Crypto News

An investment analyst sees potential for a pre-election market rally despite political uncertainty. The outlook is supported by historical post-midterm strength and interest rates that have stabilised below 5%. The analyst says a sharp sell-off in technology and artificial intelligence stocks may have exhausted some selling pressure. They are using hedges to manage volatility, trimming expensive holdings and shifting towards selected companies, including Alphabet (GOOGL) and Micron (MU). Strong results from major technology firms, particularly Alphabet and Amazon (AMZN), could help revive interest in AI and tech stocks and support a broader rally. These are the analyst’s views, not confirmed market outcomes.

Hong Kong stock-linked contracts extended their losses on 26 October, according to market data. MINIMAX fell 7.2% in one hour and 5.3% over 24 hours to 22.36 USDT. HK0992 dropped 6.2% over 24 hours to 21.24 USDT, while ZHIPU lost 5.7% in one hour to 61.55 USDT. The declines point to selling pressure in these Hong Kong stock-linked contracts, but the report provides no evidence of a broader move across the cryptocurrency market.

A Connecticut tax preparer has been charged with allegedly filing false cryptocurrency loss claims for clients who never owned the assets. The IRS says Yuridia Trujillo’s business, Yuri’s LLC, filed at least 4,335 tax returns from 2017 to 2024, with alleged false claims involving retirement contributions, dependent care, businesses and rental properties as well as crypto losses. Prosecutors also allege that she used Form 8888 to divert some clients’ tax refunds into bank accounts belonging to herself and an associate. A federal grand jury brought 19 counts related to false income tax returns on October 7. Trujillo was arrested two days later and released on $50,000 bail pending trial. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Senator Bam Aquino and Representative Leila de Lima are urging the Philippine House of Representatives to pass the CADENA Act, a bill that would record national government spending on an immutable digital ledger. They renewed their appeal as Congress reviews the proposed 2027 national budget. The Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1506 in December 2025, but the House version remains pending in committee. De Lima filed a matching bill to avoid delays in reconciling separate versions. House progress has slowed as lawmakers work to combine several blockchain-related proposals into one substitute bill. The lawmakers say the CADENA Act would let the public track government disbursements, discourage corruption and help ensure emergency funds reach frontline services. The legislation’s next step depends on House deliberations and whether it advances from committee.

The crypto market roundup highlights mixed trading signals. Retail investors transferred Bitcoin (BTC) to Binance at the highest rate in six months, while whale inflows continued to decline, pointing to differing behaviour among market participants. Separately, institutions that have invested in Aave and Worldcoin transferred 16.1 million WLD and 35,000 AAVE to several centralised exchanges (CEXs), a development traders may monitor for potential selling pressure. StandX also launched a page for checking DUSD airdrop allocations. Meanwhile, 22 companies are now reportedly opposed to trading tokenised stocks on platforms associated with OKX and ICE. The headlines provide no further details on the transfers or the companies’ objections.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to report a combined 184.4 trillion won in operating profit for the third quarter of 2026, as demand for AI chips rises and memory prices strengthen. The forecast is more than double their combined 90.8 trillion won in operating profit in 2025. Samsung reported preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won on October 8, nearly eight times its result a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FnGuide expect SK Hynix to post 98.2 trillion won in revenue and 77 trillion won in operating profit. SK Hynix is due to publish its results on Wednesday, followed by Samsung on Thursday. The outlook highlights the strength of the AI chip and memory semiconductor sector.

The open-source Zagitta/gpu-unlock project uses a Linux kernel module to raise FP16 and BF16 performance on NVIDIA Ampere consumer GPUs, including the RTX 3090 Ti, without modifying the vBIOS. In the project’s tests, the 3090 Ti’s BF16 performance rose from 87.50 to 157.41 TFLOPS, while TF32 increased from 42.58 to 82.61 TFLOPS. Community reports suggest the RTX 30 unlock can improve large language model prefill performance by roughly 14% to 36%, particularly for matrix-heavy workloads. Benefits are workload-dependent: decoding, INT8 inference and memory-bandwidth-limited tasks may see little improvement. The tool is experimental, currently focused on Linux, and may require disabling Secure Boot; compatibility and stability are not guaranteed. Reports of rising used prices for RTX 3090-series cards have fuelled concern that renewed local AI demand could make older GPUs more expensive, potentially reducing bargains for gamers. Claims that RTX 40-series cards receive similar gains remain unverified. The development may reshape GPU demand, but it has no direct, established impact on cryptocurrency prices.

