The breaches highlight the urgent need for robust AI governance and cybersecurity measures to prevent unauthorized access and data exposure.

The post OpenAI says its AI agents may have breached systems at over 100 organizations appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

SparkLend's milestone highlights growing trust in conservative DeFi protocols, potentially influencing future lending market dynamics.

The post SparkLend crosses 600,000 ETH in deposits, setting a new all-time high appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

AI models' declining accuracy on lengthy tasks highlights the need for improved task segmentation and structured data labeling in AI workflows.

The post Nvidia paper finds AI models lose accuracy on long tasks, with steep drops at scale appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The incident underscores the vulnerability of corporate social media accounts to scams, highlighting the need for enhanced security measures.

The post Crypto scammers hijack Microsoft’s official X account to push a fake Clippy token appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Anthropic's IPO highlights the vulnerability of AI firms to government actions, potentially impacting revenue and investor confidence.

The post Anthropic flags US government views as revenue risk in IPO filing appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Frank Holmes: They Will Print $100 Trillion – Why to Buy Bitcoin & Gold

Bitcoin miners already have the power, the land, and the substations that AI needs. Frank Holmes, executive chairman of HIVE Digital Technologies, explains why he calls Bitcoin mining a “tier one” data center, how GPUs that once mined Ethereum led HIVE into AI, and why he thinks the next wave of AI factories will be built on mining infrastructure from Paraguay to Canada.

Chapters:
0:00 Frank Holmes on HIVE: From Gold Investor to Bitcoin Miner to AI Compute
2:12 How ETFs Changed Bitcoin: From the Fear Trade to the Love Trade
4:20 The Binance $19 Billion Liquidation and the $350 Trillion Money Supply
5:45 Gamers, Younger Quants, and Why Bitcoin Will Keep Gaining Adoption
7:29 Covid’s $40 Trillion of Money Printing and the Global MMT Risk
9:24 China, Russia, and Why Bitcoin Is a Tier One Data Center
11:33 China’s Bitcoin Mining, $1.4 Trillion of Lending, and Central Banks Buying Gold
13:44 Paraguay’s Central Bank and Bitcoin Mining as an Export
14:57 Compute as a Commodity: Canada’s AI Push and Bitcoin Miners’ Power Advantage
20:34 Where to Find Frank Holmes’s Weekly Investor Alert Newsletter

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing contained in this show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

This post Frank Holmes: They Will Print $100 Trillion – Why to Buy Bitcoin & Gold first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

Nico Lechuga: Bitcoin Will Revolutionize the $4T Private Equity Industry

Traditional private equity is always on a clock, says Nico Lechuga. Funds run seven to ten years, so businesses get flipped in three to five. Lechuga, a founding partner at Ego Death Capital and co-founder of ORANGE JUICE, explains how permanent capital and a Bitcoin treasury could give owner-operators another option.

Chapters:
0:00 Meet Nico Lechuga of ego death capital and ORANGE JUICE
0:31 Why Private Equity’s Fund Model Keeps Owners on a Clock
1:16 What Makes a Good Acquisition Target for a Permanent Holding Company
3:11 Bitcoin or Another Business: How Free Cash Flow Gets Allocated
4:33 Why Debt Is a Drag and How Permanent Capital Differs
7:23 Owner-Operators as Frontline Intelligence, and the Role of Roll-Ups
9:12 How to Tell a Real Bitcoin Business From a Pitch
11:30 Competing With MBA Search Funds for Small Businesses
12:29 Brand as an Edge: The People Behind ORANGE JUICE
13:34 Acquisition Currency and Crossing the Chasm

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing contained in this show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

This post Nico Lechuga: Bitcoin Will Revolutionize the $4T Private Equity Industry first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

Darius Dale: Will Global Liquidity Send Bitcoin Higher in 2027?

Are we headed for a period of chop before a bigger move in Bitcoin? Darius Dale, founder of 42 Macro, says a decline in funding liquidity could mean near-term volatility, but that if liquidity comes back in 2027, which he sees as more likely than not, Bitcoin could resolve higher over the following 12 to 18 months. He also explains why Bitcoin deserves a portfolio allocation as a different exposure from stocks and gold.

Chapters:
0:00 Darius Dale on Who Benefits From Rising Treasury Yields
1:06 Why Higher Rates Haven’t Hit the Economy Yet: The AI Capex Boom
2:02 Default via Debasement and a Fed–Treasury Accord 2.0
4:30 Five Paths Out of the Debt Problem, and Only Three Are Acceptable
6:32 Risk Management, Asset Allocation, and Why No Bonds
8:22 Bitcoin Outlook: Near-Term Chop and the 2027 Liquidity Case
9:34 Bitcoin’s Role vs. Gold and Stocks, and Where Bond Yields Reach Fair Value
10:53 The “Wealth Pump” and Money in Politics
17:09 Why AI Is Too Big to Fail and What a Bust Would Look Like
19:11 Running for Office, Why He’s Not a Socialist, and Jackie Robinson

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing contained in this show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

This post Darius Dale: Will Global Liquidity Send Bitcoin Higher in 2027? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

SEC Proposes New Rules On Crypto Custody 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules to update how investment advisers and regulated funds hold assets, with a big focus on crypto.

In a statement Thursday, the Wall Street watchdog said it would allow advisers and funds acting through their advisers, to hold client crypto themselves, but only if no permitted custodian is available. 

Regulators are pushing ahead with rulemaking for the digital asset space despite lawmakers blocking the Clarity Act last month. 

The long-awaited legislation — a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins — didn’t get the votes needed to advance. 

“Since the advent of Bitcoin in 2008, the crypto asset market has grown from a niche curiosity into a multi-trillion-dollar asset class to which investors actively seek exposure. Unfortunately, our rules and regulations have not kept pace,” SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said in a statement.

“To that end, today’s proposal would provide a clear regulatory framework for the custody of crypto assets, giving investment advisers and funds a compliant pathway where none existed before — and replacing the grey of uncertainty created by custody rules crafted for a bygone era.”

The regulator said in its proposed rules that records kept on a blockchain could count toward compliance, subject to conditions. 

It added that it would allow use of state trust companies as custodians for client and regulated fund crypto assets, subject to conditions.

Lawmakers blocked the Clarity Act in a procedural vote last month. Regulators had said before the vote that regardless of whether the landmark legislation passed, they’d still start regulating the crypto industry.  

The SEC before the vote sent a proposal to the White House aiming to “clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisers and companies. 

Pro-crypto Atkins said he would still work to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world” regardless of the landmark legislation getting through. 

This post SEC Proposes New Rules On Crypto Custody  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Sazmining Launches the Wild Sats Club, a Loyalty Program That Discounts Mining Management Fees as Customer Hashrate Grows

Most mining customers pay the same management fee whether they run a quarter of a petahash or twenty-five. The Wild Sats Club ties that fee to the hashrate a customer already runs with Sazmining, and applies the lower rate across their entire fleet, not just to newly purchased machines.

The Phase 1 discount starts at 1.0 PH with a 1% management fee discount, rising to 3% from 2.5 PH and 6% from 5.0 PH, with the tier recalculated every month. A customer activates once with a qualifying purchase from Sazmining that meets the hashrate to activate: 0.25 PH for Bronze, 0.50 PH for Silver, or 1.0 PH for Gold, in a single order or in orders within a 30 day period. New, pre-owned, and refurbished rigs purchased from Sazmining can qualify. Full terms are at https://www.sazmining.com/wildsatsclub/terms

Customers who make a qualifying purchase during the founding-member window, September 1 to December 31, 2026, activate at their full earned tier, with the lower fee starting on their first monthly recalculation after their new hardware is energized. Every benefit at launch is a management fee discount, never cash or transferable value.

“Mining customers have been asked to accept the same fee whether they run a quarter of a petahash or twenty-five,” said Kent Halliburton, CEO and Co-Founder of Sazmining. “This program fixes that. As a customer’s hashrate grows, their cost of having us run it comes down, and it comes down on everything they already own. We are building long-term relationships with our clients, not one-off transactions, which means advising them on what fleet growth can realistically look like against the goals they are actually trying to reach. We expect this program to appeal in particular to the family offices that want Bitcoin exposure with the depreciation benefits of owning the equipment, real estate investors looking to diversify, and the customers who are simply growing one rig at a time. We are looking forward to adapting and evolving the program so that Sazmining customers keep getting the very best product we can build.”

The program is built to keep opening up as customers grow with Sazmining. Further member benefits will be announced as each becomes available.

To learn more about the Wild Sats Club, visit the program page, or book a consultation with one of Sazmining’s Bitcoin Strategy Advisors here. 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored press release. Readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence before acting on any information presented in this article.

This post Sazmining Launches the Wild Sats Club, a Loyalty Program That Discounts Mining Management Fees as Customer Hashrate Grows first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin retook $86,000 by the morning of Oct. 2 as demand for US spot Bitcoin ETFs recovered, with short covering a plausible accelerator for the advance ahead of the US jobs report.

Bitcoin traded at $86,325.44 at 08:40 UTC, up 3.67% over 24 hours. The advance carried it beyond the Sept. 30 rebound above $85,000 that faded below $84,000 after US inflation data.

The ETF reversal gives the recovery support beyond leveraged traders closing bearish bets. Reported short liquidations offer a mechanism for accelerating an existing advance. The initial trigger remains unclear because daily fund flows and rolling liquidation figures cover different windows, but the combined evidence supports an explanation built around renewed buying interest and forced short exits.

Coinbase's BTC-USD market offered a view of the size of the move: at 08:42 UTC, its rolling 24-hour range ran from $83,353.87 to $86,885.28, with the last trade at $86,377.70. Ether, XRP and Solana also advanced in CryptoSlate's market rankings, placing Bitcoin's recovery within a broader rise in major cryptocurrencies.

ETF demand returned after an outflow day

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $102.7 million on Oct. 1, according to Farside Investors' ETF flow data. That followed net outflows in the previous session.

The positive aggregate concealed a mixed picture across products. BlackRock's IBIT fund attracted money even as Fidelity's FBTC fund and several other ETFs recorded redemptions. Demand recovered because inflows exceeded those withdrawals.

The return to net inflows weakens the case that the previous session's redemptions marked the start of a sustained withdrawal. Continued inflows would make that support more durable; redemptions at other funds show why one positive total is still a limited signal of investor commitment.

Leverage could amplify an existing rise

CoinGlass's Bitcoin trading data showed about $70.58 billion of Bitcoin futures turnover over 24 hours in its 08:42 UTC reading, compared with about $6.35 billion in spot turnover across its tracked markets. It also reported about $135.47 million in liquidated Bitcoin futures positions.

Turnover measures trading activity and includes repeated transactions. These figures establish substantial derivatives participation without measuring fresh capital entering Bitcoin.

In its Oct. 2 estimate of Bitcoin futures liquidations over 24 hours, CoinNess said 91.13% involved short positions. That reported imbalance is consistent with forced exits from bearish bets accelerating an already rising market.

As Bitcoin rises, losses on leveraged shorts can exhaust the collateral supporting them. Closing those positions can add buying pressure, creating a feedback loop that helps an advance gather speed.

Forced covering can help a rally travel quickly. Its effect fades as vulnerable positions close, leaving continued buying to determine whether the higher price holds.

Inflation and payrolls still test the recovery

Inflation remains an obstacle to the recovery, even if the Fed takes more time to assess its next move.

The August PCE report released Sept. 30 put core inflation at 0.2% month over month and 3.0% year over year. Headline inflation was 0.3% monthly and 3.4% annually. Released two days earlier, those readings formed the backdrop to the latest overnight advance.

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Oct. 1 that assessing future policy adjustments could take more time. His remarks leave room for policy patience, but he also highlighted upside inflation risks and recalled September's quarter-point rate increase to 3.75% to 4%.

Meanwhile, ISM's September manufacturing report, issued Oct. 1, showed its prices index rising to 77.9 from 71.1 while the manufacturing PMI remained expansionary at 54.5. Cost pressures were still broadening.

September's US jobs report is scheduled for 12:30 UTC on Oct. 2, making it the next test of whether Bitcoin can retain $86,000. The figures arrive after the overnight advance.

Holding above $86,000 alongside further ETF inflows would strengthen the case for continuing demand. A quick reversal would repeat the earlier failed breakout's weakness. Returning fund demand has improved the rally's foundation; holding the recovered level through payrolls would show whether that support can withstand the next macroeconomic test.

The post Bitcoin sees big overnight rally as ETF demand returns before the next US jobs test appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The US sanctioned the Russia-linked A7 Network and proposed new restrictions to cut its crypto intermediaries off from global markets.

On Oct. 1, the Treasury Department designated A7 as a significant transnational criminal organization, extending blocking sanctions beyond individual companies previously targeted by Washington to the broader payment network. FinCEN simultaneously proposed barring covered financial institutions from transmitting funds involving identified A7 sub-agents.

The measures target a shadow-payment system Treasury says has helped Russian sanctioned entities, Iran’s central bank and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and other illicit actors move money through companies designed to make restricted transactions resemble ordinary commercial payments.

FinCEN said A7 sub-agents processed more than $17 billion in dollar-denominated transactions between January 2025 and June 2026. Treasury separately said the network claimed in January to be handling more than 2,000 transactions a day worth the equivalent of $91.5 billion, or about 13% of Russia’s 2025 foreign trade.

The designation gives financial firms an immediate compliance obligation where US sanctions jurisdiction applies. Property and interests in property belonging to blocked persons must be frozen and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, including entities owned 50% or more by sanctioned parties.

Washington targets A7’s route into liquid crypto markets

Crypto intermediaries are central to the broader effort because A7 has used its ruble-backed A7A5 token as a bridge into assets with deeper global liquidity.

FinCEN said A7A5 functions as an internal accounting and settlement asset backed by ruble deposits at sanctioned Russian bank PSB. The network has frequently converted the token into more widely accepted digital assets, including Tether’s USDT, which can subsequently be exchanged into fiat currency for international payments.

That route puts exchanges, over-the-counter brokers and other liquidity providers outside Russia under greater scrutiny. FinCEN said A7 relies on sub-agents and intermediaries to provide liquidity and move funds while masking the network’s involvement, including through trade documents and payment instructions that make sanctioned activity appear commercially legitimate.

