks, burns, or fee sharing.
Y Combinator Releases Crypto Startup Guide: Focus on Asset Tokenization, Stablecoins, and AI Trading Agents
Y Combinator has released a startup guide for the crypto sector, noting that over the past year, growth in the crypto industry was driven by institutions rather than consumers for the first time. Use cases are shifting from speculative trading to real-world financial needs such as oil hedging and cross-border corporate treasury flows, and the firm expects crypto adoption to accelerate further.The firm believes that various asset classes will accelerate toward tokenization, expanding from stablecoins and equities to real estate titles, debt, and commodities. Meanwhile, startup equity and small-value assets that were previously difficult to securitize may also enter the market through on-chain issuance. Around these assets, financial infrastructure such as trading, lending, and derivatives will continue to develop, and AI agents may become important financial participants.For startup directions over the next 6 months, Y Combinator is focusing on AI fundraising, USD and other fiat stablecoins, neobanks, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, trading platforms, and crypto API infrastructure for AI agents. The firm believes that while traditional financial institutions face challenges, this also creates startup opportunities for a new generation of fintech companies.
Market Awaits Fed Decision as BTC Short-Term Options Bearish Sentiment Cools Notably
Odaily reports: Bitcoin rose about 0.8% since midnight (UTC) on Monday to $81,400, after briefly falling below $80,000. Ethereum gained 0.9%, Asian chip stocks led a tech rebound, South Korea's KOSPI rose 6.6%, SK Hynix climbed about 11% on roughly 7x year-over-year profit growth, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.The Federal Reserve is about to announce its rate decision, and the CME FedWatch tool shows the market sees about a 92% probability of rates being held steady. Traders will focus on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference to gauge whether there is any possibility of a rate hike ahead. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $176 million on Tuesday, marking a second consecutive trading day of inflows.On the derivatives side, crypto futures trading volume rose 7.5% over the past 24 hours to $163.2 billion, open interest increased only 1.3%, and liquidations rose 38% to $183.6 million. Bitcoin rose 2.3% while open interest actually fell 0.1%; Ethereum rose 2.7% with open interest up 1.7%, indicating the price rebound has not yet been accompanied by large-scale new leverage. ZEC open interest grew 14%, higher than its 6.3% price gain over the same period, making it one of the large crypto assets with the most obvious new position building.In the options market, Deribit data shows that Bitcoin's one-week put/call skew has dropped from nearly 10% a week ago to less than 1%, indicating that demand for short-term downside protection has weakened somewhat, though the one-month, three-month and six-month tenors remain clearly skewed toward puts. Meanwhile, gold futures open interest fell 10%, while open interest for Tether's gold token XAUT rose 11.6%, showing divergent capital flows. (CoinDesk)
SOL perpetual contract trading share drops to 6%, Solana seeks transformation to shed Meme coin dependence and compete for Wall Street market
A Galaxy Research report shows that Meme coins' share of Solana trading volume has fallen from over 50% at the end of 2024 to 15%–20% in Q2 2026. In addition, SOL has declined nearly 20% year-to-date, and U.S.-listed spot and staked SOL ETFs recorded outflows for two consecutive weeks this month, totaling approximately $50 million. Meanwhile, Solana's share of on-chain perpetual contract trading volume has dropped from 17% to 6%. The Solana Foundation has reportedly issued a statement saying that Solana's transformation is underway, attempting to shift from a growth model reliant on Meme coins and speculative trading toward more mainstream financial applications such as stablecoins and tokenized assets, in a bid to win adoption from Wall Street institutions.However, with the crypto market downturn and the rise of competitors such as Hyperliquid, Solana faces challenges in transforming its growth model. Market analysts point out that the key to Solana's future lies in whether it can attract stable assets, developers, and users, rather than relying solely on speculative trading to drive growth. (Bloomberg)
Zcash Co-Founder Proposes Halting Automatic Community Grants Funding, Says Program Holds Over $125M
Odaily Report: Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe has submitted a proposal to stop the automatic allocation of block rewards to the Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) program and redirect the remaining 8% of block rewards originally allocated to the program to the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM). He stated that ZCG currently holds over $125 million in funds and will receive several million more before the funding inflow stops, and that the existing grants program was not designed to manage funds of this scale.According to the draft proposal, ZCG holds 91,452.98 ZEC and approximately $8.8 million in USD-denominated assets, with $2.4 million in outstanding grant commitments. Bowe noted that the current 8% allocation mechanism generates over $68 million worth of ZEC per year, while the Financial Privacy Foundation disclosed that ZCG's spending in the first quarter of 2026 was only $1.53 million. If the proposal is approved, the original allocation percentage will be redirected to the NSM, and the total Zcash issuance will not increase. Meanwhile, the separate 12% of block rewards allocated to the Coinholder-Controlled Fund will remain unchanged. ZCG will still be able to retain and manage its existing assets, continue approving grants, and fulfill outstanding commitments.The proposal has not yet specified an activation block height and has not been included in the currently planned NU7 network upgrade; it would require a future network upgrade to take effect. (The Block)
Gate will list Ritual (RITUAL) for spot and flash exchange trading, with CandyDrop launching a 5 million RITUAL airdrop
According to official announcements, Odaily reports that Gate will list Ritual (RITUAL) for spot trading on October 27 at 21:00 (UTC+8), and will open flash exchange trading at 22:00 the same day. Ritual is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain built specifically for autonomous AI agents, supporting smart contracts that can directly call AI models and external APIs.Meanwhile, Gate CandyDrop Round 189 will run from October 28 at 18:00 to November 11 at 18:00 (UTC+8), with a total prize pool of 5,000,000 RITUAL. The event features three tasks: first spot trade, spot trading milestone, and inviting friends, with respective prize pools of 300,000, 3.5 million, and 1.2 million RITUAL. Eligible users who complete the designated tasks can participate to claim rewards or share the airdrop through candy distribution.
