Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Shares of Skydance Corp. fell Wednesday after the newly formed media giant distributed nearly 471 million stock warrants to shareholders.

Skydance shares fell as much as 26% in Wednesday trading, trading at $6.68 per share as of 11:35 a.m. ET. The stock later pared some of those losses, closing down 22.2% at $7.06 a share.

The company distributed about 470.7 million warrants on Oct. 13 following its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

Warrants give investors the right to buy shares at a set price before they expire.

PARAMOUNT REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH STATES SUING TO BLOCK WARNER BROS DISCOVERY TAKEOVER

Shares of Skydance Corp. fell Wednesday after the newly formed media giant distributed nearly 471 million stock warrants to shareholders. (ÂPhoto by Richard B. Levine)

Eligible shareholders received one warrant for each share of Skydance Class B common stock they held as of the Oct. 5 record date. Each warrant allows the holder to buy one Skydance Class B share for $12.

If all the warrants are exercised, Skydance could raise about $5.7 billion, according to the company.

The warrants are set to expire in October 2036, although they could expire earlier under certain conditions.

The warrant distribution followed Skydance's completion of its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal brought brands including CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max under one company, according to Reuters.

WARNER BROS DISCOVERY SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE DEAL

The warrant distribution followed Skydance's completion of its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.  (Ringo Chiu/Reuters)

The combined company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "SKYD" following the deal.

Wells Fargo analysts said the warrant distribution marked the "final step" in closing the Warner Bros. Discovery transaction, according to Variety.

CEO David Ellison has said the merger would help Skydance better compete with streaming and technology giants including Netflix and Amazon, Reuters reported.

Skydance plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service while pursuing about $6 billion in planned savings.

CALIFORNIA CRACKS DOWN ON LOUD STREAMING ADS UNDER NEW STATE LAW

CEO David Ellison has said the merger would help Skydance better compete with streaming and technology giants including Netflix and Amazon. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

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The combined company is expected to carry roughly $80 billion in debt, according to Reuters.

FOX Business reached out to Skydance for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

With most of 2026 in the books, investors are beginning to look ahead to what's coming next year for the stocks in their portfolios or the companies they've been thinking about adding to them. For many, one of those may be Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -2.80%), as it was one of the most highly anticipated public offerings of the year and drew plenty of interest on its June 12 debut.

Let's look at a base case and a bear case to see what $10,000 invested in SpaceX today might be worth by the end of 2027.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The base case for SpaceX To stay on the more conservative side of where SpaceX could trade, we'll use the median one-year price target and the lowest price target from analysts as a baseline. Giving the stock until the end of December 2027 rather than mid-October 2027 to reach those price targets can help keep expectations reasonable.

Analysts are generally bullish on the stock. According to CNN, of the 46 who cover SpaceX, 76% rate it a buy, 15% a hold, and 9% a sell. Within that group, the median one-year price target is $217, which we can use as a conservative estimate of where the stock might trade around by December 2027.

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If an investor made a $10,000 investment in SpaceX at the Oct. 12 closing price of $163.42, through fractional investing, that would yield over 61 shares. If SpaceX were to reach $217 per share, that $10,000 investment would grow to a stake worth approximately $13,278. For the stock price to get there, SpaceX would likely need to show continued progress in growing revenues through its space, connectivity, and artificial intelligence (AI) divisions. Its top line totaled $7.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026, a 92% increase from the prior-year period.

It could also show continued progress in generating revenue from renting out excess AI compute capacity from its data centers. SpaceX currently has cloud deals with Anthropic, Alphabet, and Reflection AI. Combined, the deals with Alphabet and Anthropic could be worth $26 billion annually. In comparison, the Reflection AI deal is worth $150 million per month and could be worth $6.3 billion in total if the deal runs through to its 2029 endpoint.

The bear case Among the analysts covering SpaceX, the lowest has a 12-month price target of just $75 on the stock. If it were to hit that price, a $10,000 investment made today would shrink by more than half to approximately $4,589.

There are a couple of obvious broad scenarios that could result in that type of drop. One would involve a general market sell-off, and another would be a more focused sell-off in AI stocks. But there are a few more company-specific risks, such as worries about its heavy spending and its lack of profitability. In the second quarter of 2026, SpaceX's capital expenditures climbed to $18.4 billion compared to $2.8 billion in the prior-year period. Meanwhile, the company delivered a loss of $541 million. While that was better than the $1 billion in losses that it reported in the prior-year period, SpaceX remains unprofitable.

What to consider next Price targets aren't guarantees, but they can aid people in making their investing decisions by offering a framework for gauging if the risk is worth the potential reward. And that risk-vs.-reward balance for SpaceX looks favorable over the next year. But the stock price could just as easily keep hovering in the range where it's trading now or sink back below its IPO price again.

For the company to accomplish its goals, such as deploying a constellation of AI data center satellites in Earth orbit, it will take more time. If SpaceX executes on those endeavors, stock price appreciation can follow, but the most meaningful gains under that circumstance will accrue to those with long-term investment horizons.

Last month, Tesla (TSLA -2.15%) launched the Cybercab, its first autonomous vehicle (AV) built for commercial service, in Austin, Texas. Every driverless ride before the launch used a modified Model Y. The Cybercab is a two-seat vehicle with no steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pedal.

Robotaxis could be one of the main drivers of future growth for Tesla stock. After a little over a month of Cybercab service in Austin, demand is strong, but it's still a fairly small-scale operation.

Image source: Tesla.

The latest Tesla Cybercab numbers Tesla has 739 AVs registered with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles as of Oct. 10, including 420 Model Y vehicles and 319 Cybercabs. Those numbers have risen rapidly. On Sept. 4, the day Cybercab service launched in Austin, Tesla had 420 AVs registered, including 45 Cybercabs. Its fleet has expanded significantly, most notably when it registered 150 Cybercabs on Oct. 8.

That's the statewide total, though, and just because an AV is registered doesn't necessarily mean it's actively giving rides. RobotaxiTracker, a third-party tracking platform, reports that Tesla has 277 in-service autonomous vehicles in Austin, of which 107 are Cybercabs.

For comparison, Waymo has a fleet of over 300 autonomous vehicles in Austin, according to RobotaxiTracker, so Tesla's fleet is in the same ballpark. However, Waymo is the more convenient option, as it's available 24/7 through the Uber app. Tesla offers robotaxi service in Austin from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. CEO Elon Musk has said this is to avoid running over small pets, which are hard to see at night. Tesla is aiming to solve that issue so it can have robotaxis in service around the clock.

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Although Cybercabs make up 39% of Tesla's robotaxi fleet in Austin, they account for a much smaller share of rides. There have been 531 Cybercab rides reported on RobotaxiTracker so far, accounting for about 11% of Tesla's total robotaxi rides in Austin.

