Crypto News

Open Standard has launched Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-backed stablecoin, on Ethereum, Solana, Base and Tempo. Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa have committed more than $1 billion in future liquidity support, while Open Standard expects its founding group to expand from five companies to 10–12. OUSD is issued by Bridge and supports fee-free, one-to-one minting and redemption through partner integrations. The stablecoin is designed for banking, cross-border payments, card settlement, institutional trading, lending and DeFi. Open Standard plans to share most reserve income with businesses that drive adoption and link partner rewards and future ownership to OUSD supply growth and transaction activity. Chainlink is OUSD’s official oracle provider. Its price feeds could support lending, trading, collateral, margin products and other DeFi applications. Aave Labs has proposed listing OUSD on Aave V3 and the Aave V4 Core Hub, although collateral use, risk parameters and production oracle feeds remain subject to approval. OUSD reserves are held by BlackRock, Lead Bank and BNY, with monthly attestations expected through Bridge. Stripe, BVNK and Visa’s Stablecoin Platform supported the launch, while Coinbase access was scheduled for 1 October. Coinbase, Kraken and Uniswap are expected to support OUSD trading. The network includes more than 200 companies, including UBS, SBI Holdings and Jeeves. For traders, OUSD adds an institutional stablecoin route across major networks and could compete with USDC and USDT. However, adoption, liquidity, regulatory restrictions, trading volume and reserve transparency remain key risks. Its initial impact on the stablecoin market and OUSD price is likely to remain limited until exchange liquidity and DeFi integration expand.

Robinhood has launched crypto perpetual futures for US customers, offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) contracts with leverage of up to 10x. The launch follows an earlier plan enabled by a no-action letter from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The service uses Bitstamp exchange infrastructure and Robinhood Derivatives. It gives retail and institutional traders access to 24/7 crypto derivatives, deeper Bitcoin liquidity, institutional block trading and sub-account controls. Robinhood is also exploring AI trading agents, tokenised stocks and round-the-clock financial markets. Robinhood said its leverage limits and transparency measures reflect lessons from the 2022 crypto market downturn. The Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures launch could increase trading activity and liquidity, but 10x leverage may also amplify volatility and liquidation risks. Traders should monitor funding rates, open interest, liquidation levels and BTC and ETH volatility.

Morgan Stanley has launched a Digital Asset Lab to test crypto infrastructure, blockchain systems and related financial services for institutional markets, according to an announcement confirmed on September 29, 2026. The Digital Asset Lab is expected to focus on operational testing, compliance, security, scalability and market liquidity rather than launching a specific cryptocurrency. No details have been disclosed about its leadership, technology partners, testing scope, launch date, investment amount or supported tokens. For crypto traders, the initiative signals continued institutional interest in digital asset infrastructure, but its immediate market impact is likely to be limited without concrete products, partnerships, transaction volumes or capital deployment. Over the longer term, stronger infrastructure could support wider institutional use of digital assets.

The Bitget hack has entered a more difficult recovery phase after attackers moved about 2,700 ZEC, worth roughly $3.8 million, into Zcash’s Ironwood shielded pool. The transfer represents about one-seventh of the ZEC linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack. Shielded transactions hide wallet addresses and amounts, making the Bitget hack harder to trace and potentially limiting asset recovery. The attack began on 24 September after unauthorised transfers left Bitget hot wallets. Bitget said attackers compromised backend systems and manipulated transaction data rather than directly stealing private keys. The exchange has pledged to cover customer losses through its protection fund, so user balances are not expected to be affected. Investigators said the stolen assets were divided among new wallets and routed through THORChain, Across, Chainflip and FixedFloat. Near Intents said its SHIELD system rejected more than $50 million in suspicious swap requests, froze about $503,000 and allowed roughly $166,000 to pass through. On-chain data also showed about 2,390 ETH, worth around $6.3 million, converted into 75.2 BTC through THORChain. THORChain rejected Bitget’s request to block specific addresses, saying network halts are intended for protocol emergencies rather than selective fund freezes. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen and Elliptic have linked the attack to North Korean hackers, although no government has confirmed the attribution. Bitget is offering a 5% bounty for frozen funds and another 5% for recovered assets.

