The potential US diesel export ban could strain transatlantic relations and disrupt global energy markets amid geopolitical tensions.

The post US tells France and Germany to release emergency diesel stocks or face possible US diesel export ban appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The surge in Bitcoin ETF inflows and price highlights growing investor confidence, but future stability hinges on regulatory and macroeconomic factors.

The post Bitcoin ETFs draw $6B in Q3 as BTC price rises nearly 43% appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

LeCun's dismissal of AI extinction fears highlights a divide in AI leadership, potentially influencing public perception and industry direction.

The post Yann LeCun says AI extinction fears are overblown, takes aim at Anthropic’s Dario Amodei appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Iran's crypto strategy may alter global oil supply dynamics, affecting market expectations and potentially leading to price fluctuations.

The post Iran to boost crypto use for oil sales amid US sanctions crackdown appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Taiwan's sea drone expansion could significantly enhance its maritime defense capabilities, potentially altering regional security dynamics.

The post Taiwan plans $930 million sea drone buildout to counter China pressure appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Privacy Breakthrough a Zcash Killer? | Misha Komorov, Alloc Innit

Researchers have proposed a way to make Bitcoin private without changing Bitcoin itself. Misha Komarov, co-founder of alloc/init, explains Shielded Bitcoin: zero-knowledge proofs that hide the sender, receiver, and amount of a Bitcoin transfer, with no soft fork, no custodians, and no bridges. He covers how Bitcoin PIPEs make it possible and what the proposal still needs. It is a research proposal, not a finished product.

Chapters:
0:00 Shielded Bitcoin: Private Bitcoin Transactions With Zero-Knowledge Proofs
0:38 How Bitcoin PIPEs Make Privacy Possible Without a Soft Fork
1:42 Do Indexers and ZK Rollups Require Trust?
3:16 Shielded Bitcoin vs. Monero and Zcash
4:21 What Privacy Shielded Bitcoin Protects
5:59 How Private Are Early Users? The Small Privacy Set Problem
7:37 Is Shielded Bitcoin an Altcoin Killer?
9:12 Fees, Block Space, and Larger Shielded Transactions
10:50 Who Needs Private Bitcoin? Wrench Attacks and Corporate Treasuries
12:20 Dark Pools, Governments, and the Next Wave of Bitcoin Buyers

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 Bitcoin Privacy Breakthrough a Zcash Killer? | Misha Komorov, Alloc Innit first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin’s Institutional Era Has Arrived | Robinhood VP of Crypto Institutions Nicola White

Robinhood is bringing crypto perpetual futures to US customers, with up to 10x leverage on Bitcoin and Ether. Nicola White, Robinhood’s vice president of institutional crypto, explains how the CFTC no-action letter, the Bitstamp exchange, and Robinhood Derivatives made it happen, and why the company wants markets to be always on.

Chapters:
0:00 Robinhood’s Hood Summit: 24/7 Stock Trading and US Crypto Perps
0:40 Why Robinhood Wants Markets That Never Close
1:32 Bitstamp Perps and the CFTC No-Action Letter
2:19 Tokenized Stocks, the Basis Trade, and the Path for US Perps
3:20 Bitstamp’s Volume and the Retail–Institutional Merger
4:54 What Institutions Want to Do With Bitcoin
6:00 Institutional Bitcoin Depth and Large Block Trades
6:49 AI Trading Agents and Robinhood’s Sub-Account Controls
8:29 Lessons From the 2022 Meltdown and US Leverage Limits
10:12 How Bitcoin Changes Finance in 10 Years and What’s Next for Tokenized Stocks

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 Bitcoin’s Institutional Era Has Arrived | Robinhood VP of Crypto Institutions Nicola White first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

Mark Moss: The Bitcoin Endgame – BTC to $1 Million by 2030

The Fed just raised rates, yet Bitcoin keeps climbing. Mark Moss, host of the Market Disruptors podcast, explains why he thinks most people are misreading why long-term rates are rising, how a booming economy could be part of the answer, and why he says Bitcoin benefits from both the debasement trade and a bullish technological future.

Chapters:
0:00 Mark Moss on the Fed’s “Token Raise” and an October Pause
1:54 The Flat Yield Curve, Bank Lending, and the 5.1% 10-Year
2:56 Why Bitcoin Is Rising as Rates Rise: “Price Is Truth”
5:40 Bitcoin vs. Gold: The Debasement Trade and a Bullish Future
6:19 Can the US Grow Its Way Out of $40 Trillion in Debt?
10:30 The Monetary Reset Is a Process, Not an Event
13:33 Four Ways Out of the Debt Problem and What Happens in 2029–2030
16:27 Stablecoins, the Genius Act, and Why 6 Billion People Want Dollars
20:14 Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin While Retail Sells
24:29 Bitcoin’s S-Curve, Its CAGR, and a $1 Million Price Target

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 Mark Moss: The Bitcoin Endgame – BTC to $1 Million by 2030 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.

Bitcoin Magazine

UK Brings Crypto Under Full FCA Oversight for the First Time

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has opened applications for crypto firms to become authorized, bringing the sector under full regulation for the first time.

In a Wednesday announcement, the watchdog said companies can apply so that the crypto industry has “clarity and legitimacy.”

The UK is in the process of drafting a sweeping new crypto bill. The FCA finalized its regulatory framework for cryptoassets in June, and the regime is due to take effect in October 2027.  

“The UK’s new crypto regime will give consumers greater protections and firms a clear framework to operate in. Firms can now apply for authorisation and start preparing for regulation,” Dominic Cashman, director of authorisation at the FCA, said in a statement. 

The statement added that firms will have to demonstrate that they meet requirements covering consumer protection, customer-asset safeguarding, market integrity and financial resilience.

Britain is pushing ahead with digital asset legislation since last year recognizing bitcoin and other digital assets as property. The reform came from a 2023 recommendation by the Law Commission, which argued that digital assets did not fit neatly into existing legal categories.

Despite the FCA’s announcement, the UK currently is trailing behind Brussels and Washington with digital asset regulation. 

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation has applied to service providers since 30 December 2024. 

And the U.S. under President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July 2025, establishing a federal framework for dollar-backed tokens.

Despite lawmakers blocking landmark legislation the Clarity Act last month, U.S. regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission have pushed ahead with rulemaking regardless. 

This post UK Brings Crypto Under Full FCA Oversight for the First Time first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Surges 40% in Its Best Quarter Since Late 2024

Bitcoin is having one of its best quarters ever — another indication that the biggest cryptocurrency is in a bull market. 

As noted by the The Kobeissi Letter this week, the price of bitcoin is now up close to 30% since August 19, when the U.S. Treasury announced it planned to more than double the size of its government debt repurchases.

Over the past quarter, the bitcoin price has surged by 40% — its best quarterly performance since Q4 2024. 

Bitcoin’s price recently stood at nearly $83,698, unmoved over a 24-hour period but up 6% over a 30-day period. 

The coin has benefited from news that the Treasury would try to lower bond yields — which have soared to highs not seen since the 2000s. 

Bitcoin has done well with lower long-term yields because it reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin and gold, and generally supports risk-on sentiment. 

But despite the Treasury stepping in to try and tame the bond market, yields have continued to stay high. 

Bitcoin investors don’t seem that bothered. The asset is still doing well as the dollar continues to slip. The so-called debasement trade — where investors throw money at an asset to hedge against a currency losing its value — is hot again after total U.S. debt topped $40 trillion for the first time in July.  

The price of Bitcoin had been battered since notching a new all-time high of $126,080 in October, dropping by over 50%. Still, it has experienced the shallowest bear market — so far — in its history. 

CryptoQuant said in a report last week that bitcoin was back in a bull market after crossing above its 365-day moving average — the “definitive technical signal” that has marked the start of Bitcoin’s bull markets in past cycles.

The coin has shrugged off the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and lawmakers blockage of landmark crypto legislation, the Clarity Act. 

This post Bitcoin Surges 40% in Its Best Quarter Since Late 2024 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Anyone searching for “buy Ethereum with PayPal” usually expects a button in the PayPal app. In Germany there is none. PayPal does not trade crypto-assets here, and nothing about that changed at the start of October 2026 either. What does work is a detour: you top up a crypto exchange with euros from your PayPal account and buy Ethereum there. That detour costs you two things an ordinary bank transfer does not: a fee you do not know before you click, and three days during which your ETH may not leave the exchange.

This article works through both. It shows what actually arrives in ether out of 100 euros along the three routes SEPA, debit card and PayPal, why the lock-up period weighs more heavily for Ethereum than the difference in fees, and what can go wrong when you move the coins on to a wallet of your own. We have already answered the same question for Bitcoin: buying Bitcoin with PayPal. With Ethereum two points come on top that do not arise in that form with Bitcoin, namely the choice of network and the question of what staking does to the holding period.

PayPal does not sell crypto-assets in Germany

The distinction matters, because many guides blur it: PayPal as a dealer in crypto-assets and PayPal as a payment route are two different things. The first exists in the United States, the second in Germany.