A promising start, with a long way to go When it comes to Tesla's robotaxis, the number of registered vehicles gets the most attention, but what really matters is how many people are using the service. The demand is there, as demonstrated by Waymo's success so far. But Waymo has the advantage of being offered through Uber's app, which has over 200 million monthly users. You need to download the Tesla Robotaxi app to use its service.

On a positive note, anyone in Austin who's 13 or older can now hail a Tesla Cybercab. The service covers 264 square miles, which is most of the city. Tesla's robotaxi service has started out with high demand. Wait times topped an hour on launch day, and the Tesla Robotaxi app reached No. 1 in the App Store's travel category.

Going forward, investors should monitor Tesla's fleet size, particularly the number of in-service Cybercabs and reported Cybercab rides. It's also important that Tesla expand the service to other cities and provide 24/7 availability, since demand for ride-hailing services tends to spike at night after bars close. If Tesla can roll out robotaxi service in more major metro areas, it could be a sizable new source of revenue for the EV maker.

On Monday, Microsoft (MSFT -1.80%) unveiled its latest AI chip architecture, the Maia 300.

And the company went out of its way to point out the ways in which the Maia 300 was superior to graphics processing units (GPUs). "This is our biggest bet yet on our own silicon," said CEO Satya Nadella.

This was seen as a shot across the bow to the world's premier GPU maker, Nvidia (NVDA -3.16%).

So is the Maia 300 the "Nvidia killer" that everyone has been anticipating for years? It might be, but not in the way you might think. Here's what's really going on.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Cutting the cost of AI The Maia 300 is an upgraded version of the Maia 200, which was released in January.

The Maia 200 is currently in production and has already been deployed at Microsoft facilities in Iowa and Arizona, where it's used instead of GPUs and other components from Nvidia, Intel (INTC -4.56%), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -5.73%).

Microsoft claims the new, upgraded Maia 300 chip is even more economical and can process 40% more tokens per megawatt when compared to GPUs. A higher token-per-megawatt ratio results in lower AI costs because the biggest expense for an AI data center is electricity.

But even if it's cheaper to operate, it's certainly not going to match the power of Nvidia's top-of-the-line systems. Won't that be an issue?

It's not always about being first Perhaps more than any other company, Microsoft has done very well by coming in second. Its Azure cloud platform is the second-largest, compared to Amazon's Amazon Web Services. Its Surface tablets have never outsold Apple's iPad. Its Xbox has always played second fiddle to the Sony PlayStation.

So it shouldn't surprise anyone that Microsoft isn't trying to beat Nvidia at its own game, but to compete on a more favorable playing field: cost. "Moving data efficiently, rather than raw compute power, is increasingly the bottleneck in large inference systems," Microsoft said in its blog post announcing the Maia 300 system. The company hopes to leverage this to its advantage.

Image source: Getty Images.

Austin Lyons, an analyst for Chipstrat, thinks there's an opportunity here in optimizing different AI processors for different tasks. "The advantage of custom silicon is that Microsoft can optimize for the latency its own workloads actually require," he wrote. "A meeting summary and a coding agent don't need the same response time. Maia targets more throughput at each of those latency points, translates to more useful tokens served per megawatt and lower cost passed for customers."

Pat Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy agrees, writing:

Microsoft is now moving toward deploying Maia at meaningful production scale. At that scale, custom silicon isn't just about performance. It can become an important margin driver by improving the economics of delivering Microsoft's own AI services.

The AI race is changing Lyons and Moorhead are echoing commentary from across the industry that suggests the AI race is evolving away from a zero-sum contest to create the fastest, most powerful processors. Hyperscalers and other major players are starting to think about the economics of AI and what customers will be willing to pay in an era where the tech giants start to monetize the new technology.

By running lower-difficulty, in-house AI queries on processors that operate more cheaply, Microsoft is taking another step in proactive cost management, which is one of the key reasons investors rewarded the stock earlier this year.

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So while the Maia 300 isn't an Nvidia killer on its own, it's evidence that the most powerful AI processors -- currently Nvidia's GPUs -- may not be everyone's universal first choice in the future for every application. Routing an AI query to the cheapest infrastructure possible for the difficulty of the problem presented may become the norm.

In other words, even if Nvidia continues to produce the best tech in the world for decades to come, its sales volume might suffer regardless.

Nvidia will still be in the mix The Maia 300 doesn't even begin production until sometime in 2027. And even then, Nvidia AI infrastructure is almost certain to remain a critical part of Microsoft's AI mix.

Just last week, Microsoft started taking preorders for a new Surface Laptop Ultra with a starting price of $2,599. That hefty price tag is thanks to its powerful processor that can run AI models without requiring cloud access.

The maker of that incredibly powerful chip? You guessed it: Nvidia.

EUR/USD Outlook: MUFG Links Sub-1.10 Risk to Higher US Yields
Hotter US inflation has reinforced MUFG's downside scenario for the Euro against the US Dollar, despite its doubts about the scale of Fed tightening.
MUFG's warning that the Euro could fall below $1.10 has gained relevance after stronger-than-expected US inflation revived the case for higher interest rates.

The bank outlined that possibility before Wednesday's CPI release, linking it to its projections for US two-year Treasury yields and a potential rise in the Dollar Index to 105.

At the time of writing, EUR/USD traded near $1.1153, down 0.43% from Tuesday's close, having recovered some ground from the afternoon sell-off.

Derek Halpenny, MUFG's head of research for global markets EMEA and international securities, wrote ahead of the data: "Based on our 2-year UST bond yield projections, the DXY could certainly advance to the 105-level that would imply EUR/USD potentially falling below the 1.1000-level."

This is a conditional downside scenario, with no deadline attached to the exchange-rate level.

Image: EUR/USD intraday chart post US inflation release.

The inflation surprise MUFG had warned about
The September CPI release showed prices excluding food and energy rose 0.3% on the month, against expectations of 0.2%, while annual headline inflation reached 3.7%.

Before the release, Halpenny wrote: "Near-term though the Fed look set to hike again and any upside surprise in today's data would likely trigger another rates sell-off and extend the dollar further stronger."

Selling Treasury bonds pushes their yields higher, and the two-year yield is particularly sensitive to the expected path of Fed interest rates.

Higher prospective returns on Dollar assets can then attract demand for the currency, providing the link between MUFG's yield projections and its EUR/USD warning.

The bank had set a demanding condition for a move in the opposite direction: "A consensus CPI print today is unlikely to alter rate expectations much and a meaningful miss to the downside (0.0% m/m core) would be required to see a notable dollar sell-off."

Wednesday's result went the other way, though it does not establish how far the subsequent repricing will run.

Halpenny had acknowledged a reason to tighten policy ahead of clearer evidence of wider inflation: "It's understandable that precautionary rate hikes will be seen as sensible given the risks of pass-through."

Why MUFG still questions a longer hiking cycle
Halpenny's pre-release policy view for December 2026 and beyond was explicit: "Still, we remain sceptical that inflation pressures will continue to build and while we expect the Fed to hike again in December, we do not expect the Fed to deliver the two further rate hikes currently priced by the markets."

