Instant onchain liquidity for tokenized funds enhances market efficiency, reduces counterparty risk, and broadens access to real-world assets.

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Aave's potential shift to token burns could enhance token value by reducing supply, impacting investor sentiment and market dynamics.

The post Aave founder Stani Kulechov considers token burn for Aavenomics 3.0 appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The containment breaches highlight urgent regulatory needs, impacting AI governance, national security, and trust in tech accountability.

The post House Democrats demand answers from OpenAI and Anthropic after AI models breached containment during security tests appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The focus on healthcare and pollution in Iowa's Senate race may shift voter priorities, impacting election outcomes and market dynamics.

The post Iowa’s rising cancer rates central to Senate race as midterms approach appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The sharp drop in crypto ETF inflows highlights potential volatility and the growing importance of diversification beyond Bitcoin.

The post US spot crypto ETF inflows drop 80% to $65M on Monday appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Belarus Approves the Country’s First Crypto Banks: Report 

The first crypto banks have opened in Belarus, according to reports, after the European country earlier this year created a legal framework for Bitcoin banks. 

While not yet named, the crypto banks will start operations after obtaining accreditation from the National Bank of Belarus, Russian news agency Interfax reported Monday. 

Back in January, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 19 “On Cryptobanks and Certain Issues of Control in the Field of Digital Tokens,” officially creating a legal framework for bitcoin and crypto banks in the country. 

“The practical outcome of today’s discussion is the launch and registration of the first crypto banks in the country’s history,” Interfax reported the press service of High-Tech Park saying in a statement.

High-Tech Park is a tax and legal regime in Belarus. Digital asset transactions are permitted in the zone. 

The statement added that banks would be regulated by Hi-Tech Park and the National Bank. 

Dmitry Kalechits, first deputy director of the High-Tech Park supervisory board secretariat, was quoted saying that the move would “improve the flow of the financial ecosystem” and drive foreign investment to Belarus. 

President Lukashenko last September backed the National Bank’s initiative to establish crypto banks in the country. 

The country has long pushed pro-crypto regulations. A 2017 decree legalised crypto mining and trading and temporarily exempted individuals’ crypto income from tax and declaration. That exemption was extended to 2025 and has since been narrowed, with income from foreign platforms now taxed at 13%.

Lukashenko has repeatedly promoted Bitcoin mining as a use for surplus electricity, and in 2025 the Mogilev region began preparing sites for mining farms with his backing.

This post Belarus Approves the Country’s First Crypto Banks: Report  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Blasts Nigel Farage’s ‘Bitcoin Account’ 

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey has appeared to slam Reform Party leader Nigel Farage’s use of Bitcoin. 

In a Monday speech, the finance minister said that Nigel Farage — a pro-crypto member of parliament — was “Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account.” 

Farage, who is leading the increasingly popular Reform Party, has come under fire recently for receiving donations from crypto entrepreneurs. Liz Truss was the UK’s shortest serving Prime Minister who was heavily criticised for her debt-fueled 2022 mini budget. 

“Nigel Farage — he wants you to think he’s a man of the people,” Healey said. “But when it comes to the economy, he’s Lizz Truss with a Bitcoin account.” 

Healey went on to say that his leading Labour Party would help the UK get ahead “through fiscal discipline, through good work, through strong industries.”

His comments were criticized by the Bitcoin community on X, who asked what a “Bitcoin account” even was. 

“Apparently ‘Bitcoin account’ is now a thing,” the Simply Bitcoin account wrote on X. “Incredible stuff from one of the people running Britain.”

Populist Farage has long been a pro-crypto politician. Since 2020, he has framed Bitcoin mainly as a question of personal freedom and opposition to state control of money.

Farage has also said that he was debanked by private British bank Coutts and that led him to develop more interest in digital assets. 

Just last year, he said at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference at Las Vegas that he’d slash crypto capital gains taxes and force the Bank of England to establish a Bitcoin reserve if elected as the next Prime Minister.  

Farage has come under fire this year for receiving millions of dollars in the form of crypto donations from tech entrepreneur and Tether investor Christopher Harborne, and Ben Delo, one of the founders of the now-closed BitMEX crypto exchange. 

The Metropolitan Police have opened an investigation into reports that Reform broke rules against overseas donations. Reform denies wrongdoing and says it will cooperate.

This post UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Blasts Nigel Farage’s ‘Bitcoin Account’  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Citi and Coinbase Working Together To Build Stablecoin Infrastructure for Businesses

Citigroup is working with America’s biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, in its latest blockchain-based venture. 

The two companies said in a joint statement Monday that they were teaming up to allow Citi clients to move between regular money and stablecoins without having to build or manage both banking and crypto systems themselves.

The announcement comes as banks worldwide utilize Bitcoin’s underlying technology to speed up their processes and cater to crypto-hungry customers. 

Citi last month said it would allow institutional investors to custody both traditional assets and bitcoin within one framework, rather than needing separate systems, later this year. 

“Our clients operate in an increasingly fast-paced and complex global economy, and we’re focused on delivering the solutions they need,” said Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services, Citi. 

“Our goal is to build the next generation of payments infrastructure — one that is seamless, interoperable, and operates across both traditional and digital payments instruments and networks.”

There are two parts to the deal, the announcement said. Firstly, Coinbase Virtual Accounts, built on Citi’s banking-as-a-service platform, will give Coinbase’s payments customers bank-account-like features so they can accept, hold, send funds. Citi will provide the regulated banking backbone so that incoming fiat can be automatically converted to stablecoins. 

Secondly, Citi’s merchant platform, Spring by Citi, will use Coinbase’s infrastructure so that Citi’s enterprise clients can accept stablecoin payments at checkout. Coinbase will convert the stablecoins to fiat, and Citi settles the funds, so merchants never have to hold or manage crypto directly.

“Fintechs building on Coinbase have always needed a fast, compliant bridge between fiat and stablecoins, and Citi gives us that at scale,” Coinbase’s Head of Infrastructure Product, Alec Lovett, said. 

Coinbase and Citi first announced last year that they would partner to enhance digital asset payment capabilities for institutional clients.

Citi has a number of blockchain offerings, including Citi Token Services, which enables real-time cross-border payments using tokenized deposits.

The firm since last year has also been working with other top banks — including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America — to explore issuing a stablecoin product.

This post Citi and Coinbase Working Together To Build Stablecoin Infrastructure for Businesses first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Strategy and Strive Scoop Up More Than 2,700 Bitcoin in a Week

Bitcoin treasuries are loading up again. 

Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, announced Monday that it had bought 1,665 coins last week for $142.7 million — its second buy in a row after a brief hiatus. 

The Nasdaq-listed company added that it had also bought back $152 million in its preferred stock, STRC. Strategy now holds 847,666 bitcoins worth $70.5 billion, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Elsewhere, the fifth biggest bitcoin treasury, Strive, said it had last week snapped up 1,107 BTC for a total cost of  $94.5 million — bringing its holdings to 27,462 coins. 

The two companies have continued to stack coins despite the bitcoin treasury model taking a hit. Major treasuries like Strategy, Satsuma, Smarter Web Company, Sequans, Nakamoto, and Empery Digital have all sold bitcoin this year to repay debt, fund operations or finance buybacks, while others have folded or pivoted to AI infrastructure as their share prices collapsed. 

Strategy stock (MSTR) has lost over 50% of its value over the past year. Strive (ASST) is down by more than 30% over the same period. 

Still, both Strategy and Strive have reassured investors that it’s just business as usual and bitcoin will bounce back. 

Strive CEO Matt Cole has repeatedly said that the company is debt-free, with zero margin requirements, and zero encumbered bitcoin, calling it a balance sheet built to thrive through volatility. 

Strategy has defended having to sell bitcoin this year, with CEO Phong Le boasting that the company now has a “bullet-proof balance sheet” because of the sales, and that it was the “right trade at the time” to sell when it did.  

The software company last week announced it plans to pay investors daily dividends on four of its preferred stocks — STRF, STRC, STRK, and STRD.

Bitcoin’s price recently stood at close to $83,409, down 3% over the past week. 

This post Strategy and Strive Scoop Up More Than 2,700 Bitcoin in a Week first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Dollars In, Bitcoin Out: Breez SDK Debuts New Stablecoin Feature

Despite being so-called digital dollars, stablecoins aren’t always simple to use. They run on various crypto networks that need different digital wallets — the type of thing that can put crypto newbies and seasoned bitcoiners alike off. 

But Bitcoin software provider Breez has come up with a solution: Apps built on its Breez SDK can now let users with a bitcoin balance accept stablecoin payments from over 30 networks. 

Breez’s SDK is a developer toolkit that lets apps add bitcoin payments without building the payment infrastructure themselves. It handles wallet creation, sending and receiving and Lightning Network payments. Developers can offer bitcoin features with a few lines of code instead of running nodes or managing liquidity.

Breez said Monday that with the new feature, the receiver picks the sender’s network and an amount. The SDK generates a deposit address and shows what will arrive, and the sender pays from their usual wallet as normal. 

Flashnet converts the payment in the background, and the funds land in the receiver’s non-custodial wallet as bitcoin, or as dollars if they use the stable balance feature. 

Breez released its send USDT/USDC feature in June, allowing a single Breez-powered balance to now move stablecoins in both directions across nearly any network. 

It’s the latest in a series of usability upgrades, after Passkey Login, instant Cash App onboarding, and Stable Balance.