That can be established from PayPal's own presence. The product page for buying and selling cryptocurrencies exists on PayPal's US site. On the German site the corresponding address leads nowhere. More telling still is a look at the terms of use: in the German version, last updated on September 7, 2026 and a good 150,000 characters long, the word cryptocurrency does not appear at a single point. A service a provider does not mention in its own contractual documents is a service it does not offer.

For you that means: every page promising you can buy ether “directly at PayPal” either describes the US market, or it describes the detour via an exchange and names it imprecisely. There is no third case.

The only route runs through a euro deposit at a crypto exchange

The actual process has four steps, and PayPal is involved in only one of them. You open an account at a crypto exchange and verify your identity. You deposit euros and choose PayPal as the payment route. You buy ether with the euro balance. And if you want to hold the coins yourself, you then transfer them to a wallet of your own.

Crypto exchange here means a trading venue that swaps crypto-assets for euros and holds the balance for you. In this process PayPal is neither dealer nor custodian, only the till at the door. That division of roles explains most of the peculiarities that follow: the exchange determines what the purchase costs and when you may move your coins, not PayPal.

PayPal appears as a deposit route at several providers. The position is only verifiable, though, where the provider publishes its fees and deadlines in full. Kraken does so with a table anyone can inspect and which was last updated on August 17, 2026. That is why this article works with those figures. At other houses, contradictory statements circulate on comparison portals, from “free since July 2025” to “2 percent”; anyone wanting to deposit there should check the terms with the provider before buying. Which trading venues come into question in Germany at all is shown in our comparison of providers with PayPal deposits.

The 72-hour lock is the real price of the PayPal deposit

The point missing from most guides is stated expressly in Kraken's fee table: after a deposit by PayPal, a withdrawal lock of 72 hours sits on the account. The lock applies not only to euros but to all withdrawals, crypto-assets included. For three days your freshly bought ETH therefore stay on the exchange, whether you like it or not.

The reason for that is not harassment but chargeback risk. A PayPal payment can be disputed after the fact. If the coins bought could be withdrawn immediately, the exchange would be left without any counter-value in a dispute. The same logic applies to card payments, but not to the SEPA transfer: there the table shows no lock.

Withdrawal lock does not mean your balance is frozen. You can trade straight away, you simply cannot get out of the building. For an investor who leaves their ETH on the exchange anyway, that has no consequences. For anyone holding by the principle of “not your keys, not your coins”, it is three days of counterparty risk they would not have had with a transfer. The year 2026 has served as a reminder, through several exchange incidents, that those three days are not a theoretical risk.

At Kraken the PayPal fee appears only on the final confirmation page

For every other type of deposit the table names a figure. SEPA from the European Economic Area: free, minimum amount 1 euro, credited within zero to three banking days or instantly. Debit card: minimum amount 10 euros, 0.25 euros plus 3.75 percent, credited almost instantly. A transfer over the international SWIFT network: 3 euros, one to five banking days.

For PayPal, the word “processing fees” stands in place of the figure, together with a footnote: the fees depend on the region and are displayed on the final confirmation page. Minimum amount 1 euro, credited almost instantly, lock 72 hours.

That is the most remarkable finding of this research, and it is no reproach to a single provider but a property of the payment route: of all the deposit types, PayPal is the only one whose price cannot be looked up beforehand. You learn it at the moment when all that is left is to confirm. Anyone wanting to compare has to run the process through to the final page and break off there.

100 euros in ETH via SEPA, debit card and PayPal: the cost calculation

Let us work the purchase through once, with the published figures and an ether price of around 2,367 euros, as it stands on October 1. On top of the deposit fee comes the trading fee in every case: Kraken charges 1 percent on instant purchases and recurring purchases, and 1.5 percent on orders you place yourself.

Via SEPA, a full 100 euros out of 100 euros arrive in the exchange account, because the transfer costs nothing. The purchase takes off 1 percent, so 1.00 euro. What goes into ether is 99.00 euros, around 0.0418 ETH.

Via the debit card, the deposit costs 0.25 euros plus 3.75 percent, 4.00 euros together. That leaves 96.00 euros, from which 1 percent trading fee comes off, so 0.96 euros. What goes into ether is 95.04 euros, or around 0.0402 ETH. Against the transfer, 3.96 euros are missing, which converts to around 0.0017 ETH.

Via PayPal, this line cannot be filled in. The deposit fee is not known beforehand. If it is zero, the result matches the SEPA route; if it is at card level, around four euros are missing. Nothing more can seriously be said, and that is exactly the point: on a purchase of 100 euros it is a single-digit euro amount, on a purchase of 5,000 euros a three-digit sum that you see only on the final page.

The spread sits in the purchase price and appears in no fee line

The calculation above is deliberately incomplete, because it captures only the stated fees. For instant purchases, Kraken expressly points out that a spread is additionally contained in the price displayed.

The spread is the distance between the price at which the exchange buys and the one at which it sells. It never appears on a statement as an item of its own, because it already sits in the price you confirm. To you it works like a fee, but it turns up in no fee overview.

In practice that means two things. First, any comparison that merely sets the stated percentages side by side is calculated too favourably, and that holds for every provider. Second, it pays to look at the difference between the convenient instant purchase and an order you place yourself in the trading area: the trading fee is stated higher there at 1.5 percent, but the spread falls away because you set the price yourself. With larger amounts the relationship therefore often reverses. There is no generally valid threshold, because the spread fluctuates with market conditions.

The network fee for the ETH transfer runs to fractions of a cent

Many newcomers put off the transfer to their own wallet because they fear expensive network fees. That worry comes from the years when a simple Ethereum transfer could cost double-digit euro amounts. Nothing of that is left at present.

At the start of October, the base fee in the Ethereum network sits at about 0.12 gwei. Gwei is the usual unit of account for network fees, a billionth of an ETH. A simple transfer of ether consumes 21,000 gas units. That produces around 0.0000025 ETH, less than a cent at today's price.

The catch: what the exchange charges you for a withdrawal is not that network fee but a rate of its own, which it sets itself and which appears on the confirmation page. It can lie considerably above. The network fee is therefore good as a lower bound, not as an expectation. What remains is the all-clear: the network is no longer the reason to leave coins on the exchange.

ERC-20 or layer 2: the wrong network costs you your ETH

Here lies the difference from Bitcoin, and it is the most expensive mistake in this whole process. On a withdrawal the exchange asks which network it should send over. Alongside the Ethereum mainnet, several layer-2 networks are on offer, that is, side chains which bundle transactions and settle them more cheaply, such as Arbitrum or Base.

The address looks the same in all of these networks. Every one of these addresses begins with 0x and has 42 characters. Precisely there lies the trap: if you choose a different network when sending from the one your wallet expects, the transfer is carried out all the same. The money lands at the same address on another chain. In the favourable case you get it back by setting up that network in your wallet. In the unfavourable case, for instance with an address belonging to an exchange that does not support the chain in question, the amount is lost.

The rule against that is plain: the network chosen when sending has to be the same one set at the top of your wallet. If in doubt, send a small amount first and wait for it to be credited before the rest follows. By the calculation above, the cost of that test lies in the range of fractions of a cent, the benefit in the range of the entire purchase amount. Which devices and programs are suitable for custody is set out in the hardware wallet comparison.

PayPal buyer protection does not cover financial products and investments

A widespread misunderstanding holds that the detour via PayPal brings additional protection with it. The opposite is true. The terms of PayPal buyer protection in the version of April 15, 2025 contain a list of transactions the protection does not cover. Alongside payments for gold and cash equivalents such as gift cards, that list expressly includes financial products and investments.

Buying ether through an exchange falls into that group. If the price falls, if the exchange goes down or if you mistype the address, there is no reimbursement on that basis. Buyer protection is intended for purchases of goods, not for capital investments.

Conversely, the chargeback route very much does apply, and that is exactly why the 72-hour lock exists. Anyone disputing a legitimate deposit in order to end up with both coins and money risks having the exchange account blocked, and civil consequences. The lock is the exchange's answer to that risk, and it hits all customers equally.

Holding period and threshold: what Section 23 EStG prescribes for your ETH

For tax purposes, buying ether counts among private disposals. Section 23 of the Income Tax Act regulates them in subsection 1 number 2: a disposal is taxable in the case of assets where not more than one year lies between acquisition and sale. If you sell your ETH later than one year after buying, the gain is free of income tax, whatever its size.

Within the year a threshold applies. Under subsection 3 sentence 5, gains remain tax-free where the total gain from all private disposals in the calendar year comes to less than 1,000 euros. Threshold here means: if the amount is exceeded, the entire gain is taxable, not only the excess part. At a gain of 999 euros you pay nothing; at 1,001 euros you pay tax on the full 1,001 euros at your personal rate.

For the PayPal question only one detail matters, and it is regularly misunderstood: the one-year period begins with the acquisition, meaning on the day of purchase, not at the end of the 72-hour lock and not on the day of the transfer to your own wallet. The lock shifts the start of the period by not a single day. Anyone buying several times needs the individual date for each part-purchase; tools for that are in the comparison of tax and portfolio programs.