Bloomberg has launched a stablecoin dashboard on its Terminal, giving banks, asset managers and other financial professionals hourly onchain data through the RWAS <GO> function. Powered by blockchain data provider Allium, the stablecoin dashboard tracks supply, issuance, minting, burning, transfer volume and transaction velocity across blockchain networks. The tool covers stablecoins with more than $100 million in circulation, representing over 98% of the market, according to Bloomberg. Users can filter and compare assets by blockchain, peg type and activity metrics. The dashboard is also integrated with Bloomberg’s fixed-income, foreign exchange and money-market data. DeFiLlama data shows that total stablecoin market capitalisation has exceeded $306 billion, with Tether’s USDT accounting for about 60%. For crypto traders, the stablecoin dashboard may improve monitoring of liquidity, issuance, redemptions and cross-chain capital flows. It could support institutional market analysis, but the launch alone does not indicate an immediate change in cryptocurrency prices.

Bitget plans to restore withdrawals for all tokens on Friday after a security breach caused an estimated $388 million in user losses. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether withdrawals have already resumed. CEO Gracy Chen said Bitget’s protection fund has grown to $309 million and will absorb eligible losses. The exchange has not identified the attackers and is investigating possible insider involvement or links to North Korean hackers. Bitget is offering a 5% bounty for frozen funds and a further 5% for recovered funds. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that wallets linked to the attack moved about $3.8 million in Zcash into the Ironwood privacy pool, representing roughly 14% of the 18,917 ZEC reportedly stolen. NEAR Intents separately said it blocked $50 million linked to the hackers. The restoration of Bitget withdrawals may reduce short-term liquidity and confidence concerns. However, traders will continue to monitor fund recovery, wallet movements and the exchange security investigation. Bitget remains a key risk indicator for exchange withdrawals and crypto-market sentiment.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened crypto licence applications ahead of a full regulatory regime taking effect on 25 October 2027. Existing crypto firms must apply by 28 February 2027 to continue serving UK customers under transitional arrangements. Firms that apply before the deadline can continue offering services, including accepting new business, while the FCA reviews their applications. Late applicants may face tighter limits and could generally be restricted to servicing existing contracts. FCA authorisation is not automatic. Current Money Laundering Regulations registration and existing permissions will not transfer automatically to the new framework. The FCA crypto licence process follows final rules published in June and guidance issued in September. The regulator will assess business plans, governance, financial resources, technology, operational resilience, financial crime controls, complaints procedures, consumer protection and customer-asset safeguarding. Covered activities include qualifying stablecoin issuance, crypto trading platforms, dealing and arranging, digital-asset custody and staking services. For crypto traders, the UK FCA crypto licence framework could raise compliance costs and create short-term uncertainty for firms serving UK customers. In the longer term, clearer rules may improve market standards, strengthen consumer confidence and encourage institutional participation. The FCA is offering pre-application support, meetings and regulatory webinars to help firms prepare.

Cboe Global Markets and S&P Dow Jones Indices have extended Cboe’s exclusive license to list S&P 500 Index (SPX) options through 2051. The agreement secures Cboe’s long-term position in SPX options, while allowing both companies to explore new products, including tokenized options. No tokenized options product, launch date, trading venue or regulatory filing has been announced. Cboe said the partnership provides continuity for customers and flexibility to respond to blockchain-based financial technology. The companies have worked together since 1983. SPX options averaged 3.9 million contracts per day in 2025, up 25% from 2024. Annual volume reached a record 970.6 million contracts, marking the fourth consecutive yearly record. The strong SPX options market gives Cboe a substantial base for any future tokenized derivatives initiative. S&P Dow Jones Indices has already licensed the S&P 500 for blockchain-related products. Centrifuge launched the tokenized SPXA index fund on Base in September 2025, while Trade[XYZ] received approval to list an S&P 500 perpetual contract on Hyperliquid for eligible investors outside the United States. For crypto traders, the SPX options agreement is mainly a long-term institutional adoption signal, not an immediate cryptocurrency price catalyst. Traders should monitor regulatory filings, product launches and liquidity before assigning significant value to tokenized options.