Breez has been layering on features to make bitcoin apps feel more like regular fintech apps: passkey login instead of seed phrases, instant onboarding, dollar-denominated balances, and now cross-chain stablecoin payments. Breez’s Glow, which debuted in August, is its reference app for showing what the SDK can do.

Breez in July announced it was working with Turnkey in a deal letting developers add non-custodial Bitcoin to apps running wallets from their own servers — solving a custody problem that has kept many of the largest consumer platforms from integrating Bitcoin at all.

This post Dollars In, Bitcoin Out: Breez SDK Debuts New Stablecoin Feature first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Altcoin spot volume has climbed to nearly four times Bitcoin's, the highest ratio since September 2025, according to Glassnode.

Wintermute says retail clients on its OTC desk sold BTC last week to fund that rotation, while US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in nearly $2.4 billion over the same five sessions. Each day's ETF inflow came in below the previous day's, dropping from $999 million on Sept. 21 to $134.5 million on Sept. 25.

Bitcoin is the funding asset

Wintermute's Sept. 28 OTC report described net BTC selling on its desk, driven mainly by retail clients taking profits and moving into altcoins.

Glassnode's data shows how wide the move outward has become, with 72.5% of the altcoins it tracks outperforming Bitcoin through Sept. 23, up from 39% during August's squeeze.

Altcoin perpetual open interest barely expanded over the prior 30 days, and fewer than half of tracked markets added positions, leading Glassnode to describe that stage of the rally as mostly spot-driven.

Glassnode added that similar bursts of aggressive risk-taking have often coincided with local Bitcoin tops, and it treats the ratio as a historical warning condition.

Wintermute noted that breadth has stretched to a level where the weeks that came next were flat to negative in more than 80% of comparable cases, with early-cycle periods as the exception. Wintermute wants Bitcoin to push higher to recycle fresh wealth into the alt cycle.

Bitcoin gains create that wealth, traders realize some of it and move outward, and the process can coexist with a higher BTC price as long as another buyer absorbs the coins being sold.

Who is absorbing the selling

Farside Investors’ data shows US spot Bitcoin ETFs taking in $999 million on Sept. 21, $714.7 million on Sept. 22, $346.9 million on Sept. 23, $190.7 million on Sept. 24, and $134.5 million on Sept. 25.

The five sessions total roughly $2.4 billion, averaging about $477 million a day, and the Sept. 25 figure is 86.5% below the Sept. 21 figure. Glassnode measures its rolling weekly reading near $2.7 billion and calls it the largest inflow in almost a year.

Beneath those inflows, Glassnode's Sept. 28 report shows Bitcoin spot cumulative volume delta down 86.5% to just $17.3 million, perpetual futures delta at negative $261.5 million, and futures open interest holding at $38.9 billion.

The share of supply in profit rose to 74% from 69.3% a week earlier, and the realized profit-to-loss ratio jumped 79.6% to 1.4. Profit-takers and perpetual sellers were active in the market while ETF buyers took the other side.

Ethereum ETFs drew $602.8 million over the same five sessions, so Bitcoin products captured roughly 80% of combined BTC and ETH ETF inflows.

Regulated money is buying across crypto and concentrating at the top of the risk curve, while some retail clients move farther out.

Four times Bitcoin's trading measures turnover

CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost found that the altcoin market excluding Bitcoin has added about $371 billion, or 45%, since June.

He also found that 87% of Binance-listed altcoins were trading above their 200-day averages, up from roughly 20% in August. Altcoin deposits to exchanges, which measure inventory positioned to trade or sell, have reached their highest level since October 2025.

Weekly averages sit above 22,700 deposit transactions on Binance, 8,300 on Coinbase and 32,000 across other venues. Those readings sit below early-stage levels from the previous bull cycle.

DefiLlama puts stablecoin market capitalization near $306.4 billion, up 0.89% over 30 days. The windows differ from the 45% altcoin repricing since June, and the pairing fits a repricing driven by rotation among existing holders, with fresh stablecoin liquidity playing a smaller part.

Rates raise the value of a replacement bid

The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate range to 3.75% to 4.00% on Sept. 16. The 10-year Treasury yield touched roughly 5.23% on Sept. 25, its highest since 2007, and Brent crude moved above $107 on Sept. 28.

Wintermute names oil, rates and the chance of another Fed hike as the main external threats to the current regime. Altcoin speculation is accelerating while long-term yields sit at their highest since 2007, which leaves crypto leaning on outside demand for Bitcoin.

Wintermute identifies $82,500 as the level that capped Bitcoin's previous range. If Bitcoin holds the zone between $82,500 and its recent high near $87,000, and ETF flows stay positive even below last week's $477 million daily average, traders can keep moving BTC gains outward. The asset that funds the rotation stays intact.

A clean break above $87,000 would create a fresh pool of profits, and Wintermute says Bitcoin dominance may need to rise alongside another push higher. Glassnode places the next major resistance at $95,000 to $97,000.

If Bitcoin loses $82,500 while ETF inflows fade toward zero, the buyer replacing BTC sellers weakens just as speculative capital sits farthest out on the risk curve. Higher-beta altcoins with thinner liquidity would react most, and exchange deposits would show whether that inventory turns into selling.

A break below Glassnode's $77,000 True Market Mean would put the whole recovery structure in question.

Volume, breadth, and desk flows have confirmed the rotation into altcoins. The funding chain behind it remains untested, and the next few ETF sessions will show whether fresh buyers keep replacing the Bitcoin being sold to pay for it.

The post Altcoin spot volume nears 4x Bitcoin’s as ETF inflows shrink across five sessions appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin hit an intraday low of $82,563 on Sept. 28, just below a concentration of long-term holders' purchase prices that Glassnode identified last week.

Three US data releases now threaten to send different signals about the inflation and labor outlook that drives interest-rate expectations. On Sept. 30, the personal income and outlays report will measure August. The Oct. 1 ISM manufacturing survey covers September, followed by the Oct. 2 September employment report.

A reassuring consumer inflation reading could arrive a day before a less comfortable snapshot of factory input costs. They measure different things, but traders may have to revise their view of the Fed as each lands.

Glassnode's Sept. 23 analysis mapped a large cluster of long-term holder supply at $84,000 to $85,000. That area marks where many longer-term holders acquired coins, making Bitcoin's ability to reclaim it a measurable response to the week's news.

Glassnode also identified a deeper True Market Mean reference near $77,000 and an overhead mean MVRV reference near $96,700.

Glassnode's Sept. 21 Market Pulse showed net spot taker buying, rising volume and elevated futures leverage, alongside weekly ETF outflows. Fresh spot buying, stronger volume and ETF demand would lend a rebound more weight than futures covering alone.

How a missing month could affect Bitcoin

The Energy Information Administration estimated Brent spot crude averaged $91 a barrel in August, $7 above July, as Middle East exports remained constrained.

The International Energy Agency found Gulf diesel and gasoil exports severely restricted in August and recorded a further jump in a physical crude benchmark by Sept. 9.

The Sept. 30 PCE report cannot measure the later September evolution of fuel, freight and factory costs. The International Maritime Organization recorded vessel damage in and near Hormuz on Sept. 21 and 23, evidence that shipping risk persisted after the PCE reference month.

If investors expect higher business costs to keep inflation elevated, Treasury yields and the expected Fed path could rise before a later consumer inflation report registers any pass-through. A soft August PCE print could ease that pressure initially without settling what happened next.

ISM's August report put the Prices Index at 71.1 and Supplier Deliveries at 59.3, consistent with slower deliveries. Diesel fuel and freight appeared on its list of commodities rising in price, while respondents separately discussed energy and the Hormuz conflict.

A higher September Prices reading alongside slower deliveries or cost comments would signal fresh pressure on manufacturers. New orders and employment will help show whether demand is holding up as costs rise.

The Sept. 29 August JOLTS release provides an early labor check, while the Oct. 2 September payrolls will more directly test the growth side of the policy question.

The Fed raised its target range to 3.75% to 4% on Sept. 16, saying inflation remained elevated while job gains had kept pace with the workforce. Moderate job cooling could ease rate pressure, while a much sharper miss could instead raise worries about growth.

The most revealing path this week would be soft August PCE followed by a higher September ISM Prices reading. An initial Bitcoin relief move could reverse if yields and rate expectations turn back up.

Three other outcomes would test the same framework:

• Easing without a growth scare: Softer PCE, no further ISM cost acceleration and moderate job cooling could ease yields. A reclaim of Glassnode's $84,000 to $85,000 area would carry more weight if spot demand joins it.
• Persistent inflation: Firmer price signals with resilient hiring could keep rate pressure elevated. Failure to reclaim that holder cluster would bring Glassnode's lower $77,000 reference into view, without making it a fixed destination.
• Jobs break: A severe payrolls disappointment might lower yields but still hurt Bitcoin if investors respond to a growth shock by cutting risk.

The test for Bitcoin is whether each new reading changes yields and Fed expectations, and whether spot buyers support the resulting move through Glassnode's dated holder-cost area.

The post Bitcoin’s $85,000 test comes as Wall Street gets two different inflation stories appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Chainlink's CCIP 2.0 lets a token issuer require an additional verifier before tokens finish moving from one blockchain to another. A sending pool may already have locked or burned the tokens when that check becomes decisive: without the verifier's attestation, the receiving chain cannot release or mint them.