Staking does not extend the holding period to ten years

With Ethereum a question arises that does not come up with Bitcoin: what happens to the holding period if you stake your ETH? The reason for the worry sits in the same section. Under subsection 1 number 2 sentence 4, the period extends to ten years where income is earned in at least one calendar year from the use of an asset as a source of income.

Staking means depositing your ETH in the network to help secure transactions, and receiving ongoing returns for it. That sounds like a source of income. The tax administration does not, however, apply the ten-year period to crypto-assets. The Federal Ministry of Finance confirmed this in its circular of March 6, 2025 on the income tax treatment of certain crypto-assets, file reference IV C 1 – S 2256/00042/064/043. The holding period accordingly stays at one year even after staking or lending.

The treatment of the returns themselves is unaffected by that: ongoing staking rewards are taxable in the year they are received, separately from the later gain on sale. Anyone dealing with such returns for the first time should settle the classification with a tax adviser; this article is no substitute for advice in the individual case.

MiCA authorisation: how to recognise an authorised provider

Since the European crypto regulation MiCA, trading venues need authorisation as crypto-asset service providers in order to serve retail clients in the EU. For you that is not a sticker on the wall but an entry in a register, and it can be looked up in two minutes.

Two directories help further: BaFin's company database for providers with German authorisation, and the register of the European securities supervisor ESMA for authorised service providers from all member states. A route via another EU country is normal in this and no warning sign: an authorisation from Ireland or Malta is valid across Europe.

What matters is matching the exact company name. Exchanges frequently run their European business through a company of their own whose name differs from the brand. If you find the operator in neither of the two registers, do not pay money in there, however convenient the PayPal button looks. Vetted trading venues are in our comparison of crypto exchanges.

Buying Ethereum with PayPal: Your next three steps

1. Establish whether you really need the convenience. On the terms examined here, a SEPA transfer is free, has no lock-up period and is in many cases credited instantly as well. PayPal pays off above all where your money is sitting there anyway. An overview of the trading venues is in the exchange comparison.
2. Run the deposit process through to the final page before you confirm. That is the only place the PayPal processing fee appears. Add it to the trading fee of 1 percent and compare the result with the 100 euros that arrive in full via a transfer.
3. Allow for the 72 hours before you take custody of the ETH yourself. Once the lock has elapsed, transfer a small amount first and make sure the network you choose matches your wallet. Suitable devices are shown by the hardware wallet comparison.

The sources for this article: the fees, minimum amounts and lock-up periods come from Kraken's public overview of deposit options.

(As of October 1, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

In brief: in Germany you will usually set up a crypto company as a GmbH or a UG. What decides the matter, though, is not the legal form but the business model: anyone who holds, exchanges or arranges crypto-assets for others has needed authorisation from BaFin since MiCA, plus minimum capital of 50,000 to 150,000 euros depending on the service. Anyone offering software, analytics or content generally gets by without a licence. This guide sets out the steps in the right order.

Step 1: establish whether your business model requires authorisation

Before you call a notary, one question belongs settled: are you providing crypto-asset services within the meaning of the EU regulation MiCA? Those include, among others, the custody of crypto-assets for clients, operating a trading platform, exchanging against the euro or other crypto-assets, the execution and reception of orders, and advice and portfolio management.

If that is the case, you need authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider, CASP for short. In Germany it is granted by BaFin on the basis of MiCA and the German Crypto Markets Supervision Act. The transition periods for existing providers have now expired in all EU member states. Whoever is authorised appears in ESMA's public register; what that looks like in practice is shown by the list of authorised providers, and even banks such as the Volksbanken are having their crypto custody approved.

No authorisation is generally needed by anyone who merely supplies software, such as a non-custodial wallet, an analytics tool, development services or a crypto news outlet. The line is fine in the individual case. When in doubt, an enquiry to BaFin or to a specialist law firm pays off before the first client money flows.

Step 2: choose the right legal form

For crypto start-ups, two legal forms almost always come into question, because they limit liability to the company's assets:

Anyone who needs BaFin authorisation starts in practice with a GmbH, because the minimum capital required by the supervisor lies above that of a UG in any case. How the formation runs step by step, from articles of association to the commercial register, is explained in the Gründerfreunde guide to forming a GmbH. For a smaller start there is also a guide there on how to form a UG. Anyone needing a ready-made company quickly can alternatively buy a shelf company.

Step 3: plan capital and the supervisor's requirements

MiCA tiers the minimum capital by type of service:

• 50,000 euros for services such as the reception and transmission of orders, advice, portfolio management or the placing of crypto-assets,
• 125,000 euros where crypto-assets are additionally held for clients or exchanged against money or other crypto-assets,
• 150,000 euros for operating a trading platform.

On top of that come requirements that often cost more than the capital itself: management that is both reliable and professionally qualified, a seat with genuine management in the EU, anti-money-laundering rules, a complaints procedure, IT security under the EU regulation DORA, and the segregated custody of client funds. Allow several months for the authorisation application.

Step 4: issue a token only with a white paper

Many crypto start-ups want a token of their own sooner or later. MiCA applies to that as well: anyone offering crypto-assets to the public has to draw up a white paper and submit it to the supervisor. If the token is a security, securities law applies instead of MiCA. The difference between an ICO and a security token, and what is permitted today, is explained in our guide What is an ICO? What is a security token?

Step 5: bank account, bookkeeping and taxes

Getting a business account is often harder for crypto firms than the formation itself. Banks examine the origin of funds and the business model closely. A clean business plan helps, as does a concept for anti-money-laundering and, where necessary, evidence of BaFin authorisation or of a pending application.

On tax, the position is this: if a GmbH holds crypto-assets, there is no one-year speculation period as there is for private individuals. Gains on a sale are subject to corporation tax and trade tax, together around 30 percent depending on the municipality. Settle the accounting treatment of crypto-assets early with a tax firm that knows the field.

Step 6: use financing and public support

For the first phase the same routes come into question as for any other start-up: equity, business angels, venture capital and public funding. An overview of the funders and what they look for is given in the Gründerfreunde guide to start-up financing. Anyone founding a business while unemployed can apply for a start-up grant. And anyone wanting to test a new business model under supervision should know the options offered by living labs and regulatory sandboxes.

Checklist: setting up a crypto company in Germany

1. Test the business model against the MiCA services; when in doubt, ask BaFin or a specialist lawyer.
2. Choose the legal form: a GmbH where authorisation is required, otherwise a GmbH or a UG.
3. Budget minimum capital and staff for management, anti-money-laundering and IT security.
4. Formation before a notary, entry in the commercial register, business registration.
5. File the authorisation application with BaFin before client business starts.
6. Find a business account and a tax firm with crypto experience.
7. Issue a token only with a MiCA white paper, or as a security with a prospectus.

Frequently asked questions

Do I always need a BaFin licence for a crypto start-up?

No. What requires authorisation are crypto-asset services for clients, such as custody, exchange, a trading platform or the reception of orders. Pure software, analytics tools or media offerings generally need no authorisation.

How much capital do I need for a MiCA licence?

Depending on the service, minimum capital of 50,000, 125,000 or 150,000 euros, plus funds for staff, compliance and IT security.

Is a UG enough for a crypto start-up?

For models outside the authorisation requirement, yes. Anyone who needs BaFin authorisation is better off starting with a GmbH, because the capital required is higher than a UG's in any case.

Note: Gründerfreunde, like cryptoticker, belongs to the group of companies owned by Dennis Weidner. This guide is no substitute for legal or tax advice.

The most important inflation figure in the United States came in weaker than expected on September 30. The price index for personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy, known internationally as core PCE, rose 3.0 percent in August against the same month a year earlier. The market had expected 3.3 percent. For you as an investor in Germany, one thing above all follows from that: the probability that the Federal Reserve turns the interest rate screw once more on October 28 has fallen within a few days from around 70 percent to below half. Higher rates are the counterweight to risk assets, and Bitcoin is one of them.

Core PCE in August: what the BEA release says

The US Commerce Department publishes the figure through the Bureau of Economic Analysis, or BEA. The release carrying the reference BEA 26-43 appeared on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. local time on the US East Coast, which is 2:30 p.m. German time. It can be read in the BEA's Personal Income and Outlays, August 2026 press release.

The figures in detail, all from that release: the overall PCE price index rose 0.3 percent in August against the previous month and 3.4 percent against the previous year. Excluding food and energy it was 0.2 percent month on month and 3.0 percent year on year. Personal income increased by $66.6 billion, which corresponds to 0.2 percent in the month. Real, meaning inflation-adjusted, consumer spending rose by $92.8 billion, or 0.6 percent.

What core PCE actually measures

Core PCE is the inflation gauge against which the Federal Reserve sets its two percent target. It measures how the prices of the goods and services US households actually buy are changing, and it leaves out food and energy because those prices swing sharply and obscure the underlying trend. That is precisely why rate markets react more strongly to this figure than to the better-known consumer price index.