Stablecoins and AI agents were prominent themes at Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) and TOKEN2049 Singapore, but institutional infrastructure drew much of the practical attention. At KBW, attendance was slightly higher than last year but below expectations, and nearly 40% of the 290 speakers came from finance, policy or asset-management services. Korean financial firms are pursuing stakes and partnerships with exchanges as the country works through legislation for digital assets and stablecoin issuance. A key dispute is whether banks must hold 51% of stablecoin issuers. NHN KCP demonstrated won stablecoin payments, while nine banks are involved in the Bank of Korea’s Project Hangang pilot. Distribution partnerships are also taking shape, including Naver–Upbit and Kakao–Kaia. AI agents featured heavily at both events, with speakers discussing trading, payments and tokenised assets. Stablecoins were described as a practical settlement option because agents cannot readily access bank accounts or credit cards. However, speakers acknowledged that meaningful agent transaction volumes have yet to emerge. At TOKEN2049, an invitation-only institutional gathering of about 250 executives focused on custody, tokenisation, liquidity and trading infrastructure. Coinbase completed its Deribit integration, while OKX and ICE sought SEC approval for tokenised trading of 63 US stocks. The events point to growing institutional competition over crypto rails, alongside a gap between enthusiasm for AI agents and their current real-world use.

Decentralised perpetuals exchange StandX has launched its airdrop checker, allowing users to verify their eligibility and DUSD allocation. StandX previously said it would wind down operations, would not issue a token, and would instead make a one-time DUSD airdrop. The checker’s launch gives eligible users a way to confirm their allocation; the announcement does not specify the distribution date or further operational details.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) responded to BNB Chain’s new Layer 1 (L1) plan on X with the phrase “many chains, one coin.” BNB Chain says the high-performance, EVM-compatible network is being developed for low-latency on-chain activity. Planned features include sub-second finality, native account abstraction, transaction pre-confirmations, reserved capacity across multiple lanes and on-chain privacy pools. The announcement provides no launch date or details on tokenomics. The BNB Chain L1 plan signals an effort to expand the ecosystem’s infrastructure, but its trading impact will depend on execution, adoption and whether BNB has a defined role in the new network.

EtherFi’s ETHFI buyback program is spending less than initially indicated, while many of the tokens it buys are distributed back to users and later sold. Since the week of 7 September, EtherFi Labs has sent $1.48 million to its Foundation for buybacks. By 18 October, the Foundation had purchased 1.81 million ETHFI at an average price of $0.692. The current pace of $225,000 a week equates to about $975,000 a month—roughly 27% below the initial monthly guidance of $1.33 million. The buybacks have not increased alongside EtherFi Cash spending, which rose from $27.6 million to $31 million a week over eight weeks. In addition, nearly all purchased ETHFI has reportedly gone to cash-back distributions. Over six weeks, the distribution contract paid out 1.83 million ETHFI, close to the amount bought back; recipients moved about 70% of those tokens out of Cash accounts. Weekly outflows exceeded buybacks by 7% in the week of 12 October. Unlike buy-and-burn programs or buybacks that remove tokens from circulation, EtherFi’s approach mainly rewards users and supports customer growth. A further potential revenue source for buybacks is tied to Cash loans on EtherFi’s Aave V4 instance reaching $50 million. Loans currently stand at $42.1 million, while borrowing revenue remains about $31,000 a week. Traders will be watching whether buyback spending rises, how the program is funded, and whether loan growth adds meaningful support for ETHFI.

Michael Saylor did not publish Strategy’s usual Bitcoin Tracker update over the weekend, potentially signaling that the company paused Bitcoin purchases last week. Strategy typically discloses a Bitcoin acquisition the day after the related Tracker information is posted. The absence of an update is not confirmation that buying stopped, and no purchase figures were provided.

California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has urged the SEC to revise its proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets,” warning it could weaken investor protection and limit state oversight of token offerings. DFPI Commissioner KC Mohseni said California opposes reducing state-level regulatory authority. The proposal would allow eligible issuers to raise up to $5 million over four years under a startup exemption, or up to $75 million in 12 months under a separate crypto fundraising exemption. Issuers would face disclosure requirements, and some would also need to provide financial statements and ongoing reports. Federal law would still let states pursue securities fraud and illegal broker or dealer activity. Ripple, Coinbase and Nasdaq support changes to the proposal. DFPI said its scam-tracking list has added nearly 200 crypto-related scams, up 30% from the previous year. The dispute could shape future US crypto regulation, but does not itself change the rules or directly affect trading.

