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Crypto news: Bitcoin, markets, regulation, exchanges and the projects behind them.
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Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has secured investment from Standard Chartered, Circle and Ripple as it pushes beyond its crypto trading roots to build a broader financial technology platform spanning payments and tokenized assets, according to a report from CoinDesk.
Arbitrum, the Ethereum layer-2 network, has joined Global Dollar, the Paxos-led stablecoin group, to back the Paxos-issued USDG token and earn a share of reserve income, as new stablecoin alliances compete for distribution, users and reserve economics.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has raised an undisclosed sum at a $25 billion valuation, extending its March investment round. The funding, announced Tuesday, includes participation from Standard Chartered's SC Ventures, Qube Research and Technologies, Ripple, and stablecoin issuer Circle.
Bitcoin is trading about 32% below its all-time high of $126,000 one year after that record was set, marking a notably milder bear market than previous cycles, according to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin was rejected at the $87,000 level for the third time since September 23, pulling back to about $85,600, even as the Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high. Treasury yields continued their upward march, creating a mixed signal across major asset classes.
Rain, a stablecoin payments infrastructure provider, filed an application on Monday to establish a national trust bank in New York, seeking to offer fiduciary custody of digital assets and reserve management for stablecoin issuers. The application places Rain among a growing queue of crypto firms seeking federal trust charters, even as the OCC faces a lawsuit over its crypto charter policies.
The Solana Foundation has unveiled an open-source program that allows institutions to settle trades in seconds rather than days, with JPMorgan providing key input on the initiative.
One of Ethereum's main validator clients updated its software hours before a Sepolia test that will raise the amount of work each block can hold to 200 million gas.
The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has withdrawn two proposed rules that would have required reporting for certain cryptocurrency transactions, marking a significant rollback of digital-asset regulation under the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda. The agency scrapped a rule that would have mandated reporting of crypto transfers to private wallets exceeding $10,000 and also pulled a 2023 proposal that would have classified crypto mixing transactions as a primary money-laundering concern.
A Chinese organized crime syndicate laundered more than $1 billion stolen in multiple cryptocurrency exploits for North Korea's Lazarus Group, according to pseudonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who said he infiltrated the network by posing as a customer.
A planned 24/7 trading venue will bring more than 60 major U.S. stocks, including Nvidia and Tesla, onto a blockchain, allowing investors to trade tokenized versions of the shares against stablecoins through liquidity pools rather than a traditional order book.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in proposing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, following Congress's failure to advance the CLARITY market structure bill. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency would proceed under President Trump's direction using its existing statutory authorities.
S&P Global Ratings has introduced a risk assessment framework for digital asset lending vaults, as deposits in the fast-growing sector climb to roughly $10 billion. The framework evaluates vaults across six risk categories, including portfolio credit quality, liquidity mismatch and blockchain risk.
Bitcoin fluctuated around $86,000 on Monday after recording its highest weekly close in eight months, but the price was rejected near that level as US bond yields resumed their climb, creating low-timeframe resistance at the start of the US trading session.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a 3x leveraged exchange-traded fund that tracks the price performance of bitcoin and ether, according to a report from CoinDesk.
The US Treasury Department has cracked down on a fundraising network linked to Hamas, alleging that the operation raised more than $2 million through purported humanitarian charities and that hundreds of thousands of dollars of that amount was moved using cryptocurrency.
Payward, the operator of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered with Singapore Gulf Bank to launch a platform for 24/7 institutional digital asset settlement, initially targeting select clients in Asia and the Gulf region with round-the-clock U.S. dollar settlement capabilities.
Bitcoin rose 1% to just above $86,000 early Monday after a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report led traders to abandon bets on an October Federal Reserve rate hike. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. employers added only 29,000 jobs in September, far below the 84,000 forecast, while unemployment ticked up to 4.2% and wage growth slowed to 3% year-over-year, the slowest pace since May 2021.
Ethereum's staking entry queue has grown to a 25-day wait, with approximately 1.5 million ETH lined up to be staked, while the exit queue has reached its longest point in 2026, according to on-chain data.
Zcash's NU7 network upgrade went live on testnet on October 4, giving developers several weeks to assess faster 25-second block times and other protocol changes before a planned mainnet activation in November.
Zcash's long-awaited network upgrade, NU7, has gone live on the public testnet ahead of schedule, introducing 25-second blocks and altering the distribution of transaction fees. The upgrade, which aims to make private payments up to three times faster, is slated for mainnet activation in November, pending a developer review on October 20.
OKXICE, a joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange operator OKX and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a tokenized stock trading platform that would operate around the clock. The platform, described as a tokenized securities venue, intends to offer blockchain-based shares of more than 60 US-listed companies under the SEC's recently introduced innovation exemption.
OKXICE, a joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it intends to launch a tokenized securities venue (TSV) that would enable round-the-clock trading of tokenized shares in more than 60 US-listed companies, under the SEC's recently introduced innovation exemption.
Cryptocurrency mogul Changpeng Zhao, the richest man in crypto with an estimated fortune of $US114 billion ($164 billion), is living like royalty in Abu Dhabi, where the pardoned Binance co-founder moves “like a head of state”, flying around Asia on a private jet to advise governments on crypto regulation.
Blast, the Ethereum layer-2 network that once held more than $2 billion in crypto assets, is shutting down. Assets on the network have plunged 98%, CoinDesk reported, as activity fades, costs rise and larger platforms such as Coinbase and Robinhood build networks of their own.