"The inflation backdrop doesn't appear to be as bad as might have been expected when the conflict first started and if an assumption had been made that it would still be impacting energy supplies by the following October."

That position rested partly on the recent behaviour of core personal consumption expenditures inflation, a separate measure from CPI.

He wrote: "Taking the PCE measure of inflation, the annualised 3mth change fell in August to the Fed's 2.0% inflation target for the first time since July 2024."

The three-month annualised reading measures recent momentum, rather than the annual headline PCE change used in the Fed's longer-run inflation objective.

It also predates September's stronger CPI report.

Halpenny added: "There is little evidence of pass-through that likely reflects the fact that the non-AI economy in the US remains relatively weak."

That judgement now faces a more difficult test, with RBC's post-release warning about spreading price pressures, covered by Exchange Rates UK, highlighting the risk that higher transport and import costs are reaching a wider range of goods.

MUFG also questioned how restrictive policy would become if the anticipated hikes were delivered as inflation moderated.

Halpenny wrote: "If we project forward current market pricing for the Fed's policy rate by the middle of next year and use the consensus inflation forecast, the implied real fed funds rate reaches 2.60%, not far from the peak restrictiveness seen following the global inflation shock."

"We don't believe the Fed will need to raise rates to that level."

The calculation describes borrowing costs adjusted for expected inflation under market pricing, rather than MUFG's own forecast for the nominal policy rate.

A retreat in those expectations would weaken an important source of Dollar support, but prolonged energy disruption remains a risk to that outcome.

Halpenny warned: "Inflation risks ahead remains the dominant concern of central bankers given the extended period of elevated energy prices risks feeding more broadly into non-energy inflation."

EUR/USD exchange rate FAQs
Is EUR/USD below 1.10 MUFG's dated forecast?

No. It is a conditional downside scenario linked to the bank's US Treasury-yield projections and a possible Dollar Index rise to 105.

Why does stronger US inflation matter for the Euro?

It can increase expectations for Fed tightening, supporting US yields and demand for Dollar assets at the Euro's expense.

Does MUFG expect a prolonged Fed hiking cycle?

Before the CPI release, MUFG expected a December 2026 increase but doubted that the Fed would deliver the two further rises then priced by markets.

Ether.fi, the self-custodial crypto neobank reporting more than $6 billion in assets under management, has announced a partnership that will move its entire payments infrastructure onto MoonPay‘s integrated stack. The deal covers fiat onramps and offramps, cross-chain trading, institutional-grade virtual bank accounts and crypto deposits, all without requiring users to surrender control of their private keys. The announcement was made on 6 October 2026. MoonPay, which says it serves more than 35 million customers across 180 countries and holds regulatory licences in multiple jurisdictions including the United States, will supply four products: Headless Ramps, which embed fiat entry and exit flows natively inside the ether.fi app without redirects; MoonPay Trade for cross-chain routing and asset conversion; MoonPay Enterprise for virtual bank accounts supporting ACH, Fedwire, SWIFT, Faster Payments, SEPA and Open Banking rails; and MoonPay Crypto Deposits for inbound transfers from external wallets and centralised exchanges. The four products will roll out progressively to ether.fi’s user base over the coming months.

The structural problem being solved Rok Kopp, co-founder and chief growth officer of ether.fi The core friction the partnership targets is well known in self-custodial product design. Where a traditional neobank can bundle its card, bank account and funding flows through a single compliance check, a self-custodial platform has historically been forced to source those functions from separate vendors. The result is that users face repeated identity verification steps, and the transaction experience breaks at the handoff between the app and an outside provider. Ether.fi and MoonPay say that by consolidating onto one infrastructure layer, a user completes verification once and that credential carries across products, subject to local regulatory requirements.

Rok Kopp, co-founder and chief growth officer of ether.fi, framed the benchmark clearly: “The bar for ether.fi isn’t other crypto products. It’s whatever banking app a user opens every morning. Every integration we make is measured against that standard.”

Spending data and market positioning The release includes transaction data attributed to Paymentscan, an on-chain card-tracking service. According to those figures, ether.fi card users spent $123.7 million across 1.5 million transactions in September 2026, up from $24.1 million in the same month a year earlier, a more than fivefold increase. Since launching in April 2025, cumulative card spend is reported at $918.1 million across 11.6 million transactions. The company says card volume growth has been largely uncorrelated with bitcoin price movements over the same period, citing months in which its volume rose while bitcoin fell by double digits.

The third-party source for that data, Paymentscan, is not a widely cited industry benchmark, so the figures should be treated as company-provided rather than independently verified. Editors may wish to seek corroboration before publishing them as established facts.

Regulatory read-across The regulatory architecture underpinning the partnership is worth noting. Ether.fi’s self-custodial model means it does not hold user funds in the way a licensed deposit-taking institution would, which has historically allowed it to expand across markets without obtaining a banking licence in each jurisdiction. MoonPay’s licensed fiat-rail infrastructure handles the regulated perimeter. That division of labour is commercially efficient but sits under intensifying scrutiny. In the EU, MiCA’s stablecoin and crypto-asset service provider frameworks impose new obligations on entities facilitating fiat-to-crypto flows, and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is advancing its own cryptoasset registration and market regime. How the compliance boundary between Ether.fi and MoonPay is drawn will matter as those frameworks come into force.

The broader embedded-finance and digital-asset payments segment is crowded, with several infrastructure providers competing for neobank integration contracts. MoonPay’s differentiation here rests on the breadth of its licensed coverage and the unified KYC layer, which removes the multi-verification problem that has blunted rival self-custodial products. Whether the single-verification promise holds in practice across all supported jurisdictions will be the commercial test.

AI level 1 of 5: written by Darlyn Ho; AI helped with tone, structure or wording; edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean

Wedbush has raised its price target for Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), the video game development software and advertising technology company, to $55 from $50, citing growing adoption of its Vector advertising platform.

The broker reiterated its 'outperform' rating after industry checks suggested Vector had progressed from an experimental channel to a fully budgeted option for user acquisition teams, which help game developers attract players.

An advertising technology adviser interviewed by Wedbush on October 12 ranked Unity second among gaming demand-side platforms (DSPs), which help advertisers buy digital advertising, behind AppLovin and ahead of Liftoff.

Wedbush left its financial estimates unchanged because Vector's growing adoption has yet to translate into measurable improvements in advertisers' reported results.

The broker raised its valuation multiple to 20 times estimated adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the 2028 financial year, from 19 times, reflecting expected earnings growth of about 29% and expanding margins.

Its 2028 EBITDA forecast is about 6% above the market consensus, while applying the same valuation multiple to consensus estimates would support a price target of approximately $52.

Wedbush expects Unity to report third-quarter results before the US market opens on November 5, forecasting revenue of $567 million and adjusted EBITDA of $187 million.

The revenue forecast matches market consensus, while the EBITDA estimate is slightly below the consensus figure of $188 million.