Related news
Analysis: Bearish Sentiment Heats Up in BTC and ETH Options Markets as Risk-Off Mood Intensifies
following a suspected North Korean hacker attack on Binance involving $6.3 billion, Bitcoin briefly fell to $76,400, its lowest level since September 18, before rebounding somewhat. Ethereum touched a low of $2,170 before recovering to around $2,220.Risk-off sentiment has intensified in the market, with bearish sentiment heating up in both BTC and ETH options markets. Among the options with the highest trading volumes, put options account for the majority, and 25 Delta skews across multiple expiries have risen simultaneously, reflecting increased demand for hedging against downside risk. Meanwhile, weakness in U.S. tech stocks has also added pressure to the market, with Nasdaq 100 index futures falling 2.3%. (CoinDesk)
OKX Star: Calls for Joint Industry-Level Security Standards, Opposes Security Becoming a Competitive Domain
According to official sources, in response to recent security incidents involving Bybit, Bitget, and Binance, OKX founder and CEO Star stated that security should not be an area of commercial competition, but rather a shared responsibility of the entire crypto industry. Over the past decade, major exchanges have made significant progress in private key protection, but potential risks remain in access control and wallet management systems. He emphasized that no system is absolutely secure, and any major security breach at any exchange could undermine trust in the entire industry.Star called on major exchanges in the crypto industry to strengthen cooperation and jointly establish stricter industry security standards and coordinated response mechanisms, including adding verification and security delays for large withdrawals to unknown addresses and smart contract authorization transactions, and implementing key security restrictions at the cryptographic signing layer. Meanwhile, the industry should establish real-time security incident reporting, joint monitoring of suspicious funds, and rapid response mechanisms, and promote collaborative research in areas such as quantum-resistant cryptography and AI-driven security threat defense. He emphasized that no single company can safeguard the future of the crypto industry alone.
Analyst: Hacker Has Not Yet Moved the Bitcoin Stolen from Binance
Odaily reports: According to monitoring by on-chain analyst Yu Zhan, Binance appears to have suffered a large-scale security incident in the early hours of today, with approximately $3.43 billion in assets stolen. This figure excludes about $2.43 billion in stablecoins that stablecoin issuers helped freeze.Among the stolen assets, the largest single item was 18,270 BTC, worth approximately $1.44 billion, and the relevant BTC has not yet been moved. Meanwhile, the hacker is converting other altcoins into ETH, and the ETH held has now reached approximately 467,000, worth about $1.06 billion.
1kx: Blockchain Industry Revenue Projected to Reach $100 Billion in 2026, with 283 Protocols Returning Value to Token Holders in Q3
investment firm 1kx has released its annual blockchain revenue report, projecting that total blockchain industry revenue will reach $100 billion in 2026, a year-over-year decline of approximately 28% due to the drop in crypto asset prices.The report notes that institutional and real-economy-related businesses currently contribute about 30% of blockchain industry revenue. In Q3 2026, real-economy-related business revenue surpassed blockchain infrastructure revenue for the first time. Meanwhile, publicly listed companies' share of total blockchain industry revenue has risen from 7% in 2022 to 16%.Additionally, a record 283 protocols returned value to token holders in Q3 through mechanisms such as token buybacks, burns, or fee sharing.
Bitcoin Faces $11 Billion Options Expiry, With US Midterm Elections Set to Amplify Market Volatility
Odaily Report: Approximately $11 billion worth of Bitcoin options are set to expire on October 30, accounting for about one-third of Deribit's total open interest in Bitcoin options. Coupled with the approaching US midterm elections on November 3, the market may face greater volatility.Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 mark on Monday this week and has since hovered around that level, trading at approximately $81,100 in the Singapore market on Thursday. Among the soon-to-expire options, call options outnumber put options, with strike prices concentrated at $90,000, $95,000, and $100,000 — contracts at these levels are likely to expire worthless in the short term. Meanwhile, approximately 70% of the expiring options' Gamma is concentrated in the $75,000 to $82,000 range. Adam Haeems, Head of Asset Management at Tesseract Group, noted that if market makers hold short positions, their hedging activities could accelerate Bitcoin's decline below the $75,000 to $78,000 range; if they hold long positions, it could cushion the downside.Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, pointed out that some option sellers may wait until after the US midterm elections on November 3 to establish new positions, resulting in a lack of常规 Gamma supply to buffer price fluctuations. Volatility could increase further around the announcement of election results.Additionally, the battle for congressional control could also affect the Trump administration's ability to advance crypto-friendly policies. A Bloomberg Market Pulse survey shows that if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress, the median year-end Bitcoin price forecast is $90,800; if Democrats control both chambers, it is $76,450; and if Congress is split between the two parties, it is $84,100. Paul Howard, Senior Director at Wincent, expects that after market volatility hit historic lows over the past year, Bitcoin market volatility in November may rebound significantly. (Bloomberg)
Banks shelve Texas data center bond issuance tied to Anthropic
According to Bloomberg, multiple banks have delayed plans to sell portions of a $15 billion loan after Texas suspended new construction projects and evaluated their potential impact on the power grid. The financing is earmarked for a Texas data center linked to Anthropic. Due to the postponement of the bond issuance, banks will retain this debt longer than initially anticipated, keeping it on their respective balance sheets. Meanwhile, Anthropic is accelerating its investments in computing infrastructure as it prepares for a major IPO.