Bitcoin has risen above $86,000 as traders anticipate Friday's U.S. jobs report, while a sharp sell-off in French government bonds has added to pressure on the euro.
A Tether-backed project called Utexo is planning to support private USDT transfers, direct swaps between Bitcoin and USDT, and Bitcoin-backed loans, bringing the stablecoin back to its original blockchain more than a decade after USDT first launched on Bitcoin. The project aims to keep most transaction data off Bitcoin's public ledger, according to a report from CoinDesk.
South Korea's Financial Services Commission has proposed detailed regulations for issuing and trading tokenized securities, as the country's regulatory framework is set to take effect in February 2027.
Zano, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, has revealed that an attacker exploited a Gateway Address vulnerability to create 36.9 million unauthorized Zano (ZANO) tokens and Freedom Dollar (fUSD) tokens before the project opted to roll back its blockchain by roughly one month. The attacker first struck on Aug. 29, minting approximately 18.4 million ZANO, then repeated the exploit on Sept. 25 to create another 18.4 million ZANO and additional fUSD.
The Ethereum Foundation has launched zkAPI on mainnet, a privacy-preserving system that lets users pay for API services – including AI – without revealing their billing identity through zero-knowledge proofs.
The team behind Core Lightning, an open-source node software for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, has issued an urgent security warning after receiving reports of attackers targeting unpatched nodes running older versions.
NEAR Intents, a service built on the NEAR blockchain, has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to an individual it says stole $3.8 million in user funds, warning that the window for a responsible disclosure resolution is closing.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed easing rules governing how investment advisers and funds hold cryptocurrency, potentially clearing a regulatory hurdle that has prevented some firms from offering digital asset investments to clients.
European regulators are investigating whether Binance is lawfully serving customers in the European Union under a exemption in the bloc's crypto-asset regulation, according to a report from the Financial Times cited by Cointelegraph. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) alongside regulators in France, Germany and Greece are examining the exchange's use of reverse solicitation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Cryptocurrency wallet provider MetaMask has disclosed an ongoing security incident affecting some of its infrastructure, prompting the company to proactively exit affected validators in its non-custodial staking operations as a precautionary measure.
Dogecoin has entered the DeFi arena with the launch of a testnet for DogeOS, a platform designed to turn the meme coin into more than just a vehicle for payments and speculation. However, the project's applications currently depend on selected operators rather than Dogecoin miners, raising questions about its decentralization.
MetaMask said it is responding to a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure by exiting affected Ethereum staking validators as a precaution, and said it has not identified an immediate threat to wallets. An Ethereum security researcher estimates that about 0.36 ETH in rewards was diverted, while the exits cover validators holding roughly 523,000 ETH.
Brazil's state-owned oil company is using the Cardano blockchain to track sustainable aviation fuel and diesel, in a bid to ensure emissions reductions are not double-counted. The initiative records the origin, recipient, and claim status of each environmental benefit on the blockchain, allowing passengers to calculate their fuel-related carbon offset and receive a certificate linked to the original fuel certificate.
The United Kingdom has opened a five-month application window for crypto firms seeking to operate under its forthcoming regulatory framework, with a deadline of February 2027. The window precedes the framework's planned introduction in October 2027, marking a key step in the country's long-awaited crypto regulation effort.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is updating its rules for transfer agents, a long-awaited move that aims to modernize how securities ownership is tracked. However, Joris Delanoue of Fairmint warns that if ownership data becomes fragmented across token wrappers, special-purpose vehicles, broker ledgers, and off-chain databases, the financial industry risks repeating the 'paperwork crisis' in a new technological form.
A regulated Brazilian fund operator that oversees $4 trillion has begun mirroring ownership of selected investment funds on the XRP Ledger, according to CoinDesk. The operator is keeping its existing database as the official record of ownership.
Robinhood has unveiled a new AI-powered trading agent capable of executing trades on behalf of customers around the clock, including at 2 am, alongside the introduction of crypto perpetual futures with up to 10x leverage. The move, announced at a launch event on September 29, is part of a broader push to attract active traders by expanding trading hours and adding sophisticated crypto products.
Bitwise has launched the first US spot exchange-traded product tracking NEAR, the token of the NEAR Protocol, giving investors direct exposure through a fund that began trading on NYSE Arca.
A Vietnamese national has been charged with money laundering for his role in a 'pig butchering' cryptocurrency scam that defrauded a victim of $16 million. Trung Nguyen Van, 37, was arrested on September 24 after entering the United States through San Ysidro, California, and attempting to board a flight to Taiwan. Court documents allege Van's cryptocurrency wallet received approximately $53 million from wire fraud schemes targeting US citizens between February 2018 and December 2024, including at least $24 million linked to known pig butchering operations.
Bitcoin has outperformed gold, with analysts suggesting a surge to $100,000 is in play, according to a CoinDesk day-ahead outlook published Sept. 29.
Aave, a leading DeFi lending protocol, rose 11 percent on speculation over a token burn, while the broader crypto market advanced even as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.234 percent.
Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange platform, is planning an initial public offering this year, aiming to raise $500 million at a valuation of up to $6 billion, according to a report.
Anthropic intends to spend $518 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to a prospectus reviewed by Reuters, yet pre-IPO perpetual contracts on cryptocurrency exchanges remained largely unaffected by the news.