The broker expects strategic growth revenue, generated by Unity's advertising business, to reach $385 million, the upper end of guidance, while strategic Create revenue from its development tools is forecast at $162 million.

Wedbush expects non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.37, compared with the market forecast of $0.36.

The fourth-quarter outlook will be a key focus, particularly whether Grow can sustain sequential growth close to the pace expected in the third quarter, with Wedbush forecasting revenue of $610 million against a consensus of $601 million.

An industry expert told the broker in July that Vector accounted for about 20% of his firm's budget, up from 5% a year earlier, while an October adviser said campaign assessment times had shortened to seven to 10 days from 10 to 30 days.

Wedbush expects Vector's contribution to become more visible in fourth-quarter results and throughout 2027, while identifying access to AppLovin's MAX advertising mediation platform as a risk to monitor.

A court denied AppLovin's request for a temporary restraining order against Unity's Ad Quality kit on October 1, sending the dispute into arbitration, with a hearing on sealing issues scheduled for October 23.

Clarify the Vector investment case. Tighten the earnings forecast section

Key Takeaways A. O. Smith hiked its quarterly dividend 6% to 38 cents per share, marking over 30 years of consecutive hikes.AOS generated $233.3 million in free cash flow in the first half of 2026, supporting dividends and buybacks.A. O. Smith repurchased shares for $162.4 million in the first half and targets $300 million for 2026.
In a shareholder-friendly move, A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS - Free Report) recently announced a hike in its dividend payout. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 6% to 38 cents per share (annually: $1.52). The company will pay the new dividend on Nov. 16, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Oct. 30.

The move underscores A. O. Smith’s sound financial health as it utilizes free cash flow to enhance its shareholders’ returns. The five-year compound annual growth rate of its dividend is 6.2%. The company has increased its dividend consecutively for more than 30 years. Before this, it had hiked its dividend by 6% to 36 cents per share in October 2025.

Sound Capital-Allocation StrategiesStrong cash flows allow A. O. Smith to deploy capital effectively to reward shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks. In the first six months of 2026, the company generated operating cash flow of $253.8 million, while its free cash flow totaled $233.3 million.

In the same period, the company paid dividends of $99.8 million, up 2.4% year over year. In the same period, it repurchased 2.6 million shares for approximately $162.4 million. While exiting the second quarter of 2026, A. O. Smith had 3.2 million shares remaining under its existing repurchase authorization. It is worth noting that, in January 2026, the company’s board boosted the buyback program by another 5 million shares. For 2026, AOS expects to repurchase shares worth approximately $300 million.

Zacks Rank & Price PerformanceA. O. Smith currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The company is benefiting from higher demand for water treatment and residential boilers within the North America segment. However, it is witnessing softness in the Rest of the World segment due to lower volumes of residential water treatment and water heater products in China.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In the past month, the company’s shares gained 1.2% compared with the industry’s 8.5% growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AOS’ 2026 earnings has been stable over the past 60 days at $3.74 per share.

3 Promising StocksSome better-ranked stocks from the same space are discussed below.

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT - Free Report) currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

AIT delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.3%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Applied Industrial’s fiscal 2027 (ending June 2027) earnings has increased 0.5%.

Emerson Electric Co. (EMR - Free Report) currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. EMR delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 1.3%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Emerson’s fiscal 2026 (ending September 2026) earnings has increased 0.2%.

Eaton Corporation plc (ETN - Free Report) currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. Eaton delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 1.3%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ETN’s 2026 earnings has increased 0.6%.

Dell shares plummeted 11% on Wednesday and dragged down other data center equipment names on mounting concerns that enterprise spending on artificial intelligence won't justify the AI buildout.

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Oracle and Super Micro all joined in the downward slide.

In a report to clients on Wednesday, analysts at Barclays downgraded its rating on Dell, HPE and NetApp, "after a significant run and on enterprise AI timing."

Makers of data center servers and other backend equipment have been favored on Wall Street this year on optimism that they'll be selling huge volumes of gear tied to demand for AI chips and systems for years into the future. Dell has been one of the top performers on the market, up more than 300% this year, while HPE has jumped about 160% and NetApp has doubled.

However, sentiment toward the AI infrastructure space has shifted of late due in part to concerning revenue figures out of OpenAI and more broadly out of fear that rising interest rates will create a challenging environment as so much of the buildout is reliant on debt. Oracle, a heavy borrower, dropped 9% on Wednesday and is now down 33% for the year while neocloud CoreWeave plunged 15%, wiping out its gains for 2026.

The Barclays analysts said they haven't seen a "meaningful AI inflection" when it comes to enterprise spending for Dell, HPE and NetApp, lowering the rating on each to the equivalent of a hold from buy. They instead attribute increased revenue to the global memory shortage and noted that infrastructure companies have passed the higher price of memory along to customers.

"There is growing sentiment about enterprise AI adoption creating a hardware refresh," the Barclays analysts wrote, adding that businesses are typically allocating just 5% of their IT budgets to AI. "We believe the strong enterprise revenues are more of a function of memory costs than a move to enterprise AI at this time."

The Barclays analysts also found that only about a quarter of total enterprise AI spend is going towards hardware. They said normalizing and eventually declining memory prices could weigh on infrastructure-related revenue.

Memory is a notoriously cyclical business, and stocks were hit this week after China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, reported progress over the weekend on a new chip structure. Micron is down 11% for the week, while South Korea's SK Hynix has tumbled 13% in U.S. trading and Western Digital has dropped more than 8%.

Quarterly revenue increased 30%, while free cash flow declined 35%.

Summary

NetApp’s storage growth must also produce stronger cash returns.

NetApp, the enterprise storage and data-management supplier NTAP, faces fresh scrutiny after a Barclays downgrade, with shares at $224.59, down approximately 6.0%, at 12:11:54 p.m. ET on October 14. According to Stocktwits, analyst Tim Long cut his rating to Equal Weight from Overweight and kept his $219 price target. That target sits below the trading price. The valuation graphic adds another pressure point: shares stand 65.27% above the $135.89 GF Value estimate, suggesting substantial growth expectations are already priced in.

The cash numbers deserve attention. NetApp reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $2.025 billion, up 30% from a year earlier, while free cash flow fell 35% to $401 million. That leaves free cash flow at roughly 19.8% of revenue. All-flash array sales jumped 47% to $1.3 billion, and GAAP operating margin reached 23.9%. Storage demand looks strong. But faster sales have yet to translate into stronger cash generation.

One weak cash-flow quarter does not prove the business is losing steam. Payment timing, working capital and capital spending can all change the picture. Still, a stock carrying this valuation premium has a higher bar to clear. The next test is straightforward: keep storage sales growing and turn more of that revenue into cash. An AI growth story becomes more convincing when it also produces the money to fund expansion and shareholder returns.

Disclosures
I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.