The gold price fell 0.4% to $3,984.66 an ounce, while silver declined 0.18% to $53.84. The gold price move came alongside mixed performance across other markets: WTI crude fell 0.54% to $102.58 a barrel, and Brent crude dropped 0.29% to $115.31. European markets were mostly lower, while Germany’s DAX edged up 0.03%. The US dollar rose slightly against the offshore yuan and the yen. The figures were reported by Gate, which offers trading in traditional financial products alongside crypto assets.

Bitcoin briefly fell below the key $80,000 level early on October 26, touching lows of about $79,700–$79,800 before quickly rebounding. It was trading near $80,067 at around 8:16 a.m. Taipei time, down about 0.8% over 24 hours. The fast recovery suggests buyers are defending the $80,000 support zone, but Bitcoin’s repeated tests show that downside risks remain. Ether also weakened, reaching roughly $2,310–$2,315, but stayed above $2,300 and recovered to around $2,330. The latest dip was shallower than the weekend low of about $79,280 for Bitcoin, when roughly $436 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including about $404 million in long positions. Liquidations have since eased: CoinGlass recorded about $118 million in liquidations over the latest 24 hours, while the Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 50, indicating neutral sentiment. Traders are watching whether Bitcoin can hold above $80,000 and Ether can defend $2,300, alongside US market moves and spot Bitcoin ETF flows. These support levels may shape near-term risk appetite across crypto markets.

StandX has launched an airdrop checker, allowing users to see whether they qualify for the airdrop and check their allocation. The announcement was posted on X. StandX did not provide further details in the report about the claim date or token distribution.

The AI trade is under pressure as investors reassess the cost of financing a rapid expansion in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Meta narrowed its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $135 billion-$145 billion and expects fourth-quarter spending of $49 billion-$59 billion. The company has warned that it may need to raise hundreds of billions of dollars, prompting concerns that a wave of borrowing by AI firms could overwhelm bond-market demand and push financing costs higher. Credit stress is increasingly concentrated among weaker borrowers. US high-yield bond spreads reached a 17-month high, while CCC-rated yields rose to 15.85%, their highest since 2020. Hedge funds have also been cutting leverage, and crowded AI-related equity positions have suffered sharp losses. Goldman Sachs data showed its AI-related long-short basket had fallen about 55% from its June peak, wiping out its gains for the year. The pressure is not uniform. Barclays estimates AI-related credit assets total about $680 billion, and says spreads between issuers have widened as investors distinguish companies by funding needs and balance-sheet strength. Oracle, Meta, SpaceX and several data-centre operators have seen spreads widen more than the broader index, while shorter-dated bonds from Microsoft, Google and Amazon have been relatively resilient. For traders, the AI trade’s recovery depends not only on earnings but also on whether markets can absorb heavy bond issuance without further widening credit spreads. Higher borrowing costs and risk aversion could constrain AI-sector valuations and weigh on broader risk assets; continued differentiation among issuers may create opportunities as well as volatility.

Ariel Investments said its international and global equity portfolios underperformed their benchmarks in the third quarter of 2026. Information technology was the biggest drag, as memory-related stocks retreated from strong second-quarter gains. The portfolios also suffered from not holding energy producers and, in the global portfolio, from an overweight to oil-importing Asian markets. Ariel remains selective on AI investment, favouring suppliers such as semiconductor and power-equipment companies that benefit from demand without funding the full infrastructure buildout. It estimates infrastructure hosts have committed more than $1 trillion, while returns are still developing. The firm said GPU rental prices had risen about 32% year to date and token consumption had increased roughly 27 times year over year, indicators it sees as evidence that demand is absorbing available capacity. During the quarter, Ariel initiated a position in Qualcomm in its global portfolio, citing the potential for more AI processing on smartphones and other devices. It also highlighted new positions in Dynatrace, Sunny Optical and Komatsu. Looking ahead, the firm expects AI companies that turn investment into durable profits to outperform those whose valuations rely mainly on spending and expectations.

Asian stocks opened lower on Monday, 26 October. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 35.95 points, or 0.65%, to 5,514.35. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 281.18 points, or 0.45%, to 62,411.98. The declines point to a weaker start for Asian stocks, but the report provides no evidence of a direct connection to cryptocurrency markets.

