Crypto News

Coinbase says it has opened its platform to AI agents, announcing the move in a post on X. The company did not provide further details in the announcement about which features are available or how agents can interact with its services. The development puts Coinbase AI agents in focus as crypto platforms explore ways to enable automated access and activity. No trading, product or market-impact details were disclosed.

Coinbase has opened access to AI agents, allowing users to connect an agent through a chat with a popular large language model. Users can choose which portfolio the AI agent may access, preview orders before execution and disconnect access at any time. The Coinbase feature offers traders a way to manage AI-assisted order workflows while retaining portfolio and execution controls. The announcement did not specify which assets or trading functions are supported.

Bitwise has asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to clarify when investment firms can rely on another party’s filing that a crypto asset is no longer part of an investment contract. In an October 21 supplemental letter on the proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework, the asset manager sought a distinction between an issuer submitting Form TR and other market participants relying on an unchallenged filing. It also requested protection for firms making reasonable, good-faith decisions if a filing is challenged later, and asked that the approach apply to relevant investment-company and investment-adviser definitions. The request reflects fund managers’ reliance on public information when assessing whether crypto assets can be held in investment products. Bitwise also argued that submitting Form TR should not, by itself, be treated as an admission about an asset’s prior legal status. The SEC has not adopted these proposals: the letter is an industry submission, not a final rule or commission endorsement. The eventual treatment of token-status filings could affect how fund managers assess crypto assets and allocate responsibility between issuers and firms using those assets.

The Blockchain Association is urging Congress to pass bipartisan crypto tax reform, arguing that current rules do not fit digital assets. Its letter calls for a tax exemption for small transactions, clearer stablecoin treatment, taxation of mining and staking rewards when sold, and narrower broker-reporting requirements. It does not endorse either pending tax bill. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced H.R. 10357, which exempts certain network fees below $10 from capital-gains reporting but taxes validation rewards when received. In the Senate, the ADAPT Act would exempt purchases made with qualifying stablecoins from gains or losses and also sets a $10 fee threshold. Both proposals remain incomplete from the industry’s perspective, particularly on tax relief for bitcoin purchases and mining or staking rewards. Congress is in recess until after the November 3 midterm elections, leaving limited time for action in the year-end session. With the Clarity Act stalled after a 49-50 Senate vote, crypto tax reform has become a potential legislative focus. However, no immediate change to tax rules is assured, so traders should treat the proposals as policy developments rather than enacted relief.

Hardhat v3.21.0 expands experimental support for Ethereum’s Amsterdam hardfork with EIP-7954, allowing deployment transactions to include up to 128 KiB of init code and deploy contracts up to 64 KiB. The release also updates EDR to v0.24.0 and adds Amsterdam activation support for the Hoodi testnet. Hardhat v3.21.0 includes fixes for gas-limit reporting, simulated Optimism (OP) network L1 data fees, coverage reports, invalid private-key errors, and several other development tools. The update is primarily relevant to Ethereum developers and test-network users; it does not announce a token or market-related change.

Hardhat Errors 3.1.4 fixes a confusing error message that appeared when a network account was configured with an invalid private key. The update also moves the package to @nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils 5.1.0. This is a developer-tooling update; Hardhat Errors 3.1.4 does not announce changes to a blockchain network, token, or trading feature.

Bitcoin briefly fell to $80,989 before recovering to about $81,305, still down 3.5% over 24 hours. The move put $80,000 back in focus as trader Benjamin Cowen warned that a daily close below Bitcoin’s 50-day simple moving average could send the price toward the bull market support band. His warning was conditional: the chart he shared showed an unfinished daily candle, so no breakdown had been confirmed. Trader Mr. Wall Street said he was holding Bitcoin bought at $60,000–$64,000 and had buy orders set between $72,000 and $76,000. He named $93,000 as his first upside target, but did not say when it might be reached. These are his stated positions, not evidence of broader market demand. A Polymarket contract shown in a post by The Kobeissi Letter put the odds of Bitcoin reaching $130,000 by the end of 2026 at 3%. Ether also declined, trading at $2,380.48, down 4.4% over 24 hours. For traders, the key near-term signals are whether Bitcoin closes below its 50-day average and whether it can hold $80,000.

