Crypto News

Bermuda has selected WalletConnect to enable crypto payments for Premier Tickets (PTIX), its first merchant in a planned onchain economy. The ticketing platform is expected to begin accepting payments in the second quarter of 2027, using Stellar as the settlement network and WalletConnect Pay as the checkout layer. The initiative follows Bermuda’s selection of Stellar in May 2026 and WalletConnect Pay’s addition of Stellar merchant support in September. Bermuda crypto payments are intended to help local businesses reduce reliance on card processing, which can cost merchants 3% to 5%, and in some cases as much as 10%. The fees PTIX will pay and expected savings have not been disclosed. Bermuda’s broader plan includes moving digital asset activity, wages and government fees onchain. The PTIX rollout is an initial test, and the number of merchants that may follow remains unclear. For traders, the announcement is a potential real-world adoption milestone for Stellar, but it provides no transaction-volume or revenue data yet. Bermuda crypto payments are therefore more relevant as a long-term adoption signal than as an immediate trading catalyst.

UBS cut its 12-month KOSPI target to 7,500 from 8,000, citing concerns that a stronger South Korean won could weigh on corporate earnings. The revised KOSPI outlook reflects currency-related pressure on listed companies, though the report provides no further details on the scale or timing of the expected impact.

A crypto whale sold 694,300 HYPE worth about $53.27 million over five days, according to on-chain monitoring platform Lookonchain. The sale may add near-term supply pressure to HYPE and draw traders’ attention to price action and exchange flows. The report does not identify the whale or say whether the tokens were transferred to exchanges, so the sale alone does not confirm further selling.

MEXC reported that trading volume for AI-related tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs rose 88% month over month in September, compared with 63% growth for non-AI assets. AI-related assets made up 48% of tokenized stock and ETF spot volume, up from 44% in August. The figures reflect activity on MEXC, not the wider stock or crypto markets. Trading expanded beyond chips into AI infrastructure. Semiconductor and memory volume increased 100%, optical communications and networking rose 99%, power and energy equipment gained 96%, and computing infrastructure and data centers advanced 91%. Semiconductor and memory assets accounted for 77% of trading volume among MEXC’s 10 most-traded Stock and Index Futures. Micron, SK hynix and Sandisk led the group. Separately, Pre-IPO Futures volume grew 60%, while Japanese Stock Futures volume increased 47%. MEXC also added Taiwanese stocks to its coverage. The report highlights rising demand for AI-related tokenized stock trading and broader TradFi-linked products on the exchange. It does not establish a direct impact on cryptocurrency prices or overall market stability.

The AI investment boom is reshaping the U.S. economy, but it has not yet translated into broadly stronger growth. PIMCO says higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions are weighing more heavily on rate-sensitive sectors, including housing, small businesses, highly indebted companies and traditional business investment. Large technology companies, particularly hyperscalers, may be less affected because they have strong cash flows and invest in shorter-lived assets. Imports of AI equipment also ease pressure on U.S. capacity, while infrastructure bottlenecks could spread investment over time. Wider credit spreads, however, may make financing harder for riskier borrowers, including some AI firms. The result is an uneven economic adjustment: AI spending supports demand while higher borrowing costs constrain other parts of the economy. The balance between these forces will shape how much further rate pressure slows U.S. growth.

Bitcoin’s recovery has revived hopes of a crypto bull run, but the outlook for November remains uncertain. Coinbase Research said Bitcoin gained 43% in the third quarter, while warning that holders who bought at higher prices may sell as the market rebounds. Around 1.7 million BTC last moved between $89,600 and $93,700, a range that could bring renewed selling if prices return to it. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75%–4% on October 28. Two policymakers preferred a quarter-point increase, leaving traders without a clear signal of near-term rate cuts. Elevated rates may weigh on speculative assets, although Bitcoin’s direction will also depend on market demand and positioning. The article argues that a lasting crypto bull run needs more than a brief Bitcoin rally or a short squeeze. Traders should watch whether spot buying persists, weekly US spot Bitcoin ETF flows remain positive, and Bitcoin holds gains through pullbacks. Ethereum and other major altcoins rising consistently would suggest the recovery is spreading across the market. November’s historical cycle pattern may attract attention, but it does not predict when a market low or bull run will begin.