Backpack and South Korea’s SK Securities plan to offer eligible international investors access to Korean equities through the Backpack app, according to a partnership announced on Oct. 29. The service could open a market that has historically been difficult for non-resident foreign investors to enter, but no launch date has been announced. SK Securities will oversee underwriting, issuance and securities distribution. Backpack will provide blockchain infrastructure, digital asset custody and access to its global user base. The firms also plan to explore tokenized securities and real-world assets, subject to local laws and regulations. The partnership extends Backpack’s existing U.S. securities offering, which combines brokerage services with blockchain-based distribution. Backpack says its regulated crypto exchange has recorded more than $450 billion in trading volume across over 150 countries. The move broadens Backpack’s financial services, but its direct effect on crypto prices is likely limited.

The Stellar Development Foundation introduced Project Thruput on October 28 as a technology preview for scaling transaction execution, now available on FutureNet. Controlled tests showed capacity rising from about 1.18 million payments per second on one machine to roughly 7.02 million across eight machines. Project Thruput measures execution inside a single validator, not end-to-end throughput on Stellar’s public network. Consensus, networking and data storage can affect real-world performance, and the initial reports did not establish live-network capacity. The open-source preview includes reproducible benchmarks, but broader independent testing and potential public-network integration remain ahead. The proposed design allocates scheduling capacity according to accounts’ unlocked native-token balances when demand exceeds capacity, rather than charging execution fees per transaction; computational limits still apply. Project Thruput does not mean Stellar mainnet currently supports these capabilities or unlimited free transactions. For XLM traders, the benchmark is a technical development, not evidence of an immediate change in adoption or price.

A reported Binance hot-wallet hack on 30 October triggered market volatility, with estimates of outflows ranging from $5.64 billion to $6.26 billion across nine blockchains. Binance paused some services and worked with security firms, stablecoin issuers and law enforcement to trace and freeze funds. The exchange said customer assets were safe and it would cover the losses. Later reports put the attacker’s remaining holdings at about $2.9 billion to $3.3 billion, though estimates differ and are not fully reconciled. Potential selling risks include 18,270 BTC, valued at around $1.44 billion, and 467,000 ETH, worth about $1.06 billion, as well as roughly $180 million in altcoins. Some USDC, USDT and WLFI were reportedly frozen; the attacker may have swapped other assets for tokens that are harder to freeze. The attack route remains under investigation, with EIP-7702 authorisation requests cited but no confirmed cause. The news coincided with sharp price declines: BTC briefly fell below $77,000, ETH to about $2,200 and BNB to around $693. CoinGlass reported more than $1.55 billion in 24-hour liquidations, mostly from long positions. The scale and timing of any BTC or ETH sales remain uncertain, but continued swaps and questions over Binance’s security response could keep volatility elevated.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at Ripple’s Swell conference that digital assets are part of the US-China technology competition, and that US influence increasingly depends on technology leadership. He argued that stablecoins could extend the dollar into markets affected by inflation or currency volatility. More than 98% of stablecoins are dollar-denominated, according to CoinGecko, and wider adoption could increase demand for US Treasury debt. Bessent previously estimated stablecoins might generate $2 trillion in demand for short-term government debt, though that would depend on market growth and reserve rules. With the CLARITY Act stalled after falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance in a September 15 Senate procedural vote, Bessent said the Treasury could work with the SEC and CFTC to address regulatory gaps. He also supported safeguards against banks cutting off services to crypto firms, but offered no formal plan or timeline. Agency-led rules could bring progress, but are less durable than legislation and may change with a new administration. For crypto traders, the comments signal policy support for stablecoins and their role in dollar-based finance, but do not resolve uncertainty over US crypto market rules. The impact on cryptocurrency prices remains unclear; Bitcoin was trading around $80,000–$81,000 ahead of the Federal Reserve decision. Whether Congress revives the CLARITY Act and how regulators act are key developments to watch.