The proposed rule would deepen that pressure by prohibiting covered financial institutions from sending or receiving funds involving A7 sub-agents, including transactions to or from crypto addresses administered on their behalf. Institutions receiving crypto from a listed sub-agent would be expected to block it where other sanctions rules require that outcome or otherwise reject the transfer and deny the intended recipient access.

FinCEN would provide the identities of covered sub-agents through its secure FI-Portal and require institutions to apply risk-based procedures for detecting prohibited transactions. The proposal remains subject to public comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

That timetable does not delay the sanctions already imposed by OFAC. Crypto exchanges and financial firms with US exposure must now determine whether counterparties, wallet addresses, or payment routes involve A7 property, even as FinCEN works toward a broader transaction ban.

The next pressure point will be the intermediaries supplying the conversion route from A7A5 into USDT and other liquid assets. Once FinCEN circulates its sub-agent list, exchanges and OTC desks will have to decide how aggressively to tighten screening around counterparties that may sit several steps removed from the sanctioned network.

The post US targets $17 billion Russia-linked crypto payment network using USDT as an escape route appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Coinbase completed the migration of Coinbase International Exchange to Deribit on Oct. 1, ending trading on its former international venue. The old exchange is now read-only, with its trading activity moved to Deribit.

Coinbase's migration status report marked maintenance complete at 10:02 UTC on Oct. 1, 2026. For affected institutional clients, the switch makes new trading connections, a different settlement cycle and separate historical records immediate operational issues.

Affected institutional accounts are limited to non-US institutions in selected jurisdictions. Coinbase says the consolidation pools derivatives liquidity previously split across the two venues. Available products and access still depend on account type and location.

Institutions using API or FIX connections need Deribit endpoints and newly created Deribit API keys. International Exchange keys will not work, and there is no parallel trading window on the former venue.

Deribit's API migration guide also says API-key IP allowlists do not copy across. Instrument names and order attributes change, while open International Exchange orders were canceled at the halt rather than transferred. Clients wishing to reinstate canceled orders must recreate them on the new venue.

Execution moves to Deribit, but the institutional legal relationship has its own structure. Coinbase Bermuda Limited acts as these clients' broker, custodian and primary counterparty, routing orders to Deribit, according to Coinbase's institutional guidance.

Migrated perpetual positions now settle once a day at 08:00 UTC, replacing International Exchange's five-minute cycle. Settlement credits profits or deducts losses from cash balances without closing the positions. Funding accrues continuously and cash-settles at the same daily time; its quoted eight-hour rate is a separate convention.

Trade histories also require care. Block-trade entries tagged “Migration” recreate positions at the International Exchange settlement price. They are booking artifacts, not new buying or selling. A difference between that price and Deribit's mark at reopening can create immediate unrealized profit or loss.

Legacy International Exchange trading history does not appear on Deribit. Coinbase says historical trade and order APIs will remain accessible for approximately 12 months after migration, leaving institutions with separate records for activity before and after the switch.

For Coinbase app and website users, the account path differs: they keep their Coinbase account and familiar core workflows, although screens and market data may change. Customers using the Coinbase Advanced Trade API for derivatives still need the new Deribit-powered gateway.

The cutover also does not make every derivatives product immediately available everywhere. Coinbase continues to identify its CFTC-regulated Coinbase Derivatives futures separately, while US Prime options access follows a different timeline. Its retail FAQ plans in-app options for eligible users in selected non-US jurisdictions from late October, subject to availability.

The post Coinbase completes Deribit switch, ending International Exchange trading appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a custody framework on Oct. 1 that would let investment advisers and regulated funds hold crypto under rules written for it.

It is the latest of nine agency actions since Aug. 18 that span most of an asset's life, from fundraising to safekeeping. Two came before the Senate rejected cloture on the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15, a 49-50 vote with 60 required, and seven came from Sept. 17 on.

Their legal status runs from live exemptions to pre-rule White House review, and that status determines what a crypto business can use today.

Raising money and defining the rules for crypto

The SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, issued Aug. 18 before the vote, would create an offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.

It includes exemptions for up to $5 million over four years and $75 million in a 12-month period, plus a conditional safe harbor from the investment-contract definition. It is a proposal with comments due Oct. 20.

On Sept. 25, SEC Corporation Finance staff published FAQs covering token functionality, decentralization, staking receipt tokens, marketing, continued network building, buybacks and secondary-market promoters, and updated them Sept. 28.

The SEC describes the FAQs as staff views that leave the law as written, and they give projects a detailed map of how staff approaches investment-contract analysis.

A Sept. 1 transfer-agent proposal, also issued before the vote, addresses electronic and blockchain-based recordkeeping and uncertificated securities. That rewrite of the shareholder-record layer beneath tokenized securities sits at the proposal stage.

Trading, routing and collateral

On Sept. 17, the SEC granted its Innovation Exemption, a five-year conditional exemption letting qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues trade tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools.

Certain liquidity providers receive conditional dealer relief. It is a live exemption, temporary and limited to tokenized stocks on qualifying venues.

The same day, CFTC staff took a no-action position covering passive software providers that connect users to registered futures firms and markets. Wallets and interfaces get a clearer route into regulated derivatives when they meet the specified conditions.

As a staff position, the relief sits below a Commission rule or a statute in legal weight.

On Sept. 24, CFTC staff updated its crypto and blockchain FAQs to address customer-funded investments in tokenized forms of permitted investments and the use of blockchain technology for certain recordkeeping requirements.

Tokenization moves from the trade itself into the plumbing of regulated financial firms.

Clearing and custody for crypto

On Sept. 28, the CFTC registered Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization permitted to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps. The registration covers that entity and those product types, and it shows regulated crypto-native infrastructure reaching the clearing layer.

The Oct. 1 SEC proposal would create a custom custody framework for registered investment advisers, registered investment companies and other regulated funds. It would permit self-custody in certain circumstances, recognize state trust companies as custodians for client and fund crypto assets, and give regulated funds access to a wider range of crypto-related strategies.

Chairman Paul Atkins described it as a compliant custody path where none existed before. Comments run 60 days from Federal Register publication, and every provision stays conditional until a final rule.

What works today, and the piece at the White House

Four pieces are usable now: the Innovation Exemption, the CFTC passive-software relief, the CFTC FAQ update for covered registrants, and Coinbase Clearing's registration.

Regulation Crypto Assets, the transfer-agent proposal, and the custody proposal need final rules before anyone can rely on them, and the SEC FAQs interpret them. The last piece is the CFTC's market framework.

That framework, a regulatory action titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets,” went to White House review on Sept. 17. OIRA lists it as RIN 3038-AF80, a pre-rule received that day, so its contents are unpublished. It covers the market perimeter, the layer where the stack ends.

CLARITY would have allocated authority between the SEC and CFTC and set market-wide rules for secondary trading of digital commodities, a job that remains with Congress.

Agencies can issue exemptions, interpretations and registrations, and the March SEC and CFTC interpretation, an interpretive release, explained how securities laws apply to certain crypto assets.

The Innovation Exemption runs five years, and Atkins said Aug. 18 that legislation remained “indispensable” for rules that outlast a future regulator.

What the stack means for Bitcoin

Custody, adviser access, ETF flows, derivatives routing, collateral and clearing connect directly to Bitcoin, and the offering rules concern token issuers.

Bitcoin traded near $84,600, and Citi raised its 12-month forecast to $113,000 from $82,000, citing ETF inflows and gradual adviser and brokerage allocation growth.

CoinShares' August survey found digital-asset allocations at 1.2%, the first increase since the October 2025 selloff, with regulation the top concern among invested respondents.

If the custody, transfer-agent, and offering proposals reach final rules that line up with the CFTC's market framework, issuance, trading, collateral, clearing, and custody would run under one set of rules.

That alignment would support the adviser-and-brokerage allocation Citi describes, and it fits the upper range of Citi's tokenization forecasts, which run from $2.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion by 2030.

If the proposals slow, draw litigation, or get rewritten, and the CFTC framework stays unpublished, firms could use the specific exemptions and no-action positions available today.

The market perimeter would rest on interpretation and staff positions. A future administration or a court ruling could narrow those pathways, which pulls outcomes toward the low end of Citi's Bitcoin range.

In roughly six weeks, the agencies moved from how projects raise money to how regulated investors hold the assets. The statute that would fix the line between the SEC and CFTC remains open.

The post Bitcoin’s $113,000 case strengthens as US regulators push 9 crypto actions appeared first on CryptoSlate.

North Dakota’s banks and credit unions are getting a dollar settlement route on Solana as banking technology provider Fiserv brings its digital asset platform into production.

In its Oct. 1 announcement, the company identified Roughrider Coin, an interbank payment token overseen by the Bank of North Dakota (BND), as the platform’s first live use case.

Participating institutions will access it through Commercial Center, Fiserv’s online banking system already used for traditional interbank transfers. BND says initiation, approval, and settlement will run through the same operational channels banks use for ACH and wires, allowing staff to work through familiar banking systems.

Fiserv says more than 90 North Dakota banks and credit unions are participating. That figure describes participation in the rollout, leaving how much money actually moves through Roughrider undisclosed.

The production milestone follows Bank of North Dakota and Fiserv’s October 2025 announcement, which planned availability in 2026.

Public network, controlled access

BND’s deployment documentation describes Roughrider as a permissioned asset on Solana’s public blockchain. Participation is voluntary and restricted to financial institutions, and token transfers run on Solana under those institutional access controls.

US bank VersaBank USA National Association issues Roughrider, Fiserv operates the platform, and BND provides governance oversight. Fiserv assigns VersaBank responsibility for minting, burning, custody, and reserve management. BND describes Fireblocks-secured wallets and cites freeze and clawback capabilities available through Solana’s Token-2022 extensions.

Fiserv calls Roughrider a stablecoin, while BND’s current deployment page calls it a dollar-backed token deposit.

According to BND, each token has one-to-one US dollar backing. Minting occurs only after a confirmed transfer from an institution’s operating account into a designated “for benefit of” account.

Arrival at the receiving institution’s wallet automatically triggers burning through a smart-contract instruction, a design intended to keep token balances low.

Burning retires the transferred tokens, while the banking accounts remain part of the process. BND describes daily netting of account movements across VersaBank custody accounts and a concentration account held at BND.

Token settlement and banking-account reconciliation are distinct parts of the design.

BND positions the system for treasury transfers and loan payoff, with near-instant settlement around the clock and lower costs than wires. Its comparison table provides indicative costs, but the launch materials disclose no measured realized savings or performance-testing methodology.

For community banks, the immediate change is an additional settlement option embedded in existing banking workflows. The next test is whether an active-sender count and payment volume would show whether the participating institutions turn that new option into routine interbank business.

The post Solana enters US banking with 90 North Dakota banks leading it appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Shiba Inu price stands at 5.93 millionths of a dollar on Friday midday, 3.13 percent above Thursday's level. In euros that is 5.27 millionths of a euro and a gain of 3.52 percent. The figure that really explains something about this day is a different one: in the same 24 hours, exactly 17,271 SHIB were destroyed according to the public burn counter shibburn.com. Worth around 10 cents. Anyone crediting today's gain to the burn is attributing a move of 3.1 percent to an event that touched 0.00000000295 percent of the circulating supply.

That sounds like a quibble, and it is the most important distinction for anyone holding SHIB. Because if the price does not hang on the burn, it hangs on something else. This article shows what it hangs on, and what follows from that for holding period, purchase route, fees and leverage.

Shiba Inu price on October 2, 2026: 5.93 millionths of a dollar and a daily gain of 3.13 percent

The market data in this article comes from CoinGecko, as of Friday, October 2, shortly before midday German time. SHIB trades at $0.00000593. Market capitalisation stands at $3.49 billion, trading volume over the past 24 hours at $87.7 million. Over seven days the gain is 2.97 percent.

The all-time high of $0.00008616 from October 27, 2021 is 93.12 percent away. That is the figure framing every calculation involving price targets: for SHIB to see its 2021 high again, the price would have to rise more than fourteenfold, at a market capitalisation that would then exceed $50 billion.

Millionths of a dollar is the unit this text uses for $0.000001. So 5.93 millionths of a dollar is $0.00000593. The notation keeps the zeros out of the sentences without changing the number.

17,271 SHIB burned in 24 hours come to a value of 10 cents

The burn is the argument SHIB has been sold on for years: every unit burned disappears from circulation for good, and what remains grows scarcer. Set against that is the order of magnitude. On October 2, shibburn.com reports a circulating supply of 585,474,186,364,216 SHIB, with 410,844,454,285,146 tokens destroyed in total, or 41.08 percent of the original issue.

The daily burn of 17,271 tokens is a fraction of that which can barely be pronounced. At this pace, 1 percent of today's circulating supply would be burned after roughly 928,000 years. The monetary value of the daily burn, around 10 cents, equals 0.0000000029 percent of market capitalisation.

No statement about the price follows from this. A statement about headlines does. Percentage jumps in the burn, a rise of 154 percent or of 2,842 percent against the previous day for instance, describe a change on a base of a few thousand tokens. Such jumps are calculated correctly and are meaningless for the scarcity of SHIB. On September 28 the same thing showed in the other direction: the price fell although 477 million tokens had been burned, twenty-four thousand times today's daily burn.

Market beta instead of a coin-specific trigger: Bitcoin up 3.02 percent, XRP up 3.08 percent, Solana up 3.28 percent

The daily gain is explained by the market rather than by SHIB itself. At the same hour on Friday midday, the large caps trade almost in lockstep.

SHIB sits at 3.13 percent between Bitcoin and Solana, exactly where an asset with no news of its own ends up. Market beta means the price follows the direction of the broad market, amplifies it at most, and brings no impulse of its own. In practice that is a relief and a constraint at once. A relief, because there was no SHIB headline to overlook on this day. A constraint, because a position that carries only market beta cannot be steered through coin news, only through the size and the hedging of the position itself.

Turnover ratio of 2.51 percent: SHIB trades thinner than Dogecoin at 5.96 percent

The turnover ratio sets one day's trading volume against market capitalisation and shows how much of a holding actually changes hands in a day. From Friday midday's figures it works out at 2.51 percent for SHIB, 5.96 percent for Dogecoin, 6.14 percent for Solana, 4.73 percent for Ethereum, 3.02 percent for XRP and 2.26 percent for Bitcoin.