Announced on Sept. 28, the feature adds optional Cross-Chain Verifiers (CCVs) alongside CCIP's default Committee Verifier. An issuer or third party can operate one and make its approval a condition of delivery.

That gives the operator's rules and uptime a direct role in a holder's exit path. Chainlink's launch material does not identify a named production asset and lane using an issuer-run required CCV, so the mechanism is not evidence of a holder's transfer being blocked.

The point where a transfer can wait

CCIP's OnRamp assembles the applicable verifier requirements of a token transfer, and the token pool locks or burns the tokens. The OnRamp then records the message for offchain verifier services.

Those services watch the source event, apply their finality and verification rules, and publish attestations tied to the message ID.

On the destination chain, CCIP's OffRamp checks the required attestations before the pool releases or mints tokens. Its checks draw on the lane and token-pool settings and, when a receiver contract is involved, that receiver's requirements.

Sender preferences can add to the source-side verifier set. A token-only transfer has no receiver callback whose verifier preferences must be checked. This sequence places the lock or burn before verification and the destination release after it.

A source transaction may have succeeded while destination delivery remains pending, so Chainlink says all required CCVs must return valid results before execution proceeds. Its trust model warns that an unresponsive verifier can stall every message requiring its attestation.

If an issuer runs such a verifier and makes it required for its token pool, the issuer's service becomes one of the parties able to delay completion. A third-party operator would create a similar dependency under that operator's control.

That is a control the design permits, not evidence that an issuer has deliberately blocked a holder's transfer.

Chainlink says the default Committee Verifier comprises 16 independent node operators, with additional CCVs sitting alongside that baseline.

An issuer or application choosing one gains another check but must also assess who operates its contracts and offchain service, what rules that service applies, and whether it stays available.

Chainlink assigns external CCV operators responsibility for implementation, maintenance, and uptime. The key question for a holder is which attestations are mandatory for this token on this route, and who can produce each one.

What a holder can do when delivery stops

Execution on the destination chain is permissionless once every required proof exists and any optional verifier quorum has been met.

Chainlink's default executor normally submits the transaction, but anyone can submit it, including through the manual execution path. Changing the executor or paying destination-chain gas does not waive a missing required CCV attestation. The OffRamp still checks the proofs before releasing or minting tokens.

The recovery path depends on where a message stopped. If the required attestation has not been assembled, the destination message can remain UNTOUCHED, meaning no execution has been recorded. If a submitted destination attempt fails inside the OffRamp's protected path, it can be marked FAILURE.

Chainlink says a failed attempt can be retried after the underlying problem is fixed. Its default executor retries failures within a configured window currently set at eight hours, and that limit describes the automated service.

A holder has a usable manual route only after the necessary proofs are available and any destination-side failure is fixed. The manual execution guide describes how to inspect verifier status and execution state, including cases where the indexer has not collected an external verifier's result.

Chainlink's published manual execution route does not specify a general automatic cancellation, refund, or return of source-chain tokens when a required verifier never attests. Any issuer-specific remedy would depend on that asset's arrangements.

On EVM chains, a configured Chainlink Automated Compliance Engine hook can reject an outbound transfer before the source pool locks or burns anything. That preflight failure reverts the source transaction.

A separately configured destination postflight hook can reject release or mint after the source-side transfer has started, leaving the tokens undelivered until the policy condition is resolved and execution is retried. The ACE integration guide describes these as distinct, optional configurations.

A live release, with deployment questions

Chainlink's mainnet directory lists supported networks and tokens, but a listing does not show whether a given production lane requires an issuer-operated verifier or has enabled a destination ACE gate. Nor does a partner announcement or an earlier asset migration establish those settings.

Without the token pool, route, and verifier configuration, this new power cannot be attributed to the issuer of a named asset.

The release separately offers faster-than-finality transfers. Full source-chain finality remains the default, while the faster option can expose a transfer to duplicate destination execution after a deep enough reorganization, according to Chainlink's FTF guide.

Other required CCVs may apply their own reorganization rules, but that speed choice does not change the need for required attestations.

CCIP 2.0 gives issuers a stronger way to set cross-chain delivery conditions. For holders, the essential questions are which checks apply to their asset, who controls them, and what remedy exists if one cannot be completed after the transfer starts.

The post Chainlink CCIP 2.0 exposes bridge risk, and issuer gates trigger stalls appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Citi institutional clients can now accept stablecoin payments through Spring by Citi using Coinbase's payments infrastructure, Coinbase said on Sept. 28.

The exchange also said its Virtual Accounts can automatically convert incoming fiat into stablecoins using Citi's Virtual Account Wallet. The announcement gives the companies' earlier digital asset payments partnership two defined uses, one for receiving stablecoins and the other for moving money received in a conventional currency into them.

For Citi's institutional clients, the relevant service is Spring by Citi, as Coinbase supplies the infrastructure that enables stablecoin acceptance through it. A business using that route would begin with a stablecoin payment.

Coinbase describes the capability as available now, but its announcement does not identify a client that has processed a payment through Spring or disclose how much has been transacted.

Coinbase Virtual Accounts address the other side of the exchange between traditional money and stablecoins. Citi's Virtual Account Wallet powers the accounts, which Coinbase says give customers fiat wallets that automatically convert incoming fiat.

The described flow starts with a traditional currency payment and ends with stablecoins in the customer's account. The company has not specified the eligible currencies or stablecoins in the public summary, so the precise conversion choices remain unclear.

The two routes serve different customers and begin with different forms of money. Citi's institutional payment clients gain a stablecoin acceptance option, while Coinbase Virtual Account customers gain an automated route from fiat receipts into stablecoins.

Coinbase has not outlined market-specific eligibility or prices for either Citi-linked path in its blog summary. The functions may be complementary, but the announcement does not establish that a single customer can use both.

The partnership predates these named services. In October 2025, Citi said it and Coinbase intended to develop institutional digital asset payment capabilities, initially focused on fiat pay-ins and pay-outs for Coinbase's on- and off-ramps and payment orchestration.

Citi said specific initiatives would follow, and the Sept. 28 description sets out two of those initiatives as customer-facing payment paths.

The stated availability leaves open whether institutions are using either path and at what scale. Coinbase's summary gives no customer count, payment volume, or named live merchant for the Citi integration.

Those missing operating details limit any assessment of the partnership's reach, even as the companies have moved from an exploratory plan to specified payment capabilities.

The post Coinbase powers Citi’s new stablecoin rails, and corporate banking faces a major shift appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bank-owned US payments operator The Clearing House has chosen Quant to supply software for a planned network for tokenized bank deposits.

The September 24 deal gives Quant a role in moving digital representations of bank deposits between institutions, but it doesn't address whether those transactions require Quant's QNT utility token.

QNT registered an intraday high of $373 on Sept. 27, but retraced heavily on Sept. 28, registering an intraday low of $195.35 before rebounding.

What Quant will provide

The Clearing House announced its On-Chain Money Initiative in June as a way for banks to clear and settle tokenized commercial-bank deposits across institutions. Unlike a publicly issued stablecoin, a tokenized deposit remains a claim on the issuing bank.

The planned network would connect this activity to established fiat payment systems, so bank money could move between on-chain and conventional infrastructure. The Clearing House says it aims to support immediate settlement and payments that trigger when agreed conditions are met.

On Sept. 24, The Clearing House selected Quant for the layer that connects systems, orchestrates activity and manages transactions. Its technology is also intended to link the network to RTP and CHIPS, two existing Clearing House payment systems.

Quant's announcement described the same role and said it will offer Tokenized Deposits-as-a-Service to US institutions using The Clearing House that lack their own tokenized-deposit capability.

The network is expected to become available to participating institutions in the first half of 2027. Neither September announcement reports a live rollout nor names banks that have subscribed to Quant's additional service.

A technology selection then provides no published schedule of transaction volume or service revenue.

Quant's general terms define QNT as a utility token customers may use for Quant products and services. The Clearing House and Quant do not say that participating banks must acquire or hold QNT, pay a network fee in it, use it as a settlement asset, or burn it.

Banks backed the initiative when it was unveiled in June, before Quant was named. Their support for the network is not a disclosed commitment to buy QNT or subscribe to Quant's bank-side service.

How a bank payment could reach QNT

Quant's public payment options say fees may be agreed during ordering, shown on a subscription dashboard, or specified in an order form. Transaction fees can be paid monthly or annually in advance, with possible overage invoices.

The agreement allows card payment and invoices where Quant agrees. Although QNT is normally the only digital asset accepted for access to the Quant ecosystem, that condition leaves fiat payment open.

Quant's FAQ explicitly says platform fees can be paid in US dollars or subscriptions can be made with QNT.

The announcements omit a rule tying a bank's deposit transfer to a purchase or lockup of QNT. Revenue to Quant from selling software or services would be a separate proposition from demand for the utility token.

An older product description offers context for QNT's role elsewhere in Quant's business. A 2022 explanation of Overledger says transactions on that interoperability platform are powered by QNT, with fiat payment options for corporate customers.

Overledger is Quant's technology for connecting different ledgers, and that explanation predates the bank-network selection by four years. The 2026 announcements do not specify whether its token mechanism applies to this implementation.

The Clearing House's September release says existing wire, ACH, check-image and real-time-payment networks clear and settle over $2 trillion each day.

A defensible token-demand estimate would require a project-specific rule for QNT use, the fee or conversion mechanics, a forecast or observed volume on the new network, and clarity about who would source the tokens.