Bullshot, infiniFi and Melee announced new developments across crypto launchpads, DeFi and prediction markets. BNB Chain-based AI meme coin launch platform Bullshot said on 27 October that it had raised $7.7 million. P2 Ventures and Animoca Brands co-led the round, with AWS and B1 Ventures among the participants. Bullshot also launched a points system. Its platform offers no-code token launches, bonding-curve trading and automatic migration to PancakeSwap, alongside anti-sniping and liquidity-lock features. DeFi protocol infiniFi is offering increased points rewards for deposits through its Points Program. Users can deposit USDC and mint iUSD, with funds allocated across strategies and protocols including Aave, Pendle and Ethena. The protocol has said it plans to hold its token generation event in the fourth quarter of 2026. Its planned INFI allocation assigns 45% to the ecosystem, 20% each to the team and investors, and 15% to the foundation. The new points allocation is fixed and will not be diluted by new participants. Solana-based prediction market Melee launched its beta on 27 October. Users can create markets on topics including sports, crypto and politics. Melee has raised $3.5 million and uses a bonding-curve-style pricing mechanism. These developments add new incentives and products for users, but the article does not report token launches or market-moving price data for the platforms. Any near-term trading effect is therefore likely to be limited and project-specific.

Bitcoin Core developers disclosed three vulnerabilities on October 28, identified through AI-assisted research by Project Loupe. The flaws could crash some non-Linux nodes, gradually exhaust memory, or corrupt blockchain undo data in extreme conditions. Fixes have been released across four maintained Bitcoin Core branches, though some 32-bit systems and nodes using FAT32 storage remain affected by the undo-file issue. The disclosures come as traders assess macroeconomic and derivatives risks. The Federal Reserve held rates at 3.75%–4.00%, while two officials favored a 25-basis-point hike. About $12.4 billion in Bitcoin options are due to expire, potentially increasing hedging activity and volatility, though expiry alone does not indicate a likely price direction. The patched Bitcoin Core flaws add a network-security issue to an already busy week for BTC traders.

South Korea’s KOSPI fell about 40% from its 9,114.55-point high on 22 June to 5,469.47 on 26 October, before recovering to 5,937.66 on 29 October. The sharp decline has left many young investors cutting household spending and taking extra work to manage losses. A 26-year-old office worker said he lost the equivalent of two months’ salary and capped his weekly spending at 20,000 won. Other investors have turned to online “beggar rooms”, where members monitor one another’s spending, and have taken part-time jobs. Some reported losses in Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and leveraged ETFs. Financial risks among younger investors have grown alongside the sell-off. Their margin-financing balances rose 2.4 times, from 1.76 trillion won at the end of 2024 to 4.19 trillion won by the end of June. Trading losses in single-stock leveraged exchange-traded products at 10 brokerages reached 2.32 trillion won by 14 August. The market downturn is also weighing on consumer spending: credit-card payments at restaurants fell 8% year on year during 3–9 October. Analysts warn that borrowing to invest in a high-interest-rate environment could worsen household finances and weaken consumption. For crypto traders, the report points to a possible indirect risk: falling asset values and tighter household budgets may reduce appetite for speculative investments, though it does not report a direct crypto-market move.

Server depreciation assumptions are emerging as a key risk to Big Tech earnings amid the AI investment boom. Reuters Breakingviews estimates that if Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft each shortened server useful-life estimates by one year, their combined 2027 net income could fall by about $36 billion. At current valuation multiples, the theoretical market-cap impact would approach $800 billion. The companies use different schedules. Amazon shortened the useful life of certain servers and networking equipment from six years to five in 2025, adding an expected $1.4 billion to depreciation expense and cutting net income by $1 billion. Meta extended the estimated life of most such assets to 5.5 years, lowering projected 2025 depreciation by $2.92 billion and increasing net income by $2.59 billion, or $1 per share. Alphabet generally uses six years; Microsoft applies a two-to-six-year range depending on the asset. The issue matters because faster AI hardware upgrades could make equipment obsolete sooner, while data-centre capital spending is running several times higher than depreciation. Changes in server depreciation schedules can materially affect reported earnings without changing cash flow immediately, making comparisons between tech companies harder and raising questions about future earnings quality.