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As a result of the appeal, there is no immediate impact on the listing of RedCloud ordinary shares, which continue to trade in the normal manner on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “RCT”  | Source: RedCloud Holdings plc

LONDON, Oct. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RedCloud Holdings plc (Nasdaq: RCT) (“RedCloud” or the “Company”), which is building the AI prediction infrastructure for global FMCG trade, today announced that on October 13, 2026, it received a Staff Delisting Determination (the “Staff Determination”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), notifying the Company that Nasdaq has initiated the process of delisting the Company’s ordinary shares from the Nasdaq Capital Market as a result of the Company’s non-compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Price Rule”), which requires primary securities listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market to maintain a minimum bid price of at least $1.00 per share. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A) provides that a failure to meet the minimum bid price requirement exists if a deficiency under the Minimum Bid Price Rule continues for a period of consecutive 30 business days. The Company is not eligible for a second 180-day compliance period because it lacks the stockholders’ equity required to meet the initial listing standards.

The Company has appealed the Staff Determination by filing a request for an oral hearing before the Nasdaq Hearings Panel (the “Hearings Panel”). This request has stayed the suspension of trading or delisting of the Company’s securities pending the hearing and the Hearing Panel’s decision. In the meantime, the Company’s securities will continue to trade in the normal manner on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “RCT”.

The Company will submit to the Hearings Panel a written plan of compliance, including a commitment to effect a reverse stock split. As previously announced on October 6, 2026, the Company’s Board of Directors has convened a General Meeting scheduled for October 30, 2026 (the “General Meeting”). At the General Meeting, the Company will seek shareholder approval to effect a share consolidation. If approved by shareholders, the share consolidation is expected to be effective on or about November 13, 2026. Depending on the timing of the hearing before the Hearings Panel, the share consolidation may already be effective.

About RedCloud

RedCloud Holdings plc (Nasdaq: RCT) builds AI infrastructure for the prediction of FMCG trade. More than $8.4 billion of FMCG transactions have passed through its infrastructure between early 2023 and June 2026, across more than 100,000 customers and 6,700 brands. RedCloud uses this proprietary transaction data to develop RAID (Real-time AI for Distribution), its prediction model for distribution, and deploys its infrastructure and associated products (“RedAI”) either directly or through joint ventures with partners who fund and operate local markets.

RedCloud is a British company registered in London. Justin Floyd is its Founder and Chief Executive Officer. For more information, please visit www.redcloudtechnology.com and connect on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected general meeting of shareholders. Words such as “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “forecast,” “target,” “predict,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “could,” and “will,” the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, including, but not limited to, the granting of the Company’s request a hearing before the Hearings Panel and, the outcome of the General Meeting. As a result, actual results could differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements described in “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 3. Key Information – D. Risk Factors” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” in RedCloud’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the Company’s periodic reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. RedCloud undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

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Apia, Samoa, October 14, 2026 – The crypto market saw a notable rally in the just-concluded third quarter. It was also the quarter in which HTX turned 13. Over the past 13 years, the industry has weathered multiple bull and bear cycles, and HTX has stood alongside users worldwide throughout them. Resilience in navigating market cycles has been a defining characteristic of HTX over the past 13 years.

To mark its anniversary themed “Resilience Reveals the Future”, HTX launched the 13th-Anniversary Carnival and Trading Championship #3, among other celebratory events, in the third quarter, celebrating alongside users worldwide. Meanwhile, the platform continued to invest in TradFi, trending assets, yield products, and global compliance, delivering an outstanding quarterly performance report.

13th-Anniversary Celebrations Conclude, with Participation from Users Worldwide

On August 13, HTX kicked off its 13th-anniversary celebrations with the Anniversary Carnival. Its spot, futures, Earn and lending businesses rolled out exclusive anniversary promotions in succession, launching a celebration that lasted more than a month.

The annual trading competition Trading Championship #3 was the centerpiece of the anniversary celebrations. It attracted 45,000 registrations and generated 6.8 billion USDT in futures trading volume, making it the platform’s largest campaign of the quarter by both participation and trading volume. Meanwhile, HTX futures copy trading volume grew 21% quarter over quarter.

For spot trading, a series of 13th-anniversary campaigns, including the Individual Challenge, Trending Cryptos Margin Trading Carnival, and Points Tasks, played a key role in driving spot trading growth during the quarter. Over the three-month period, HTX launched 14 themed spot trading campaigns, attracting more than 46,000 registrations and generating over 500 million USDT in trading volume across the campaigns.

For 13 years, HTX and users worldwide have navigated one market cycle after another together. The anniversary celebrations were both a gesture of appreciation for users’ long-term support and a reflection of HTX’s determination to carry its resilience into the next 13 years.

TradFi Asset Offerings Expand as Quarterly Trading Volume More Than Doubles

In the third quarter, HTX listed 183 new futures assets, including 154 stocks and index-related assets. As of now, the platform offers 278 tradable stock assets, spanning US stocks, major global indices and ETFs, pre-IPO unicorns, and leading companies in Japan and South Korea, continuing to lead the industry in multi-market stock asset coverage.

HTX’s asset lineup focuses on four key sectors: AI hardware and semiconductor computing power, global e-commerce and internet companies, leading Asia-Pacific companies and major indices, and high-dividend blue-chip stocks. AI and semiconductor computing, leading Asia-Pacific companies, and pre-IPO unicorns were key themes throughout the quarter. Popular assets such as POLYMARKET, OURA and MOONSHOT were also listed. Eligible users can access global market opportunities through HTX without switching between platforms. This service is not available in jurisdictions subject to regulatory restrictions.

The expanded asset lineup drove rapid growth in trading volume. So far the cumulative TradFi trading volume on HTX has approached $6 billion, with $4.1 billion generated in the third quarter alone, more than doubling the cumulative total from the previous quarter.

The trading experience was upgraded alongside these developments. Stock perpetual futures feature a dividend settlement mechanism, allowing position values to adjust more continuously when an underlying stock goes ex-dividend and reducing the impact of non-trading-related price adjustments on users’ positions. TradFi asset detail pages include market data, news updates, and company profile, bringing key information together in one place. Dedicated categories for stocks, commodities and ETFs have also been added to market rankings, making it easier for users to discover assets. HTX has also upgraded its TradFi trading fee structure, bringing its net trading fees into the industry’s top tier.

HTX is also taking a longer-term view of the convergence of traditional finance and crypto markets. As real-world assets (RWAs), particularly tokenized stocks, become an increasingly important area of development in the global digital asset industry, the platform is monitoring regulatory developments and exploring regulatory frameworks and compliance pathways in preparation for future product innovation. All related products and services offered by the platform operate within the framework of applicable laws and regulations, and access restrictions are applied to users in certain jurisdictions as required.

Trending Assets Emerge as Earn and Lending Products Put Funds to Work Efficiently

In the third quarter, HTX listed new projects attracting strong market interest, several of which were first listed on the platform. Niulai was the quarter’s top-performing newly listed token, recording a peak gain of more than 500%. DOS and STONK each recorded peak gains of 240% after listing.