Ethereum Hoodi node operators must upgrade to version 2.2.1 before 26 October 2026 at 17:42:48 UTC. The patch removes the planned Glamsterdam fork from Hoodi, which is on hold following security concerns discussed at ACDE #248. Nodes still running version 2.2.0 would activate the fork at the scheduled time and split from the network. The Hoodi upgrade keeps the testnet on BPO2, with no next fork date announced. Operators can upgrade in place from any 2.2.x version; no database or configuration changes are required. The release affects Hoodi only, not other networks. The Hoodi upgrade is a testnet maintenance change and does not directly alter Ethereum’s mainnet.

DoubleZero, a private fiber network for high-performance blockchains, now connects about 59% of Solana’s mainnet stake. The network, whose mainnet-beta launched in October 2025, reports roughly 10 terabits per second of capacity, more than 70 links from over 15 providers, and over $20 billion in connected value. DoubleZero combines contributed fiber links with edge hardware that filters spam and duplicate messages. Its 2Z token is used for network access and contributor rewards, while its DoubleZero Edge low-latency data subscriptions are paid for in USDC. The project is also expanding beyond Solana, with new peering services for Hyperliquid. The growing validator adoption and additional use cases position DoubleZero as emerging blockchain infrastructure, though the reported metrics do not establish a direct impact on 2Z’s market price.

The Winklevoss-backed Digital Freedom Fund has spent more than $81,000 on direct-mail ads supporting Republican Ken Paxton and opposing Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race. The spending marks the PAC’s first reported ad buy in the state, where early voting began on Oct. 19 ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The group reported raising about $34 million by Sept. 30 and has also spent about $7 million supporting Republican Jon Husted in Ohio. Crypto-aligned PAC Fairshake has separately reported roughly $9 million in spending for Husted and more than $4 million opposing Nebraska independent Dan Osborn. The campaigns reflect efforts by crypto industry donors to influence races that could shape future digital-asset legislation, including the stalled Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The PAC spending may draw attention to crypto policy, but it does not directly change market fundamentals.

Ethereum client release v7.3.1 removes the scheduled Gloas fork epoch (132352) and its 200 million gas limit entry for the Hoodi testnet. The change follows the upstream decision to unschedule the Hoodi Gloas fork in eth-clients/hoodi#33. It is a testnet configuration update, not a change to Ethereum mainnet or its consensus rules.

Hardhat Node Test Runner 3.1.2 removes the unused `tsx` dependency and updates `@nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils` to version 5.1.0. The release is a maintenance update to the Hardhat development tool, with no announced changes to testing features or blockchain networks.

Hardhat TypeChain 3.1.3 removes a stray semicolon from generated event types and updates the @nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils dependency to version 5.1.0. The release is a minor developer-tooling update, with no announced changes to crypto trading features or market-facing services.

The Nomic Foundation released Hardhat Utils 5.1.0 with two additions: `isPrivateKey` in its Ethereum utilities and `splitQueryParams` in its request utilities. The update is a small developer-tooling release for the Hardhat ecosystem. It does not announce changes to the Ethereum network or provide a direct market catalyst.

Solana developers have promoted Quantumglow, a proposed post-quantum adaptation of the Alpenglow consensus protocol. The design aims to protect validator agreement from quantum attacks while preserving Solana’s fast finality. It proposes Ax, a hash-based signature scheme, and changes to block authentication intended to avoid attaching large post-quantum signatures to every piece of block data. Anza published the underlying research in July. The proposal has no announced activation date and has not been identified as a Solana Improvement Document (SIMD). It is separate from Alpenglow, which the Solana Foundation says went live on mainnet in epoch 1064 on Oct. 21. Alpenglow targets finality of about 150 milliseconds, compared with 12.8 seconds for TowerBFT. Quantumglow addresses consensus security, not every quantum risk to Solana accounts, networking or applications. The research describes a proposed design, not a measured mainnet performance result. For traders, the announcement signals longer-term security preparation rather than an immediate protocol change or a near-term catalyst for SOL.