Robinhood’s third-quarter 2026 results showed weaker crypto trading but growth across its broader business. Robinhood crypto revenue fell 55% year over year to $120 million, while crypto notional trading volume across its app and Bitstamp dropped 38% to $50 billion. The decline came as total net revenue rose 12% to a record $1.42 billion and total transaction revenue increased 19% to $867 million, supported by options, equities and event contracts. Event contract revenue reached $173 million, more than six times its year-earlier level. The platform reported $396 billion in assets, up 19% year over year, $15.7 billion in quarterly net deposits and 28.7 million funded customers. Robinhood Gold subscriptions rose 34% to 5.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to $808 million, while diluted earnings per share fell 16% to $0.51. The results underline that Robinhood crypto revenue is sensitive to trading activity and customer preferences, rather than being a direct measure of crypto adoption or market health. Lower volume at one platform does not establish a broad downturn in crypto use. Traders can monitor future volumes, volatility and customer-asset trends for signals about retail activity, while recognizing that the company’s overall growth is increasingly supported by non-crypto products.

Trader Killa says he is maintaining several Bitcoin (BTC) long positions, including a position opened at $76,400 that has given back most of an earlier 15% unrealised gain. His target for that trade remains a 75% to 100% return. He also holds a more aggressive 10x leveraged BTC long opened at $82,800, with a stop-loss at $74,000. If BTC reaches that level, he plans to reassess conditions and may open another 10x long at a previously identified invalidation level, but with a smaller position because of his existing exposure. Killa believes BTC’s roughly 13% pullback from its all-time high may be close to the cycle’s last major low, and expects the decline to remain below 20%. He attributes current market fear partly to Binance FUD and the US midterm election period. He said he would buy more BTC at current prices if he had less exposure, and suggested investors with limited positions consider gradual buying over the coming weeks. These are Killa’s personal views and plans, not confirmed market signals.

Coinbase applied to Brazil’s Central Bank for a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license on Oct. 28, ahead of the Oct. 30 deadline for existing providers. The Brazil crypto license application is intended to help Coinbase continue serving local customers as regulation tightens; the company says it does not expect the review to interrupt its current services. Firms that applied by the deadline may continue operating while applications are reviewed, but a separate rule taking effect Nov. 6 bars authorized banks and payment firms from facilitating crypto transactions with unauthorized providers. Because the amended rule does not clearly exempt pending applicants, the treatment of firms awaiting decisions remains uncertain. Binance filed on Oct. 23 and has restricted some services, including new loans and margin trading; an earlier report also said it delisted 22 crypto assets in Brazil. Coinbase has outlined plans to expand its “Everything Exchange” strategy in Brazil with foreign-exchange, payment and e-money services, subject to separate approvals. The filing supports continued access to a major Latin American market but does not itself signal an immediate change to Coinbase trading services.

Strategy reported $19.53 billion in third-quarter 2026 net income, largely due to a $20.91 billion fair-value gain on its Bitcoin holdings as BTC rebounded. The accounting gain was not cash generated by operations. Strategy’s revenue fell 3% year over year to $125.4 million, below analyst expectations.

Binance said customer funds were safe after on-chain trackers flagged abnormal transfers from wallets labeled as its hot wallets. Estimates differ: one report cited about $5.6 billion moving across Ethereum, Bitcoin and TRON, while a later account put transfers to an Ethereum address at about $3.52 billion. The later estimate included roughly 197,170 ETH, 1.68 billion USDT, 823 million USDC and $564 million in other tokens. Binance has not confirmed a hack or customer losses, and the investigation remains ongoing. Tether and Circle froze stablecoins linked to the receiving address. Reports differ on the amount frozen: Tether’s chief executive said more than 1.567 billion USDT had been frozen, while Unchained’s Ethereum balance count showed about 1.38 billion USDT; reports also cited $823 million in frozen USDC. Binance hot wallet transfers reportedly continued after the exchange’s reassurance, including a further sweep of about 200 million USDT. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said the incident looked like a hack and expected customers to be covered. Blockaid said movements across Ethereum, Arbitrum and Avalanche were consistent with unauthorized transfers. The incident has raised exchange-security concerns. It also coincided with more than $600 million in perpetual-market liquidations and temporary pullbacks in major cryptocurrencies. For traders, uncertainty around the investigation, exchange liquidity and possible further transfers could keep volatility elevated. Binance has urged users to use verified channels and avoid phishing or fake compensation links.