Solana’s euro stablecoin supply rose by $22 million in the week ending October 25, 2026, more than the combined growth recorded on other blockchains tracked by Token Terminal. The increase equals about 2.4%–2.6% of the estimated $835 million–$916 million euro stablecoin market. Solana now holds an estimated 13.7%–14.8% of euro stablecoins, making it the second-largest network behind Ethereum. Its broader stablecoin value exceeds $15 billion, and more than 14 million addresses hold stablecoins on the network, up from fewer than 4 million in late 2024. Issuers on Solana include Circle’s EURC, Société Générale Forge’s EURCV and AllUnity’s EURAU. Their MiCA-compliant offerings, low transaction costs and payment integrations are supporting euro stablecoin activity. The rapid increase signals growing use of Solana for euro-denominated transfers and trading, though market-share estimates vary and supply remains sensitive to large mints or redemptions by a small number of issuers.

Ariel Focused Value returned 2.06% gross and 1.96% net in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, sharply trailing the Russell 1000 Value Index’s 13.87% gain and the S&P 500’s 15.20% rise. The concentrated value strategy said its limited technology exposure was the main reason for the gap as AI-related chipmakers surged. Micron rose 242% and Intel gained 216% during the quarter. Ariel Focused Value held only 1.6% in a single technology stock, Oracle, and said it remains wary of semiconductor companies’ cyclical, capital-intensive business models and high valuations. Its energy holdings fell 17%, while Lockheed Martin, Mosaic and Prestige Consumer Healthcare also declined. Generac and several other holdings gained, supported by company-specific factors. The firm said it added to FactSet and Bio-Rad, bought dental-equipment maker DENTSPLY Sirona, and sold J.M. Smucker. It argued that parts of the Russell 1000 Value Index have become exposed to the AI infrastructure trade, and presented Ariel Focused Value as a diversifying alternative focused on undervalued, cash-generative businesses. Ariel expects inflation and higher interest rates to favor hard assets and value stocks over time, while warning that market concentration has hurt near-term performance.

Ducat has introduced Turbo UNIT, a Cashu ecash version of its Bitcoin-backed UNIT stablecoin. Users deposit UNIT into Ducat’s Cashu mint and receive Turbo UNIT, which can be sent peer-to-peer via messages or QR codes without recording each payment on Bitcoin’s public ledger. Cashu uses blind signatures to make transactions harder to link to users’ identities and payment histories. UNIT’s issuance and Bitcoin collateral remain on Bitcoin, while the Cashu mint provides the off-chain payment layer. UNIT is a soft-pegged stablecoin issued using the Runes standard. Ducat requires at least 160% collateralization and sets liquidation at 135%. The token has typically traded between $1.01 and $1.04. Ducat says its closed mainnet alpha has processed more than 4 million transactions, vaulted over $700 million in Bitcoin, and issued more than $300 million in UNIT. The integration adds a private, potentially lower-cost payment use case, but users must trust the Cashu mint to redeem Turbo UNIT for UNIT. The mint’s redemption risk is distinct from the non-custodial vaults holding the underlying Bitcoin collateral.

Democrats are scaling back advertising in several Republican-leaning US House districts as fundraising challenges limit their ability to match Republican spending. House Majority PAC has cut advertising funds, suggesting a shift in campaign resources even as national polling averages show a slight Democratic advantage. Prediction markets currently favor Republicans in Kentucky’s 6th District, with a 53% probability of a Republican win, and Pennsylvania’s 1st District, at 55.5%. The article also points to close contests in Colorado’s 5th and Kansas’ 2nd Districts. These odds reflect market expectations, not confirmed election outcomes, and the article provides no trading-volume data.

Circle Match connects institutions with opposing USDC minting and redemption needs, allowing matched minting orders to receive fees paid by matched redemptions. But the service’s funding rules create a trade-off for treasury desks. Redeemers reserve USDC in a standard Circle Mint wallet. Mint-side participants must wire dollars that become restricted Match-only USDC, which cannot be sent directly on-chain. If an order fills, the institution receives regular USDC; unused restricted funds can be returned only through redemption to dollars by wire. Canceling an order therefore may not make funds immediately available for on-chain use. For traders and institutions, the value of Circle Match depends on more than the quoted fee rebate. They must weigh the likelihood of execution, time spent waiting, fallback costs and the opportunity cost of tying up liquidity. Order and execution records are needed to distinguish rolled orders from separate completed transactions and assess realized results. The update describes an operational change, not a change to USDC itself, and provides no transaction-volume or performance figures.