Tom Lee said on X that he agrees with Rick Rieder’s view that rate hikes cannot resolve oil supply shocks or the shortage of housing supply. Higher rates may also increase investment income and boost demand, potentially adding to inflationary pressure. The comments challenge calls for further Federal Reserve tightening. For crypto traders, the debate over rate hikes matters because changing expectations for Fed policy can affect risk appetite and digital-asset prices, although the post itself gave no direct crypto-market forecast.

Arkham Intelligence says the CryptoBilis Ledger drainer stole $95.35 million from 1,486 addresses between October 7 and 9. Most of the funds—$80.60 million—were taken in 51 minutes on October 9. The attacker has moved $13.84 million in the past 48 hours, while at least $69.19 million has passed through swaps and cross-chain bridges. Arkham traced 9,529 ETH, worth $23.27 million, to Tornado Cash deposits. It identified $30.44 million in remaining tagged holdings, including $10 million in USDT frozen by Tether. Ledger previously said confirmed thefts involved devices bought through Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, where an unauthorized implant could capture recovery phrases. Ledger has not independently confirmed the total losses or affected customer count. The incident may weigh on confidence in hardware-wallet security, although its direct effect on broader crypto markets appears limited.

At TOKEN2049 Singapore, ChangeNOW hosted four panel discussions, a series of NOW Effect interviews and a keynote by Chief Strategy Officer Pauline Shangett. The sessions brought together speakers from MetaMask, Trezor, WalletConnect and other crypto projects to discuss crypto super apps, wallet security, transaction infrastructure, privacy and AI’s role in media and search. Shangett argued that mainstream users should be able to use crypto without managing networks or gas fees, and described super apps as a way to combine financial services in one product. Panelists also debated whether payments, trading or broader services could drive regular use. ChangeNOW TOKEN2049 coverage included discussions of cross-border payments, DeFi, stablecoins and blockchain usability. The event content is due to be released in recorded form.

An on-chain address with reported cumulative profits of about $195 million has added roughly $7.96 million to its SILVER short position. The new position was opened at an average price of about $52.7033, according to Odaily monitoring. The report does not specify the trader’s total SILVER exposure or whether the position is currently profitable. The move signals a bearish stance on SILVER from one large trader, but does not by itself establish a broader market trend.

Hyperliquid will change how TWAP orders with stop prices work in its next network upgrade, according to Jeff. Instead of cancelling the remaining schedule when the market crosses a set price boundary, a Hyperliquid TWAP order will pause. It can resume if the price returns to the permitted range before the original execution window ends; otherwise, traders will need to place a new order. Hyperliquid’s TWAP tool splits large orders into smaller trades executed over time. It currently supports schedules from five minutes to seven days, with a minimum order size of $100. For example, a two-hour HYPE buy order with an $80 upper limit will pause if the mark price rises to $81, then resume if it falls to $79 within the two-hour window. The same rule applies to sell orders with a minimum price.

Lookonchain reported that a trader with a 100% win rate opened a 25x leveraged long position of 19,491 ETH, worth about $45.34 million. The position was showing an unrealised profit of $315,000 at the time of the report. The trader has won all five completed trades, with cumulative profits of $4.6 million. The ETH long is a single trader’s position, not evidence of broad market demand; its high leverage also increases the risk of liquidation if ETH prices fall.

Knox Ridley argues that US economic growth remains above trend even as inflation has exceeded the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. He says rising bond yields signal that markets see Fed policy as too accommodative, while the US Dollar Index has broken above resistance near 101.8 after months of consolidation. The article also maintains that stocks could continue rising for months or years, with artificial intelligence expected to lead the gains. It does not discuss cryptocurrencies directly, but higher yields and a stronger dollar could weigh on crypto prices by reducing demand for risk assets. Crypto traders will be watching Treasury yields, the dollar and Fed signals for clues about market liquidity and risk appetite.

Anthropic says it recorded an operating profit in its most recent quarter, while improving revenue efficiency. The company’s expenses declined as a share of revenue, and compute costs—the largest expense—fell from more than 250% of revenue to 48% on a quarterly basis. Anthropic is also catching up with OpenAI in computing capacity, but that expansion brings substantial future cost commitments. Aswath Damodaran highlights three risks: high operating leverage, contractual spending obligations and dependence on continued growth to meet those obligations. Anthropic’s improving margins are a positive sign, but the company’s financial outlook remains sensitive to growth and spending. Anthropic and OpenAI’s competition for AI computing capacity may also keep investment costs high.