That makes SHIB the most thinly traded of the six large caps apart from Bitcoin, whose low ratio springs from an entirely different size class. For you that means two things. First, larger orders travel further through the order book before they are filled, and that shows up in the spread between bid and ask. We worked through this market thinness in detail on September 29 using the euro order book of SHIB. Second, the price reacts more strongly to inflows and outflows than to news, because a few large addresses dominate the daily turnover.

The volume of $87.7 million is spread across every trading venue worldwide, including pairs that a German investor cannot reach. The available euro volume is considerably smaller than the headline figure suggests. If you are planning order sizes, work with the euro book of your provider, not with the global number.

At 5.27 millionths of a euro, spread and minimum order size cost more than half the daily move

A worked example with Friday midday's price. For 500 euros you get around 94,876,660 SHIB at 5.27 millionths of a euro. If a spread of 1 percent falls due on the purchase and another 1 percent on the sale, you pay 10 euros in friction. The daily gain of 3.52 percent in euros comes to 17.60 euros on a stake of 500 euros. Friction therefore eats 56.8 percent of the daily gain.

This calculation says nothing against SHIB. It is a quantity that goes missing easily on an asset whose nominal price carries six zeros. It can be looked up in three places: in the fee page of your provider, in the spread displayed in the order window, and in the minimum order size. Spread and order fee differ widely between trading venues, and on an asset of this nominal size that is a bigger lever than any view on the price.

Watch three items that can be charged separately: the order fee in percent, the spread between bid and ask, and, on a withdrawal to your own wallet, the network fee. With SHIB on Ethereum the last item is independent of order size and quickly turns a small position into an expensive withdrawal.

Holding period under Section 23 of the German Income Tax Act: a sale on October 2, 2026 stays tax free only with a purchase up to October 1, 2025

For investors in Germany, SHIB is a different asset than a share. Gains from a sale fall under private disposals under Section 23 paragraph 1 sentence 1 number 2 of the German Income Tax Act. After one year of holding the gain is tax free; within the year it is subject to the personal income tax rate. For sales inside the period an exemption threshold of 1,000 euros per calendar year applies, and it covers all private disposals together.

Calculated for this particular day: whoever sells on October 2, 2026 stays tax free if the purchase was made on October 1, 2025 at the latest. So anyone who bought more in the autumn of 2025 holds tranches whose period only runs out in these weeks. Which tranche leaves first on a sale depends on the method you keep to; the tax authorities expect a traceable and consistent allocation for each wallet.

On that hangs the one point worth more than any forecast on a quiet trading day: the chain of records. Purchase date, quantity, price and provider have to be documented for each tranche. A tax tool or portfolio tracker reads in the transactions of the exchanges and holds that allocation, which is barely manageable by hand at 94 million tokens per 500 euros of stake. If the proof is missing, the burden of proof is yours, not the tax office's.

Will market depth hold at $87.7 million in daily volume?

This question decides whether a position can be steered at all the way a plan intends. At a turnover ratio of 2.51 percent, the gap between the displayed price and the price at which a larger order is actually filled grows with the order size. A stop placed close to the price is triggered earlier and on worse terms in a thin book than in a deep one.

For leveraged positions that sharpens. The liquidation distance has to carry the spread and the execution gap as well, not only the expected price move. Whoever trades SHIB through derivatives therefore calculates that distance with a premium on volatility and not tightly. Which platform applies which liquidation logic and which funding costs is set out in the contract terms of the respective provider and differs considerably.

MiCA authorisation: the company register of BaFin lists the legal purchase route in Germany

MiCA is the EU regulation on markets in crypto-assets. Since December 30, 2024 it has applied in full to providers of crypto-asset services: anyone offering trading, exchange or custody in Germany needs an authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider. For you that is a checkable item with an address. The company database of BaFin lets you look up whether a provider is authorised in Germany.

The point is not academic. A provider without authorisation can close market access at short notice, and then the position sits where you can no longer reach it. On an asset with a thin euro book, switching provider is expensive on top of that, because the withdrawal costs network fees and a fresh purchase costs the spread again.

Shibarium, switched-off validator staking and the triangle apex on October 4

Three processes specific to SHIB run alongside this trading day, and none of them explains the daily gain. Validator staking on Shibarium has by now been switched off for more than 167 days, which we counted out in detail on October 1; for holders that means a yield through this route does not currently exist. We counted it out in our piece of October 1 on the switched-off Shibarium staking.

The burn continues through ShibTorch, the automatic mechanism that converts transaction fees collected on Shibarium into SHIB and destroys them. A member of the Shiba Inu community going by the name Mazrael described the state of play on August 15, 2026 like this: "it's still shibarium gas shibarium still powers the shibtorch. A few hundred millions Shib burned in it last couple weeks." Today's figure, 17,271 tokens, lies orders of magnitude below that.

On the chart a triangle is running towards its intersection, which we calculated for October 4. Which levels lie above and below it there is set out in our analysis of the triangle apex. For this article the following holds: a triangle is a time window, not a statement about direction, and it does not replace the calculation on fees, period and order size.

Shiba Inu price: the key points for your decision

1. Separate market beta from coin news. A gain of 3.13 percent on a day when Bitcoin adds 3.02 percent and Solana 3.28 percent is no SHIB signal. Aligning position sizes and hedging with the market situation instead of with burn headlines calls for running market data; an overview of the tools for it is in the comparison of analytics platforms.
2. Work out the friction before you estimate the direction. On a stake of 500 euros with a spread of 2 percent across purchase and sale, 10 euros are lost, which is 56.8 percent of today's daily gain in euros. The terms are in the fee page of your provider and in the comparison of crypto exchanges.
3. Sort the chain of records for each tranche. A sale on October 2, 2026 is tax free only if the purchase was made on October 1, 2025 at the latest. Purchase date, quantity and price belong in the documentation for each tranche, and before a sale is due; the tools for it are in the overview of tax software and portfolio trackers.

(As of October 2, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

In SIM swapping, fraudsters take over your mobile number by having the operator activate a new SIM card in your name. From that moment on, every SMS code lands on their device, including the confirmation code from your crypto exchange. The most effective protection has two steps: two-factor authentication on the exchange account runs through an authenticator app or a hardware key instead of SMS, and a customer password sits with the mobile operator, without which nobody can order a new card over the phone.

This is not a theoretical risk. Anyone holding bitcoin or other coins on an exchange loses them for good in a successful attack: a transfer on the blockchain cannot be recalled, and balances at a crypto exchange carry no deposit protection of the kind a bank has. The attack itself needs no technology. It needs only a member of staff at the customer desk who takes the person on the other end of the line for you.

SIM Swapping Explained: the Fraud at the Mobile Operator's Customer Desk

SIM swapping is the unauthorised move of a mobile number onto a new SIM card controlled by the attacker. The abbreviation SIM stands for subscriber identity module, the module that carries your subscriber identity. The decisive part: the number belongs to the contract, not to the card. Any operator can move a number onto another card or an eSIM profile at any time, because that is exactly what a customer who has lost their phone needs.

That move is the point of attack. The specialist literature also calls the method SIM hijacking or SIM swap fraud. According to the trade magazine PC-WELT, SIM swapping usually runs through the customer portal or the customer hotline of the mobile provider. So no security hole in a chip is exploited, but a process gap in customer service. The attacker calls, poses as you and reports a lost phone.

To you the result looks harmless. Your phone loses the network, nothing more. Control over the number already lies elsewhere at that moment.

Your Crypto Account Hangs on Your Mobile Number: from SIM Swap to Empty Exchange

With most online services the mobile number is the master key. That number serves as the second factor at login, as the route for a password reset and as the channel for confirmations on withdrawals. Whoever controls it holds three levers at once.

The typical sequence on a crypto account: the attacker starts a password reset at the exchange. The confirmation goes to your email address. If they have access there too, because the email account was also secured by SMS, the chain is closed. They reset both passwords, confirm the login with the SMS code that now reaches them, and order a withdrawal to an address of their own. With bitcoin and ethereum, that transfer is final after a few confirmations.

This is why SIM swapping hits crypto investors harder than bank customers. A bank can under certain circumstances recall a transfer within the SEPA area and is liable in a dispute under the rules for unauthorised payments. A blockchain transaction knows no recall. Anyone not holding their balance themselves should at least build the account access so that a foreign SIM card does not open it. Which exchanges offer which methods is shown in our crypto exchange comparison.

Name, Date of Birth and Address: These Three Details Often Suffice for Fraudsters

The groundwork is unspectacular. O2 writes in its guide to the method that in many cases it is enough for the criminals to supply basic personal data such as the full name, the date of birth and the address. For many people all three sit openly on the internet or can be assembled with little effort.

The sources are familiar: profiles on social networks from which birthday and place of residence can be read off; data breaches at online retailers whose records are traded on the dark web; and phishing emails that ask specifically for contract details. An attacker needs not a single figure from your exchange account. They only need enough to sound credible on the phone.

From that follows an uncomfortable rule for social media: every publicly visible detail that could appear in a security question is a building block for the attack. That applies to the birthday as much as to the name of the first pet, which still serves as a security question in many customer systems.

From Customer Portal to New SIM Card: the Attack in Three Phases

O2 describes the sequence in three phases, and they match what investigators report from cases.

Phase one: collecting the data

The attacker gathers what the mobile operator asks for to identify a customer. Phishing emails, counterfeit websites and public profiles are enough for that.

Phase two: taking over the identity

They contact the operator, pose as the contract holder and justify the request for a new card with a loss or a technical problem, such as a different card format.

Phase three: activating the number

The new SIM card or the new eSIM profile is switched on, and your old card loses the network. From then on calls, messages and every SMS code arrive at the attacker.

In the worst case, minutes pass between phase two and phase three. That is why a defence that only takes effect after the attack is almost always too late. What really helps are hurdles that stand beforehand.

971 Cases, $17.4 Million: the FBI Figures on SIM Swapping for 2025

For Germany there is no separate statistic on this form of fraud. The best available survey is run by the US federal police, the FBI, with its annual report of the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and the figures there are clear enough to show the order of magnitude.

For 2025 the FBI counts 971 reported SIM swap cases with damage of $17,366,758. A year earlier there were 982 cases and $25,983,946, and in 2023 still 1,075 cases and $48,798,103. Arithmetically a reported case in 2025 therefore costs around $17,900. The number of reports is barely falling, then, while the reported damage total is falling markedly.

Two caveats belong with this. First, these are reports from the United States, not from Germany. Second, the authority records only what somebody actively reports; the unreported number is unknown. What the figures do show: the damage per case sits in the five-figure range, and that fits an attack that only pays off once a notable balance sits behind the account.

The age distribution in the same survey is telling. Most SIM swap reports in 2025 come from the 40 to 49 age group with 210 cases, followed by the 50 to 59 group with 194 and the 30 to 39 group with 162 cases. Under 20 there are six. This is no youth phenomenon; it hits the age groups with the largest assets.

For a sense of scale: the same survey records 181,565 complaints with a crypto connection for 2025 and damage of a good $11.3 billion. SIM swapping is a small but particularly targeted slice of that.

No Network, Foreign Codes, Unknown Logins: the Warning Signs of a SIM Swap Attack

A SIM swap announces itself, though only for a few minutes and only if you know what points to it. These signs appear consistently in the guides from operators and security firms:

• Suddenly no network. Your phone shows no reception, or only emergency calls, although other devices in the same place work normally. That is the clearest warning sign of all.
• An unexpected confirmation from the operator. An email or a letter announces a new SIM card, a new eSIM profile or a contract change that you did not request.
• SMS codes you did not ask for. While the old card still runs, codes sometimes arrive for logins that nobody in your household triggered.
• A rejected login. You can no longer get into your email account or your exchange account even though the password is right.
• Quiet changes in accounts. New devices, new sessions or changed contact details appear on social networks or in online banking.

The snag with the first point: a dead spot looks exactly the same. Hence the rule of thumb that a sudden loss of network in the middle of an ordinary day, without a change of location and without a restart, deserves a call to the operator from another phone within a few minutes.

Authenticator App Instead of SMS: Switching Two-Factor Authentication on the Exchange Account

Two-factor authentication requires a second, independent piece of evidence alongside the password. Whether that evidence survives a SIM swap depends solely on where it is generated.

The Federal Office for Information Security classifies the methods clearly in its recommendations on account protection. On delivery by SMS the authority writes that what is common above all is delivery by SMS, meaning mTAN or smsTAN. On the alternative it says, in its own words: "Better are TAN generators (hardware) or authenticator apps (software), which generate one-time passwords anew on a time or event basis." And on the strongest tier: "safer, however, is storage in hardware on a chip card (HBCI, signature cards) or a dedicated USB stick or NFC token (FIDO/U2F)."

For your crypto account that means, in ascending order of safety:

1. SMS code. Hangs on the mobile number and fails completely in a SIM swap. Only as a stopgap, where a provider can do nothing else.
2. Authenticator app (TOTP). The one-time code arises on your device from a secret seed value and the time of day. A foreign SIM card changes nothing about that. You back the seed value up separately from the phone during setup.
3. Passkey or hardware key (FIDO2/U2F). The key sits in a separate piece of hardware or in the device's security chip and never leaves it. It is also the only factor that protects against phishing as well, because it checks the internet address of the genuine site.

The important part is the second step, which many forget: after switching, remove the phone number as a recovery option. Otherwise the old route stays open, and the attacker simply takes it. We worked through exactly the same logic in detail in our piece on two-factor authentication at the crypto exchange.

Customer Password at Telekom, Vodafone and O2: the Bolt at the Mobile Operator

The second half of the protection sits with the mobile operator. According to PC-WELT, a dedicated customer password is mandatory on the customer hotline at Telekom, Vodafone and O2. That password is the bolt: without it, no order and no card transfer is supposed to go through on the phone.

From that follow three concrete moves that anybody can complete in a quarter of an hour:

• Set and change the customer password. It has to differ from all your other passwords and must contain nothing that appears in a public profile. Many contracts start out with a weak default password in there.
• Secure access to the customer portal. According to PC-WELT the portal is the second route alongside the hotline. Its own password, and where the operator offers one, a second factor that is not your own number.
• Ask about additional blocks. Telekom has offered identification by voice since the summer of 2018. Other operators work with callbacks or with delivery by post. Which hurdle your contract knows appears on no tariff sheet; you find that out only by asking.