One detail of this publication matters for context: alongside the August data, the BEA presented the annual revision of the national accounts. Retroactive corrections to earlier months are possible as a result. Anyone comparing time series should therefore take the revised values and not the figures that were in circulation before September 30.

Core and headline rates diverge: why 3.0 against 3.4 percent

At 3.4 percent, the headline rate sits above the core rate of 3.0 percent. That gap of 0.4 percentage points comes from food and energy, which are exactly the two groups stripped out of the core rate. When the headline rate is higher, price pressure comes predominantly from there and less from the breadth of the economy.

For the central bank that is a more comfortable constellation than the reverse case. Energy prices respond to supply, transport routes and political conditions, not to the policy rate. A rate rise barely touches them. Broad services pressure, on the other hand, can be slowed with rates, and that is what the core rate captures. The fact that the core rate eased unexpectedly therefore takes out of the calculation precisely the part of price pressure the Fed would answer with rates.

This is no all-clear. Three percent is still one and a half times the two percent target, and the figure refers to August, not to September. More data is due before the meeting on October 28.

CME FedWatch slips below half: the market reads October 28 differently

How the market assesses the next rate decision can be read off the futures contracts on the US overnight rate. The probability derived from them is usually quoted as CME FedWatch. At the start of the week, the expectation of a further rate rise in October stood at around 70 percent according to reports from several financial media outlets. After a speech by a senior central banker on September 29 and the weaker inflation figure on September 30, it fell below 50 percent.

Exactly how far depends on the source, and the values differ. On September 30, published readings ranged from about 35 to 47 percent for a rise. That range deliberately stands here rather than being reduced to a round number. What counts is the direction: a probable rise has become an open question.

The September 29 speech and the rate curve: what tipped expectations

The trigger came from John Williams, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. According to reports from financial media, he signalled in a speech on September 29 that he sees no hurry over a further rate step. That is notable because the same central banker had said five days earlier that a further rise by the end of the year could reasonably be expected. Within a week the tone shifted, and the inflation figure the following day supported the softer reading.

Read such statements for what they are: assessments by individual voices on the decision-making body, not decisions. The vote takes place in the Open Market Committee, and its meeting dates are fixed. For the rest of the year there are two, according to the official Federal Reserve meeting calendar: October 27 and 28, and December 8 and 9. The decision comes on the second day in each case.

Bitcoin between $82,951 and $85,518: the range of the past 24 hours

The reaction was visible, but it did not hold. Bitcoin jumped after the release and then gave the jump back. According to CoinGecko market data, the price stood at $83,692 on Thursday morning, 0.52 percent above the level 24 hours earlier. Within those 24 hours the high was $85,518 and the low $82,951. Individual reports put the immediate reaction at just under $85,900, which means the figures for the daily high range from about $85,500 to $85,900 depending on the data source.

Over the week there is a loss of 0.75 percent, and over 30 days a gain of 6.52 percent. That produces a picture a single day cannot explain: the inflation figure has loosened rate pressure, but it has not triggered a breakout. The price continues to move in the range it has been in all week.

Why a brief reaction says nothing about the week

Macro figures work in two stages. First, automated systems react within seconds to the deviation from expectations, and that spike often disappears the same day. Only afterwards does it become clear whether larger addresses actually change their positioning. That can be read off futures market data and the inflows and outflows of exchange-traded products, not off the price in a single hour.

Buying routes in Germany: MiCA exchange, ETN and what the US market does not offer you

Anyone in Germany who wants to position for looser rate policy has two common routes, and both come with rules of their own. The first is the direct purchase through a trading platform authorised in the EU under the regulation on markets in crypto-assets, known as MiCA. The authorisation is publicly verifiable, and it determines what obligations the provider has towards you. Which houses hold it can be looked up in the public register before you open an account.

The second route runs through exchange-traded products. In Germany these are as a rule ETNs or ETPs, which you trade on Xetra through your existing securities account. One distinction matters here that regularly causes misunderstandings: a US spot ETF on a cryptocurrency is normally not tradable for retail investors in Germany, because it is not subject to the European requirements on investor information and fund structure. What launches in New York therefore does not land in your portfolio automatically. What the European route looks like instead is set out in our overview of crypto ETFs and ETNs for investors in Germany.

The two routes also differ in what you own at the end. With a direct purchase you hold the coins, with everything that goes with them, from custody to your own responsibility for the keys. With an ETN you hold a debt security issued by the provider that tracks the price.

The holding period under Section 23 EStG: why the rate path reaches into your tax planning

A particularity applies to the direct purchase in Germany that does not exist in the same form with an ETN. Gains from the sale of cryptocurrencies fall under private disposals under Section 23 of the Income Tax Act. If you sell within a year of buying, the gain is taxable. After a holding period of more than a year, it is not. There is also a threshold for small gains, and you should check its current level with the tax office or in a tax guide before deciding, because the amount has been adjusted in recent years.

The link to the rate path is more immediate than it first sounds. If you hold a position you would actually sell because of the rate outlook, your purchase date determines how expensive that sale becomes. If the purchase was eleven months ago, selling now may cost considerably more than selling in four weeks. That is not a recommendation to hold anything, but a figure that belongs in the decision. Anyone with many purchases spread across different months will hardly keep them apart cleanly without help; tools for that are in our comparison of crypto tax tools and portfolio trackers.

Leverage and liquidation: how thin the buffer at $83,692 really is

On days with macro data in particular, a manageable price swing turns into a total loss once leverage is in play. Work it through with this day's figures. From the level at $83,692 to the 24-hour low at $82,951 is 0.89 percent. At tenfold leverage that move corresponds to a loss of almost 9 percent of your stake, at twentyfold leverage about 18 percent.

Take the whole range of the day, from the high at $85,518 to the low at $82,951, and it is 3.0 percent. Anyone who entered at the high with twentyfold leverage had lost around 60 percent of their margin at the low. These are not exceptional numbers but a quiet trading day with a single macro figure. Ahead of the meeting on October 28, larger swings are more likely than today.

What actually happens in a liquidation

Once the price reaches the liquidation level, the exchange closes the position automatically and the margin is gone. The common offerings do not create an obligation to pay in more, but the loss is not recoverable either if the price turns afterwards. With a direct purchase without leverage this threshold does not exist; there a paper loss stays a paper loss as long as you do not sell.

Levels above and below: $85,518 in the way, $82,951 as the floor

Two orientation points emerge from the daily data that manage without a forecast. Above lies the daily high at $85,518. That is where the price failed after the inflation figure, and as long as it stays below, the impulse from that figure has been absorbed. Below lies the daily low at $82,951. If the price drops under it, the positive reaction to the weaker inflation has been given back in full.

These two values are measurement points from the past 24 hours, not price targets. Anyone working with levels updates them daily, because yesterday's range carries nothing today. For that you need no forecast, only a data source and a fixed rhythm.

October 28 and December 9: the two dates that shape the quarter

Two dates remain for this year, and they are in the Federal Reserve's official calendar. The Open Market Committee meets on October 27 and 28, with the decision on October 28. The last meeting of the year follows on December 8 and 9, with the decision on December 9. The December meeting additionally includes the summary of economic projections, in which members disclose their own rate expectations.

Further data releases fall between today and October 28, among them the next inflation figure. Today's expectation is therefore not the expectation of late October. All that holds today is this: the market no longer treats a rise as the more likely case.

Core inflation and Bitcoin: what to take away

The August figure has loosened rate pressure without removing it. Three things follow from it concretely:

1. Settle the buying route before you buy. Decide whether you want to buy directly or go through an exchange-traded product, and for the direct variant establish the provider's MiCA authorisation. The overview is in our comparison of regulated crypto exchanges.
2. Settle custody before the sum grows. If you hold coins directly, the decision about the keys belongs with it. Which devices come into question is set out in the hardware wallet comparison.
3. Carry the range forward daily. $85,518 above and $82,951 below apply to October 1. Anyone working with levels like these needs a reliable data source; suitable tools are in our overview of analytics platforms.

(As of October 1, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

Bitway traded at around $1.32 on Thursday morning, roughly seven and a half percent below the all-time high of $1.43 the token reached on Monday. Over the week, BTW is up between 27 and 28 percent depending on the calculation method, while Bitcoin and Ethereum were practically unchanged over the same period. That is the core of this week: a token ranked 34th moves sharply, and the broad market does not move at all.

For you as an investor in Germany, less hangs on how far the price may still run than on what you are actually dealing with. Three things about Bitway are documented, and they matter more for a decision than any price forecast: only a good quarter of the total supply is in circulation at all, daily turnover is strikingly small against market capitalisation, and none of the exchanges that list BTW holds authorisation under MiCA, the European crypto regulation. This article puts the week in context and goes through the points you can check for yourself.