Earn and lending products expanded alongside new asset listings. During the quarter, HTX Earn changed the launch schedule for its new-token products from weekly updates to real-time synchronization with new listings, allowing users to access corresponding Earn products as soon as eligible popular tokens become available. Nearly 500,000 users participated in HTX Earn during the quarter, with subscription amounts totaling nearly 1 billion USDT. SVIP Flexible Earn products added BTC and ETH, expanding the options available to users with large holdings. In addition, SmartEarn introduced a trading-linked APY boost, offering a base APY of 4% upon activation and up to 9% APY for users who meet the required trading volume threshold. This further expands the yield potential for idle assets.

Margin and Convert features added 21 tradable assets, with XAUT becoming the first precious metal asset available through Convert. This further expanded the range of assets available for trading, borrowing and use as collateral. Loan interest rates are adjusted frequently in response to market conditions across more than 50 cryptocurrencies. Interest rates for large loans remain among the lower levels in the industry.

Risk management tools were also upgraded. Trailing stop orders and MMR TP/SL orders were launched successively. Stop-loss levels can automatically track market movements, giving users with large positions and high leverage greater flexibility in managing risk.

Advancing Global Compliance and Making a Major Brand Appearance at TOKEN2049

Compliance is a prerequisite for global expansion. In the third quarter, HTX made further progress on compliance initiatives in several key markets. In Dubai, the establishment of the relevant applicant entity received preliminary approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), with subsequent regulatory applications and compliance reviews proceeding as planned. In Pakistan, following the formal publication of virtual asset service regulations and the launch of a licensing application process, HTX continued to advance the establishment of its local entity, its formal license application, and the development of its compliance framework, building on the No Objection Certificate (NoC) already obtained from the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA).

HTX continued to strengthen its presence in regional markets. In August, HTX Ventures participated in Conviction Vietnam, building connections with local users and Web3 ecosystem partners. As the fourth quarter began, HTX appeared at TOKEN2049, a major annual gathering for the global crypto industry. Held in Singapore from October 7–8, the event brought together projects, investment firms, developers, and industry builders from around the world. HTX Ventures exhibited at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, engaging invited guests through brand displays and on-site interactions. Justin Sun, adviser to HTX and a core supporter of HTX DAO, attended related events and delivered a speech. He visited the HTX Ventures booth to meet with the team and other industry participants.

At Future Night, a private, invitation-only event hosted by HTX DAO during the same period, Justin Sun shared his views on industry trends via video. He noted that the crypto industry is becoming more closely connected with traditional finance. AI is changing how wealth is created, while crypto and digital finance are transforming how wealth is held and transferred. He also said that stablecoins could play a greater role in global payments and settlement, while the on-chain adoption of traditional assets such as bonds, funds and gold is likely to continue developing. The free flow of value in the digital world, he said, will be an important trend to watch over the next decade.

During the event, HTX DAO also hosted a private VIP dinner. Justin Sun met face to face with industry representatives, ecosystem contributors, and partners to exchange views on industry developments, market changes, product experiences, and future collaboration.

HTX DAO Ecosystem Expands as Q3 $HTX Burn Approaches

HTX DAO continued to support the long-term value of $HTX in the third quarter by steadily implementing its deflationary mechanism through quarterly token burns, while expanding $HTX use cases and building consensus among developers and the community. These efforts aim to lay a solid foundation for the ecosystem’s long-term development.

On July 15, HTX DAO completed its Q2 2026 $HTX token burn, valued at more than $13.6 million, bringing cumulative burns and donations to 117.79 trillion tokens. In line with its quarterly burn schedule, the Q3 $HTX token burn is scheduled to take place on October 15.

On the ecosystem front, HTX DAO focused on developers and the community. The Genesis Hackathon, co-hosted by HTX DAO and B.AI, attracted more than 200 developer teams exploring $HTX use cases, AI agent finance, on-chain asset management, and DAO tools. At Future Night, HTX DAO ambassador Molly shared that several projects developed by global university teams participating in the hackathon had advanced to further incubation stages and were exploring ways to integrate with use cases across the $HTX ecosystem.

Molly also shared that nearly 200 active volunteers were independently contributing to HTX DAO community development. In the fourth quarter, HTX DAO plans to develop regional community nodes to support members in organizing events and exchanging ideas.  She also noted that HTX, as an ecosystem participant, continues to optimize withdrawal fees, gather user feedback, and improve the app experience.

Navigating Market Cycles with Resilience, Shaping the Future Together with Users Worldwide

Thirteen years ago, HTX began as a digital asset trading platform. Today, it has grown into a comprehensive blockchain ecosystem serving users worldwide. Over the years, markets have experienced both highs and lows, and the industry landscape has evolved. Throughout these changes, HTX has remained committed to putting users first. Regardless of market conditions, improving its products and prioritizing the security of user assets remain among the platform’s top priorities.

Standing at the beginning of its 14th year, HTX will continue to navigate market cycles with resilience and build the future together with users worldwide.

About HTX

Founded in 2013, HTX has evolved from a virtual asset exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, derivatives, research, investments, incubation, and other businesses.

Guided by its vision to “Achieve Financial Freedom for 8 Billion People Worldwide,” HTX works to make the digital asset space more accessible to a broader audience. The platform continues to develop its products and services in response to user needs and an evolving industry landscape. 

To learn more about HTX, please visit https://www.htx.net.in/ or HTX Square , and follow HTX on X, Telegram, and Discord. For further inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Strive, a Nasdaq-listed company specializing in corporate treasury management, has boosted its Bitcoin holdings with a new purchase of 2,822 BTC worth approximately $235 million. The acquisition, disclosed by CEO Matt Cole, took place between October 12 and October 13 at an average price of $83,266 per bitcoin.

Record-breaking Bitcoin reservesThis latest buy raised Strive’s total corporate Bitcoin stockpile to 35,595 BTC. With this figure, Strive overtook MARA Holdings, whose holdings stood at 35,577 BTC, securing fourth place among publicly listed companies with the largest Bitcoin reserves. The top three positions remain with Strategy (848,250 BTC), Metaplanet (44,000 BTC), and Twenty One Capital (43,514 BTC).

Just days before, Strive had completed another significant purchase, adding 3,311 BTC at an average price of $84,500, amounting to roughly $280 million. This prior acquisition raised the company’s reserves from 29,462 to 32,773 BTC.

Strive now holds 35,595 BTC in its treasury, topping MARA Holdings by 18 BTC and reaffirming its ongoing commitment to expand corporate crypto reserves.

In total, Strive acquired 6,133 BTC over the two most recent transactions, a combined outlay of around $515 million. The acquisitions, though occurring at different times, were announced on consecutive days, reflecting an 8.6% increase in Strive’s reserves.