A side effect of the eSIM helps here: because the profile is tied to a particular device and has to be authorised on top of that, moving it to foreign hardware takes more effort than with a plastic card that can be posted somewhere.

Withdrawal Addresses, Withdrawal Lock and Self-Custody: the Second Line of Defence

Even if an attacker gets as far as the account, they still have to get the coins out. That is exactly where the second line of defence starts, and it costs nothing but a few minutes in the settings.

Fixing withdrawal addresses

Most exchanges allow a list of permitted withdrawal addresses, often called an address book or whitelist. If an address is not on it, nothing goes out. What counts is the lock-up period when adding a new address: 24 or 48 hours in which no withdrawal to the new destination is possible. That period is precisely the window in which you notice an attack.

Withdrawal lock after changes

Many providers automatically block withdrawals for a day after somebody changes the password, the email address or the second factor. Where this is configurable, switch it on. Where it is not, it is worth checking whether the provider knows this lock at all.

What does not have to sit on the exchange

The hardest protection remains not leaving the long-term holding with the provider in the first place. Anyone holding their own coins has no account that can be taken over by telephone. In exchange they take on other risks, above all with approvals in their own wallet. What can go wrong there we showed using the example of wallet drainers and their signatures, and how to get rid of old permissions again is covered in our guide to revoking token approvals on Ethereum.

A Replacement SIM for 14.95 Euros: What a Frankfurt Court Ruling Means for Victims

After a SIM swap you need a new card, and operators long charged a flat fee for it. The Federation of German Consumer Organisations sued over this and reports a ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main of July 18, 2024 against Drillisch Online GmbH, case number 1 UKl 2/24. At issue was a price list under which a replacement SIM card was to cost 14.95 euros, without any exception.

The court held that flat fee inadmissible, because it also covers cases the customer did not cause. The federation sums up the core by saying the charge may not cover cases in which the replacement of the SIM card was not caused by the customer. According to the federation the decision is final.

For you that means two things. First, the fee for a replacement card after an incident caused by somebody else is open to discussion, and pointing to this ruling in a conversation with the operator does no harm. Second, it changes nothing about the actual damage: the card is the cheapest part of the whole story. Anyone wanting to settle liability questions with a bank or a mobile operator needs legal advice, because the legal position depends on the individual case and cannot be answered in general terms.

The SIM Swap Has Happened: How to Check Your Accounts and Block the Number

Once the suspicion is there, the order counts. These steps appear consistently in the recommendations of operators and security firms:

1. Have the number blocked. Call the mobile operator from another phone, report the incident and have the foreign card blocked. That is the only step that cuts off the supply of codes.
2. Secure the email account first. The email address is the root; the exchange account comes after it. Change the password, end all foreign sessions, switch the second factor to an app or a hardware key.
3. Freeze the exchange account. Most providers have an emergency block for withdrawals or for the whole account. After that, set the password and the second factor anew and sign out every active device.
4. Notify the bank and payment services. Online banking and every service that confirms bank transactions through the number belong on the same list.
5. File a police report. A police report is the basis for any later claim for reimbursement or liability. Along with it, secure everything that documents the timing: screenshots, emails from the operator, the times of the withdrawals.
6. Move the remaining holdings. Whatever is still there belongs at an address whose key the attacker has never seen.

Honesty requires this: once coins have flowed out, recovery on the blockchain is not provided for. What remains is the trail of the transaction, the police report and the route through the exchange where the loot lands.

SIM Swapping: What to Take Away

The method needs no technology, only patience on the telephone, and it aims at the weakest point of your account security: a phone number that a stranger can have transferred. Three steps close the gap.

1. Switch the second factor. Move from SMS to an authenticator app or a hardware key at the exchange and the email provider today, and delete the number as a recovery route. Which providers stand under European supervision and which methods they offer is shown in our overview of regulated crypto exchanges.
2. Set the bolt at the mobile operator. Assign a customer password, secure the customer portal with its own password and ask about additional hurdles for a card change. In parallel, check what has to sit with the provider at all and what belongs better in your own software wallet.
3. Activate the second line of defence. Fix the withdrawal addresses, switch on the withdrawal lock after changes and take the long-term holding into self-custody; the devices for that are in the hardware wallet comparison.

(As of October 2, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

The difference between a hot wallet and a cold wallet comes down to one point: is the private key connected to the internet or not. A hot wallet keeps it on a device that is online, meaning on your phone, in the browser or on your computer. A cold wallet generates it offline and never releases it. Everything else said about the two forms of custody follows from that single sentence.

In practice that means the hot wallet is convenient and always at hand, but carries every risk the device is exposed to. The cold wallet costs a few extra steps and demands that you store a list of words somewhere genuinely safe. Anyone using both in parallel, separating the everyday amount from the reserve, does not have to choose between the forms at all.

Hot Wallet and Cold Wallet: Where the Private Key Sits in Each Case

A wallet does not store coins. The sentence sounds awkward, yet it explains all the rest. Your bitcoin exist as entries in the blockchain, a jointly kept ledger held on thousands of computers at the same time. What the wallet holds is the private key: a very large random number with which you can prove that a given entry belongs to you, and with which you are allowed to pass it on.

Whoever holds that key controls the coins. Whoever loses it loses them, and no office exists to reissue it. A bank can reset a password because it runs the account. With self-custodied crypto assets, you run it yourself.

From that follows the classification. A hot wallet is any wallet whose private key sits on a device with a network connection. A cold wallet is any wallet whose key was generated offline and stays offline, including while you pay. The English term cold storage means the same thing. Both forms use the same blockchain and the same addresses; the difference lies solely in where the key is kept.

Warm, Hot, Cold: Why the Intermediate Steps Mislead

Forums throw around terms such as warm wallet, usually meaning a software wallet with extra protection. For the question that counts, the gradation adds nothing. Either an attacker controlling your device reaches the key, or they do not. A device that is online falls into the first group.

Signing Without a Network: How a Transfer Leaves the Cold Wallet

That a cold wallet stays offline and can still trigger payments looks contradictory at first. The procedure resolves the contradiction and consists of four steps.

First, the software on the computer or phone assembles the transaction: recipient address, amount, fee. This draft is still worthless, because the signature is missing. In the second step the draft travels to the offline device, over USB, over a short-range radio link or as a QR code that you photograph. In the third step the device shows the data on its own small display, you confirm them at the press of a button, and the device signs the transaction internally with the private key. Finally the signed transaction goes back to the computer, which broadcasts it to the network.

The decisive point sits in the third step. Signing happens inside the device, and the key does not leave it. Even a computer entirely under an attacker's control never gets to see it. That is why the device's own display matters so much: it shows you what you are actually signing. Trust the display on the computer alone and a manipulated program can show you a harmless transfer while sending a different one to be signed.

The Forms of Cold Wallet: Hardware Wallet, Paper and Air Gap

Cold wallet is an umbrella term for three fairly different implementations.

The hardware wallet is the common case: a small device with a shielded chip that stores the key and computes signatures, plus a display and one or two buttons. Which models differ in what, which coins they support and what they cost is set out in the hardware wallet comparison.

A paper wallet is a piece of paper or metal carrying the key or the recovery words. It cannot sign anything. To move the coins you have to enter the key into software, and at that moment it sits on an online device. As an archive for amounts that lie untouched for years, the form has its place; as a wallet for day-to-day use it is a trap.

Air gap describes devices that are never physically connected to a computer. Data exchange runs exclusively through QR codes or a memory card. The gap through which malware could reach the device shrinks further, at the price of clumsier handling.

Browser Extension, App, Exchange Account: These Are Hot Wallets Too

On the warm side stand three groups, and one of them strictly does not belong there.

Browser wallets are extensions that sit next to the address bar and identify themselves to websites as a wallet. They are the normal case for decentralised exchanges and everything happening inside a browser window. Mobile wallets are apps on the phone, often with a camera for QR codes and approval by fingerprint. Desktop wallets run as a program on the computer. Which software counts as how reliable, and where the differences in fees and features lie, is shown in our comparison of software wallets.

Then there is the account at an exchange, the case most often filed in the wrong place. If your coins sit there, you hold no wallet at all, neither warm nor cold. The provider runs the keys and you hold a claim against them. That can be sensible if you trade regularly or do not trust yourself with self-custody. It is, however, a different legal position, and it hangs on the solvency and the diligence of a company.

The Seed Phrase: 12 or 24 Words Under the BIP-39 Standard

During setup, almost every wallet shows you a series of simple words and asks you to write them down. This seed phrase, also called a recovery phrase, follows the BIP-39 standard. The words come from a fixed list of 2,048 entries, and their order is part of the information. Twelve or twenty-four words are usual.

From that sequence the wallet derives the private key and every address it shows you. That has a consequence easily underestimated the first time around: the words are the wallet. The device is replaceable, the words are not. If the hardware wallet goes missing during a move, you buy a new one, enter the word sequence and have your holdings back. If somebody else reads the words, they need neither your device nor your PIN.

Two rules follow that admit no exception. The words are never typed into a device that is online, except into the wallet itself when restoring. And they are never photographed, written into a notes app, stored in a cloud or sent by messenger. How setup proceeds step by step is covered in our guide to setting up a crypto wallet.

Attack Routes on the Hot Wallet: Drainers, Phishing and Token Approvals

That a hot wallet is more exposed stays abstract as long as you do not know the routes. Four occur regularly.

With phishing, a link leads to a page modelled on the original and asks for the recovery words. The prompt often arrives by email and sounds urgent: a supposedly necessary update, a security check, a deadline. No wallet and no provider ever has a reason to ask for your seed phrase.

A drainer works differently and never gets to see your words. The page has you produce a signature that looks like a login or a confirmation but in truth grants authority over your holdings. The outflow follows afterwards, with nothing more required of you. Here the value of a cold wallet with its own display shows itself: you see what you are approving, not what the website claims.

Unlimited token approvals are the quiet relative of that. Anyone trading on decentralised exchanges grants contracts the right to move certain tokens. These approvals remain in force until you revoke them, often unlimited in amount. If the contract is attacked later, your wallet hangs on it too.

Added to that is classic malware: programs that quietly place a different address in the clipboard when you copy a recipient address, counterfeit wallet apps in the app stores, extensions that suddenly demand more rights after an update. The countermeasure is the same in every case and thoroughly unspectacular: compare the recipient address character by character after pasting it, obtain software only from the maker, review approvals regularly.

The Limits of the Cold Wallet: Loss, Defect and the Error During Setup

A cold wallet shifts the risk, it does not remove it. It takes away the risk of a compromised computer reading out your key. In exchange it hands you full responsibility for a piece of paper or metal.

The most common loss is not an attack but a mishap: the word list sits in a place only one person knows, and that person mislays it, or it burns, or it gets thrown out during a clear-out. A second copy in a different place is therefore no luxury. Paper withstands neither water nor fire particularly well, which is why some stamp the words into stainless steel.

The second largest source of error sits in the setup. A used device with a pre-supplied word list is an open till: anyone who knew the list beforehand can help themselves at any time. Buy hardware from the maker or an authorised dealer, and always generate the word sequence yourself on the device. If a slip of paper with ready-made words comes with the delivery, that is not a service but the attack.

And a device that stays offline offers no protection against a wrong decision. Anyone signing an authorisation without reading it loses their tokens with the best hardware too.

The Two-Wallet Model: Current Account and Savings Book for Coins

The question of which form is better leads in the wrong direction, because it forces a decision nobody has to make. In practice a split works well, one everybody knows from their bank account.

The hot wallet is the purse. It holds the amount you actually intend to move over the coming weeks, and whose loss would annoy you without hurting you. Convenience counts here; this is where trading and paying happen. The cold wallet is the reserve. It holds the part meant to stay put, and it is rarely touched.

Where the line runs depends on your amounts, not on a general rule. As a guide: as soon as the sum is large enough that losing it would change your financial planning, it no longer belongs on a device that hangs on the network every day. That matches what the Federal Office for Information Security tells consumers.

What the BSI Recommends to Users in Germany

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is the German federal authority responsible for IT security and publishes consumer guidance on crypto assets as well. Four points are stated there explicitly, and they are worded more concisely than most advice columns.

First, the authority advises using wallets from trustworthy providers. Second, it urges protecting the access credentials to the wallet. Third, it draws a comparison that supports the split from the previous section: "as with cash", large sums should not sit in the wallet on a PC or smartphone either. And fourth, it requires several backup copies of the wallet in case the computer or the phone is stolen or suffers a technical defect; these backups should be stored securely and fitted with cryptographic access protection. The guidance can be read on the BSI page on blockchain and cryptocurrency.

What is remarkable is what does not appear there: a recommendation for a particular device or a particular form. The authority describes the goal, not the product. The third point, though, is in substance exactly the split at issue here, and the fourth explains why a single copy of the word list is too few.

Crypto Custody Under MiCA: The BaFin Licence and Your Coins

If you custody your own assets you need no licence; you are nobody's customer. As soon as a company holds crypto assets for others, matters look different. Crypto custody business is a supervised activity in Germany, and BaFin supervises crypto institutions.

On top of that, the regulation on markets in crypto-assets, MiCA for short, has applied across the EU since July 1, 2026: anyone offering crypto services in the European Union needs authorisation. Providers without a valid licence may not take on new customers in the EU and may only wind their business down in an orderly fashion. For you as a user this is above all a checkpoint at the purchase, not at custody: your own hardware wallet does not fall under MiCA, the account you buy through does.

The practical consequence is inconspicuous, yet it concerns almost everyone. Nearly everybody buys on a platform first, and only afterwards does the question arise whether the coins stay there. The two steps carry different rules: when buying you look at the provider's authorisation, when custodying you look at yourself.

Holding Period and Proof: Moving Between Your Own Wallets Is Not a Sale

Switching from the exchange to your own hardware wallet regularly raises the worry that the transfer triggers tax. It does not. A transfer between wallets that both belong to you is not a disposal, because beneficial ownership stays with you. It does not interrupt the one-year holding period, nor does it start it afresh.