Bitway (BTW) week in review: price, weekly high and weekly low

According to CoinGecko, BTW stood at $1.32 as of Thursday night, October 1. Market capitalisation is around $3.6 billion, which places Bitway 34th among all cryptocurrencies. The path through the week was unusually wide.

The weekly low was $0.84 on Saturday, September 26. Two days later, on Monday, BTW marked its all-time high at $1.43. For the hourly series of the same week, CoinGecko shows the highest level on Wednesday at $1.41; the two figures come from differently grained series from the same provider, which is why the range stands here rather than a smoothed average. From $0.84 to $1.43 is a good 70 percent in two days, and the pullback to $1.32 has given back about a sixth of that.

Over 30 days, BTW is up around 225 percent. That figure is the real background to the week: the jump to the all-time high came at the end of a move that had already begun in September.

What the week looks like against the broader market

Bitcoin stood at around $83,500 on Thursday morning, down a good one percent over seven days, and Ethereum at about $2,685, also slightly weaker over the week. Anyone holding BTW against that backdrop is dealing with a single move whose cause has to lie in the project itself or in demand for the token. That matters for context, because a move without the market behind it turns faster in both directions.

What is behind the jump from $0.84 to $1.43

Bitway is a project in the field of decentralised finance. CoinGecko lists the token under the tags decentralised finance, yield farming, BNB Chain ecosystem and governance. According to the project's own account on the Bitway project site, BTW is the token that carries network operations, staking and governance votes, and the one tied to the incentives for the provider's yield, payment and financing products.

The immediate driver of the week is documented and carries an expiry date: an incentive campaign has been running through the DeFi section of Binance Wallet since August 19 and closes at the end of this week. Anyone committing capital to the corresponding product takes part in the distribution of rewards in BTW. A campaign that locks up capital and pays out tokens at the same time creates demand for as long as it runs, and that particular window closes on Friday.

A second point belongs to the backstory. According to a review by the data provider Bitquery of 51 larger airdrops on EVM networks this year, three out of four of those tokens later traded below their first-week price. BTW was one of the exceptions in that study and traded clearly above it. That explains part of the attention, but it says nothing about the direction from here: it is a statement about this token's past relative to others, not about its value.

Booster Earn Season 5: the campaign ends on October 2 at 23:59 UTC

The only documented date in the coming days is the end of the current campaign. Under the announcement of August 19, 2026, 00:00 UTC, the programme's fifth round runs until October 2, 2026, 23:59 UTC. For you in Germany that means it closes at 1:59 a.m. on Saturday night. Rewards worth $200,000 in BTW are paid out as a boosted interest rate, and the condition for taking part is a deposit of at least $100 into the corresponding vault product through the DeFi section of Binance Wallet. The campaign dates can be viewed in the events calendar at TradingView.

What counts for the coming week is the expiry, not the participation. An incentive campaign holds capital in place. Once it runs out, the capital that was locked can be withdrawn, and experience suggests part of the rewards in BTW gets sold. Whether and how strongly that feeds through to the price cannot be predicted, and nobody should be quoting you a figure here. The date itself, though, is fixed, and it falls in the same week as the all-time high.

Circulating supply and total supply: 2.71 of 10 billion BTW are free

Here lies the point a price chart does not show. Of the 10 billion BTW set as total and maximum supply, around 2.71 billion are in circulation. That is about 27 percent. The remaining almost three quarters exist, but are not yet on the market.

Circulating supply is the number of tokens that are genuinely free to trade. The market capitalisation of $3.6 billion counts that circulating supply alone. Apply the full supply of 10 billion tokens at the current price instead, and the fully diluted valuation comes to around $13 billion. Both are correct figures for different questions, and with Bitway the gap between them is wide.

In practice that means: every token that enters circulation in future out of reserves, rewards or unlocks meets a market that has to absorb the additional supply. For projects with a circulating share of around 27 percent, the schedule of those unlocks is therefore one of the most important pieces of information there is. Anyone who holds BTW or wants to buy should read that schedule at the provider itself rather than infer it from the price chart.

Why the supply figures differ from one source to the next

Figures for Bitway's circulating supply diverge across data providers, as an analysis by Phemex among others has pointed out. Such divergences arise when providers count locked holdings, reserves or undistributed rewards differently. For you that means: compare the market capitalisation at two providers before you take it as a yardstick. If the circulating supply differs, so does every valuation built on it.

Trading volume and liquidity: $50 million against $3.6 billion in market capitalisation

Turnover in BTW over 24 hours came to around $50 million. Against a market capitalisation of $3.6 billion that is about 1.4 percent. For Bitcoin and Ethereum this ratio is markedly higher on ordinary days.

Liquidity describes how much you can buy or sell without moving the price yourself. A small ratio of turnover to market capitalisation means in practice: larger sell orders meet a thin order book, and the price achieved can sit noticeably below the one you see on the ticker. That also explains the spread of this week. A market that rises 70 percent in two days and then gives part of it back is typically not a deep market.

One consequence for your own planning follows from that, and it has nothing to do with a forecast: anyone who plans a fixed exit price in a thin market should allow for that price being unavailable when it matters.

BTW on exchanges: Bitget, Gate and MEXC, no MiCA licence in the EU

CoinGecko lists 13 trading venues for BTW. On the centralised side these include Bitget, Gate, MEXC, HTX, Poloniex, Toobit, DigiFinex, KCEX, BitKan and Ourbit, each paired against the dollar stablecoin USDT. Added to that are decentralised venues on BNB Chain, among them Uniswap in two versions and PancakeSwap.

None of these venues belongs to the providers authorised as crypto service providers under MiCA and allowed to offer their services in Germany on a regular basis. cryptoticker.io compiled this review itself on October 1, 2026; the basis is the list of 13 trading venues CoinGecko carries for BTW, matched against the providers authorised in Germany. Names such as Bitpanda, Coinbase, Kraken or Bitvavo, which work in Germany with authorisation, do not appear on that list.

That is not a statement about the standing of the exchanges named, but one about your legal framework. Since July 1, 2026 the requirements of the MiCA regulation have applied in full across the EU, and the transition periods have expired. Anyone trading at a provider without EU authorisation does not have the avenues open to them that a supervised provider offers in a dispute, and German deposit protection does not cover crypto assets in any case. Which exchanges hold authorisation is shown in our overview of regulated crypto exchanges.

Leverage and liquidation

Several of the exchanges named offer derivatives on BTW. In a market that rises 70 percent within two days and then shows a range of more than a third in a single day, the arithmetic is simple: tenfold leverage is wiped out in full by a ten percent move the other way. Liquidation is the forced closing of your position as soon as the margin no longer suffices. In a market of this spread that hits leveraged positions regularly.

Custody: two contract addresses on BNB Chain and Ethereum

BTW exists on two networks. On BNB Chain the contract address is 0x444045b0ee1ee319a660a5e3d604ca0ffa35acaa, on Ethereum 0x3a63de3572c69a1307ff08394f3ee7702c16d25d. Anyone moving the token into a wallet of their own has to pick the right network. A transfer to the matching address on the wrong network is as a rule not recoverable.

With tokens on several networks and similarly named imitations, the extra look is worth it: compare the contract address a trading platform or a search result shows you with the address on the project site itself before you buy or transfer. For custody of larger holdings, the same holds as for any token on a smart contract platform, namely that the keys sit better on a device without a network connection than in an exchange account.

Levels above and below: $1.43, $1.04 and the $0.84 area

The levels that follow are observation points from the week's trading, not price targets and not a recommendation. Above stands the all-time high at $1.43, around seven and a half percent over the current price; beneath it lies Wednesday's hourly high at $1.41. On the downside, the price from seven days ago at about $1.04 marks the starting point of the weekly move, and under that sits Saturday's weekly low at $0.84.

The round level at one dollar almost coincides with the start of the week and is therefore the line at which it will show whether the weekly gain holds. Nothing more can be read out of the figures, and anything further would be guesswork about quantities that has no place here.

Tax in Germany: a one-year holding period and the 1,000-euro threshold

The same rules apply to BTW as to other crypto assets held privately. If you sell at a profit within a year of buying, that profit is taxable and charged at your personal income tax rate. After a holding period of more than a year, the gain on the sale stays tax-free. The threshold is 1,000 euros a year, and it is not an allowance: if your gains from private sales exceed that limit, the entire amount is taxable, not just the part above it.

Rewards from an incentive campaign or from staking count separately and are as a rule treated as other income. They are assessed at the time they arrive, at the price prevailing then, with a threshold of their own at 256 euros a year. Anyone taking part in the current campaign should record the price on the day of the credit, because that value later forms the basis for taxation.

Since January 1, 2026 the Crypto Asset Tax Transparency Act, the German implementation of the EU directive DAC8, has applied on top of that. Under it, providers report user and transaction data to the tax authorities; for the current year 2026 those reports have to be filed by July 31, 2027. That applies most clearly to providers based or registered in the EU, and it changes nothing about your own duty to declare gains in your tax return. When trading across several platforms and networks, clean record-keeping from the start helps more than any reconstruction after the fact; an overview of the tools for it is in our comparison of crypto tax tools.