Arthur Hayes received $49.24 million in USDC after recent token sales, according to Onchain Lens. Galaxy Digital recently transferred $23.07 million to Hayes, contributing to the total USDC he received from trading desks and exchanges. The report does not identify the tokens sold or explain how Hayes may use the funds.

AI agents helped Ethereum researchers identify vulnerabilities in the planned Glamsterdam hard fork. The second Hoodi testnet rehearsal was cancelled after ChainSecurity found issues linked to EIPs 8037 and 8038 that could disrupt at least 13 DeFi contracts. Researchers from Eth Labs and the Ethereum Foundation coordinated AI agents through a GitHub message board to assess potential contract failures. A separate board is examining EIP-8198 for a future upgrade. Solana’s Alpenglow consensus upgrade went live on mainnet. Developer Anza said transaction finality fell from about 12.8 seconds to roughly 150 milliseconds, while the upgrade’s first phase changes validator voting and finalization. DeFi activity had not yet shown a clear response. Other developments included Starknet governance backing research into a possible post-quantum layer-1 network, with 93.52% of voting power supporting the proposal. Tether also faced a US Senate information request over a reported $6.3 million marketing deal. In weekly market performance, BTC fell 1.2% and ETH lost 1.9%, while STRK dropped 24.9%. The stories highlight AI-assisted crypto security, major network upgrades and ongoing regulatory scrutiny.

Pump.fun’s mobile app sharply narrowed its daily active trader gap with Fomo, a social trading platform on Solana. After Fomo recorded 105,727 daily active users on October 17, compared with 26,515 for Pump.fun, activity on both apps moved closer to 48,000–52,000 wallets in late October. Pump.fun reportedly led for four consecutive days, although figures for October 25 showed Fomo ahead, with 52,300 daily active wallets versus Pump.fun’s 48,400. The user-count gains have not translated into comparable trading activity. From October 21 to 24, Pump.fun’s volume was close to half of Fomo’s, while Fomo also maintained larger average swaps and higher overall volume. In September, Fomo’s daily revenue reached $1.76 million, compared with Pump.fun’s $1.1 million. Pump.fun is expanding its mobile trading app and plans to add perpetuals, gacha features and a cross-chain bridge. The rapid shift in Solana app usage suggests trader loyalty is fluid, but the volume gap indicates Pump.fun users may currently trade smaller amounts or less frequently.

Grayscale’s October 23 research note examines three crypto-AI infrastructure models: DATA for contributed training data, USD.AI for GPU-backed lending, and Pearl for AI computing linked to blockchain rewards. The report presents these as examples, not proof that the sector has achieved widespread adoption. The note highlights that AI tokens can represent very different business models and rights. For GPU lending, key risks include falling hardware values, concentrated borrowers and the ability to recover collateral after a default. For data networks, long-term viability depends on lawful, useful datasets and customers willing to keep paying. A functioning service does not automatically make its token valuable; holders need to understand whether a token provides governance, lending income or access to a service. Grayscale’s analysis suggests traders should assess AI tokens by their underlying customers, revenue, unit economics and enforceable claims—not by the AI label alone. Adoption and sustainable cash flows remain the key tests for these crypto-AI projects.

Lido says Ethereum ETP staking yields depend on how much ETH a product stakes, its fees and its liquidity arrangements. In a hypothetical example, a 100 ETH product with a 20 ETH unstaked buffer would earn staking rewards on only 80 ETH. At a 3% annual reward rate, that portion would generate 2.4 ETH before fees and other adjustments; these figures are illustrative, not a product forecast. An unstaked buffer can help an ETP meet redemptions, but it may reduce the ETH earning staking rewards. Native validator withdrawals rely on Ethereum’s network processes and queues, which can take time. Liquid staking tokens such as stETH offer a possible market exit without waiting for validators to withdraw, but selling depends on market depth and may involve price slippage, especially during periods of stress. Lido cites WisdomTree’s stETH-backed product while promoting liquid staking, so its comparison reflects a commercial interest. The note highlights why traders should compare Ethereum ETPs by staking allocation, net reward sharing, fees, liquidity and redemption terms—not headline yield alone.