Disclosures on those points could change expectations for QNT demand. Until then, the selection supports Quant's role in a planned bank infrastructure project while leaving the path from its future activity to QNT demand unresolved.

The post US bank group taps Quant for tokenized deposits, but QNT’s role is left in doubt appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Tether has put a number on its cooperation with US sanctions enforcement, and the timing is no accident. The stablecoin issuer said on Monday that it has helped freeze nearly $550 million in USDT tied to Iran's central bank and Iranian sanctions networks so far in 2026. The announcement came one day after a Senate report accused USDT of being the backbone of Iran's shadow banking system.

How Much Iran-Linked USDT Did Tether Freeze?

Tether detailed two big actions. In April, it helped US authorities freeze more than $344 million in $USDT sitting in two addresses. The following day, OFAC added those same addresses to its sanctions entry for the Central Bank of Iran, which is itself linked to the IRGC-Qods Force and Hezbollah. In July, the Treasury expanded that designation to four more TRON addresses, and Tether froze more than $130 million across those wallets.

Those two rounds account for more than $474 million. The remaining roughly $75 million came from smaller actions between January and September that Tether did not itemize.

The company also pointed to its longer track record. Working with Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, Tether has frozen more than 22 million USDT across over 40 referred cases involving more than 640 addresses. Globally, Tether says its cooperation with law enforcement has led to more than $4.9 billion in frozen assets, including over $2.4 billion connected to US authorities, and that it works with around 340 agencies in 67 countries.

Why Is the US Senate Investigating Tether?

The freeze tally landed as a defence. On Sunday, Democratic investigators on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, released a report alleging that Tether and USDT have become central to Iran's shadow banking system. Among their findings: 84% of 846 crypto wallets sanctioned over ties to Iran had transacted exclusively or almost exclusively in USDT.

Blumenthal referred the findings to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing potential violations of US sanctions and the Bank Secrecy Act, and called for a federal probe into Tether's compliance.

CEO Paolo Ardoino pushed back, saying Tether has consistently shown that USDT is not a safe harbour for sanctioned actors, terrorist organisations or criminal networks, and that the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, HSI and OFAC have repeatedly worked with the company to trace, freeze and recover assets.

How Does This Fit Into the Wider Iran Crackdown?

Tether is one front in a much broader campaign. On August 24, the Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast, targeting almost 60 Iran-linked entities and naming digital assets as one of five sectors vulnerable to sanctions evasion. Federal prosecutors have filed a civil forfeiture case to seize about $61 million in USDT allegedly derived from Iranian black market oil sales, and Manhattan prosecutors are reportedly examining Binance's handling of Iran-linked trading.

California has become the first US state to make it illegal for its own politicians to do what Donald Trump did with the $TRUMP token. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2409 on September 27, and his office did not hide who the law is aimed at.

What Does AB 2409 Actually Ban?

The law, authored by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, prohibits California public officers and public employees from issuing meme coins. It defines a meme coin as a digital asset marketed on the basis of its association with an internet meme, a character, a current event or a trend, and whose value comes mainly from public interest, speculation or community engagement rather than from a working product.

The ban covers state and local elected or appointed officers as well as public employees with decision-making power over bids and contracts. Enforcement is civil, not criminal.

Importantly, this is not a blanket meme coin ban. Retail traders in California can keep buying Dogecoin, Pepe or whatever launches on pump.fun next week. The restriction is on people in public office issuing tokens off the back of their position.

What Changes for Crypto Exchanges?

The second part of the law targets platforms. From January 1, 2027, digital asset service providers may not list or sell to California residents any new meme coin issued by, or in partnership with, a public official covered by the statute. That listing rule extends to federal officials, not just Californian ones.

Tokens that already exist fall outside the rule, so the TRUMP coin itself is not affected. But any future politician-linked token launched after the cutoff would be off limits for California customers, and exchanges will need a process to establish whether a new coin has that kind of connection before listing it.

Why Did Newsom Sign the Meme Coin Law Now?

The political message was explicit. Newsom's press office linked the bill directly to the president's meme coin business and accused the administration of an unprecedented level of corruption. Trump's most recent financial disclosure showed more than $1.2 billion in crypto-related income, including roughly $635 million tied to the TRUMP token. A New York Times analysis cited by the governor's office found that nearly a million buyers lost a combined $3.8 billion on the coin.

AB 2409 was one of 11 bills Newsom signed the same day under the banner of corruption and consumer protection. Among them was SB 1208, which expands California's money-laundering laws to cover digital asset transactions. Earlier this year, Newsom also barred his own appointees from trading on prediction markets using non-public information, and California officials already have to disclose their crypto holdings.

Will Other States Follow California?

That is the question the industry is watching. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has pushed a similar federal ban on officials launching meme coins, and the ethics language around officials' crypto holdings was the very issue that sank the CLARITY Act in the Senate two weeks ago. California has now written a template that other Democratic-led states can copy. For meme coin traders, the practical impact today is close to zero. For politicians thinking about their own token, the era of easy launches just got shorter. Keep an eye on the meme coin sector on CryptoTicker's crypto prices page.

Two weeks after the US Senate voted down the crypto industry's most important bill, the conversation in Washington has quietly shifted from "will it pass" to "what does version two look like". Here is what actually happened, and what comes next.

Why Did the CLARITY Act Fail in the Senate?

On September 15, the Senate rejected the cloture motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, by 49 votes to 50. The bill needed 60. It did not even win a simple majority.

The core of the bill was never the problem. Both parties broadly agreed on splitting oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC, with the CFTC taking the lead on spot markets for digital commodities. What sank the vote was the ethics language governing crypto holdings of public officials, a fight that became impossible to separate from President Trump's own crypto business, which reportedly earned him more than $1.2 billion last year. Senate Democrats wanted stricter rules, Republicans rejected their counteroffer hours before the vote, and a last-minute rewrite with 126 substantive changes was not enough to close the gap.

Markets took the hit immediately. Bitcoin briefly dropped below $75,000 on the day of the vote, Coinbase shares fell around 8% and Circle lost around 10%.

Is the CLARITY Act Dead?

Technically, no. The vote left the bill exactly where it was before: passed by the House, stalled in the Senate. Senator Thom Tillis filed a motion to reconsider, which keeps a procedural door open. One day before the vote, Senator Cynthia Lummis published updated substitute text on her website, stitched together from the work of the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees rather than the House version. That draft is now the starting point for what many are calling CLARITY Act 2.0.

The calendar is the real enemy. The Senate's next work period runs from October 5 to November 6, straight into the midterm campaign, and fewer than 36 legislative days remain before a new Congress is sworn in in January 2027. If Democrats win either chamber in November, the bill's chances shrink further. Prediction markets currently put the odds of CLARITY becoming law in 2026 in the high teens.

What Are the SEC and CFTC Doing in the Meantime?

Regulators are not waiting for Congress. Within 48 hours of the failed vote, both the SEC and the CFTC signalled they would keep moving on crypto rules under their existing authority. That means the market now runs on two parallel tracks: agency guidance that can change compliance obligations without a single vote, and a statutory rewrite that only Congress can finish.

The catch is durability. An agency rule can be rewritten by the next chair without going near the Senate floor. A law cannot. That is exactly why the industry wanted CLARITY in the first place: rules that outlast the current administration.

What Does This Mean for the Crypto Market?

Stablecoins already have their federal framework through the GENIUS Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in 2025. Everything else, from exchange registration to DeFi treatment to whether platforms may pass reserve income on to users, remains governed by agency interpretation.

For traders, the practical effect is that regulatory clarity is no longer a near-term catalyst. For the industry, the fight now moves to two places: the committee staff drafting the Lummis text, and the November ballot box. You can track how the market is digesting all of this on CryptoTicker's crypto prices page.

Crypto trading on bitcoin.de has been idle since the end of June 2026, and the half-year report of Bitcoin Group SE dated September 29, 2026 gives a single reason for it: authorisation under the European crypto regulation MiCAR is not yet in place, and the company leaves open when it will come. Anyone holding an account on the marketplace is now waiting a fourth consecutive quarter for a trading venue whose technology, according to the company, has long been finished.

Chief executive Moritz Eckert puts it this way in the statement: „With the redevelopment of bitcoin.de we have created the essential conditions that lie within our own sphere of influence.“ The rest lies with the supervisor. For you as an investor that is an uncomfortable position, because it has no end date.

What Bitcoin Group SE reported in its 2026 half-year report

Bitcoin Group SE is the listed parent company behind the trading venue bitcoin.de. Trading itself is handled by its subsidiary futurum bank AG, a credit institution licensed under the German Banking Act. That split matters for understanding the news: the permission currently missing is not the banking licence but the separate authorisation as a provider of crypto-asset services.

These company figures come from the report for the first half of 2026, published on September 29, 2026 through the EQS news service:

• Revenue of €1.59 million, after €3.78 million in the first half of 2025
• EBITDA of minus €3.25 million, after minus €1.00 million in the prior-year period
• Earnings per share of minus €1.02, after minus €0.33
• An equity ratio of 71.8 percent, after 72.5 percent
• Liquid funds of €3.9 million
• Net own crypto holdings of €199 million

The roughly 58 percent drop in revenue has an obvious cause: a marketplace on which no trading has been possible since the end of June earns no trading fees in that period. For the 2026 financial year as a whole, the management board says it expects declining revenue and a negative EBITDA once again.