TS Lombard estimates that a collapse in the AI investment boom combined with a mild recession could wipe $20 trillion from equity markets. Economist Dario Perkins says Wall Street is increasingly focused on when an AI downturn might come and how severe it could be, rather than whether the sector is in a bubble. Credit stress is already visible among AI infrastructure firms. CoreWeave’s five-year credit default swap spreads rose to 1,100–1,194 basis points in mid-October, implying a roughly 60%–63% default probability. Its unsecured bonds yielded close to 15%, while the company carried about $50 billion in debt. Neocloud stocks fell around 20% over five trading sessions, and CoreWeave shares dropped about 15%–25%. TS Lombard also estimates that roughly 85% of AI ecosystem revenue is linked to recycled capital spending by large technology companies and related firms. If financing tightens or external customers do not generate sufficient demand, spending and revenue could weaken across the industry at the same time. Perkins cautions that the modeled $20 trillion equity-market decline assumes only a mild recession and does not necessarily imply a broad economic meltdown. For crypto traders, the main concern is indirect: an AI-driven tech sell-off could increase risk aversion, pressure highly correlated assets and trigger volatility. Credit spreads, refinancing conditions and evidence of real-world AI demand are key indicators to monitor.

About $37 billion of the $80 billion raised through US data center bonds in 2026 is rated below investment grade, according to a Forbes analysis of FactSet data. That junk-rated issuance is more than four times the roughly $8.6 billion recorded in 2025. By mid-October, yields on junk-rated data center bonds had climbed to nearly 10%. The borrowing supports 16 projects linked to major technology companies, including Amazon, Meta and Nvidia, but the bonds are not necessarily backed by those firms. Their risk largely depends on the developers and financing structures behind each project. Credit stress is also evident among AI infrastructure companies. CoreWeave debt has traded below 80 cents on the dollar, while developers Firmus and AirTrunk have postponed or canceled IPO plans. Rising construction costs, energy constraints and uncertainty over long-term AI demand add pressure. Higher financing costs could weaken project economics and make it harder for lower-rated developers to complete construction or refinance debt. Traders will be watching data center bond yields, distressed pricing among AI cloud providers, and whether postponed listings return. The figures point to growing credit risk in the AI infrastructure boom, rather than direct evidence of stress in cryptocurrency markets.

MemeCore (M) rose 25% in a day, briefly topping $0.95 and reaching a 10-day high before easing to about $0.91. Its market value exceeded $2 billion, putting it ahead of PEPE and making it the fourth-largest meme coin by market capitalisation. The rally came as much of the wider meme coin market fell, although its trigger is unclear. MemeCore also announced that bridging has moved from Meson Tunnel and Express to LayerZero, with work under way to migrate some USDC.e liquidity to Stargate. Analyst Crypto With Gopal said a hold above $0.85 could leave MemeCore room to test $0.96 and possibly $1.00, following a break above $0.80 resistance. However, the token’s RSI has reached 90, a level often associated with overbought conditions and possible short-term pullbacks. MemeCore is highly speculative: it previously fell 76% in one day, and investigator ZachXBT has questioned its valuation and tokenomics.

Relay has responded to a dispute over Pump’s cross-chain performance, saying its platform supports thousands of developers across wallets, payments, real-world assets, prediction markets, perpetuals and trading. Relay claims it ranks among the best in its peer group for transaction latency, reliability and execution rates. It says its published data covers roughly 100 times the transaction volume, as well as larger orders, more routes and a wider range of use cases, and points to public Dune dashboards. Relay also cautioned that results can vary significantly depending on how each application is integrated and said it has recently released several updates. The claims are Relay’s own; the article provides no independent comparison or market data.

SHAZ fell 12.2% over 24 hours and was trading at 24.25 USDT, according to MSX.COM data cited by Odaily. The report provided no explanation for the decline. The sharp move puts SHAZ under short-term selling pressure, but the available information does not establish whether the drop reflects token-specific news or broader market conditions.

Strive vice president Joe Burnett said SATS is now listed on Roxom. Strive’s preferred stock offers a 15% annualized dividend yield, with dividends paid in Bitcoin every business day through the platform. The listing adds a Bitcoin-denominated income option for investors, though the announcement did not provide details on trading volume or investor demand.

Bancor’s Carbon DeFi introduces asymmetric liquidity, allowing traders to set separate price ranges, budgets and curves for buying and selling. Unlike conventional concentrated liquidity, which uses one range for both directions, asymmetric liquidity can keep acquired tokens from being sold back at lower prices. Carbon’s Recurring Orders automatically direct filled orders’ proceeds to the opposite side, including after partial fills. Traders can adjust ranges and spreads, or choose one-way limit and range orders instead. The feature offers greater control over onchain execution, but does not guarantee fills or profits; outcomes still depend on market prices and available takers.