The one-year period for private disposal transactions under section 23 of the Income Tax Act therefore remains untouched: sell more than a year after buying and the gain is tax-free. Within the year, an exemption limit of 1,000 euros applies to all private disposal transactions of a year taken together. The details on the treatment of crypto assets are set out in the Federal Ministry of Finance letter of March 6, 2025, which replaced the older version of May 10, 2022.

The move does bring one duty with it. The transfer is tax-free only if you can document the attribution, and the tax office initially sees nothing in the blockchain but two unfamiliar addresses. For every transfer to yourself, therefore, record the sending and the receiving address, the transaction hash and the time, along with the original purchase with date and price. Without that chain, an audit can treat the transfer as a sale, and then the holding period counts from the start again. Which programs keep this record is set out in the crypto tax tool comparison.

Hot and Cold Wallet: Your Next Three Steps

1. Split your holding. Decide which amount you genuinely want to move over the coming weeks. That stays in the hot wallet, the rest goes to an offline device. Suitable models and their prices are in the hardware wallet comparison.
2. Back up the word list twice. Two copies in two separate places, neither of them as a photo, as a file or in a cloud. One of them preferably on a medium that survives water and fire. Which software wallet fits alongside for the everyday amount is set out in the software wallet comparison.
3. Set up the proof before you transfer. Note addresses, hash and time for every transfer to yourself, or have a program from the tax tool comparison record it. Reconstructing that chain after the fact is hard.

(As of October 2, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

The shareholders of Armada Acquisition Corp. II approved the merger with Evernorth Holdings on September 30, 2026. That moves a company to the Nasdaq whose balance sheet consists in essence of around 473 million XRP. Evernorth itself names October 7 as the day of closing and October 8 as the first trading day under the ticker XRPN.

For investors in Germany this is not a price story but a fork in the road. Anyone who wants XRP exposure has two options from October 8, each with very different rules: the share of a US company or the coin itself. In tax terms the two routes lie several thousand euros apart once the stake is large enough. This article sets out what was actually decided on September 30, what remains open and which questions you should settle for yourself before trading starts.

What the Shareholders of Armada Acquisition Corp. II Decided on September 30

Armada Acquisition Corp. II is a listed acquisition vehicle, known in the trade as a SPAC. A SPAC is a company with no business of its own that raises money on the stock market in order to take over another company later and bring it to the exchange. Armada II was founded on October 3, 2024 and backed by the Arrington XRP Capital Fund; the chairman is Michael Arrington, the chief executive Taryn Naidu.

The extraordinary general meeting convened on September 30. The record date for voting rights was August 20, 2026. On that date 23,710,000 Class A shares and 7,880,000 Class B shares were issued, 31,590,000 voting units in total. Represented were 21,877,045 shares, around 69 percent, which made the meeting quorate.

The decisive item was resolution number one, approval of the merger agreement of October 19, 2025. The result according to the mandatory filing with the US securities regulator: 20,514,034 votes in favour, 1,362,081 against, 930 abstentions. Among the votes cast that equals approval of a good 93 percent. The second resolution, the merger itself, came out at 20,514,597 to 1,362,089, practically identical.

Two further resolutions are pure formality, yet they reveal something about the structure. The Armada II shell moves from the Cayman Islands to Delaware and will be named Arrington Capital SPAC I Inc. Only the Class B shareholders were allowed to vote on that, and they did so by 7,880,000 to zero. The motion to adjourn the meeting never came to a vote, because the majorities stood anyway.

The figures appear in this form in the mandatory filing of October 1, 2026, signed by Taryn Naidu. The company is liable to the regulator for the accuracy of that document; the same does not apply to a press release. Anyone wanting to see the raw data can find it in the Form 8-K of Armada Acquisition Corp. II.

XRPN, XRPNU and XRPNW: These Three Securities Are Registered with the Nasdaq

In the same filing, the Nasdaq lists three different securities. That tends to be overlooked in daily practice and leads to the wrong purchase.

XRPN covers the Class A common shares with a par value of $0.0001. This is the security meant whenever people talk about the XRPN share.

XRPNU denotes what are called units. One unit consists of one Class A share and half a warrant. Buying a unit therefore means buying a bundle that may first have to be separated.

XRPNW stands for the warrants themselves. A warrant of this kind confers the right to buy a share at a fixed price, here at $11.50 per Class A share. Such instruments move in percentage terms far more sharply than the share and expire worthless if the price fails to reach the set level. For a savings plan or a long-term position they are the wrong tool.

When you search for the ticker at your broker, a second look at the full security pays off. One letter of difference means a completely different risk profile here. Which providers make US small caps and warrants tradable at all is shown in our overview of the best crypto brokers.

October 7 Is the Closing, October 8 the First Trading Day

The two dates are often lumped together, yet they describe two separate events. On October 7 the merger is to be completed in legal terms, the closing. Only after that does the merged company exist in the form that is subsequently listed. Trading in the share under XRPN is due to begin on October 8.

Evernorth names both dates in a statement on its own account on X dated October 1, 2026: "Expected next: Oct 7: Closing Oct 8: Nasdaq trading under XRPN" That is a company statement about its own plans, not a commitment by the exchange. The mandatory filing with the regulator does not contain these two dates; it speaks of the satisfaction of the customary closing conditions, without a calendar.

In practice that means a closing delayed by a few days pushes the trading start back with it. That is not unusual in SPAC transactions and is no alarm signal. Anyone searching in vain for the ticker on October 8 has therefore not necessarily done anything wrong.

One detail on the side that helps the search: the tickers XRPN, XRPNU and XRPNW already appear in the securities list of the filing, because the SPAC shell itself is already carried under them. The renaming of the company and the change of business model coincide with the closing.

473 Million XRP: What the Holding Is Worth at the Current Price

Evernorth expects to hold around 473 million XRP after completion, which would make it the largest listed company whose business rests on this coin alone. In cash the transaction brings in around $300 million according to the companies involved, before costs: 225 million from private placements, 30 million from an additional convertible note and about 48 million left in the Armada II trust account. The XRP come separately as a contribution in kind from the investors; including these coins, Evernorth puts the volume raised at more than $1 billion. The backers include Arrington Capital, the SBI Group, Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken and GSR.

XRP trades at $1.52 on October 2, 2026 (CoinGecko). Valuing the holding at that price gives a good $719 million. At the time the contract was signed in October 2025, the same holding stood at around $1.1 billion according to an analysis by BeInCrypto, roughly 37 percent higher. The transaction therefore reaches the exchange in a weaker market environment than the one in which it was negotiated.

That is a framing condition and not yet a valuation. For a buyer's entry price, what counts is how the market values the share in relation to that holding. This is exactly where the decisive difference from a direct purchase lies, and more on it below. Where the levels for the coin itself sit and what analysts credit the price with is set out on our XRP page.

The difference between holding and business model matters. Evernorth describes itself as a company that actively manages its XRP holding and deploys it in liquidity and lending strategies, with the aim of raising the amount of XRP per share over time. Founder and chief executive Asheesh Birla described the plan in an earlier statement as follows: "We set out to build an actively managed XRP treasury with the transparency and governance public markets demand." Whether that works out is an open entrepreneurial question and not a property of the coin.

XRPN Share or XRP Directly: The Difference Starts with the Account

No XRP changes hands on the Nasdaq. What trades is the share of a company that holds XRP. The sentence sounds like hair-splitting and still decides almost everything that follows.

If you buy XRPN, you need a securities account with a broker that makes US equities tradable. You acquire a stake in a company, receive a security with an identification number, an annual statement from your bank and the familiar investor protection of securities law. In exchange you have no access to the coins, cannot transfer them to a wallet of your own and cannot use them for staking.

If you buy XRP itself, you need a trading venue authorised in the EU. Since MiCA has applied in full, crypto services in Germany may only be provided by companies holding the corresponding authorisation; the competent authority is BaFin. A look at the list of regulated crypto exchanges shows who is actually authorised in Germany.

In return you get something the share does not deliver: the coins themselves, with everything attached to them. Self-custody is possible, a hardware wallet likewise, and you alone carry the risk of a lost key. Price losses on the share can have causes other than price losses on the coin, such as a capital increase or simply waning interest in the paper.

One more point that tends to get lost: XRPN is quoted in dollars. Anyone buying from Germany additionally carries the exchange-rate risk against the euro, regardless of how XRP performs. In a direct purchase against euros, that second layer falls away.

Tax in Germany: Holding Period on the Coin, Flat-Rate Tax on the Share

Here lies the harshest difference, and international coverage of this transaction practically never mentions it, because it affects German investors only.

Gains from the sale of crypto assets count as a private disposal transaction under section 23 of the Income Tax Act. From that follows the familiar one-year rule: anyone holding XRP for more than a year and then selling pays no income tax on the gain. Below one year the gain is taxed at the personal rate, with an exemption limit of 1,000 euros per calendar year for all private disposal transactions taken together. Once the limit is exceeded, the entire gain is taxable and not merely the excess.

None of that applies to a share. Gains from share sales are investment income and attract the flat-rate withholding tax of 25 percent, plus the solidarity surcharge, which brings the total to around 26.4 percent, and church tax where applicable. There is no holding period after which the tax falls away; even after ten years the gain remains taxable. Offset against it is the saver's allowance of 1,000 euros per person per year.

From that follows a calculation everyone has to make for themselves. Anyone thinking long term anyway and able to keep to the one-year rule gives away, with the share, the tax exemption the direct coin offers. Anyone trading short term with a high personal tax rate, by contrast, can do better with the flat-rate tax, because it is capped at 25 percent. Anyone using several routes in parallel needs clean documentation; the tools from our comparison of crypto tax tools and portfolio trackers help with that.

All of this is reliable only in the individual case. Loss offsetting, church tax and the question of how US withholding tax applies to any distributions depend on your personal situation. This text does not replace tax advice.

mNAV: When the Treasury Share Costs More Than Its XRP Holding

The mNAV describes the ratio between the market value of a treasury company and the market value of the coins it holds. Above one, buyers of the share pay a premium on the coin holding. Below one, they get the holding at a discount.

This ratio is the real lever of a treasury share, and it works in both directions. A premium can arise because investors trust management to make more of the holding, or because the share is the only accessible route to the coin for institutional buyers. A discount can arise when that trust is missing or when capital increases dilute the stakes.

How uncomfortable the discount side can become is shown by the history of bitcoin treasury companies. Using the case of one such company, we traced why the treasury share can trade below the value of its own holding. For XRPN this metric does not yet exist before the first trading day, because there is no market price. It can be calculated only from October 8, and that is precisely the number that will matter then.

In practice that means a purchase on the first trading day is a purchase without knowledge of this metric. Anyone with patience can wait until a price has formed and work the figure out for themselves. All it takes is the market value and the current XRP price.

Treasury Companies and Spot ETPs: The Differences for Your Account

Many readers now know exchange-traded products that track a coin one for one. A treasury company is a different thing, even though both routes run through the securities account.

A spot product holds the coin in trust and follows the price as closely as possible; deviations are technical and small. A treasury company is an ordinary corporation with a board, a strategy, costs and a balance sheet. It can take on debt, issue shares, lend out parts of the holding and thereby generate income or build losses. The share price therefore follows the coin only approximately.

From that follows a classification. Anyone wanting to track the price performance of XRP as precisely as possible is in the wrong place with a company that trades actively. Anyone betting that this activity will produce more XRP per share buys the stock for exactly that reason. Evernorth itself states this goal explicitly.

Before October 8: What to Check in Your Account

Regardless of which route you end up choosing, several points can be settled beforehand. They cost a few minutes and prevent the typical annoyances on the first trading day.

Check first whether your broker makes US equities tradable at all and through which venue. Some providers carry Nasdaq stocks only through German exchanges, where a newly listed small cap becomes available with a delay and with a wider spread between bid and offer.

Clarify second whether a withholding tax declaration would be necessary for you, should the company ever distribute. For US equities, brokers generally require a form on file. That is a job for now and not for afterwards.

Look third at the spread before you place an order. With a freshly listed security on small turnover, the gap between buying and selling price can run to several percent. A limit order protects against that, a market order does not.

And if you prefer the direct route: check whether your trading venue is authorised in Germany, whether you can document the purchase date for the one-year rule and how custody is arranged. The purchase record in particular is underrated, for as long as nobody asks for it.

These Conditions Still Stand Between the Vote and the Trading Start

Shareholder approval was the biggest hurdle, but not the last. The mandatory filing speaks of the satisfaction of, or waiver of, the customary closing conditions. In a transaction like this these regularly include the listing requirements of the exchange and the completion of the committed private placements.

Evernorth and Armada point out explicitly in their statements that the details on timing, expected trading and the size of the funds are forward-looking statements and may differ from actual results. The risks are set out in the registration document on Form S-4, which the US regulator declared effective on August 27, 2026. Anyone intending to commit larger sums reads there rather than relying on summaries.

Also open is how many shareholders exercise their redemption right. In SPAC transactions, holders can return their shares for cash, which reduces the funds that ultimately land in the company. How much remains after all redemptions only becomes clear at closing.

XRPN and XRP: What to Take Away

The decision of September 30 is documented and unambiguous; the timetable behind it is an intention of the company. Keeping the two cleanly apart helps your own planning more than any price forecast.

1. Settle your route before trading begins. Share or coin decides custody, currency and tax. Which brokers cover US stocks and crypto assets at once is set out in the comparison of the best crypto brokers.
2. Work the tax through, not first at the point of sale. The one-year rule on the coin and the flat-rate tax on the share lead to very different outcomes on the same gain. The tools in the comparison of crypto tax tools keep the necessary records.
3. For a direct purchase, wait for an authorised trading venue. MiCA is no paper tiger in Germany, and a provider without authorisation may not offer services here. The overview of regulated crypto exchanges names the authorised houses.

(As of October 2, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

The short answer to what has really changed at Dogecoin: the groundwork, not the price. Dogecoin trades at $0.0960 on Friday morning, around 4 percent below the round $0.10 mark. In the same week, the developer house DogeOS opened a public testnet meant to bring lending and trading applications to Dogecoin, and the computing power securing the network has fallen to about a third of its record. Together, those two shifts move the forecast more than any single day of trading.