Why crypto trading on bitcoin.de has been idle since the end of June 2026

The decisive sentence of the statement is short: „As this is taking longer than originally expected, crypto trading on bitcoin.de has been temporarily unavailable since the end of June 2026.“ What is meant is the licensing procedure. According to the company, futurum bank AG is in close contact with the competent supervisory authorities and attaches the highest priority to completing it successfully.

This is no sudden turn. The standstill has accompanied the marketplace through the whole third quarter, and we set out the position back in August, when the trading halt at bitcoin.de first hit customers. What is new in the September 29 statement is the combination of two claims: the platform is technically finished, and the timing of the licence remains hard to foresee all the same.

What MiCAR means for a German trading venue

MiCAR is the European Union regulation on markets in crypto-assets. Under that regulation, companies offering crypto-asset services need an authorisation of their own. That covers operating a trading platform as much as exchanging crypto-assets for euros, custody for clients and the execution of orders.

Germany drew the transition period tighter than the EU allowed. Since January 1, 2026, providers in the country may no longer supply crypto-asset services without MiCAR authorisation, whereas the European long-stop date would have run to July 1, 2026. The competent authority is BaFin, together with the Deutsche Bundesbank. The duties this brings for providers are set out in our overview of MiCA licensing obligations for crypto companies.

For existing institutions with a banking licence there is a simplified procedure. That does not change the fact that the authority decides in the end, and that a company cannot set the timing of that decision itself. Exactly that point sits behind the chief executive's sentence about his own sphere of influence.

The first-half figures in context

Two items from the report belong read together. On one side stand net own crypto holdings of €199 million, after €356 million at the end of the first half of 2025. On the other stand liquid funds of €3.9 million and an equity ratio of 71.8 percent.

Own holdings are thus by far the largest item and fluctuate with the market price. Part of the decline is explained by the price path of the past year, and anyone wanting to follow how the reference value has developed will find the path on our Bitcoin price prediction page. The company itself cites the increased investment needs at futurum bank AG and the delayed restart as burdens on the result.

Restart as a broker: what changes in the bitcoin.de model

The second half of the announcement describes not a setback but a rebuild. bitcoin.de had been a peer-to-peer marketplace since 2011: buyers and sellers found each other through offers, the platform brokered the match and settled it through the bank. The new model is a broker. You then trade against the platform, or rather its liquidity sources, not against another private individual.

For the new offering the company names more than 100 cryptocurrencies, savings plans, crypto swaps, dynamic staking and a modern settlement infrastructure. Added to that are a new website and a new trading app. A crypto swap is the direct exchange of one cryptocurrency for another, without the detour through euros.

For you, the change of model means above all this: price formation changes. On a marketplace you see other people's offers and their prices; with a broker you get a quoted price with a mark-up. Which of the two forms is cheaper for you depends on order size and trading frequency, and that can only be judged properly once the fee schedule for the new offering is published. So far that schedule has not been published.

Your balance on bitcoin.de: which routes are open

Trading is idle, but that is not the same as a frozen account. Bitcoin Group SE speaks throughout of trading being temporarily unavailable, and names the completion of the authorisation procedure as the sole condition for resuming. The half-year statement says nothing about deposits and withdrawals.

Because the statement is silent on that, the sober route applies to you: get the current position on your account directly from the provider, by logging in and through support, and do not rely on a summary such as this one. What stands in a quarterly statement is the position on the reporting date, and your account may be in a different position.

If you decide to move your balance, three questions are practically relevant. First, whether a payout in euros to your reference account is possible. Second, whether a transfer of your crypto-assets to an external address works and what it costs. Third, what tax consequences each step carries.

Tax and holding period: what the standstill does not change

One worry can be defused. The one-year holding period of Section 23 of the German Income Tax Act keeps running while your holdings sit in the account. A trading halt does not interrupt it, because it hangs on the date of acquisition and the date of disposal, not on whether the trading venue happens to be open. Anyone who bought their coins over a year ago does not lose that status by waiting.

A transfer looks different. Moving your coins from an exchange to your own wallet is not in itself a taxable event, because you are neither disposing of anything nor swapping anything. What it does make more laborious is the documentation, because you still have to be able to evidence the acquisition date and acquisition cost, and the old provider's overview may no longer be conveniently available to you later. So download your transaction overview while you can still get it.

A swap, by contrast, is a disposal of one crypto-asset and an acquisition of another. For the newly acquired position the one-year period starts again. Anyone who overlooks that when reallocating pushes their holdings back into taxable territory without meaning to. Suitable tools for the documentation are in our comparison of crypto tax tools and portfolio trackers.

How to spot a trading venue with a valid MiCAR authorisation

If you want to trade elsewhere in the meantime, authorisation is the first feature that counts. BaFin maintains public registers, and ESMA maintains an EU-wide directory of authorised providers of crypto-asset services. A provider listed there with its authorised legal entity may supply the service in the EU and, via the European passport, may offer it in Germany too.

Three things deserve a second look. The name in the register is the legal company, not the brand you know the app by; the two can diverge. The authorisation is also limited to particular services, and custody is a different permission from operating a trading platform. And a seat outside the EU means the regulation's investor protection rules do not apply for you. A pre-selection of European regulated providers is in our overview of the best regulated crypto exchanges.

Self-custody: when your own wallet is the quieter choice

The bitcoin.de case illustrates a dependency many investors do not feel day to day. Coins in a trading account are a claim against the operator, and whether you can dispose of them depends on that operator being allowed to work. A regulatory question over which neither you nor the company has any influence thereby becomes your problem.

Self-custody means you hold the private keys yourself, usually on a hardware wallet. You then need nobody's permission for a transfer. The price for it is responsibility for the recovery words, because losing those words is final, and there is no support desk that will restore your access. Anyone considering that step will find the common devices in our hardware wallet comparison.

For active savings-plan investors, self-custody is inconvenient, because every execution entails a transfer. A workable middle way is to leave the running savings amount in the trading account and withdraw the long-term holdings at regular intervals.

What comes next in the fourth quarter of 2026

There is no fixed date, and that is the central message of the statement. The company expressly makes the resumption of trading dependent on the completion of the licensing procedure and describes its timing as hard to foresee. Anyone waiting for a launch date is therefore waiting on a decision by the supervisor, not on an announcement by the company.

That can be watched in two places. Bitcoin Group SE is listed and has to publish price-sensitive facts as an ad hoc disclosure; a granted authorisation would be such a case. And the supervisor's public registers list authorised providers with their legal entity, in this case therefore futurum bank AG.

bitcoin.de and the MiCAR licence: what to take away

1. Get the position on your own account. Log in and ask support whether payouts and transfers are currently running. The half-year statement says nothing about it, and your account is the only reliable point of reference. While you are there, download the full transaction overview for your tax records; the right tools for that are in the comparison of crypto tax tools.
2. Decide deliberately between waiting and moving. Your holding period keeps running, so a move costs you no deadline, though it does cost effort and network fees. If you do want to move, pick the new trading venue by its authorisation and not by its advertising; a pre-selection is in the overview of regulated crypto exchanges.
3. Separate long-term holdings from trading balance. What you intend to hold for years does not have to sit in a trading account. A hardware wallet makes you independent of a provider's licensing position, but demands safe keeping of the recovery words in return. An overview of the devices is in the hardware wallet comparison.

The situation is uncomfortable but manageable. On its own account the company has done its part and is waiting on an authority, and you are waiting with it. What you can steer in that time is where your holdings sit and how good your records are.

You can read the full wording of the company statement of September 29, 2026 in the EQS publication of the 2026 half-year report.

(As of September 29, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)

$Bitcoin started the week on the back foot. After a calm weekend near $84,400, the price dropped to around $83,000 on Monday, down roughly 1.8% in 24 hours. The trigger did not come from crypto at all. It came from Washington.

Why Is Bitcoin Down Today?

President Donald Trump confirmed he has rejected a seven-day proposal from Iran that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and paused hostilities. Tehran had offered the plan in exchange for sanctions relief, the release of frozen assets and a broader regional truce. Trump described the offer as something the US might have accepted a year ago, and the Wall Street Journal reported he expects to resume strikes on Iran after the November 3 midterms. The US naval blockade stays in place.

Markets reacted immediately. Brent crude climbed back above $100 a barrel, the dollar strengthened, and the 10-year US Treasury yield hit 5.20%, its highest level since 2007. That combination of higher oil, a stronger dollar and rising yields is about the worst backdrop for non-yielding assets like Bitcoin and gold.

How Bad Were the Crypto Liquidations?

Monday's candle tells the story. Bitcoin opened the week at $84,455, pushed to $84,972 in an attempt to break $85,000, then fell to a low of $82,580 before settling near $83,000. According to CoinGlass, liquidations reached $478 million over 24 hours, with $386.5 million coming from long positions. Leveraged bulls were the ones getting squeezed.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures has fallen more than 11% over the past week, a sign that traders are pulling back from leverage. The total crypto market cap slipped below $3 trillion. Ethereum and XRP moved lower alongside Bitcoin, while Dogecoin managed a small gain against the trend.

What Are the Key Bitcoin Prices to Watch?

The immediate support zone sits between $82,000 and $83,000. A daily close below $82,000 would open the door toward $80,000 and, in a deeper pullback, the $77,900 area, which coincides with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the summer rally. Analysts including Michaël van de Poppe see $84,800 to $85,800 as the resistance band Bitcoin needs to reclaim before a move toward $90,000 becomes realistic.