Bitway: Your next three steps

1. Settle the access route. Establish whether you can get BTW at a provider with EU authorisation at all, and decide deliberately whether a trading venue without that authorisation is worth the commitment to you. Which exchanges work in Germany on a regular basis is set out in our overview of crypto exchanges.
2. Read up on the supply schedule. Look at the project itself for when the remaining almost three quarters of the total supply enter circulation, and only then set a position size. For custody outside an exchange account, the hardware wallet comparison helps.
3. Record the date and your tax documents. Note the end of the campaign on Saturday night as well as the purchase date, price and network of every position, so that the holding period and the threshold can be evidenced later. You will find tools for that in the tax tool comparison.

(As of October 1, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies carries a high level of risk.

A stock market game is a contest played with virtual money: everyone starts with the same virtual capital, trades at real prices, and in the end whoever sits at the top of the leaderboard wins. The good news first: all six stock market games in this comparison are free. The more important news comes further down: a leaderboard does not necessarily reward good trading, and often rewards the biggest risk instead. Knowing that, you learn more from a stock market game than just how to place an order. Here are the stock market games of 2026 with their period, target group, starting capital and prizes, plus the answer to where crypto is allowed.

Free stock market games: the key points in brief

• All six stock market games in this comparison are free, as of September 28, 2026. Three of them allow cryptocurrencies.
• Planspiel Börse, run by the German savings banks, starts on October 1, 2026 and runs until January 25, 2027, for school and university students.
• Trader 2026 from Société Générale runs from September 7 to October 30, 2026, with two portfolios of €100,000 in virtual money each.
• Trading Masters begins its first playing round on November 9, with €25,000 per portfolio and prizes worth more than €50,000.
• With crypto: Trading Masters and the training portfolio in Planspiel Börse via BSDEX, plus the crypto stock market game from CryptoTicker with 50 coins.
• No stock market game is played with real money. The prizes, by contrast, are real; at Trader 2026 they go up to a car.

The stock market games of 2026 at a glance

All figures as of September 28, 2026, according to the organizers. Dates and prizes change from round to round.

The six stock market games in detail

Planspiel Börse from the German savings banks

The best-known stock market game in Germany is aimed at school and university students. The 2026 round starts on October 1, registration has been open since September 14 and must be completed by November 11; play ends on January 25, 2027. You can take part via the app or in a browser, which requires a registration code from the savings bank or the teacher. The competition portfolio allows trading in shares from well-known indices, funds, ETFs and fixed-income securities. The training portfolio additionally offers cryptocurrencies via the BSDEX exchange, plus certificates. Alongside the portfolio ranking there is a sustainability score.

Trader 2026 from Société Générale

Trader is aimed at adults aged 18 and over and runs for eight weeks in 2026, from September 7 to October 30. Every participant receives two portfolios with €100,000 in virtual money each. Tradable instruments are shares, certificates and warrants listed on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange or issued by Société Générale. The rules put a brake on gambling: a maximum of 20 purchases a day, no single position above 20 percent of the portfolio, leveraged products capped at 20 percent of portfolio value, and a minimum holding time of five minutes. Once a week, a portfolio can be reset. The main prize is a Range Rover Evoque, and there are weekly prizes on top.

Trading Masters

Trading Masters is organized by excellents GmbH, with UBS as the main sponsor. Adults aged 18 and over who are resident in Germany or Austria can take part. Play runs with one equity portfolio and one leverage portfolio of €25,000 each. Tradable instruments are shares via the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, warrants, knock-out products and factor certificates from UBS, as well as cryptocurrencies via BSDEX. The training camp begins on October 26, the first playing round on November 9, 2026, and the second on January 11, 2027. The prizes are worth more than €50,000 in total, and the winner of a round receives €8,000. Taking part is free.

VR-Börsenspiel

The stock market game of the German cooperative banks comes as a school game and as an apprentice game. The 2026 school game ran from February 11 to May 11, with registration opening in November 2025. The apprentice game runs at different times by region: in Weser-Ems and at Genoverband from January 20 to May 20, in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria from June 23 to October 23, 2026. Schools start with €50,000 in virtual capital; tradable instruments are shares and ETPs, and in the speculative variant leveraged products as well. Cryptocurrencies are not included.

Tradity

Tradity is an educational initiative of WHU, the Otto Beisheim School of Management, and is aimed at school students. The game is free, play starts with 100,000 Tradity coins, and real shares are traded at real-time prices. The season runs once a year; the app announces when the next one begins. There is prize money, and crypto cannot be traded.

The crypto stock market game from CryptoTicker

This one is our own, so here it is in detail and with the caveats: the stock market game in CryptoTicker's Trading Hub is a pure crypto contest. Participation is from age 18. There is €10,000 in virtual money, real prices for 50 coins and two leagues, up to 10x and up to 100x leverage. The first three trades work without an account; after that, one click creates an anonymous account, with no email address and no payment details.

A pre-season runs until the end of 2026: free and without prize money. From January 2027, ranked seasons with a prize pool are planned, and taking part in the ranking is then intended to carry a fee. What is scored is not the highest return but the CT score, the return divided by the largest drawdown. If you only want to practise, you do not need the contest at all: the trading simulator is separate from it, with no sign-up, no credit card and no cap on the number of trades.

Which stock market games are the best?

The best stock market game is the one that fits your situation:

• For school and university students: Planspiel Börse, because it is organized through schools and universities and has a training portfolio that knows crypto. An alternative with real shares and prize money is Tradity.
• For adults who want to win something: Trader 2026 and Trading Masters, both with real prizes and clear trading rules.
• For crypto: Trading Masters or the crypto stock market game from CryptoTicker; anyone under 18 practises crypto in the training portfolio of Planspiel Börse.
• Without a deadline and without a contest: a demo account or a simulator. Which variants exist is set out in our guide to the trading demo account.

Why a leaderboard invites too much risk

A stock market game with a prize for the top places has an uncomfortable property: trade cautiously and you land safely in midfield. Put everything on one card and you usually land far back, but occasionally right at the front. With a thousand participants, what often wins is therefore the biggest lucky hit and not the best strategy. That is a property of the format, and no reproach to the organizers.

Two things work against it. First, rules like those at Trader 2026, which cap single positions and leveraged products at 20 percent of the portfolio. Second, a scoring method that prices in risk, such as the CT score, which divides the return by the largest drawdown. For you as a learner: trade in the stock market game by the rules you intend to keep later with real money, even if that costs you a place in the ranking. One percent of risk per trade means, with €100,000 in virtual money, a loss of at most €1,000 until the stop.

Is the stock market game played with real money?

No. In every stock market game in this comparison you trade with virtual money; no order reaches an exchange, and you cannot lose money of your own. Only the prizes handed out by some organizers are real. If you want to start with real money after the contest, begin small and choose a provider by fees and regulation: for crypto, our exchange comparison helps, and for shares, ETFs and derivatives the comparison of the best crypto brokers.

Stock market game, model portfolio, paper trading: the difference

• Stock market game: a contest with a deadline, a leaderboard and often prizes.
• Model portfolio: a virtual portfolio without a contest, mostly for shares and ETFs, to follow a selection over weeks.
• Paper trading and demo account: practice trading at real prices, any time and without a leaderboard, often with stops, shorts and leverage.

If you do not need the contest, you usually learn faster with a demo account, because no leaderboard invites risk. How to start without money and with real prices is set out in our guide Practise trading without money.

How to get from the game to your own rulebook, with order types, position size and a four-week practice plan, is set out in our Learn Trading pillar. If you then want to put real money to work, you will find regulated providers and their fees in the exchange comparison.

Sources

• Planspiel Börse of the German savings banks: dates for the 2026 round and FAQ, as of September 28, 2026.
• Société Générale: terms of participation and prizes for Trader 2026, as of September 28, 2026.
• excellents GmbH: Trading Masters, the stock market game at a glance, as of September 28, 2026.
• DIGITAL PROJECT: VR-Börsenspiel, dates and playing times 2026, as of September 28, 2026.
• WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management: Tradity, as of September 28, 2026.
• CryptoTicker Trading Hub, home page and terms of participation, as of September 28, 2026.

Gemini 4 Argon tops 12 of 18 benchmarks in Google's own table, writes a million tokens per reply and resists hijacking best. Cyber defenders get it first, with the guardrails off.

The team behind the MyDoge wallet opened a public test of DogeOS, a layer that lets developers build lending platforms and games on top of the meme coin network.

An internal memo warned FBI staff that ShinyHunters, the group claiming it hacked the bureau's jobs site, may hold their private details.

The Coinbase-backed group's first Senate endorsements—Republicans Jon Husted and Ashley Hinson and Democrat Chris Pappas—come two weeks after the Clarity Act's collapse, as the industry's fight shifts to the campaign trail.

The attacker behind the $387.5 million Bitget heist has started hiding about $3.8 million in ZEC inside Zcash's Ironwood pool, after Near Intents turned their swaps away.