The Muse Spark Open Kernel Challenge, launched with Meta and Andromeda, will award $100,000 to developers who improve the performance of Meta’s 816-billion-parameter Muse Spark Open model on NVIDIA H200 GPUs. First place will also receive an H200 GPU signed by the Meta team. The competition has two consecutive tracks ending on November 19, 2026. The first covers five kernel tasks, including attention and mixture-of-experts workloads, with submissions measured against the SGLang baseline. The second asks competitors to optimize SGLang itself, testing throughput and response times on a full eight-H200 server under different workloads. The organizers say faster kernels could reduce serving costs and improve access to the open-weight model for researchers and users. Entries will use the Apache 2.0 license, allowing successful optimizations to be shared and potentially incorporated into SGLang. The Muse Spark Open Kernel Challenge runs on Hopper-generation H200 GPUs, which remain widely available at universities and research labs.

Miden has released version 1.0.0-rc.0, a major update to its virtual machine, cryptography and proving tools. The release adopts Eidos as the VM’s native hash, changing some digests, verifier roots and proof formats. It also adds support for cryptographic features including SHA-512, Ed25519, P-256 and ECDSA P-256/SHA-256. The Miden update introduces configurable limits for deferred precompile work and changes CLI defaults for creating and verifying proofs. It also includes security fixes for Keccak, multi-scalar multiplication, Merkle updates and loop control. Many changes are breaking: developers may need to rebuild packages, cached Merkle data and proofs, and update integrations. The release restores a standalone Poseidon2 API for existing applications, but Poseidon2 is not supported for VM proofs.

BitGo has launched BitGo Labs, a research and product unit focused initially on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Announced on October 21, the unit will develop applications, research, prototypes and reference implementations using BitGo’s digital-asset infrastructure. BitGo Labs’ first named product is Gokubu, a consumer financial app that the company says is live and accepting registrations. It combines an AI-assisted card, a personalized financial assistant and automated rewards features. The launch marks BitGo’s move from financial infrastructure into consumer applications. The announcement does not establish Gokubu’s user numbers, revenue, fees or full eligibility terms. Its commercial prospects will depend on user adoption and how clearly it handles permissions, costs and financial actions. The news signals a product strategy, but does not indicate an immediate change to cryptocurrency market fundamentals.

Tesla profit fell 43% year over year to $787 million in the third quarter, while revenue was flat at $28.05 billion. Operating profit dropped 56% to $718 million. The company’s research spending rose 69% to $2.76 billion, and capital expenditures more than doubled to $4.73 billion, as vehicle deliveries slipped about 2%. Tesla said its Optimus humanoid robot has entered production at its Fremont, California, factory. Elon Musk is targeting output of 20,000 robots a week, but said reaching that level will take at least a year. Deliveries to outside customers are expected around the end of 2027. Tesla has previously missed Optimus production targets, and the robot’s design and durability remain challenges. Tesla is also aiming to get Cybercab robotaxis to customers by the end of 2026, although vehicles produced so far are intended for its own fleet. The company has not disclosed an initial buyer or final price; its stated target is below $30,000. Musk expects the robotaxi business to become more visible in Tesla’s financial results in 2027. Separately, Tesla and SpaceX boards have formed committees to study a possible combination, but no deal terms have been agreed. The article also included a Bitcoin price widget, but the Tesla developments do not provide a direct catalyst for cryptocurrency markets.

Hardhat Verify 3.1.4 fixes a bug that caused contract verification to fail when a block explorer’s API URL included a query string. The update also upgrades the @nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils dependency to version 5.1.0. The patch improves Hardhat Verify’s compatibility with explorer APIs, but the release notes do not identify any broader feature changes.

Hardhat Viem 3.1.0 adds a `viemChain` option to `chainDescriptors`. Developers can use it to set the full Viem Chain configuration for Hardhat Viem. The release also updates `@nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils` to version 5.1.0. The change improves configuration flexibility for developers but does not announce a token launch or a change to any cryptocurrency’s fundamentals.

Hardhat Viem Assertions 3.1.5 fixes a bug in `emitWithArgs` that prevented indexed string and bytes event arguments from matching their expected values. The release also updates `@nomicfoundation/hardhat-utils` to version 5.1.0. The change improves event assertion reliability for developers testing smart contracts, but the announcement reports no token launch, market data or trading-related changes.