Binance said a technical error has left some users unable to make Binance withdrawals. Its technical team is working to restore service, and the exchange said it will provide an update when withdrawals are fully back online. Binance also said user funds are safe (SAFU). The outage comes amid reports that Binance’s hot wallet may have been attacked. On-chain data reportedly points to asset outflows of up to $5.6 billion, but Binance has not confirmed an attack or linked it to the withdrawal problem. The exchange said it is investigating potential security issues.

Amazon’s AI business and custom chip business have each surpassed a $25 billion annualised revenue run rate, with triple-digit year-over-year growth. CEO Andy Jassy says the chip business is growing about threefold annually and could have a standalone run rate near $50 billion, as much of its value is recorded through AWS. The Amazon AI chips business is drawing strong demand: customers have made more than $225 billion in multi-year Trainium commitments, and demand for newer chips is nearing available capacity. Amazon also says 98% of its top 1,000 EC2 customers use Graviton5 processors, while AWS compute capacity is booked well into 2027 and 2028. AWS revenue rose 37% year over year to $42.2 billion, with a 39.4% operating margin. Amazon reported a $496 billion backlog, but demand exceeds available capacity. It raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance to about $220 billion to expand data centres, power infrastructure and hardware. Bedrock usage in Q2 exceeded the total of all previous quarters combined, and Trainium chips are being adopted by Anthropic and OpenAI. However, trailing 12-month free cash flow was negative $7.6 billion. For traders, Amazon AI chips and AWS demand support the growth outlook, but capacity constraints, heavy investment and cash flow are important risks to monitor.

Binance is investigating a suspected security incident, but has not confirmed whether customer funds were affected. Founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said user funds are safe. He reported that Tether froze about $971 million in USDT and Circle froze about $823 million in USDC, totaling approximately $1.794 billion. CZ said he no longer manages Binance.com but expects users’ funds to be fully covered as a shareholder. The Binance security incident could weigh on confidence in the exchange and BNB, while the reported freezes may limit potential losses. The investigation’s findings remain unclear.

On October 28, on-chain credit platform Ibis emerged from stealth, announcing a $250 million credit facility with crypto brokerage FalconX and an undisclosed pre-seed funding round led by FalconX. Anchorage Digital, Innovating Capital and executives associated with Erebor, Revolut, Injective Foundation, Selini and Pyth also participated. Anchorage Digital Bank will provide custody, banking and design-partner services, with collateral held through its regulated custody system. Ibis aims to originate, tokenize, manage and service structured credit, initially for eligible businesses in crypto trading and capital markets. The $250 million represents potential lending capacity, not loans already issued or revenue. Ibis has not disclosed the round size or key facility terms, including pricing, collateral requirements, utilization and repayment performance. It may later expand into GPU infrastructure, robotics and venture capital. The Ibis credit facility adds institutional backing to on-chain credit, but its significance will depend on lending standards, enforceable collateral and performance during market stress. Traders should watch for facility drawdowns, borrower and collateral details, and repayment records. The announcement alone is not a clear price catalyst for any cryptocurrency.