Gate and Komainu have expanded their institutional partnership, combining Komainu’s regulated custody with Gate’s CrossEx platform for trading across nine exchanges: Gate, Binance, Bybit, OKX, Deribit, Kraken, Hyperliquid, Lighter and Aster. The Gate-Komainu integration lets institutions use a shared margin pool without transferring assets to each exchange, while assets remain in segregated custody with Komainu through its Off-Exchange Settlement service. CrossEx offers a unified API and account-level margin and risk management. The firms say the service supports spot, margin and USDT-margined perpetual trading across more than 12,600 pairs, with cross-exchange transfers for 15 assets. The partnership aims to reduce capital fragmentation and operational overhead for institutional traders, including funds and market makers. Further venue integrations are planned.

WTI crude oil is approaching a breakout after weeks of narrowing price swings, forming a converging triangle between about $93 and $105.50 a barrel. A move above $105.50 could bring the March and April highs of $117–$119 into focus. A drop below $93 would signal a break in the recent bullish structure. The article says oil has risen about 80% this year amid Middle East supply risks, while Iranian budget planning reportedly assumes oil at $130 a barrel. For Bitcoin, the direction of the oil breakout matters. Higher oil prices could fuel inflation, keep bond yields elevated and limit expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, weighing on risk assets. Since the conflict began, Bitcoin’s 30-day correlation with oil has turned negative, at -0.47, while its correlation with the Nasdaq 100 is 0.64. Bitcoin was trading near $79,890 at the time of writing. A break below $93 could ease inflation concerns and support risk assets, including Bitcoin. Traders are watching the WTI breakout, US Treasury yields and the Nasdaq for signals. The triangle does not predict direction, so the near-term Bitcoin outlook remains conditional.

Uniswap’s network activity has surged alongside UNI’s price recovery. Santiment recorded 14,591 daily active addresses, a one-year high, and 13,137 new addresses—the biggest growth spike since September 2020. Recent Uniswap v4 upgrades include VolatilePair Hooks, which adjust swap fees to market conditions, and Aggregator Hooks, which connect external liquidity sources such as Curve, Fluid and PancakeSwap. Fees from trades routed through these sources contribute to UNI burns. Unichain is also scheduled to receive its OP Enterprise upgrade on October 29. UNI is trading near $7. Santiment identifies $7 as support and $7.50 as the next level to watch; holding support alongside strong activity could help the token move towards $8. Uniswap has generated more than $6 billion in cumulative protocol fees, including nearly $89 million over the past 30 days. Analyst Defi Rocketeer sees a possible retest of $10–$12 if the wider crypto market stabilizes, with $19–$20 as a potential resistance zone after a clean breakout.

XRP traded near $1.29 on Thursday, falling below the closely watched $1.30 support as bearish selling pressure persisted. The move followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates at 3.75%–4.00%; inflation concerns and a cautious, hawkish tone weighed on risk appetite. CoinGlass data put XRP’s long-to-short ratio at 0.82, indicating that short positions outweighed longs in the tracked data. Its funding rate remained positive at 0.0036%, showing that longs were still paying shorts for leveraged exposure—a mixed derivatives signal. CryptoQuant indicators also showed selling dominance in XRP spot and futures markets, alongside large whale orders. XRP’s daily Relative Strength Index was 40, below the neutral 50 level, while the MACD had edged into positive territory. The token remains below key moving averages. Resistance sits near $1.333, $1.357 and $1.372; reclaiming this range could improve the near-term outlook. A daily close below $1.30 would increase the risk of further losses. XLM markets also showed seller dominance, with its rebound yet to attract sustained demand.