Flare co-founder and CEO Hugo Philion has called XRP’s muted reaction to a major XRP Ledger infrastructure breakthrough in Brazil "lunacy."

The crypto market remains broadly bullish, although momentum is becoming increasingly uneven as some assets consolidate or correct after September’s strong gains.

The XRP Ledger has moved closer to launching its native lending infrastructure, with the LendingProtocolV1_1 amendment now open for validator voting.

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras is expanding its use of Cardano technology, with two new blockchain applications focused on sustainable aviation fuel and renewable Diesel R.

DogeOS deploys a ZK-Rollup layer on Dogecoin, bringing EVM smart contracts and DeFi apps to native DOGE holders.

TLDR

• September saw the Nasdaq Composite rise 1.8% and reach a fresh high on September 22, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled approximately 4.3% and the Russell 2000 declined 5.4% throughout the month.
• Bond yields jumped to levels not seen in decades, with significant increases across 2-year, 10-year, and 30-year Treasuries.
• According to UBS, artificial intelligence investment and related equity gains now represent 80% or more of American economic expansion.
• September’s top Nasdaq performers included Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Meta Platforms.

September delivered a tale of two markets on Wall Street, with artificial intelligence stocks providing crucial support to certain indexes. The S&P 500 registered a 0.4% monthly loss as government bond yields advanced. The benchmark index now sits 1.9% beneath its all-time high established in August.

Historically, September ranks among the weakest months for equity performance. Data extending back to 1950 shows the S&P 500 averaging a 0.6% drop during this period.

The Nasdaq Composite, however, painted a contrasting picture. The tech-heavy index advanced 1.8% and established a fresh record on September 22, finishing the month at 26,861.06 points.

Technology heavyweights including Meta and AMD provided significant upward momentum for the Nasdaq. Multiple semiconductor companies additionally contributed to the index’s positive performance.

Blue Chips and Small-Caps Lag as Technology Sector Dominates

The gains weren’t universally distributed across indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surrendered approximately 4.3% during September.

The Russell 2000 index, representing smaller-capitalization companies, declined 5.4%. Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, captured the market divide succinctly. “It’s AI or bust,” he remarked.

Sosnick further noted that even with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 demonstrating strength relative to other benchmarks, underlying concerns persist.

Government bond yields emerged as a significant driver of monthly turbulence. Both the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields increased by approximately 50 basis points.

The 30-year Treasury yield jumped nearly 40 basis points from August’s conclusion. The previous instance of all three bond maturities experiencing comparable simultaneous movement occurred in September 2022.

Elevated yields have also impacted the initial public offering landscape. Oura, the smart-ring manufacturer, delayed its anticipated equity offering this week.

Additional companies including Holtec Nuclear and Bamboo Insurance have attributed uncertain market environments to their decisions to postpone planned public listings.

Anthropic has allegedly deferred its expected public market entry from October to November. The offering had been projected to represent the fourth quarter’s largest IPO.

Artificial Intelligence Expenditures Dominate American Economic Expansion

Arend Kapteyn, chief economist at UBS, indicated that AI-focused investment combined with wealth generated from appreciating AI equities currently comprises 80% or more of American economic growth.

“It just looks like AI is neutralizing everything, at least on an aggregate level,” Kapteyn stated.

UBS elevated its projection for AI-driven capital expenditures next year by $200 billion, establishing a new total of $1.4 trillion. Kapteyn characterized spending beyond the AI sector as “running at zero.”

This market concentration introduces potential vulnerabilities. Kapteyn observed that ascending AI stock valuations have bolstered consumer expenditures, particularly among affluent households.

Should the AI momentum reverse course, economic consequences could materialize through two channels: diminished corporate investment and reduced consumer spending.

UBS has identified emerging indications that the expansion is extending beyond technology. Kapteyn explained that each dollar allocated to AI capital during a given quarter typically generates approximately $1.50 in investment during the subsequent quarter, with merely one-third returning to technology.

Examining individual equity performance, Intel surged 34.32% throughout September, claiming the top position among Nasdaq constituents. AMD advanced 29.96%, while Meta climbed 26.70%.

Marvell Technology and Astera Labs similarly recorded double-digit monthly appreciation.

Some equities experienced significant headwinds. Axon Enterprise plummeted 25.42%, representing the month’s steepest decline among major losers.

Intuit, Paychex, DoorDash, and Autodesk similarly registered double-digit percentage losses during September.

Market observers anticipate October will deliver continued volatility. The Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate determination and escalating US-Iran geopolitical tensions both represent potential catalysts.

Expectations regarding another rate increase have moderated following New York Fed President John Williams’ indication that no urgency exists for additional rate adjustments.

The post Nasdaq Surges on AI Rally While Dow Jones and Russell 2000 Tumble in September appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• United Therapeutics (UTHR) shares climbed approximately 13% following a favorable Delaware federal court decision in a patent infringement lawsuit.
• The court determined that Liquidia violated two specific patent claims related to inhaled treprostinil therapies.
• Liquidia (LQDA) stock plummeted more than 50% in response to the court’s decision.
• The judge has given both pharmaceutical companies seven days to file proposed remedies.
• UTHR shares are trading close to their 52-week peak and have gained roughly 10% year-to-date.

Shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) surged 13% on Wednesday following a federal court decision that sided with the biotechnology company in an extended patent litigation battle. The stock reached approximately $543.86 per share, approaching its 52-week peak of $596.76 established in May 2026.

United Therapeutics Corporation, UTHR

A U.S. District Court in Delaware determined that competitor Liquidia Corporation violated two patent claims owned by United Therapeutics. These claims relate to the use of inhaled treprostinil for treating pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease, including dry powder delivery systems.

In stark contrast, Liquidia’s stock collapsed by more than 50% during the same trading session.

Court Ruling Details

The Delaware court concluded that claims 1 and 14 from U.S. Patent No. 11,826,327 were both enforceable and violated by Liquidia’s Yutrepia inhalation powder product. The remaining four claims that United Therapeutics presented in the litigation were deemed invalid by the court.

The judge has given both pharmaceutical companies a seven-day window to present proposed legal remedies. United Therapeutics has already requested injunctive relief through its post-trial submissions. Such an injunction could significantly restrict Liquidia’s ability to market and distribute Yutrepia.

The FDA granted approval for Yutrepia in 2025 for treating both pulmonary arterial hypertension and PH-ILD. United Therapeutics initiated the legal action under the Hatch-Waxman Act, which provides a framework for resolving patent conflicts between branded pharmaceutical companies and generic drug manufacturers.

Liquidia’s Statement

Roger Jeffs, CEO of Liquidia, expressed the company’s disagreement with the court’s findings on claims 1 and 14. He stated that Liquidia will move forward with an appellate challenge to the decision.

Jeffs further indicated that Liquidia will file a supplemental submission to Yutrepia’s New Drug Application. This action would aim to completely eliminate the PH-ILD indication from the medication’s approved labeling.

Liquidia acknowledged it cannot accurately project the financial consequences of this ruling at present. The company cited numerous uncertainties, including the outcome of appeals and additional legal proceedings that remain pending.

Potential scenarios include anything from a more restricted label for Yutrepia to comprehensive constraints on the product’s commercial distribution.

This isn’t the only notable price movement for United Therapeutics stock in recent weeks. Less than a week before this surge, shares declined 4% after Goldman Sachs analyst Andrea Newkirk initiated coverage with a Sell recommendation.

Significant single-day volatility is uncommon for United Therapeutics shares. The stock has experienced daily moves exceeding 5% only five times in the last twelve months, making this week’s 13% gain particularly noteworthy.

Year-to-date, the stock has appreciated approximately 10%. Long-term investors who allocated $1,000 to United Therapeutics five years ago would currently hold a position valued at around $2,947.

The legal proceedings now advance to the remedies phase, with submissions from both parties expected within seven days.

The post United Therapeutics (UTHR) Stock Soars 13% Following Major Patent Infringement Victory appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Gold advanced 0.7% to $4,184.68 per ounce following a 6% decline in September, marking its steepest monthly loss since June
• Core PCE, the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation metric, increased 0.2% in August, missing analyst forecasts
• Market-implied probability of an October rate increase plunged to approximately 34% from nearly 70% days earlier
• Robust consumer expenditure data maintained Treasury yields at levels not seen in decades, limiting gold’s upside potential
• Market participants await Friday’s employment figures for additional insight into monetary policy direction

Gold prices posted gains on Thursday, recovering from a challenging September as fresh inflation figures provided market participants with renewed optimism.

As of 01:44 ET, spot gold appreciated 0.7% to $4,184.68 per ounce. Gold futures contracts similarly advanced 0.7%, settling at $4,214.

Other precious metals followed suit, with silver surging 1.4% to $61.27. Platinum advanced 0.5%, trading at $1,725.77.

Cooler PCE Reading Reshapes Monetary Policy Outlook

The personal consumption expenditures price index represents the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric. Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy components, increased a modest 0.2% in August.