Dogecoin Price Prediction on October 2: Price, Hashrate and Testnet at a Glance

On Kraken, one DOGE costs $0.0960 or 0.0852 euros on Friday morning. Over the preceding 24 hours the range ran from $0.0931 to $0.0970, and the day opened at $0.0943. That works out to a gain of roughly 1.8 percent against the previous day. Over seven days the coin is down 2.9 percent, over 30 days it is up 17.6 percent. Market capitalisation stands at $14.99 billion according to Blockchair chain data, with 171.87 billion DOGE in circulation.

The 90-day high sits at $0.1059 and the low at $0.0673. The price therefore sits in the upper third of its quarterly range, yet below the psychologically important ten-cent mark, where several attempts have already failed.

Three things will shape the coming weeks. First, whether Dogecoin can move beyond payments and speculation; the DogeOS testnet offers the first solid evidence on that. Second, the computing power that secures the network, which has dropped sharply since February. Third, the daily issuance of roughly 13.7 million DOGE, which absorbs any new demand before it can do anything else. Nobody forecasting Dogecoin gets past those three figures.

DogeOS: What the Public Testnet Really Changes for Dogecoin

DogeOS opened its public testnet on September 30. Developers can build applications there that Dogecoin has never carried: lending protocols, trading venues, stablecoins, prediction markets and games. The work runs on test tokens with no value, and there is no launch date for live operation.

Technically, DogeOS is a zero-knowledge rollup. Applications run on a separate layer above the Dogecoin chain, bundle many operations and write back only the result together with a mathematical proof. The Dogecoin chain itself stays unchanged and does not have to learn a new rulebook. Timothy Stebbing, a director of the Dogecoin Foundation, describes this as a way of introducing smart-contract capability one layer above the network while preserving the simplicity of the base ledger.

Behind DogeOS stands the team of the MyDoge wallet around chief executive Jordan Jefferson. In May 2025 the project raised $6.9 million from Polychain Capital, and the Dogecoin Foundation backs the effort. Early testnet projects include Barkswap for liquidity, Superposition Finance for lending, Derps as a futures venue, Split Markets for options and the stablecoin USDoge.

For the forecast, the next sentence counts for more than the project list. The testnet currently runs with a permissioned sequencer, meaning an access-restricted operator that sets the order of transactions, alongside validators and a secured execution environment. Any change of state requires a valid proof, the signature of a majority of validators and the signature of that environment. This is an operation supervised by a handful of parties rather than an open network. Anyone reading it as finished decentralisation is reading in something that is not there yet.

OP_CHECKZKP: The Core Proposal the Security Question Hangs On

Turning that supervised operation into an open system requires a change to Dogecoin itself. The proposal is called OP_CHECKZKP and was published in July 2025. It would allow Dogecoin nodes to verify the mathematical proofs of the application layer directly. Only then would the miners securing the network be able to see whether the arithmetic one layer up adds up.

The state of play is sober. A standalone implementation exists as a draft, and there is no activation date. Changes to Dogecoin Core need agreement among developers, pools and exchanges, and that usually takes quarters rather than weeks. For your expectations that means the testnet is a signal for 2027, not for October 2026.

What has already changed is the narrative frame. Dogecoin has so far been a payment network with cult status and no applications of its own. A working rollup would create a second source of demand, namely DOGE as collateral in lending protocols. Whether that demand ever appears will be decided not in the testnet but by the question of whether users put real money on a layer whose operators form a closed circle today.

Hashrate at 2.80 to 3.00 Petahash: Two Out of Three Machines Stand Idle

The hashrate is the combined computing power of all the miners on a network. That figure measures how expensive an attack on the chain would be. At Dogecoin it has fallen sharply over the year. CoinWarz reports 2.80 petahash per second on October 2, while Blockchair arrives at 3.00 petahash as the average of the past 24 hours. The defensible statement is therefore a range of 2.80 to 3.00 petahash rather than a single point.

For comparison, the all-time high stood at 8.72 petahash on February 23, 2026. The current reading equals roughly 32 percent of that. Broadly speaking, two out of every three machines that were computing in February have since been switched off. Network difficulty sits at 43.98 million and adjusts accordingly.

That number has two faces, and a forecast should show both. Read negatively, the attack threshold falls: anyone renting enough scrypt computing power needs less today than in February to command a majority. Dogecoin is, however, largely mined together with Litecoin, known as merged mining, which pushes an attacker's bill back up. Read positively, every remaining machine takes a larger share of the block reward, which supports the economics of those that stayed.

For your forecast the trend matters more than the single value. If the hashrate keeps falling while the price rises, security and valuation drift apart. If it climbs again, that would suggest miners are pricing in higher quotations. The figure can be checked daily at CoinWarz, which makes it a leading indicator you can run yourself.

Dogecoin Price Below $0.10: The 200-Day Line Put to Our Own Test

We calculated the levels ourselves instead of adopting someone else's figure. The basis is 721 completed daily candles of the DOGE against dollar pair on Kraken. They produce these moving averages:

• 20 days: $0.0913, with the price about 5.3 percent above it.
• 50 days: $0.0866, a distance of roughly 11 percent.
• 200 days: $0.0879, a distance of roughly 9.4 percent.

An honest caveat belongs here. Several market reports put the 200-day line at about $0.0956, almost exactly on the current price. Our measurement on Kraken data gives $0.0879. The spread from $0.0879 to $0.0956 comes from different exchanges, trading pairs and calculation methods. Anyone trading off a line should know which data source it comes from, otherwise they are measuring the provider and not the market.

In practice that means the area between $0.0879 and $0.0956 is a support zone rather than a sharp line. Below it, the next meaningful floor only arrives at the 90-day low of $0.0673. To the upside the ten-cent mark sits about 4 percent away, followed by the quarterly high at $0.1059.

13.67 Million New DOGE a Day: The Sum Against the Inflows

Dogecoin has no halving of the block reward. Since 2015 every block has carried a fixed 10,000 DOGE, with a target time of 60 seconds. Over the past 24 hours the network found 1,367 blocks according to Blockchair, which equals 13.67 million new DOGE. At Friday morning's price that amounts to roughly $1.31 million of fresh supply, every day, without interruption.

Annualised, that comes to almost 5 billion DOGE or around 2.9 percent of today's circulating supply. This figure is the quiet counterweight to every Dogecoin forecast: the price has to neutralise that issuance before demand translates into higher quotations at all.

How little institutional money sits on the other side is shown by the American fund market. Bitwise is closing its Dogecoin fund under the ticker BWOW; trading runs until October 14, and the cash payout is announced for October 22. Net assets stood at $687,000 since the launch in November 2025. According to figures from CoinGape, American Dogecoin funds have recorded no positive inflow since September 3 and saw $343,000 of outflows in September. The details are in our analysis of the Dogecoin price ahead of the ETF closure on October 14.

Set the sizes side by side: $1.31 million of new supply per day against fund assets that totalled less than a million dollars. Anyone betting on inflow data from American funds as a price driver for DOGE is working with a quantity that barely registers against issuance. For investors in Germany it is secondary in any case, because these funds are not distributed here; the European route runs through exchange-traded notes, and our page on crypto ETFs in Germany gives an overview.

Holding Period, Allowance and Lending: What Applies to Your Dogecoin Tax in Germany

Here lies the part of the forecast you can steer yourself. In Germany, Dogecoin falls under private disposal transactions in section 23 of the Income Tax Act. If you sell within a year of buying, the gain is taxable; if more than a year passes between purchase and sale, it stays tax-free. For gains inside the one-year window, an allowance of 1,000 euros per calendar year has applied since 2024. That is an exemption limit and not a tax-free amount: one euro above it makes the entire gain taxable.

The DogeOS testnet makes this particularly relevant. Once lending protocols run on Dogecoin, the question arises of what happens to the holding period when you lend your coins out. The Federal Ministry of Finance settled this in its letter of May 10, 2022 and confirmed it in the letter of March 6, 2025: the one-year holding period is not extended to ten years by lending or staking. That extension was for years the biggest worry among German investors, and it is off the table.

The earnings themselves are not tax-free as a result. Interest from lending and rewards from staking count as other income under section 22 number 3 of the Income Tax Act. A separate exemption limit of 256 euros per calendar year applies there, counted together with other service income. Anyone earning small amounts stays below it; anyone lending out larger holdings should keep an eye on the total.

Keep two separate records for that reason: one for the purchase date and quantity of every position, one for the running earnings. How to solve that without spreadsheet chaos is covered further down in the section on next steps. What specifically matters at the turn of the year is written up in our piece on Dogecoin, the holding period and custody.

Buying Route Under MiCA and Custody: What to Check Before Your Next Purchase

Since the European regulation on markets in crypto-assets applies in full, providers targeting customers in Germany need authorisation in the European Union. In practice that means checking before you buy whether your trading venue shows such authorisation and whether it accepts euro deposits by bank transfer. Anyone buying through an unauthorised provider has no European counterpart in a dispute. A sorted overview of trading venues is in our crypto exchange comparison.

On custody, Dogecoin is a chain of its own and needs a wallet that supports exactly that chain. An Ethereum address will not accept DOGE, and a transfer to the wrong address is gone. Common hardware wallets support Dogecoin, but not every model and not every companion app does.

Two points about the testnet belong in the same place, because they can cost money. First, the DogeOS testnet works exclusively with worthless test tokens; nobody needs to deposit real DOGE for it. Second, launches like this are regularly accompanied by fake invitations that ask for the recovery phrase under the pretext of testnet participation. No serious project ever asks for that phrase, at any point.

Scenarios Through to the End of October: Bull Case, Bear Case and the Dates

Instead of a single target, two scenarios with verifiable conditions follow.

Bull case. The price closes above $0.10 for several days and the hashrate turns upwards. The ten-cent mark then flips from resistance to support, and the quarterly high at $0.1059 moves within reach as the next station. This scenario needs demand that absorbs more than $1.31 million daily, otherwise it does not hold.

Bear case. The price falls back into the zone between $0.0879 and $0.0956 and stays there while computing power keeps declining. If the zone breaks, the next solid floor only arrives at the 90-day low of $0.0673. That would be a decline of roughly 30 percent from the current level.

Three dates are fixed in the calendar: October 14 as the last trading day of the Bitwise fund, October 22 for its cash payout, and December 31 as the cut-off for allocating your sales to this tax year. A mainnet date for DogeOS and an activation date for OP_CHECKZKP, by contrast, do not exist; anyone counting on them is counting on an assumption.

What appears in neither scenario is a price target of several dollars. With 171.87 billion units in circulation, one dollar per DOGE would mean a valuation of $171 billion, and everyone should run that sum once themselves before following such targets.

Dogecoin Price Prediction: What to Take Away

The situation translates into three steps you can work through today.

1. Sort your purchase data. Write down the purchase date and quantity for every Dogecoin position and mark which parts have already passed the one-year mark. That decides the tax on any later sale. A tool for it is in our comparison of crypto tax tools.
2. Check your custody. Make sure your wallet supports the Dogecoin chain and that the recovery phrase sits outside the device. Suitable models are listed in the hardware wallet comparison.
3. Price yield offers soberly. If lending offers on Dogecoin later go live, compare the interest with the default risk of the operator and keep the 256-euro exemption limit in view. A starting point is our overview of staking and yield platforms.

On balance, the Dogecoin forecast for October is less a question of price than a question of foundations. The testnet shows where the project wants to go, but without a mainnet and without a core change it remains a promise. The hashrate says how expensive today's security is. And the daily issuance says how much demand is needed before anything is left over. Anyone tracking those three figures weekly needs no price targets at second hand.

The evidence on the network figures is at CoinWarz, and the technical details on DogeOS at The Crypto Times.

(As of October 2, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

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TLDR

• ON Semiconductor restructured its Synaptics acquisition into an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.7 billion, reduced from the initial $7 billion stock-based proposal.
• Synaptics shareholders will receive $123 cash per share rather than the previously agreed 1.350 ON shares from the June announcement.
• ON stock surged approximately 6% during premarket hours, while Synaptics shares climbed roughly 14%.
• The restructured agreement eliminates shareholder dilution concerns for ON investors and promises immediate accretion to non-GAAP earnings.
• Completion of the transaction requires Synaptics shareholder approval and regulatory clearances, with an expected closing date in mid-2027.

Shares of ON Semiconductor rallied approximately 6% in Friday’s premarket session following the company’s announcement of a restructured takeover agreement with Synaptics. The stock had ended Thursday’s session at $80.08.

ON Semiconductor Corporation, ON

Synaptics shares posted even stronger gains, climbing approximately 14% on the announcement. Both semiconductor companies specialize in chip technologies for automotive, industrial, and Internet of Things applications.

The initial agreement, announced in June, proposed an all-stock merger structure. Under those terms, Synaptics shareholders would have exchanged each share for 1.350 ON Semiconductor shares, establishing a transaction value near $7 billion.

The revised agreement converts the transaction to an all-cash purchase. Synaptics shareholders will now receive $123 in cash per share, reducing the total transaction value to approximately $5.7 billion.

The price reduction followed an unsolicited competing proposal for Synaptics from an unnamed third party. Rather than triggering a competitive bidding situation that elevated the acquisition price, the development prompted both parties to negotiate modified terms more favorable to each company.

Why the Cash Deal Makes Sense for ON

ON shareholders sidestep the equity dilution that would have resulted from issuing new shares under the original agreement. This change eliminates a significant concern that had pressured the stock since the June announcement.

The company indicates the restructured transaction will immediately enhance its non-GAAP earnings per share. This represents a meaningful improvement from the original structure, which wasn’t projected to be immediately accretive to earnings.

ON had previously identified $200 million in annual cost synergies from the combination. The company now anticipates additional opportunities, including potential revenue synergies and internalizing certain Synaptics manufacturing operations.

The transaction will be funded through a combination of existing cash reserves and debt financing arranged by Morgan Stanley. The absence of a financing contingency for closing eliminates another potential risk factor.

What Synaptics Investors Get

Synaptics CEO Rahul Patel characterized the cash structure as delivering certainty to investors. “We are providing value certainty at a premium as compared to current value,” he said.

The revised terms present a clear tradeoff. Synaptics shareholders forfeit potential participation in the merged entity’s future performance, receiving instead a guaranteed cash payment.