Expansion of crypto treasuryEarlier in the year, Strive expanded its cryptocurrency assets by acquiring Semler Scientific. This move added approximately 5,048 BTC to Strive’s reserves. With the latest Bitcoin purchases, Strive’s treasury management strategy appears focused on maintaining long-term exposure to leading digital assets.

Strive’s corporate Bitcoin reserves now stand just ahead of MARA Holdings, but well below the leaders in this space.

CompanyBitcoin Holdings (BTC)Strategy848,250Metaplanet44,000Twenty One Capital43,514Strive35,595MARA Holdings35,577CEO Matt Cole previously mentioned the possibility for Strive to move up to the second position by year-end, but noted this was not his base-case expectation in September.

Financing and capital structureAlongside the new Bitcoin acquisition, Strive announced the exercise of 13,674,703 Class A common share warrants, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $369.2 million. The exercise took place on October 12 and 13, with no outstanding traditional warrants remaining from the company’s latest private investment round.

The company noted that warrants allow the purchase of shares at predetermined prices, generating immediate cash inflow but also increasing the total number of shares in circulation.

Mini dictionary: Warrants are financial instruments that give holders the right, but not the obligation, to purchase company stock at a fixed price by a certain date. Companies often use warrants to raise capital and incentivize investors.

Strive has not disclosed what portion of the new proceeds funded the most recent Bitcoin acquisition, but maintains multiple financing channels including preferred stock and other equity offerings for its treasury operations.

Despite the aggressive accumulation, Strive’s shares came under pressure prior to the announcement. ASST stock closed at $27.59 on October 13, reflecting a decrease of 0.43%. The downward trend continued into pre-market trading on October 14, although there were no remarkable market reactions following the SEC filing.

Market performance and outlookFor the longer term, ASST stock has posted a strong performance, gaining approximately 87% year-to-date and more than 120% over the past three months, according to MarketBeat data.

Future Bitcoin acquisitions by Strive will depend on the company’s ongoing capital allocation strategies. Management has reaffirmed its approach of pairing treasury expansion with new financing options.

With continued BTC purchases and new capital inflows, Strive aims to remain a key player in the corporate crypto treasury sector while adapting its strategy to market dynamics.

MEXC CEO Vugar Usi Zade believes that Bitcoin is emerging from its bearish phase into a sustainable bull cycle, driven by growing institutional confidence and adoption. 

The current market, according to Zade,  differs greatly from the previous speculative cycles, with institutional adoption reinforcing Bitcoin’s foundation. He told AMBCrypto, 

The cryptocurrency market has entered a sustainable bull trend, fundamentally different from the speculative cycles of previous years.

So, Bitcoin’s price is gradually transitioning out of its bearish cycle.

Besides, he noted BTC reporting a 32% price recovery over the last 90 days, despite sitting below its $126,000 all-time high reached on October 6, 2025. 

According to Zade, Bitcoin could eventually reach $176,000, provided institutional demand remains elevated and wider economic conditions improve.

Bitcoin whales accumulate as exchange outflows deepen  Bitcoin’s large holders continued moving considerable amounts of BTC, supporting the accumulation story highlighted by Zade.

In particular, Lookonchain reported on  an X post that five new wallets received 1,162 BTC, worth roughly $96.77 million, from Wintermute within 12 hours.

Adding to the accumulation narrative, Bitcoin had recorded $116.14 million in weekly Spot net outflows at press time, reflecting more withdrawals than deposits across exchange platforms.

The  weekly outflows implied reducing exchange-held supply, potentially limiting the amount of Bitcoin readily available for selling.

These developments notably echoed Zade’s remarks that larger investors were greatly in favor of long-term accumulation. He noted, 

Furthermore, large Bitcoin holders have stopped selling, and coins are now flowing en masse into long-term accumulation wallets.

Source: Bitcoin Spot Netflows on CoinGlass ETF inflows surge as corporate Bitcoin holdings grow  Aside from the accumulation narrative, participation around institutions also remained elevated across Bitcoin investment products. 

Particularly,  Bitcoin’s Spot ETFs recorded $175.69 million in daily net inflows at reporting time. The cumulative ETF net inflows hit $57.68 billion, while the total ETF assets stood at $109.03 billion.

Additionally, the daily ETF trading volume had reached $2.36 billion, suggesting improved activity across the regulated investment products.

Also noteworthy, the corporate accumulation remained significant, with 60 publicly traded companies collectively holding 1.27 million BTC, valued nearly $105.53 billion.

The most recent weekly accumulation totaled 3,341.07 BTC, worth approximately $288.94 million .

Notably, these developments correlated with Zade’s comments that institutional market players  were becoming majorly influential in Bitcoin’s market structure.

Besides, the executive also identified $80,000 as a crucial institutional cost basis, arguing that established investors had reinforced that level as Bitcoin’s underlying support.

Source: BTC Public Companies Holdings on CoinGlass Final Summary MEXC CEO Vugar Usi Zade says Bitcoin has entered a sustainable bull cycle, with institutional adoption driving the shift. 

Five new wallets received 1,162 BTC from Wintermute, Spot ETFs pulled in $175.69M in a day, and 60 public companies now hold 1.27 million BTC.

BlackRock's Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH) ETFs took in $7.9B in Q3 2026, lifting digital asset AUM 63% to $79.6B as firm-wide AUM reached $15.5T.

@BlackRock's digital asset funds returned to net inflows in the third quarter, reversing the outflows seen earlier in 2026. The asset manager took in $7.9 billion for its Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH) ETFs, after about $2.2 billion left in the first half of the year.

Rising prices did most of the work. Market gains added another $22.9 billion, lifting digital asset assets under management (AUM) 63% to $79.6 billion from $48.8 billion at the end of June, according to CoinDesk.

Crypto rebound still short of the 2025 peakDespite the quarterly jump, BlackRock's crypto holdings remain 23% below year-ago levels. CoinDesk reported that investors added $6.3 billion over the past 12 months, but the decline in asset values outweighed those contributions. The firm's digital asset AUM peaked at around $104 billion in September 2025.

The category is driven mainly by two products: the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), Crypto Briefing reported. The same report said the $7.9 billion was the strongest quarterly inflow figure since the third quarter of 2025, and that Bitcoin rose more than 42% over the quarter.

Firm-wide inflows reach $205 billionAcross the group, BlackRock drew $205 billion in net inflows in the third quarter, with total AUM reaching $15.5 trillion, according to the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings release. The release put iShares ETF net inflows at $135 billion and active net inflows at $66 billion. Revenue rose 19% year over year.

Digital assets remain a small part of the overall business. They contributed about $8 billion of the $135 billion in ETF flows, according to Crypto Briefing. Still, the third-quarter figures show institutional demand for regulated Bitcoin and Ether exposure returning as crypto prices recovered from the first-half slump.

Sources:

CoinDesk: BlackRock's crypto ETF assets surge 63% but remain far below 2025 peak
BlackRock: Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Release
Crypto Briefing: BlackRock's crypto ETF assets jump 63% to roughly $80 billion in Q3

DriveWealth, a global Brokerage-as-a-Service platform, is integrating Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure to modernize funding, settlement and institutional digital assets custody across global financial markets.