Grayscale estimates that US crypto activity represents about 15–20% of global activity. Its estimate draws on 14 indicators, with a median US share of 16% and a mean of 19%; the data covers different periods and geographic samples, so it is an approximation. The research note also estimates that the US crypto economy contracted 2.2% year over year as of June 2026. The US has a larger role in infrastructure than in many measures of market use, accounting for about 36% of Bitcoin’s hashrate and 31% of Ethereum’s full nodes. Its estimated shares are 26% of onchain transaction value, 24% of stablecoin payment value, 15% of spot trading volume and 12% of mobile wallet users. A separate Cambridge mining survey found US firms made up 75.4% of its sample, while warning that participation could overstate the country’s share of global mining. Grayscale research head Zach Pandl says global adoption may continue regardless of the outcome of the November 2026 US midterm elections, with activity outside the country also supporting network use. US policy remains consequential: OCC stablecoin rules are scheduled to take effect on 18 January 2027, while market-structure legislation faces uncertainty after a Senate vote failed to advance debate on the CLARITY Act. For traders, the figures underline that US crypto activity is influential in infrastructure and institutional demand, but global adoption and overseas activity also shape long-term growth. US regulation and spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF flows can still affect market demand and prices.

Circle has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to align its proposed crypto rules with the GENIUS Act. It wants qualifying payment stablecoins treated as cash under Rule 302(b), including dollar denomination and corresponding accounting and customer-reserve treatment. Circle also says they should be eligible to settle token offerings without making stablecoin issuers liable for the fundraising company’s obligations. The company is asking the SEC to cut the broker-dealer capital haircut on qualifying stablecoins from 2% to zero, subject to safeguards. A haircut reduces the value firms can count toward regulatory capital; SEC staff guidance issued in February allowed a 2% haircut. The proposal also includes exemptions for qualifying offerings of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million within 12 months, subject to disclosure requirements. In an October 20 comment letter, Circle sought clearer boundaries for technical work on functional blockchain networks, including validator maintenance and technology roadmaps. It argues these activities should not automatically be considered essential managerial efforts. The filing is a request, not adopted policy. If accepted, the Circle stablecoin proposals could improve regulatory clarity and reduce the capital cost of holding qualifying stablecoins, but market effects depend on the SEC’s response. Separately, Hyperliquid Policy Center has called for clarity on airdrops, secondary trading, developer protections and automated buybacks.

Westpac will cap payments to crypto exchanges at A$10,000 per customer each calendar month from 1 December 2026. The crypto exchange payment limit will apply across eligible Westpac accounts and may cover online banking, the app, and debit and credit cards. Joint account holders will have separate limits. After reaching the cap, customers may have further payments rejected until the next month. Westpac says it will not grant exceptions, although it cannot guarantee that every payment above the limit will be blocked. The policy covers exchanges the bank identifies, but Westpac has not published a list. Branch payments to exchanges will no longer be supported from the start date; withdrawals from exchanges into Westpac accounts are unaffected. Customers seeking to transfer more than A$10,000 a month may need to use another bank. The bank says the measure is intended to prevent scams, citing a national report that cryptocurrency was involved in 46% of reported scam losses last year. The cap builds on Westpac’s earlier payment-blocking measures and follows a similar monthly limit proposed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It may affect customers who regularly fund crypto exchange accounts above the threshold.

Polymarket resumed trading on its international platform on October 29 after temporarily restricting activity following reports of unauthorised account activity and losses. During the investigation, the exchange operated in cancel-only mode and paused Relayer activity. The platform said a compromised third-party provider caused the incident, not its core infrastructure; it has not publicly named the provider. Researchers linked malicious code to a script served through analytics provider DebugBear, but that connection has not been confirmed by Polymarket. Polymarket said it fixed the vulnerability, referred the matter to law enforcement and would fully reimburse affected traders. The platform has not disclosed the number of affected accounts or confirmed total losses. Blockchain estimates range from about $2.19 million to $2.65 million, while some reports put the figure near $2.7 million. Arkham tracked a wallet believed to be linked to the attacker holding about $2.65 million in POL after swaps from USDC.e through Relay; one trader also claimed losses of about $800,000. These figures remain unverified. The Polymarket security incident renews scrutiny of the prediction market’s operational safeguards, following earlier breaches involving a vendor and an internal wallet. For traders, the resumption of trading and reimbursement pledge may help restore confidence, but confirmed loss figures and any further disruption remain key points to watch.