Robert W. Baird analyst Tristan Gerra maintained a Hold rating on ON stock following the announcement, keeping his $108 price target. The broader Wall Street consensus rates ON a Moderate Buy, while Synaptics carries a Hold rating.

Market timing also worked in the company’s favor. Micron’s impressive earnings results released the previous evening had already elevated semiconductor stocks broadly, providing additional momentum for ON’s announcement heading into Friday’s opening.

Treasury yields retreated from recent peaks that same morning, relieving some pressure on growth-oriented technology stocks.

The acquisition still requires approval from Synaptics shareholders alongside regulatory clearances. While the FTC has already granted approval, reviews in additional jurisdictions remain pending.

The companies are targeting a mid-2027 closing timeline. Between now and then, both stocks will likely respond to progress updates on the approval process.

The post ON Semiconductor (ON) Switches to $5.7B All-Cash Synaptics Acquisition, Stock Jumps 6% appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• European equities rebounded on Friday following Thursday’s three-month low.
• The STOXX 600 climbed higher but remains headed for its steepest weekly decline since April.
• French 10-year government bond yields surged to their highest point in over two decades on fiscal worries.
• The euro slumped to its weakest position versus the dollar since 2025.
• IG Group stock plummeted while JD Wetherspoon shares surged following earnings announcements.

European equity markets posted gains on Friday, recovering some ground after key benchmarks tumbled to three-month lows during Thursday’s trading session.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index advanced 0.9% during Friday’s session. The STOXX 50 climbed 1.1%, receiving support from declining crude oil prices and retreating government bond yields.

Despite Friday’s recovery, the week has proven challenging for European equity investors. The STOXX 50 is tracking toward a 2% weekly decline. The STOXX 600 has retreated 1.9% over the same period. Both benchmarks are headed for their steepest weekly losses since April.

Germany’s DAX advanced 0.9% during Friday trading. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.6%. London’s FTSE 100 remained relatively flat.

French Bond Yields Surge to Multi-Decade High

The week’s earlier selloff stemmed from a significant decline in European government bond prices. This movement followed mounting anxiety over France’s fiscal position after authorities unveiled their 2027 budget proposal.

France’s 10-year government bond yield climbed to its loftiest level since 2002. Market participants are demanding higher compensation to hold French sovereign debt amid concerns surrounding the nation’s fiscal trajectory.

The spread between French and German 10-year bond yields expanded beyond 140 basis points. That represents the widest differential since the 2012 European sovereign debt crisis.

This fiscal pressure weighed on the euro. The shared currency declined to its lowest valuation against the U.S. dollar since 2025.

On Friday, Reuters reported that European Union member states held discussions regarding a French proposal to tap diesel fuel reserves. Brent crude oil retreated toward $99 per barrel on the news. Declining energy prices helped alleviate inflation concerns and pulled government bond yields lower, including those in France.

Inflation Data and Jobs Report Ahead

Market participants are awaiting the preliminary September inflation reading for the Eurozone. Analysts anticipate the figure will increase to 3.6% from August’s 3.2% level. Elevated energy costs related to Middle East conflict are viewed as the primary catalyst.

Focus is also shifting across the Atlantic. The September employment report is scheduled for release shortly. A robust labor market print could reinforce the Federal Reserve’s position of maintaining elevated interest rates for an extended period. Such an outcome could drive global bond yields still higher.

Individual equity names experienced significant volatility this week. Trading platform IG Group tumbled as much as 27% at one stage, touching its lowest point since April 2025. The firm projected third quarter revenue of approximately £240 million. That would represent a 14% year-over-year decline.

JD Wetherspoon headed in the opposite direction. The stock soared more than 8% after the pub operator disclosed improved recent trading performance. The business stated full year earnings should align with analyst expectations, despite posting a 28% decline in annual profit attributed to rising costs.

Technology and industrial sectors paced Friday’s advance. ASML Holding climbed 2.4%. Siemens increased 1.1%. Inditex advanced 2.2%.

Infineon jumped 5.9%. Thyssenkrupp surged 4.5%. Stellantis rose 4.1%. These names ranked among the STOXX 600’s top performers.

Sanofi registered the benchmark’s steepest decline, sliding 3.2%.

Traders will now monitor the upcoming inflation and employment data for signals heading into the following week.

The post STOXX 600 Recovers Ground as French Bond Crisis Eases Slightly on Friday appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• International Business Machines shares advanced 2.6% Thursday, marking the largest single-session gain since September.
• The rally stemmed from Accenture’s quarterly results rather than IBM-specific developments.
• Accenture delivered consulting revenue of $9.28 billion, surpassing the $8.86 billion analyst consensus, with shares soaring 16%.
• IBM remains underwater by 26% year to date after a challenging July earnings pre-announcement rattled investors.
• The company’s third-quarter results due later this month will be critical for validating its AI and consulting growth story.

IBM stock posted a 2.6% gain on Thursday, recording its strongest performance in a single trading session since September.

International Business Machines Corporation, IBM

The advance wasn’t triggered by any company-specific announcement. Instead, it followed impressive results from a key industry rival.

Accenture reported consulting revenue totaling $9.28 billion for its most recent quarter, comfortably exceeding Wall Street’s $8.86 billion projection.

Shares of Accenture rocketed 16% higher following the announcement. The firm also upgraded its full-year outlook.

This development carries weight for IBM because consulting represents its second-largest revenue stream. While software still leads the company’s top line, consulting contributes significantly to overall performance.

Market participants interpreted Accenture’s robust results as evidence that demand for consulting services remains resilient. Concerns had emerged that artificial intelligence adoption might erode traditional consulting engagements.

IBM’s Challenging 2026

International Business Machines shares have tumbled 26% during the current year. The downturn began with an unusual mid-quarter warning issued in July.

CEO Arvind Krishna explained at that time that client spending patterns shifted unexpectedly toward servers, storage systems, and memory components at the close of June. Customers rushed to secure infrastructure before anticipated price increases on supply-constrained hardware.

This sudden reallocation damaged IBM’s financial performance. The technology giant delivered $17.2 billion in second-quarter revenue, missing analyst projections, and subsequently lowered its annual forecast.

Infrastructure segment revenue fell 7% during that period. Consulting sales remained unchanged year-over-year.

Krishna acknowledged internal shortcomings as well. He admitted IBM failed to execute with sufficient speed to finalize several major contracts before the quarter concluded.

Competitor Cognizant Technology also delivered encouraging news in July. The firm elevated its yearly profit guidance, highlighting robust performance in financial services clients. Cognizant shares added 6% on Thursday, riding the sector-wide momentum.

IBM’s Path Forward

IBM unveiled a self-hosted edition of its Bob software-development platform earlier this week. The offering caters to on-premises deployments, private-cloud configurations, and air-gapped installations.

This product launch addresses highly regulated enterprises with stringent data governance and security requirements. It aligns with IBM’s strategic emphasis on hybrid-cloud infrastructure and enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions.

The analyst community maintains a generally optimistic stance on the shares. The consensus rating stands at “Moderate Buy” with a mean price objective of $253.52.

However, opinion remains divided. Certain investors find IBM attractive based on valuation metrics, citing its earnings multiple and approximately 3% dividend yield, despite persistent questions about revenue expansion.

IBM additionally faces a securities-law inquiry connected to its July disclosure. Law firm Hagens Berman announced it’s examining the circumstances, which triggered a single-day market capitalization decline exceeding $68 billion.

This represents an allegation rather than a determination of misconduct, yet it introduces additional uncertainty into the investment thesis.

IBM is slated to release third-quarter financial results later this month. Market watchers anticipate earnings growth in the high-single digits for the period.

That upcoming report will reveal whether Thursday’s sentiment boost borrowed from Accenture translates into genuine momentum IBM can sustain independently.

The post Accenture’s Earnings Boost Lifts International Business Machines (IBM) Stock 2.6% in Best Day Since September appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Coinbase completed the International Exchange migration to Deribit on Oct. 1.
• Institutional clients must create new Deribit API keys and update trading connections.
• Open orders were canceled during the cutover and must be recreated where needed.
• Migrated perpetual positions now settle daily at 08:00 UTC instead of every five minutes.
• Legacy International Exchange trading records remain separate from Deribit records.

Coinbase completed the migration of Coinbase International Exchange to Deribit on Oct. 1, moving trading activity to the derivatives platform. The former international venue is now read-only after maintenance ended at 10:02 UTC. The change affects eligible non-US institutional accounts in selected jurisdictions.

Coinbase Shifts International Trading to Deribit

Institutional clients must connect through Deribit endpoints and create new Deribit API keys. Existing International Exchange keys no longer work. IP allowlists also do not transfer, so firms using API or FIX connections must update access settings before placing trades.

Coinbase canceled open International Exchange orders when trading stopped instead of moving them automatically. Clients must recreate orders they still want. Instrument names and some order fields also differ on Deribit. Coinbase recently received Coinbase Clearing approval for a separate US derivatives operation.

Settlement and Records Change After Cutover

Migrated perpetual positions now settle once daily at 08:00 UTC rather than every five minutes. The process credits profits or deducts losses from cash balances without closing positions. Funding continues to build during the day and settles at the same daily time.

Migration entries can also affect account records. Block trades marked “Migration” recreate positions at the former venue’s settlement price rather than record new purchases or sales. A difference between that price and Deribit’s reopening mark can create immediate unrealized profit or loss.

Historical records remain split between the two venues. Deribit does not display old International Exchange trading history. Coinbase says former trade and order APIs will remain available for about 12 months. Coinbase has also added fixed-rate Bitcoin-backed loans through Morpho Midnight.

Retail Access Follows a Different Route

Coinbase app and website users keep their accounts and core workflows, although market data and some screens may change. Advanced Trade API customers using derivatives must move to the new Deribit-powered gateway, while product access varies by account type and location.

The company keeps its CFTC-regulated Coinbase Derivatives futures separate from this international migration. Its product push includes Coinbase tokenized stocks on Aave V4, where selected tokenized equities can support USDC borrowing on Base. US Prime options follow another rollout schedule.

Coinbase plans in-app options for eligible users in selected non-US markets from late October, subject to availability. The Oct. 1 cutover changes trading infrastructure immediately for migrated institutions while leaving other Coinbase derivatives products on separate access paths.

The post Coinbase Moves Derivatives to Deribit, What Changes Now? appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Twilio (TWLO) reached a new 52-week peak of $304.85, trading near $305.43.
• Shares have surged over 200% from their 52-week low of $99.22.
• The company joins the S&P 500 on Oct. 6, taking Warner Bros. Discovery’s spot.
• Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closes the same day, prompting the replacement.
• Bullish analyst calls from Rosenblatt, TD Cowen, and JCI highlight AI as a key revenue catalyst.

Twilio (TWLO) stock reached a new 52-week peak this week, hitting $304.85 during trading before hovering around $305.43. The current price stands roughly 1% beneath the session’s high point.

Twilio Inc., TWLO

The advance marks a dramatic turnaround for the cloud communications platform. Shares have jumped more than 200% since bottoming at $99.22 during the past year.

Across the trailing twelve months, the stock has delivered approximately 189% returns. That performance places it among the technology sector’s top gainers in 2025.

The upward momentum coincides with major benchmark news. Twilio will become an S&P 500 constituent before markets open on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The promotion fills the vacancy created by Warner Bros. Discovery, which exits the index due to its acquisition by Paramount Skydance. The transaction is scheduled to finalize on Oct. 6.

Index Rebalancing Creates Cascading Changes

The promotion creates a domino effect across market benchmarks. Twilio’s departure from the S&P MidCap 400 opens a slot for another company.

FormFactor will ascend to fill Twilio’s vacated position in the MidCap 400. Meanwhile, Workiva will move up to occupy FormFactor’s prior spot in the SmallCap 600.

An unrelated corporate action is also altering the benchmark’s composition. Vylor, the seed and genetics division spun off from Corteva, joined the S&P 500 after completing its separation on Thursday.

Corteva itself will shift down to the MidCap 400 following the reduction in its market capitalization. Vylor climbed 3.4% during its debut session and gained another 1.1% in after-hours activity.

Wall Street Raises Targets on AI Potential

Sell-side analysts have increasingly embraced Twilio’s artificial intelligence narrative. Rosenblatt boosted its price objective to $290, highlighting the firm’s capacity to generate revenue from AI-powered communications tools.

TD Cowen increased its target to $300. The research house emphasized rising adoption of consumer-facing AI assistants as a significant expansion opportunity.

JCI took a more decisive step, elevating the stock to Market Outperform. Analysts there pointed to momentum in AI voice applications and multi-channel customer interaction capabilities.

Morgan Stanley researchers identified a more granular catalyst. They highlighted that consumer AI agents, such as Meta’s Muse, could drive higher communication volumes through Twilio’s platform and increase usage-based billings.

Stifel maintained its Buy recommendation as well. The firm attributed part of the recent appreciation to Meta Muse, which currently ranks as the leading free application on iOS in the United States.

However, not all indicators are uniformly positive. InvestingPro data reveals that 23 analysts have recently increased their earnings projections for the company.

Yet the same service’s Fair Value analysis indicates the shares may be trading above intrinsic value at present levels. This divergence represents a dynamic investors should monitor closely.

Twilio enters the S&P 500 riding strong upward momentum. Shares added another 1% in extended-hours trading after the index change was announced, with the stock more than doubling since the start of the year.

The post S&P 500 Addition Fuels Twilio (TWLO) Rally to $305, Analysts Cite AI Growth appeared first on Blockonomi.

The past week has been quite turbulent for the trending altcoin QNT, whose price ultimately increased by an additional 130%.

Cardano’s native token has also performed well lately, but certain factors suggest it may soon head south. Meanwhile, SUI has risen by 17% over the last seven days, with prevailing predictions that it could enter a full-blown bull run in the near future.

QNT’s Performance

In mid-September, the token was worth around $60, yet a combination of bullish elements triggered a massive rally. The main catalyst was the announcement that The Clearing House (which operates payment networks that process over $2 trillion each day) selected Quant to power its On-Chain Money Initiative.

At one point, QNT exploded to a five-year high of nearly $370, yet the bulls could not sustain the momentum, and it currently trades around $235. That still represents a stunning 300% jump over two weeks.

Despite the evident reversal from the local peak, the coin remains the subject of bullish price predictions. Ali Martinez outlined $430 as a key resistance level, which sits at the top of a certain channel. In his view, a decisive breakout above could result in a parabolic expansion toward $2,000.

