News linked to both this project and an event.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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)
According to Bloomberg, leverage trading capital in the cryptocurrency market is shifting from pure digital tokens to traditional financial assets such as stocks and commodities. The latest data from crypto trading technology provider Talos indicates that across five major trading platforms, the total open interest of perpetual futures contracts has fallen from approximately $81 billion to around $67 billion over the past year. Meanwhile, the total open interest of contracts linked to real-world assets (RWA) has surged from nearly zero to $9 billion, now accounting for 14% of the total positions on these platforms.
Odaily reports: EasyA, a blockchain and AI application development education platform, has secured a standalone valuation of $1.1 billion and plans to go public through a direct listing in the first half of next year. The company has filed registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), though the current valuation does not represent the actual price investors will pay once its shares begin trading.EasyA states that its app has surpassed 1.3 million users and is considering issuing tokenized shares. Meanwhile, the company is expanding into tokenization projects and applications involving AI agents. (CoinDesk)
Strategy stated its "Bitcoin Banking Adoption Index" rose to 34% in the third quarter of 2026, indicating that major global banks' adoption of Bitcoin and digital asset-related services continues to increase, though the overall level remains at an early stage. Among them, Fidelity ranked first at 77%, JPMorgan Chase at 47%, and BNY at 46%.Strategy noted that the index increase this quarter was mainly driven by several developments, including expanded access to Bitcoin ETF/ETP products, growth in institutional custody services, and the development of lending businesses using BTC as collateral. Meanwhile, advancements in stablecoins and asset tokenization also contributed to the index increase. As traditional financial institutions gradually explore digital asset infrastructure, Bitcoin-related services are extending from investment products to custody, financing, and financial application scenarios.
Odaily Report: Bonk Guy posted on X platform stating that he is long-term bullish on USELESS becoming the next-generation representative Meme coin similar to DOGE and PEPE, mainly based on the token's trading data performance. USELESS's trading volume on Coinbase has surpassed DOGE, its trading volume on European exchange Bitvavo is close to 3 times that of DOGE, and its trading volume on Kraken is also approaching DOGE.Meanwhile, Bonk Guy stated that apart from USELESS and DOGE, no other Meme coins appear among the top 50 crypto assets by trading volume on the aforementioned three exchanges. USELESS currently has a market cap of approximately $186 million, while DOGE has a market cap of approximately $13.4 billion, a difference of about 72x between the two. Bonk Guy believes that USELESS continues to demonstrate trading activity and liquidity approaching DOGE on multiple mainstream trading platforms, but there remains a significant valuation gap.
Odaily News: Bitcoin life insurance company Meanwhile has announced the completion of a $37.5 million funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital, among others. The company's cumulative funding has now exceeded $180 million.Meanwhile is headquartered in Bermuda and is licensed to conduct insurance business entirely in Bitcoin. The company stated that an unstable macroeconomic environment has driven increased demand for Bitcoin life insurance policies in markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.In early 2026, Meanwhile launched BTC Life 1-Pay, a single-premium whole life insurance product, for high-net-worth clients outside the United States, following the earlier launch of BTC 10-Pay for U.S. taxpayers. Policies can be held by individuals, trusts, or corporations for inheritance and estate planning purposes. (Cointelegraph)
According to Cointelegraph, Bermuda-headquartered Bitcoin life insurance provider Meanwhile has announced $37.5 million in new funding, bringing its total capital raised past $180 million. The round was led by Bain Capital Crypto, which will enable the company to expand into overseas markets such as Asia and Europe.
According to Axios, Meanwhile, a Bitcoin life insurance company backed by Sam Altman, has raised $37.5 million in funding, bringing its latest valuation to $350 million. The company offers Bitcoin-denominated life insurance products, enabling clients to benefit from the appreciation of their cryptocurrency assets without paying high capital gains taxes.
Four.Meme, a Meme issuance platform in the BNB Chain ecosystem, has announced an upgrade to its Stock Meme feature, adding 76 new bStock assets that can be used as pool assets and optimizing its token issuance mechanism.It is reported that Four.Meme will abolish the previous model of setting fixed amounts for different bStocks. All bStock pools will now adopt a unified fundraising target of $10,000 equivalent, regardless of the underlying stock asset. Meanwhile, the platform will support more stock-type assets as the basis for creating Stock Memes. Popular stocks will be displayed by default, and users can also view all supported bStocks through the search function.In addition, Four.Meme has lowered the fundraising threshold for BNB, USDT, USD1, and UUSD to $10,000, aiming to provide Stock Meme creators with more asset options and a more flexible issuance method.
OpenAI launches the GPT-6.1 Sol model and Dots autonomous agents, with annual recurring revenue nearing $70 billion. Meanwhile, NVIDIA seeks insurers to help share financing risks for AI chips, while India plans to invest $25 billion to support domestic deep tech startups.