Tether says 15 mining companies, ASIC manufacturers and mining pools have committed to build and maintain integrations for its open-source Mining Development Kit (MDK). Participants include Bitdeer, BITMAIN, Canaan, MicroBT, Foundry Digital, F2Pool, Luxor Technology, OCEAN, Proto and Stratum V2. Each participant is expected to create an MDK Worker, a software bridge connecting its systems to the shared interface. Tether aims for the Bitcoin mining kit to let applications and AI agents monitor, troubleshoot and optimize equipment across providers, with eventual infrastructure control also planned. The integrations are commitments, not completed deployments, so MDK’s practical reach will depend on delivery and ongoing maintenance. Tether targeted MDK version 0.11 for the October 23–24 Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano and a stable 1.0 release by the end of 2026. The company said its QVAC mining agent is already operating on MDK.

Binance plans to launch six USDT-margined perpetual contracts on 29 October 2026: EWZSUSDT, SMRUSDT, OXYUSDT, AMGNUSDT, PFEUSDT and MELIUSDT. The contracts are scheduled to go live in stages between 10:05 and 10:30 UTC, with leverage of up to 20x and settlement in USDT. The Binance perpetual contracts add trading access to these underlying assets, but the announcement does not specify funding rates or other contract details.

Bithumb said an unauthorised person accessed its internal Daou Office mobile-work system on 27 October, exposing information linked to 6,444 users and 715 employees and business partners. The exchange said 5,600 users’ records were encrypted and unreadable, while information concerning 844 users was readable. The exposed data may include names, phone numbers, email addresses, resident registration and driver’s licence numbers, bank account details, and identity-document copies. Bithumb said the system is separate from its trading and customer-account databases and that it has found no direct intrusion into those systems. It has blocked access, disabled the affected system, reported the incident, and increased real-time monitoring of unusual trades and withdrawals. The Bithumb data breach raises privacy and account-security concerns, but the company has not reported a direct impact on customer assets or trading operations.

An address recorded an 80% win rate across 30 kPEPE trades between 15 and 29 October 2026, according to Odaily monitoring. On 29 October, it opened and closed both long and short positions: a long position of about $180,000 and a short position of roughly $1.96 million. The reported closing amounts were about $180,000 for the long and $1.94 million for the short. The figures describe one trader’s activity and do not establish a broader market trend. kPEPE’s short-term price impact is therefore uncertain, and the reported win rate does not guarantee future performance.

Gate ETF launched four 3x leveraged trading pairs on October 29: SOXS3L/USDT and SOXS3S/USDT, which provide leveraged exposure to SOXS in opposite directions, and CBRS3L/USDT and CBRS3S/USDT, which do the same for CBRS. The launch expands leveraged ETF trading choices on Gate. Gate is running a trading campaign from October 29 to November 7, with 60,000 USDT in total rewards. Tasks include a first-trade offer, cumulative trading milestones, a shared trading pool and referrals. Eligible users who make a first trade worth at least 100 USDT may receive a 10 USDT ETF fee rebate coupon. Other rewards include up to 100 USDT for trading milestones and a share of a pool of up to 30,000 USDT, with an individual cap of 500 USDT. The announcement concerns leveraged ETF products and does not indicate a broader change in crypto-market conditions.

Wendy’s shares rose more than 15% after Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and partners submitted a $1.4 billion, non-binding offer to take the fast-food chain private. The proposal values Wendy’s at $7.35 per share in cash, about 20% above its Oct. 27 closing price. Trian and affiliates already control about 16.3% of the company’s outstanding shares. Wendy’s board has appointed an independent committee to review the unsolicited offer; no deal has been agreed. The bid comes as the company faces declining comparable sales, higher operating costs and stronger competition. Wendy’s has also announced plans to close as many as 358 locations in 2026 and reported approximately $2.7 billion in long-term debt as of June. Investors are watching for further deal developments and Wendy’s third-quarter earnings, due Nov. 5. The $7.35 offer provides a potential valuation benchmark, but the non-binding proposal leaves the outcome uncertain.

IGO reported a strong September quarter, with CEO Ivan Vella saying several operational targets were met. At Greenbushes, the CGP3 plant reached nameplate capacity, and the mine returned to its high-grade core. The operation recorded production of 435,000 tonnes during the quarter. IGO also said Nova was on track to finish above the life-of-mine guidance upgraded in July. The call excerpt reports group underlying EBITDA of $176, but cuts off before giving further details or specifying the unit. The update highlights operating progress at IGO’s lithium assets; it provides no direct information about cryptocurrency markets.