On the other hand, the popular trader Doctor Profit recently cashed out his entire position in the token, claiming the environment is not comfortable.

“I respect everyone’s decision, but I prefer to be transparent about mine. Even if I sold early and it goes higher, I’m happy with my decision,” he concluded.

ADA Pullback on the Way?

The asset had a successful September, recording a 25% jump and surpassing $0.25. Nonetheless, Martinez pointed out several elements, including the recent whale activity, that could trigger a price retreat.

Large investors have offloaded 90 million units (worth over $22 million) since September 20. Moreover, the Tom DeMark Sequential indicator flashed a sell signal on ADA’s daily chart on September 26, while open interest fell 9% in a week.

The analyst focused on $0.24, calling it key mid-range support. He thinks a break below this level could lead to a further drop to $0.21, while holding above it could offer the next buying opportunity, targeting the channel top near $0.28.

SUI’s Potential

The altcoin currently trades around $1.18, up 15% for the week, and has a market capitalization of almost $5 billion. A few days ago, Martinez suggested that it is on the verge of printing a new golden cross, with the 50-day moving average starting to cross the 200-day MA. According to him, this is a major bullish signal that could mark the beginning of a long-term rally toward $4.

Earlier today (October 2), he commented on the token again, saying SUI has developed an interesting pattern over the past few weeks. The analyst noted that since September 12, the price has repeatedly consolidated within parallel channels before breaking higher.

“This sequence has already played out three times: consolidation, breakout, consolidation, breakout. Now, SUI appears to be building another parallel channel. The key level I’m watching is $1.27. An hourly close above it could confirm another bullish breakout and potentially mark the beginning of the next leg higher,” he concluded.

The post Major Quant (QNT) Volatility, Important Cardano (ADA) Price Warning, and More: Bits Recap October 2 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Cryptocurrencies went on a wild ride in September 2026, defying the traditional seasonal curse. As the market heads into the fourth quarter, Ethereum and XRP sentiment has turned sharply negative.

Santiment found that social media discussions around both altcoins are showing increasing pessimism.

Fresh Wave of Fear

Ethereum currently has 0.89 bullish comments for every bearish comment across platforms such as X, Reddit, and Telegram. This is its lowest sentiment ratio since June 7. XRP’s ratio has fallen further, as the analytics platform recorded just 0.67 bullish comments for every bearish comment. Its ratio is now at its lowest level since August 17.

A reading below 1.0 means bearish comments outweigh bullish ones. But rising fear does not always mean prices will continue to fall. Santiment stated that heavy pessimism can sometimes create a potential opportunity for contrarian traders. When most market participants expect further losses, some selling pressure may have already played out.

“This doesn’t guarantee ETH or XRP immediately bounce. But the mood is now very different from periods when everyone expected prices to keep climbing. Fear is returning while some underlying market signals remain healthy, which is exactly the kind of divergence contrarian traders typically wait patiently for.”

Whale Buying and Exchange Flows

Over the past week, Ethereum whales have scooped up 60,000 units, which is worth around $162 million. Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes expects the crypto asset to reach $10,000 by the end of the year, a huge jump from its current price near $2,700. Hayes said that his confidence in ETH is less about short-term price momentum and more about scale and security, and he believes that he can put significant capital into it without worrying about a sudden 75% loss from an exploit. For Hayes, that combination makes ETH a strong long-term bet.

XRP, on the other hand, is seeing a big wave of tokens leave exchanges. Daily outflows involving 1 million XRP or more spiked above 320 million tokens. That has caught traders’ attention because a similar spike in August was followed by a 42% jump in the asset’s price. Binance is leading the latest withdrawals. Coinbase, Upbit, Bybit, and Bitget are also witnessing large outflows. If this trend continues, there could be fewer tokens sitting on exchanges, reducing selling pressure in the market.

The post ETH, XRP Sentiment Turns Deeply Negative – But Could Fear Set Up a Rebound? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ethereum’s Hegotá upgrade will not include EIP-8363, a proposal to burn part of validators’ staking rewards, after its authors withdrew it on Thursday.

Jérôme de Tychey, president of Ethereum France and one of the proposal’s six authors, announced the withdrawal on the Ethereum Magicians forum. He wrote that industry players and core protocol and client contributors had argued that fork scoping was the wrong venue for an issuance policy change. The authors agreed, he said.

“The topic is too important and raised too many concerns that it deserves its own process,” de Tychey wrote.

Withdrawing EIP-8363 from consideration for Hegotá.

EIP-8363 rapidly became one of the most commented-on EIPs in the history of the Ethereum-Magicians forum, with 200+ comments in a few weeks. As we progressed through the Hegotà CFI (Consideration For Inclusion) process,… https://t.co/VjoEW11OYH pic.twitter.com/Lp7spyZk0p

— Jerome de Tychey (@jdetychey) October 1, 2026

Burn Would Rise With Staked ETH

Alex Stokes, who ran Thursday’s All Core Devs consensus call, flagged the withdrawal there. Stokes said it was unclear how upgrade scoping squares with the broad community process that a policy change needs. Forkcast, which tracks upgrade decisions, now lists the EIP as declined for Hegotá. Hegotá’s scheduled headliners are FOCIL and Frame Transactions, the only two proposals Ethereum Foundation protocol teams graded as must ship.

The proposal would have burned a share of each validator’s rewards at every epoch. That share grows as more ETH is staked. It reaches 100% once about 60.25 million ETH is staked, roughly half the supply. Past that point, staked ETH earns no issuance rewards.

The authors argued that the current curve keeps a yield floor near 1.5% however much ETH is staked. Applied in full at the 33% staking ratio the EIP cites, the burn would drop net yield from about 2.6% to 1.2%. To soften that drop, the burn would have phased in over 18 months.

Lido Asked for Withdrawal in August

The proposal first surfaced on August 4 as EIP-8361, two days before the window for new Hegotá proposals closed. De Tychey presented it on the August 6 consensus call. Lido’s representative on that call asked the authors to pull it from Hegotá. He cited issuance changes in later forks, and that the timing left no time to prepare counter-proposals.

De Tychey said the authors would think about it, and the proposal was formally put forward for Hegotá. On September 16, the Nimbus client team ranked the proposal in tier D, one step above declining it. By October 1, the proposal’s forum thread had drawn 224.

The authors now plan a separate issuance process. Their published schedule runs from November to EthCC in April, where they aim to reach core developers again. De Tychey thanked Lido, among others, for offering to help steer that process.

The post EIP-8363 Authors Pull Ethereum Staking Reward Burn From Hegotá Upgrade appeared first on CryptoPotato.

[PRESS RELEASE – Las Vegas, NV, October 1st, 2026]

Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs announced the launch of more than 400 cryptocurrency ATMs across the United States. The machines allow customers to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and USDC with cash at a stated flat 5% fee. Customers can also pre-register online before visiting an ATM.

Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs, a new nationwide low-fee Bitcoin ATM operator, launched today with an initial rollout of more than 400 Bitcoin ATMs across the United States, a footprint that places it amongst the largest Bitcoin ATM operators in the country on its first day. It also launched with a name that does most of the marketing department’s job for it. The brand charges a flat 5% Bitcoin ATM fee to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT or USDC with cash, displays the fee and exchange rate on screen before the customer confirms, and, as of today, lets first-time customers register online in about two minutes so they can skip onboarding at the machine entirely.

400+ Bitcoin ATM locations on day one

Most Bitcoin ATM operators in the U.S. run a few dozen machines. Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs opens with more than 400 Bitcoin ATM locations in the convenience stores, gas stations and shopping centers people already visit, with machines in Florida, California, Arizona and Texas among other states, as the first phase of a larger rollout.

“Four hundred machines is not a pilot. It’s a network,” said Quincy Mathis, Operations Manager at Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs. “We wanted to be one of the biggest Bitcoin ATM operators in the country on the day we opened, because a low fee only matters if there’s a machine near you. This is phase one.”

Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and USDC with cash: coins, limits and one fee

Every Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATM sells Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) for cash, all at the same 5% fee, all sent directly to the customer’s own wallet. No bank account or credit card is needed. The machines are non-custodial: the company never holds customer funds.

Bitcoin ATM daily limits are set by verification tier:

• Tier 1, phone number only: up to $2,000 per day
• Tier 2, government ID and Tax ID: up to $50,000 per day

Bitcoin ATM fees compared: what $1,000 buys

The typical Bitcoin ATM in the United States charges roughly 12% to 15% to buy, and some of the largest national brands charge 20% or more. Here is what that looks like when a customer walks up with $1,000 in cash:

Illustrative, based on posted percentage fees only and before exchange rate. Many operators add an exchange-rate markup on top of the posted fee; Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs shows both the fee and the rate on screen before a transaction is confirmed. Industry figures reflect publicly reported U.S. Bitcoin ATM fee ranges. See how the Bitcoin ATM fees compare.

At a 20% machine, one dollar in every five never becomes crypto. At Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs, it’s one in twenty. The name is not subtle; neither is a 20% fee.

“We wanted a rate people can look at on the receipt and feel good about, not one they have to make peace with,” said Quincy Mathis. “Five percent, shown up front, with the exchange rate right next to it. That’s the whole pitch.”

Stablecoin ATMs are becoming the way people send money overseas

A growing share of customers are using the machines as USDT and USDC ATMs, buying dollar pegged stable coins to send money to family and friends overseas and to pay suppliers and contractors abroad. A customer inserts cash, the stable coins arrive in the recipient’s wallet within minutes, and the recipient holds dollars they can keep or cash out locally. No wire counter, no multi-day wait, and no bank account needed to send.

That makes the fee gap matter more, not less. Someone sending $1,000 home once a month pays about $600 a year in fees at a 5% machine, $1,440 to $1,800 at a typical machine, and $2,400 at a 20% machine. The difference is real money to the people who can least afford to lose it, which is why low fees matter most to remittance customers.

“The people using stable coins to support family abroad are exactly the people who shouldn’t be paying 20% for the privilege,” said Quincy Mathis.

How to use a Bitcoin ATM: four steps, under two minutes, now with online pre-registration

New with today’s launch is online Bitcoin ATM pre-registration. First-time customers can pre-register online before they ever visit a machine, so the first visit is as fast as the tenth. At any of the 400+ machines, they simply enter their phone number.

1. Register online, once. About two minutes on a phone.
2. Walk up and enter your phone number. The machine recognizes you. No paperwork at the kiosk.
3. Pick a coin, scan your wallet, insert cash. Scan your wallet’s QR code and feed in the bills.
4. Check the screen and confirm. The fee and exchange rate are displayed before you press anything. Crypto lands in your wallet within minutes.

Customers who would rather register at the machine still can. It just takes a little longer, and the company would like to gently point out that it no longer has to. A full walkthrough of how a Bitcoin ATM works is on the company’s website.

Compliance, briefly

Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs is a FinCEN-registered money services business, and every machine operates in compliance with federal and state regulations. Customer data is encrypted, and transactions are non-custodial and irreversible. No government agency, bank, utility or tech-support line will ever ask anyone to pay them at a Bitcoin ATM; if someone does, it is a scam. Common questions are answered in the company’s Bitcoin ATM FAQ.

Find a low-fee Bitcoin ATM near you

Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs are live now at 400+ locations across the United States, with further phases of the rollout to follow. Customers can find a Bitcoin ATM near them and pre-register at lowestfeebitcoinatms.com. New customers can use code LOWEST at the machine for 20% off the transaction fee, which brings the fee on that $1,000 transaction down to $40.

About Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs

Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs is a nationwide low-fee Bitcoin ATM operator whose initial network of more than 400 machines ranks among the largest in the United States. Customers can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and USDC with cash for a flat 5% fee, with the fee and exchange rate displayed on screen before every transaction. The company is a FinCEN-registered money services business. Users can learn more at lowestfeebitcoinatms.com.

The post Lowest Fee Bitcoin ATMs Announces Launch of More Than 400 ATMs Nationwide appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The second-largest cryptocurrency gained almost 9% in September, a notable achievement given that the month has historically been one of its weakest periods.

Now, many analysts and market observers think that Ethereum is on the verge of a major breakout, while recent whale activity and strong institutional demand support the bullish view.

Lots of Optimism

As of this writing, ETH is worth just over $2,700, with a market capitalization of almost $330 billion. X user Gerla claimed that the asset’s price chart has started looking “dangerous” for the bears and outlined $2,650-$2,900 as the key zone.

“Clear that, and I’m expecting ETH to accelerate hard. The bigger target stays $4,800-$5,200. This doesn’t look like a trend I want to fade,” he added.

Altcoin Sherpa noted that the asset has been consolidating over the past several days, interpreting the price action as a sign that a major breakout may be on the way.

Ted also commented on the lack of serious volatility lately, arguing that buyers should step in and push ETH above $2,800 for another leg up. Otherwise, he believes the chances of a sharp correction will go up.

For his part, Ali Martinez revealed that Ethereum whales have accumulated roughly 60,000 units (worth around $162 million) over the past week. Before that, large investors scooped up more than 320,000 coins again in seven days.

A common theory is that whales have inside information the rest of us don’t, and their buying spree can spark broader enthusiasm, prompting retail investors to pour fresh capital into the ecosystem. Their purchases also reduce the available supply on the market, which can support additional price growth.

Another positive factor is the growing institutional appetite. Cumulative total net inflows into spot ETH ETFs have surged to almost $14 billion, with nearly $700 million attracted last week.

Meanwhile, the actions of a certain mysterious trader hint that the asset may indeed be gearing up for a rally. As CryptoPotato reported, the whale opened a $99 long position in ETH with 25x leverage. Even more remarkably, the trader has completed 3,156 trades to date, maintaining a stunning 100% win rate.

The Mega Bets

Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange BitMEX, also weighed in. He predicted that ETH could skyrocket to a new all-time high of $10,000 by the end of the year, arguing that it remains the most secure layer-1 network despite increased competition from rival blockchains.

MikybullCrypto was even more optimistic. They expect a “mega breakout” that could send it toward $7,000, followed by an ascent to $14,000 as the bull run potentially intensifies.

The post Top Ethereum (ETH) Price Predictions as Whales Keep Buying appeared first on CryptoPotato.