Chartered Market Technician Aksel Kibar warned that the weekly candle around $84,000 to $85,000 does not look like a decisive breakout, and that hesitant price action here could send Bitcoin back inside the $60,000 to $80,000 range it traded in for much of 2026.

Is the Bitcoin Rally Over?

Not necessarily. Bitcoin still finished the third quarter with a gain of around 42%, outperforming most major assets. Spot Bitcoin ETFs remain net positive, extending an inflow streak that began in mid-September and keeping institutional demand alive even as price action cools.

The bigger point is structural: at Bitcoin's current size, even a clean resolution in Iran or a soft inflation print is more likely to produce a single-digit percentage move than a vertical rally. For now, geopolitics is setting the tone, and the $82,000 support is the line traders are watching. You can follow the live Bitcoin price and the latest liquidation data on CryptoTicker.

The judge has told Pleterski he will raise objections on his behalf, to keep inadmissible evidence away from the jury.

Coinbase Clearing will take USDC as collateral and settle around the clock, though margined products stay with partners.

OpenAI says its agents keep landing on government websites because they treat them as reliable sources, but it's pausing training while it adds safeguards.

A UC San Diego-led team impersonated a hardware security module without extracting its key.

Coinbase and Citi expanded an existing deal so Citi's institutional clients can accept stablecoin payments, while Coinbase business accounts run on Citi's banking rails.

XRP eyes a rare 3-month win streak to break its bear cycle as new SEC filings prime an ETF launch.

Near Protocol has slipped about 15% from its $5.58 local high to $4.78 after a 200%+ August surge, and a bearish reversal candle suggests the pullback may not be over.

An early Ethereum whale nets 15,600% profit, selling coins bought at $18.80 as ETH locks in its best Q3 rally on record.

Apple has patched a critical iPhone vulnerability that may already have been exploited in sophisticated attacks.

XRP's strong technical signal might be too late for the price to react positvely.

TLDR

• Nokia rebounds as Zain KSA expands Deepfield across more than 100 Saudi cities.
• Deepfield gives Zain KSA real-time visibility into network traffic and services.
• The system helps detect congestion, latency and service issues much faster.
• Deployment supports stronger cloud, gaming and streaming performance nationwide.
• The project aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 digital infrastructure push.

Nokia (NOK) rose 0.79% to $10.18 in pre-market trading after closing 2.60% lower at $10.12. The move followed a major network intelligence deployment with Saudi Arabia’s Zain KSA. The project expands advanced network monitoring across more than 100 cities throughout the Kingdom.

Nokia Oyj, NOK

Zain KSA Expands Network Intelligence Deployment

Zain KSA has deployed Deepfield Cloud Intelligence across its national network to improve service monitoring and performance. The technology provides real-time visibility into network traffic, cloud services, applications, and changing internet activity. Consequently, engineering teams can identify network problems faster and reduce service disruptions affecting customers.

Saudi Arabia continues recording rising data demand from streaming, cloud services, gaming, and expanding digital applications. Therefore, telecom operators require stronger monitoring systems to manage growing traffic while maintaining stable network performance. The system combines internet intelligence with network telemetry to provide clearer information about traffic behavior.

The deployment also supports Zain KSA’s broader effort to build a more automated and software-driven network. Meanwhile, the project expands the technology provider’s network intelligence footprint across the Middle East. The agreement also strengthens its position in Saudi Arabia’s growing telecommunications and digital infrastructure sector.

Deepfield Improves Visibility Across Saudi Arabia

Deepfield allows Zain KSA to monitor major cloud and online services throughout its network. The system identifies congestion, latency, and unusual traffic patterns before those problems create broader service disruptions. As a result, Zain KSA can maintain stronger performance across streaming, gaming, cloud platforms, and other digital services.

Deepfield Cloud Genome provides detailed information about internet applications, networks, and online services moving through telecom infrastructure. The system organizes services across more than 30 categories and applies over 100 machine-learning rules. This structure helps network teams understand traffic sources and how individual applications affect network performance.

The platform also converts large amounts of network data into structured information for operational and analytical use. Zain KSA can use that information to guide network optimization and future infrastructure investments. The deployment may also support new services requiring faster response times and dependable network connections.

Deployment Supports Saudi Digital Infrastructure Growth

Saudi Arabia continues expanding telecommunications infrastructure under its wider Vision 2030 digital transformation strategy. The national program supports cloud adoption, digital services, advanced connectivity, technology development, and broader economic diversification. Zain KSA has positioned network modernization as an important part of supporting these growing digital requirements.

The deployment also expands the role of advanced software and traffic analytics within large telecommunications networks. Deepfield focuses on network intelligence, traffic analysis, service assurance, and operational visibility. These functions help operators respond faster as data consumption and application complexity increase.

Zain KSA now gains wider visibility across services operating throughout more than 100 Saudi cities. The expanded monitoring capability supports network reliability while helping teams manage growing digital traffic. The project also aligns with Saudi Arabia’s continued push toward more connected and data-driven infrastructure.

The post Nokia (NOK) Stock: Rebounds as Zain KSA Deploys Deepfield AI Network Intelligence Across 100 Saudi Cities  appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• The precious metal gained 0.6% to reach $4,139.91 per ounce on Tuesday, bouncing back modestly following Monday’s 4% plunge.
• Crude oil prices continue climbing amid the ongoing US-Iran dispute over Strait of Hormuz access, heightening inflation concerns.
• Treasury yields on 10-year bonds reached a 19-year peak, diminishing gold’s appeal as an investment vehicle.
• The yellow metal has declined roughly 7% in the last month following Fed rate increases and hawkish policy signals.
• Market participants are closely monitoring Wednesday’s inflation figures and Friday’s employment data for Federal Reserve policy direction.

Gold prices posted gains on Tuesday following a challenging session to kick off the week. The precious metal experienced a 4% plunge on Monday, marking one of its sharpest single-day losses in several months.

Spot gold advanced 0.6% to settle at $4,139.91 per ounce as of 05:33 ET. Meanwhile, gold futures edged up 0.1% to $4,171.90 per ounce.

Even with Tuesday’s modest recovery, the metal continues trading near its lowest point in seven weeks. Gold faces headwinds from climbing bond yields and US dollar strength.

US-Iran Tensions Sustain Elevated Energy Prices and Inflation Worries

Oil prices maintained their upward trajectory as Iranian authorities remained firm on their terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. This critical shipping channel handles a substantial portion of worldwide energy transport.

President Trump turned down Iran’s most recent proposal, which included a commitment to reopen the strait within one week. Sources indicate Iranian leadership believes reaching an agreement before November’s US midterm elections appears increasingly unlikely.

The standoff between Washington and Tehran has now stretched into its eighth month, persistently disrupting global energy distribution and amplifying inflation anxieties.

Elevated crude oil costs typically drive broader price increases throughout the economy. This dynamic encourages central banks to implement tighter monetary policy through rate hikes, creating a challenging environment for gold given the metal produces no yield.

Bond Yields Surge to Nearly Two-Decade Highs

The continued rally in crude oil prices intensified selling pressure across US Treasury markets on Monday. Yields on 10-year government bonds climbed to levels not witnessed in 19 years.

Elevated bond yields diminish gold’s relative attractiveness to investors. This occurs because fixed-income securities offer tangible returns, unlike the non-yielding precious metal.

Throughout the last 30 days, the yellow metal has surrendered approximately 7% of its value. This pullback emerged after the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate hike since 2023.

Central bank policymakers maintained a hawkish stance, signaling additional rate adjustments remain possible this year. Current market pricing suggests approximately 70% probability of another increase coming in October.

Researchers at ANZ noted the near-term trajectory for gold appears challenging. They identified elevated yields and persistent inflation risks as primary obstacles confronting the precious metal.

A previous analysis from the prior week documented gold futures declining across three consecutive trading sessions. That selloff coincided with US dollar appreciation and the 10-year Treasury yield climbing to its highest reading since July 2007.

Silver experienced similar downward pressure during this period, closing 2.4% lower at $64.382 per troy ounce.

Market attention now shifts to two significant economic releases this week. Wednesday’s personal consumption expenditures index will provide the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measurement.

Friday’s nonfarm payrolls data will deliver fresh insights into labor market conditions. These reports are expected to influence market expectations surrounding the Fed’s upcoming monetary policy decisions.

Currently, gold finds itself navigating competing market dynamics. Geopolitical instability and rising energy costs bolster safe-haven demand, while strengthening bond yields and dollar momentum continue applying downward pressure on precious metals valuations.

The post Gold Rebounds Modestly as Markets Brace for Critical US Inflation Numbers appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Blockchain.com is reportedly seeking to raise about $500 million in an IPO this year.
• The company is targeting a valuation between $4 billion and $6 billion.
• That range is well below the $14 billion valuation it reached in 2022.
• Bitcoin has gained more than 30% since mid-August after a US Treasury buyback announcement.
• Shares of Gemini, BitGo and eToro remain down about 50% to 80% from their post-IPO highs.

Blockchain.com, a crypto exchange and wallet provider, is reportedly planning to raise about $500 million through an initial public offering. The company is aiming to list its shares this year.

Bloomberg reported the plans on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report was published on Sept. 28.

According to the report, Blockchain.com is seeking a valuation of between $4 billion and $6 billion. The company is also open to a smaller offering if needed to complete a public listing.

A Lower Valuation Than Its Peak

The target valuation is well below the company’s previous high. Blockchain.com reached a $14 billion valuation in 2022, at the height of the last crypto boom.