Bitwise Asset Management has raised its 10-year Bitcoin price forecast from $1.3 million to $1.6 million, implying annualised growth of 34.3%. The firm says it used the same model as last year but updated its market assumptions. Bitwise estimates the value-storage market could reach $110 trillion over the next decade, up from $91 trillion, while its estimate for the institutional investment market rose from $216 trillion to $303 trillion. It has not changed its assumptions about Bitcoin’s share of either market. Separately, the firm estimates institutional portfolios total about $147 trillion; hypothetical Bitcoin allocations of 1% to 5% could represent $1.5 trillion to $7 trillion in potential demand, not committed investment. The forecast reflects Bitcoin’s limited supply, expanding institutional interest and wider adoption. Bitwise also argues that Bitcoin’s share of the store-of-value market has risen from less than 1% a decade ago to more than 5% today. It expects four-year price swings to moderate as institutional ownership grows, though volatility and sharp drawdowns are likely to persist. The firm points to wealth managers, central banks and sovereign wealth funds as sources of ongoing interest, and says institutions continued buying during a downturn. Risks include stronger value-storage inflows into gold, slower spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and macroeconomic, regulatory and risk-appetite shifts. The $1.6 million Bitcoin forecast is a long-term scenario, not a guarantee or near-term trading signal. Traders can monitor ETF flows, institutional holdings, corporate treasury disclosures, leverage and market volatility to assess whether adoption is matching Bitwise’s assumptions.

NOW’s decline deepened in later reporting. MSX.COM data first showed the token down 18.4% over 24 hours to 126.22 USDT, with a 15.6% drop in the latest hour. Later data cited by Odaily put NOW down 27.5% over 24 hours at 109.45 USDT. Neither report explained the sell-off. Traders may monitor NOW’s price and trading volume for signs of continued selling or a recovery; the cause and broader market implications remain unclear.

Polymarket restricted its international platform to cancel-only mode at 18:05 UTC on Oct. 29 (2:05 a.m. Taipei time on Oct. 30) and paused relayer activity while investigating an incident. Users can cancel existing orders, but new orders and trades are not processing. The disruption affects the international Predictions Trading API; account access, websocket, market data and Polygon RPC services were reported as operational. Polymarket has not confirmed a cause, a security breach or a loss estimate, and has given no timetable for restoring normal trading. Users on X alleged unauthorized wallet losses. One claimed losses of $800,000 and $600,000, while another alleged up to $2.68 million had moved through Polymarket deposit-wallet infrastructure. These claims and the suggested transaction route have not been independently verified. Polymarket has not announced a reimbursement plan. Its commitment to reimburse users affected by a separate third-party frontend issue in June does not apply to the October reports unless the company says otherwise. The notice did not identify Polymarket’s separate US venue as affected. For traders, the Polymarket trading halt and wallet-security claims highlight platform and custody risks, but the allegations remain unconfirmed. Treat social-media reports cautiously and check official updates before connecting a wallet or signing requests. The incident may weigh on confidence in Polymarket and prediction markets until the cause is clarified and trading resumes.

Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund holds 1.99 million shares in Strive, a Bitcoin treasury company, valued at about $51.5 million. The position rose only slightly from 1.98 million shares reported in July 2026; its value more than doubled, largely as Strive’s share price climbed. The holding reflects passive index investing, not a direct Vanguard decision to buy Bitcoin or endorse crypto assets. Strive, founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, shifted from an anti-ESG investment focus to Bitcoin accumulation after acquiring Semler Scientific in January 2026. The company reportedly holds about 43,000 BTC and bought 6,182 BTC for $511 million in late October, funded through equity and preferred-stock offerings. If Strive grows and gains more weight in market indexes, passive funds may need to hold more of its shares, increasing their indirect Bitcoin exposure. Strive’s stock may remain sensitive to Bitcoin prices, while further fundraising could dilute shareholders.