This figure fell short of analyst expectations. Additionally, the prior month’s data underwent a downward revision.

The milder-than-anticipated inflation reading significantly altered market sentiment regarding the central bank’s policy trajectory. Odds of an October rate increase plummeted dramatically.

Just days ago, futures markets priced in approximately 70% probability of tightening. Following Thursday’s release, that likelihood collapsed to roughly 34%.

Diminished rate hike expectations generally benefit gold. As a non-yielding asset, gold becomes less competitive when interest-bearing alternatives offer higher returns.

Resilient Consumer Activity Sustains Elevated Yields

Despite the encouraging inflation print, gold continues facing headwinds. August consumer spending accelerated at its quickest rate in more than twelve months.

This economic resilience indicates the economy may withstand restrictive monetary policy. Consequently, Treasury yields remained anchored near multi-decade peaks.

Elevated bond yields create unfavorable conditions for gold. They raise the opportunity cost of maintaining positions in non-income-producing assets.

The U.S. Dollar Index maintained strength, edging up 0.2% to 101.66. Dollar appreciation typically pressures gold by increasing its cost for international purchasers.

September proved brutal for the precious metal, which surrendered 6%. This represented its most significant monthly retreat since June.

The selloff followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise borrowing costs for the first time since 2023. Policymakers simultaneously indicated additional tightening remained on the table.

Sovereign bond yields climbed globally throughout September. Market participants expressed mounting concern regarding expanding government obligations and fiscal imbalances.

These anxieties inflated the term premium—the additional compensation investors require for bearing duration risk in longer-dated securities.

The broad-based yield surge undermined gold’s appeal throughout the previous month.

Attention now shifts to Friday’s employment situation report. This critical release may provide further clarity on the Federal Reserve’s rate path.

Labor market data will likely dictate near-term price action in gold markets. Investors remain highly attuned to indicators of economic momentum or deterioration.

For the moment, gold has achieved a measure of equilibrium following a turbulent period. However, persistently high yields continue exerting downward pressure on the metal.

The post Gold Rebounds Following Worst Monthly Decline Since June on Cooling Inflation appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Micron delivered exceptional fiscal Q4 results, reporting adjusted EPS of $33.42 compared to Wall Street’s projection of $31.72.
• The company generated $54 billion in revenue, marking a 379% year-over-year increase and surpassing the $51 billion consensus.
• The stock gained approximately 2% during extended trading hours, a relatively muted response to the substantial earnings beat.
• The chipmaker expanded its multi-year supply contracts to 26 agreements from 16 previously, securing demand visibility into 2030.
• Even with record-setting 87% gross margins, the stock’s forward P/E ratio remains at a modest 6.6, significantly trailing the S&P 500’s 18.5 multiple.

Shares of Micron (MU) edged upward following the memory chip manufacturer’s announcement of yet another exceptional quarter, though market reaction appeared restrained considering the magnitude of the outperformance. The stock climbed roughly 1.6% during after-hours activity on Wednesday, building on modest gains from the regular trading session.

Micron Technology, Inc., MU

The semiconductor company’s financial results were striking. Adjusted earnings per share reached $33.42, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $31.72 and representing a dramatic increase from the $3.03 reported in the comparable period last year.

Quarterly revenue totaled $54 billion, surpassing the consensus forecast of $51 billion. This figure represents a staggering 379% increase compared to the prior-year quarter.

Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra informed investors that demand momentum has accelerated since the previous quarterly report. He indicated that memory and storage supply constraints will probably persist throughout fiscal years 2027 and 2028.

Market Skepticism Persists Despite Strong Performance

Notwithstanding the exceptional financial performance, Micron’s market valuation suggests investor hesitation. The stock currently commands a forward price-to-earnings multiple of merely 6.6, substantially beneath the broader market’s 18.5 ratio.

The memory semiconductor sector has historically experienced dramatic cyclical swings. Investors scarred by previous industry downturns remain cautious about declaring this expansion cycle fundamentally different, despite AI-driven demand producing unprecedented results.

Micron achieved an 87% gross margin during the quarter, representing a company record. However, forward guidance suggests modest sequential declines in both margins and revenue growth, reinforcing concerns among skeptical observers.

Those optimistic about Micron’s prospects contend the current environment represents a paradigm shift. Annual data center investments are surpassing one trillion dollars, with AI infrastructure requiring substantial quantities of advanced memory and storage solutions.

Additional manufacturing capacity isn’t anticipated to become operational until the middle of 2027. This timeline reflects reduced capital expenditure by Micron and competitors Samsung and SK Hynix following losses incurred during the 2022-2023 industry downturn.

Strategic Shift Toward Extended Supply Agreements

In an effort to mitigate the industry’s characteristic volatility, Micron is securing customers through five-year supply commitments rather than traditional annual contracts. These arrangements incorporate pricing floors and ceilings along with customer advance payments.

Mehrotra described these agreements as mechanisms to enhance long-term strategic planning and reduce financial volatility. The company has expanded such contracts to 26 from 16 in the previous quarter, representing approximately one-third of anticipated revenue through 2030.

Micron’s strategy assumes that demonstrating reduced cyclicality will ultimately persuade Wall Street to assign a premium valuation. However, such a comprehensive revaluation has yet to materialize.

Following the previous quarterly report, shares surged 16% as analysts rushed to revise projections upward. Those gains subsequently evaporated as historical concerns resurfaced.

The company’s balance sheet has undergone substantial improvement. Micron produced $59 billion in free cash flow during the most recent fiscal year.

Management allocated this capital toward retiring $10 billion of outstanding obligations, reducing total indebtedness to $5 billion. The company has additionally initiated a stock buyback initiative.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, Micron projects revenue ranging from $60 billion to $63 billion, exceeding analyst estimates of $56.77 billion. The stock has appreciated approximately 275% year to date and 550% over the trailing twelve-month period.

The post Micron (MU) Stock Climbs Modestly Despite Record-Breaking Q4 Performance appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Bill Ackman described Anthropic as “perhaps the greatest business story” in his career.
• Despite his admiration, Pershing Square will not invest in the AI startup.
• The company saw revenue multiply twelve-fold to approximately $4.6 billion in 2025.
• Net losses for 2025 totaled a staggering $42 billion.
• The AI firm seeks a $2 trillion market cap for its upcoming public offering.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman shared his perspective on AI startup Anthropic in a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg TV. The billionaire characterized the company’s trajectory as among the most impressive business developments he has witnessed.

Despite offering high praise, Ackman confirmed that Pershing Square, the investment firm he manages, will almost certainly not take a position in Anthropic.

“Anthropic is perhaps the greatest business story I’ve ever seen,” Ackman stated, highlighting the firm’s revenue expansion and Claude AI product as key factors driving his assessment.

The Rationale Behind Passing on Investment

Ackman outlined his fund’s investment philosophy, which centers on businesses with foreseeable and stable financial trajectories. He cited holdings such as Microsoft, S&P Global, Visa, and Mastercard as representative of Pershing Square’s preferred investment profile.

The investor emphasized that his firm steers clear of rapidly expanding enterprises that consume substantial capital. He characterized such investments as wagering that eventual profitability will justify present expenditures.

Additionally, Ackman voiced skepticism about the sustainability of competitive advantages among premier AI companies. He referenced open source and open weight model alternatives as potentially viable competitors that could erode market dominance over time.

These concerns emerge as Anthropic advances toward its anticipated initial public offering scheduled for later this year. The company has yet to file official documents with regulators.

Reuters published a report this week revealing information from a confidential filing that was leaked. The document illustrated dramatic revenue expansion coupled with substantial financial losses.

Financial Performance Metrics

Based on the leaked documentation, Anthropic’s 2025 revenue experienced a twelve-fold increase compared to the previous year. The figure approached $4.6 billion in total.

Simultaneously, the company recorded escalating net losses. These deficits reached $42 billion throughout 2025.

Notwithstanding these losses, Anthropic targets a $2 trillion market capitalization upon going public. This valuation would position it among the highest-valued companies in stock market history.

Market participants will require assurance that future revenue generation can surpass ongoing expenditures. Financial analysts have already expressed skepticism about whether this economic model proves viable.

Competitor OpenAI is similarly expected to pursue public markets eventually. Both organizations confront comparable investor scrutiny regarding their spending-to-revenue ratios.

Ackman’s stance does not indicate a complete withdrawal from artificial intelligence investments. His fund maintains significant positions in major technology companies benefiting from AI advancement.

Public filings from August reveal Pershing Square holds equity stakes in Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. These investments demonstrate Ackman’s strategy of accessing AI exposure through mature, established corporations rather than emerging startups.

During the interview, Ackman refrained from advocating for additional regulatory oversight of large-scale AI enterprises. His remarks concentrated primarily on investment criteria rather than policy considerations.

The conversation contributes to broader debates surrounding appropriate valuation methodologies for AI companies approaching public markets. Anthropic’s forthcoming IPO is anticipated to attract significant attention from institutional and retail investors alike.

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