That peak came more than four years ago. Even at the top of the proposed range, the company would be valued at less than half of that figure.

Blockchain.com took an early step toward going public in May. The company confidentially filed draft registration documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

At the time, the company did not say how many shares it planned to offer. It also did not share a possible price range.

A confidential filing lets a company start the review process with regulators before making its plans public. The filing paved the way for a potential IPO.

Crypto Markets Rebound

The IPO plans come as capital markets begin to reopen for crypto companies. A market recovery started last month.

Bitcoin has climbed more than 30% since mid-August. The rally began after the US Treasury announced it would sharply increase buybacks of long-dated government debt.

That announcement helped trigger gains across crypto markets. Prices moved higher in the weeks that followed.

Even with the rebound, conditions for crypto companies looking to raise money remain difficult. Several firms that went public recently have seen their shares fall.

Shares of Gemini, BitGo and eToro are still down roughly 50% to 80% from their post-IPO highs, according to Bloomberg.

Those companies are among the crypto firms that have listed on public markets recently. Their share prices have not held on to their early gains.

For now, Blockchain.com’s plans are based on the Bloomberg report. The $500 million target, the $4 billion to $6 billion valuation range and the openness to a smaller deal are the latest details available.

The post Blockchain.com Targets $4 Billion to $6 Billion Valuation in IPO as Bitcoin Rallies appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Technology shares pushed the STOXX 600 higher on Tuesday following positive AI sector developments.
• Chip manufacturers rallied after reports emerged of Anthropic preparing for a potential IPO with a valuation exceeding $2 trillion.
• Crude prices maintained elevated levels amid unresolved diplomatic tensions between Washington and Tehran.
• Swiss chocolatier Lindt saw shares tumble approximately 7% following a downward revision of its 2026 revenue projections.
• Strong performances from Julius Baer and Legrand offset losses elsewhere in the market.

European stock markets posted moderate gains during Tuesday’s trading session. The technology sector emerged as the primary catalyst behind the upward movement.

By mid-morning hours, the benchmark STOXX 600 index had climbed approximately 0.3%, reaching 640.28 points. The majority of regional indices across Europe reflected similar positive momentum.

The technology sector touched its strongest level in four weeks. The rally gained steam following a Reuters article detailing Anthropic’s preparation for entering public markets.

According to the report, the artificial intelligence firm could achieve a market capitalization exceeding $2 trillion. Market participants interpreted this development as evidence of renewed appetite for AI-focused initial public offerings.

Technology Sector Spearheads Market Rally

Chipmakers experienced notable gains in response to the Anthropic disclosure. Fiona Cincotta, a market strategist, noted that the news reignited enthusiasm for technology company debuts.

This investment theme had faced headwinds during preceding weeks. Early in the month, executives from multiple AI enterprises advocated for tempered expansion due to apprehensions about technological misapplication.

Those statements had dampened sentiment toward technology equities. Simultaneously, ascending government bond yields compounded the negative pressure.

Energy markets saw crude prices sustain their recent strength on Tuesday. Brent crude futures hovered around $106.99 per barrel.

Prices maintained their elevation as diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran failed to produce resolution. Given Europe’s substantial reliance on energy imports, elevated petroleum costs typically exert disproportionate pressure on the continent’s economic performance.

Government debt yields across global markets persisted near levels unseen in decades. Market participants remain vigilant regarding inflationary pressures associated with energy expense escalation.

Christine Lagarde, who heads the European Central Bank, delivered remarks on Monday. She indicated that inflation increases observed this year have not yet triggered substantial secondary effects throughout eurozone economies.

Lagarde maintained that a gradual policy stance remains appropriate. The central bank had implemented rate increases earlier in the month.

Notable Individual Stock Performances

Among STOXX 600 constituents, Lindt experienced the most significant decline. The company’s shares retreated nearly 7%.

The premium chocolate producer lowered its 2026 revenue outlook for the second occasion this year. Management cited diminished consumer expenditure, heightened price consciousness among shoppers, and subdued demand attributed to unusually warm European weather.

Industry peers Barry Callebaut and Nestle also registered declines following this announcement. Julius Baer demonstrated contrasting momentum, emerging as the session’s strongest performer.

The Swiss banking institution saw shares surge nearly 8%. Switzerland’s financial oversight body FINMA discontinued enforcement actions related to private lending activities and client associations with two politically connected Russian nationals.

Legrand delivered another standout performance. The French electrical equipment and digital infrastructure provider climbed more than 7% after unveiling upgraded medium-term financial objectives.

Across other European markets, London’s benchmark index advanced roughly half a percentage point, supported by healthcare and natural resources stocks. German and French indices recorded more modest appreciation.

Spain reported its annual inflation measure accelerated to 4.9% in September. The nation’s retail sales contracted 0.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Sweden’s household sentiment indicator improved to 102.2 in September. The country’s business confidence gauge extended its winning streak to six consecutive months, reaching 109.3.

Within fixed income markets, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield declined marginally to 5.23%. Britain’s 10-year gilt yield advanced to 5.39%, while Germany’s equivalent benchmark eased to 3.62%.

The post European Markets Climb Higher as Anthropic IPO Speculation Energizes Tech Sector appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals has licensed its experimental obesity pill HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk for up to $2.6 billion.
• Hengrui receives $300 million immediately, with an additional $2.3 billion tied to developmental achievements and commercial success.
• HRS-1596 targets both GLP-1 and GIP receptors and is designed for weekly administration.
• Shares of Novo have plummeted over 70% from peak levels amid intensifying competition from Eli Lilly in obesity therapeutics.
• Hengrui’s Hong Kong shares climbed approximately 2% following the partnership announcement.

As Novo Nordisk watches its stock tumble over 70% from all-time highs, the pharmaceutical giant is fighting back. With Eli Lilly steadily capturing market share in the lucrative obesity treatment space, Novo announced a major licensing partnership on Tuesday.

Novo Nordisk A/S, NVO

The Copenhagen-based pharmaceutical manufacturer has struck a deal valued at up to $2.6 billion with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals to obtain rights for an investigational weight-loss pill. This marks the second GLP-1 licensing partnership Novo has forged with a Chinese firm in 2025.

Under the terms, Novo acquires worldwide development and commercialization rights to HRS-1596, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan—territories Hengrui will continue to control.

The candidate drug operates as a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist and remains in preliminary clinical testing. Chinese regulators have greenlit Phase 1 studies evaluating its potential for obesity and type 2 diabetes management.

Financial Structure of the Agreement

The Chinese pharmaceutical company receives an initial $300 million payment from Novo. The remaining $2.3 billion is performance-based, contingent on hitting clinical, regulatory and commercial targets, supplemented by sales-based royalty payments.

According to Novo, HRS-1596 is being developed as a once-weekly oral medication. This would represent a significant advancement over existing daily pill formulations like Wegovy.

Mike Doustdar, Novo’s CEO, indicated earlier in April that oral medications will become increasingly central to obesity care strategies. This licensing agreement directly supports that vision.

A company representative informed Reuters that international clinical trials are being planned for HRS-1596, though specific timelines remain undisclosed.

The Battle With Lilly and China’s Growing Pipeline

The licensing deal comes as Novo faces mounting pressure from Eli Lilly, whose oral medication Foundayo directly challenges Wegovy. This competitive dynamic has contributed to Novo’s prolonged stock decline.

China has emerged as a hotbed for obesity drug innovation. According to Pharmcube analytics, nearly 250 GLP-1 receptor agonist programs are currently underway across Chinese biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Novo isn’t alone in tapping China’s pipeline. Industry heavyweights including AstraZeneca, Merck and Pfizer have each secured licensing agreements for Chinese-developed GLP-1 compounds.

This represents Novo’s second Chinese partnership. The company previously licensed UBT251 from United Laboratories International, a candidate that demonstrated up to 19.7% body weight reduction over 24 weeks in clinical testing.

Industry analysts project the global obesity pharmaceutical market will reach approximately $100 billion in annual revenue by the mid-2030s. This enormous commercial opportunity continues to drive aggressive dealmaking across the sector.

Following the announcement, Hengrui’s Hong Kong-listed shares gained roughly 2%. This uptick contrasted with broader market weakness, as the Hang Seng Index declined around 1% during the same trading session.

The transaction remains subject to U.S. antitrust clearance and customary closing requirements. Both Novo and Hengrui anticipate finalizing the agreement in Q4 2026.

Eli Lilly has not issued any statement regarding potential licensing arrangements with Chinese obesity drug developers when contacted for comment.

The post Novo Nordisk (NVO) Stock: $2.6B Deal Secures Chinese Obesity Pill Rights appeared first on Blockonomi.

The cryptocurrency market is quite divided today (September 29), with some popular altcoins posting double-digit losses, while others are pumping hard.

Hedera’s HBAR is among the winners’ club after rallying by roughly 25% in a day and surging to its highest level since early January. Check out what triggered the move north and some of the most interesting price predictions.

History Repeating?

Just hours ago, HBAR jumped to around $0.13 (per CoinGecko) before slightly retracing to the current $0.12. This still represents an impressive 60% increase over two weeks.

The asset’s market capitalization has risen well above the $5 billion psychological mark, making it the 26th-largest cryptocurrency and flipping popular altcoins like Avalanche (AVAX), Sui (SUI), and others.