Odaily reports: U.S. President Trump recently once again advocated cutting U.S. interest rates to 1% or even lower, arguing that lower financing costs can boost corporate investment, reduce government debt costs, and enhance U.S. economic competitiveness. Meanwhile, on September 16, the Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, the first rate hike since July 2023. Boston Fed President Collins subsequently expressed support for the hike, saying that inflation risks remain above the Fed's 2% target and that monetary policy needs to remain somewhat restrictive to bring inflation down sustainably. (Reuters)
According to Cryptonoticias, the Bolivian government has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to establish a regulatory and supervisory framework for virtual assets to curb illicit capital outflows and strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing mechanisms. At present, the relevant documents have not yet specified the implementation timeline, the competent authority, or the specific legislative form. Meanwhile, the government is assessing the feasibility of integrating Tether (USDT) into the national payment system.
According to Decrypt, Solana treasury company DeFi Development Corp (DFDV) announced the acquisition of an additional 55,491 SOL tokens (approximately $5.78 million), bringing its total SOL holdings to approximately 2.389 million, representing a roughly 2% increase from August 27. Meanwhile, the company announced the launch of a $300 million ATM program for CHAD variable-rate Series C perpetual preferred shares, with New York broker R.F. Lafferty & Co. acting as the sole sales agent, and the proceeds intended primarily to further increase SOL holdings. The company noted that issuance will only occur when the price is at or above a $10 par value per share, with no mandatory selling requirements. CHAD's first issuance was completed on September 8, raising approximately $11 million, with Fundstrat founder Tom Lee participating in the subscription. As CHAD comprises non-convertible preferred shares, any subsequent issuances will not dilute the equity of common shareholders.
Odaily News: Citrini analyst Jukan shared a research report from Tianfeng Securities and stated that the US government needs to maintain its leading position in AI, so once it enters the AI race, it is very difficult to truly stop. Jukan believes that recent calls by Anthropic and OpenAI to slow down AI development cannot be viewed merely as safety initiatives; behind them may simultaneously lie multiple considerations, including the inability to slow the competition and the desire to entrench leading advantages through safety regulation.Jukan further pointed out that the relevant "AI slowdown" calls ostensibly stem from safety testing, operational monitoring, and third-party verification being unable to keep pace with model iteration speed, which in the short term may suppress market sentiment in the AI sector and lower market expectations for next-generation models. Another possibility is that the industry remains bullish on AI in the long term but wants to postpone the next round of large-scale R&D investment, prioritize commercializing existing products, and reduce pressure on infrastructure and capital expenditure. He believes the AI race is essentially akin to a "prisoner's dilemma" — all parties want to slow down, but none dares to be the first to stop, lest they lose their technological, customer, and financing advantages.Jukan also noted that Anthropic and OpenAI's recent emphasis on recursive self-improvement (RSI) is related to AI having already begun assisting in the development of next-generation AI, accelerating model iteration speed. Meanwhile, in OpenAI's internal testing, incidents reportedly occurred in which Agents collaborated to escape the sandbox and intrude into Hugging Face production servers. Jukan believes that as model releases require bearing expensive evaluation, certification, and continuous auditing costs, large labs are better positioned to absorb these fixed costs, while smaller teams may face higher barriers to entry as a result. If leading labs further participate in setting evaluation standards, industry barriers may continue to rise.
Odaily News: Digital asset trading platform Gate has released its August 2026 Transparency Report. The report shows that in August, multiple Gate business lines received recognition from institutional data providers including CoinDesk, CryptoQuant, CryptoRank, and DefiLlama. Among them, Gate's stock perpetual contract trading volume grew 308% month-over-month, maintaining triple-digit growth for three consecutive months; the RWA perpetual contract open interest (OI) market share reached 49.6%, ranking first globally among centralized trading platforms. Meanwhile, Gate's 24-hour spot and derivatives trading volume stood at approximately $9.5 billion, with open interest reaching $12.48 billion, both ranking among the global top three; 30-day net inflow reached $308.1 million, ranking second among mainstream trading platforms.In terms of traditional financial asset trading, Gate's CFD business continues to expand its asset coverage, now covering 680 trading pairs, spanning major TradFi assets including forex, metals, energy, indices, and stocks. In terms of overall TradFi product layout, Gate now covers over 1,000 TradFi assets, with stock derivatives covering more than 360 underlying assets, both ranking first globally, further enhancing its multi-asset trading matrix.As digital assets and traditional financial markets continue to converge, Gate is steadily expanding diverse trading scenarios including stocks, RWA, CFD, and derivatives. By enriching asset supply and trading tools, it is further improving its comprehensive trading infrastructure that connects digital assets with traditional financial markets.