Perhaps the main catalyst for the uptrend is the partnership between IBM and the Hashgraph Group. The entities aim to bring Hedera-based IDTrust to IBM Cloud, giving enterprises verifiable digital identity for AI agents. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s tokenization of its US Treasury Money Market Fund on Hedera pushed net assets beyond $40 billion, signaling solid institutional support.

The token’s major resurgence caught the eye of several market observers, most of whom expect further short-term gains. The Moon Show claimed that HBAR “is doing the same thing it did before the last big move.” The X user identified $0.13 as a key level, suggesting that clearing it could spark a much stronger upward move.

For his part, Doctor Profit argued that every time HBAR crossed the weekly MA50, it rallied strongly afterward. That said, he revealed that he has increased his exposure to the asset “as it’s breaking out right now.”

X user OxNeena also chipped in, claiming that the coin is breaking out of a long descending channel. According to the analyst, the next bullish targets could be $0.20, $0.30, and $0.45.

HBAR’s recent exchange netflow supports the bullish forecasts. Over the past few days, outflows have far surpassed inflows, suggesting investors have moved away from centralized platforms toward self-custody, effectively reducing immediate selling pressure.

Something for the Bears

Despite the overall optimistic forecasts, HBAR’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) hints that the asset may face a short-term correction.

The ratio has surged past 70, representing overbought territory, which is typically interpreted as a precursor to a pullback. The index runs from 0 to 100, where anything below 30 is seen as a buying opportunity.

The post Hedera (HBAR) Soars to 8-Month High: What Happened and What’s Next? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin continues to trade within a well-defined range, with a lower boundary at $83,000 and an upper at $85,000, currently sitting right in the middle.

ETH has soared past $2,700 again, while LINK and XLM have stolen the show from the larger caps, surging by double digits.

BTC Above $84K

The primary cryptocurrency went on a wild run last Monday after it rebounded from a dip to $80,000 during the weekend. It added over $7,000 in value within 12 hours or so and surged past $87,000 for the first time since late January. The first dip drove it to $85,000 before the bulls tried to take down the $87,000 barrier once again.

The second rejection was a lot more painful as it drove BTC to under $84,000 within hours before the asset further dropped to $82,800. It bounced off shortly after, but it was stopped at $85,000 once again.

Since then, it has been more or less the aforementioned trading range. It tried to break out during the weekend, but it was halted at $85,000. The bears then tried to push it south hard, but they couldn’t crack the $82,500 level. As of now, BTC has rebounded to just over $82,000.

Its market capitalization has risen to $1.680 trillion on CMC, while its dominance over the alts remains sideways at 58.6%.

LINK, XLM, HBAR Rocket

Ethereum has gained over 3% in the past 24 hours and has risen past $2,700 once again. XRP is above $1.50 after a 2.3% increase. SOL, BNB, TRX, and DOGE are also slightly in the green. ADA is above $0.25 after a more impressive 4% pump.

Chainlink’s LINK has soared by over 11% in a day and now sits above $15. XLM has posted a similar jump, currently trading around $0.23. HBAR has surged by 20% and now trades close to $0.12. In contrast, ZEC and NEAR have dumped by up to 9%. CRO, AAVE, and ICP are the other notable gainers among the larger-cap alts.

The cumulative market capitalization of all crypto assets has increased slightly since yesterday to $2.860 trillion on CMC.

The post Chainlink (LINK) Rockets by 11% Daily, Bitcoin (BTC) Reclaims $84K: Market Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

ICP has surged by double digits over the past 30 days, exceeding $3.30 on Monday and Tuesday, according to data from CoinGecko.

Despite the revival, it remains far below its all-time high, yet many market observers believe this could be the start of a major rally.

The Bulls’ Voices

X user CW recently maintained that the cryptocurrency continues to show accumulation signals, claiming a pattern that preceded previous gains is repeating.

“The next phase following this accumulation will be an upward move,” they added.

Shortly after, the analyst suggested that ICP has reached a specific buy wall zone and has a high probability of rebounding from current price levels.

JAVON MARKS and Nehal have also touched on Internet Computer, making much more optimistic bets. The former argued that the altcoin has shown “consistent strength,” which is something to monitor as the valuation broke out of a key Falling Wedge pattern.

“This pattern suggests an over 208% move back to the $10 areas, and they could even extend much higher,” the analyst said.

Nehal said he has spent the last few weeks digging deep into the ICP code, claiming it feels like “alien technology.” After his research, the X user made a bold forecast that the asset’s price could explode to $60, representing roughly a 1,560% increase from the current zone.

ICP’s recent exchange netflow reinforces the optimistic forecasts. Outflows have mainly dominated inflows over the past several weeks, meaning investors have shifted from centralized platforms to self-custody, easing short-term selling pressure.

The Bearish Outlook

Of course, not everyone thinks that ICP is on the verge of posting additional gains in the near future. X user Crypto With Gopal, for instance, suggested that the asset is forming a rising wedge pattern.

Based on the structure, the price is pulling back after a strong rally, with sellers pressuring wedge support and momentum fading as bulls struggle to hold the $3 mark.

“A breakdown below support could trigger further downside, while reclaiming resistance may revive bullish momentum. Bears watching for confirmation,” he concluded.

The post Internet Computer (ICP) Soars 35% Monthly as Analysts Eye a Pump Above $10: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Stablecoin giant Tether said on Monday it has helped US authorities freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT so far this year.

The company detailed two of those developments. The first, in April, locked more than $344 million in USDT across two TRON addresses. The company acted on information from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and US law enforcement. OFAC added both addresses to its sanctions entry for the Central Bank of Iran on April 24.

Treasury Names Crypto a Sanctions Target

That entry links the central bank to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force and Hezbollah. OFAC added four more TRON addresses to the same entry on July 14. Tether froze more than $130 million in USDT across those four wallets. Together, the two freezes come to more than $474 million. Tether’s release does not itemize the remaining ones.

“Public blockchains provide authorities with a level of visibility into the movement of funds that simply does not exist with cash, and Tether can act when credible information is provided by law enforcement,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

In June, the US Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange. It said the platform helped the central bank obtain stablecoins used to support the falling rial.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then launched Operation Economic Outcast on August 24 against the Iranian regime’s financial networks. Its sectoral sanctions determinations name five sectors, starting with digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. The Treasury said Iran increasingly uses cryptocurrency to evade sanctions, including for transactions linked to the IRGC.

On September 17, OFAC sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank, which it said is controlled by sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani. The Treasury alleged that BitBank moved hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to the IRGC in June and July.

Tether Also Acts on Israeli Referrals

Tether said it has worked with Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) for several years. It has frozen more than 22 million USDT across over 40 cases the bureau referred to the company.

In September 2025, the NBCTF published 187 crypto addresses it tied to the IRGC. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that those addresses had received $1.5 billion in USDT, and Tether blacklisted 39 of them, freezing the roughly $1.5 million they still held. Though Elliptic noted that some of the addresses may belong to crypto services handling funds for many customers.

Across all its cases, Tether said it has helped freeze more than $4.9 billion, including more than $2.4 billion tied to US authorities.

The post Tether Freezes Nearly $550M in Iran-Linked USDT in 2026 as US Crackdown Expands appeared first on CryptoPotato.

September 2026 is turning out to be entirely different for Ethereum, as it appears to have bucked the “September Curse.” Since the start of the month, ETH is up by more than 9%.

Fresh data also revealed that the asset may be approaching a major resistance zone before a potential bullish move.

Real Test

According to the latest findings by Ali Martinez, whale activity has risen sharply across the Ethereum network. Transactions worth more than $1 million jumped nearly 500% in the past week. The number of such transactions increased from 1,202 to 7,113. Martinez also found that large holders accumulated more than 320,000 ETH. At current prices, this stash is worth around $864 million.

However, Ethereum still faces a major wall between $2,722 and $2,822. More than 13.3 million ETH were previously traded in this range, which makes it a significant hurdle. Martinez said several failed breakout attempts could occur. If the leading altcoin breaks above this zone decisively, the next resistance levels are near $2,970 and $3,366. According to the analysis, rising whale demand remains a major market signal.

At the same time, another important trend is developing on the supply side. CryptoPotato recently reported that Ethereum’s available supply on crypto exchanges has dropped to a record low. Only 3.49% of ETH is held on tracked platforms, while another 1.16% of the supply has left exchanges since June 1.

The decline is linked partly to growing activity in staking and DeFi. Around 35% of ETH is estimated to be staked, while roughly $53 billion is locked in DeFi. Long-term holders and large treasury firms are also keeping more tokens off exchanges. This could limit readily available supply if demand increases.

Separately, Ethereum is also seeing an aggressive bet from a trader with an unusual track record. A mysterious trader has taken a $99 million long position on the crypto asset using 25x leverage. The position was opened when ETH traded near $2,660, with liquidation set at $2,552 unless more collateral is added.

The trader has reportedly made 3,156 trades with a 100% win rate and earned $5.5 million in profits last week alone.

Institutional Appetite

On the institutional side of things, US-based spot ETH ETFs recorded another week of positive inflows, as nearly $690 million entered across five trading days. Monday saw the strongest inflow at almost $270 million.

On Tuesday, these investment products attracted $162 million, while Wednesday brought another $104.6 million, followed by $66 million on Thursday. Flows picked up slightly on Friday, with almost $87 million recorded.

The post Ethereum Just Defied the September Curse But a Major Resistance Wall Still Stands appeared first on CryptoPotato.