The partnership will initially introduce Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin settlement on the XRP Ledger in Europe, with plans to expand into the U.S.

Additionally, the companies are exploring equity financing opportunities through Ripple Prime’s Delta One business.

The integration will allow DriveWealth clients to fund collateral accounts using stablecoins that convert into cash in near real time, reducing reliance on traditional bank wires.

“We’ve already enabled 24/5 trading; now we need the funding to match,” said DriveWealth CEO Naureen Hassan.

Ripple SVP of Stablecoins Jack McDonald said the partnership extends beyond cross-border settlement to modernize trading, custody and financial infrastructure.

Evernorth To Deploy 473 Million XRP TreasuryNasdaq-listed Evernorth Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:XRPN) announced Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and BitGo as its inaugural institutional execution partners.

The company plans to begin deploying its 473 million XRP treasury in Q4 of 2026, shifting from passive holdings toward institutional strategies designed to generate earnings and increase XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) per share.

"We’re putting our treasury to work," said Evernorth founder and CEO Asheesh Birla.

Evernorth will initially deploy capital through established institutional counterparties before expanding into DeFi strategies as XRPL’s native lending and on-chain credit infrastructure matures.

Image: Shutterstock

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The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a leading post-trade financial services provider processing $4.7 quadrillion in securities transactions in 2025 and holding $114 trillion in custody, is advancing its tokenization initiative. The DTCC is collaborating with a consortium of more than 80 firms to develop a comprehensive tokenization service, aiming to modernize securities settlement at scale.

Key integration points: Ripple Prime, Securrency, Fireblocks, and SecuritizeCrypto researcher SMQKE identified four direct connections linking the XRP Ledger to the DTCC’s infrastructure. Each connection is enabled by a firm that already maintains an active relationship within the DTCC environment, facilitating the potential for XRP utilization across settlement and asset servicing operations.

The first path involves Ripple Prime, the institutional prime brokerage arm formed by Ripple following its acquisition of Hidden Road. Ripple combined Hidden Road with its own licensing framework to launch Ripple Prime, granting institutional clients in the United States the ability to trade XRP and RLUSD directly through the platform.

Ripple Prime stands as an official member of the DTCC’s tokenization working group, further integrating XRP into the industry’s evolving settlement infrastructure.

Secondly, the DTCC acquired Securrency, a blockchain technology specialist, and rebranded it as DTCC Digital Assets. Securrency’s protocol supports multiple distributed ledgers, including Ethereum, Stellar, and Ripple, allowing the DTCC to directly deploy solutions compatible with the XRP Ledger under its full control.

Mini dictionary: DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) is the world’s largest clearing and settlement service for securities, providing infrastructure for US and global financial markets.

The third integration comes from Fireblocks, a digital asset custody network that forms part of the DTCC industry working group. Research from FXC Intelligence shows the Fireblocks platform supports custody and transfer services for assets on the XRP Ledger. Through Fireblocks, institutional movement and storage of XRP-linked assets become more accessible for DTCC group participants.

Securitize, the fourth connection, has played an active role by integrating RLUSD, a Ripple-issued stablecoin, into its platform. In early June, Securitize Fund Services became the official DTCC participant listed under the Securitize name, expanding support for tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger within the DTCC framework.

DTCC’s tokenization strategy and XRP Ledger’s roleThese four avenues highlight the growing interconnectivity between the DTCC and XRP Ledger technology. Ripple Prime enables direct use of XRP for institutional clients within the DTCC working group. DTCC Digital Assets holds a protocol designed to run on XRP Ledger. Fireblocks provides custody solutions compatible with XRP. Securitize offers RLUSD integration and aligns with the XRP Ledger while operating as an official DTCC participant.

This multifaceted integration positions the XRP Ledger as a viable foundation for the DTCC’s tokenization platform, giving XRP multiple entry points for future settlement, asset issuance, and management in the financial market ecosystem.

CompanyRoleXRP Ledger ConnectionDTCC StatusRipple PrimePrime brokerageXRP/RLUSD access, institutional tradingIndustry working group memberDTCC Digital Assets (Securrency)Blockchain divisionDirect support for XRP LedgerInternal DTCC divisionFireblocksCustody networkXRP Ledger compatibleIndustry working group memberSecuritizeTokenization and fund servicesRLUSD, XRP Ledger integrationOfficial DTCC participant The convergence of Ripple Prime, DTCC Digital Assets, Fireblocks, and Securitize inside the DTCC infrastructure establishes four operational pathways for XRP adoption across US financial markets.

As the DTCC continues to advance its tokenization service, each of these firms enhances potential cross-compatibility and strengthens the overall connectivity between the XRP Ledger and the US securities infrastructure.

The recent crypto market movement appears to be triggering the awakening of dormant crypto assets, including Ethereum held for many years.

While the crypto market is currently showing mixed signals, a major move from an early Ethereum investor has drawn attention from the crypto community.

Ethereum OG may be taking profitBlockchain monitoring platform Lookonchain has shared data earlier today, revealing that an early Ethereum holder has been spotted moving 6,369 ETH, worth $15.95 million, to Kraken. 

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What makes the transaction more interesting is that the Ethereum holder had reportedly bought the asset at around $14 nine years ago.

While its recent Ethereum sales were valued at around $15.95 million, the investor's holdings have appreciated by about $15.86 million considering their cost value.

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While the price of Ethereum has accelerated massively over the years, the sale marks a substantial gain of about 17,786% in nine years.

Apparently, this means that the investor's initial capital has grown by nearly 179 times over the nine-year period, highlighting Ethereum's remarkable growth over the years.

Ethereum falls below $2,500Although the transaction has come at a time when Ethereum is facing downside pressure, trading below the key $2,500 mark, the Ethereum investor had still secured substantial profits due to the longevity of the asset.

Nonetheless, it is not certain whether the move could impact Ethereum's price potential, even though it could add to the supply of ETH available.

This presents a bearish outlook for the asset, especially at a time like this. However, it remains uncertain whether the investor was only redistributing their holdings or selling.

Ethereum holds the largest market cap in the tokenized ETF market, at $303 million, according to data shared on X.

The numbers behind Ethereum’s lead
Think of a tokenized ETF as a digital receipt for a share of a regular fund. The token lives on a blockchain, while the underlying asset sits with an issuer that backs it.

The practical upshot: you can hold and move fund exposure the way you’d move any crypto token, including outside normal market hours.

Ethereum’s dominance in this niche has been consistent, though not static. Research tracking the sector shows Ethereum commanded approximately 74% of the tokenized ETF market in May 2026, worth roughly $321 million.

By July, its share had slipped to about 62%, even as its value rose to approximately $326 million. In August 2026, Ethereum held 52.5% of the market, with a market cap of roughly $335 million.

The $303 million figure now attached to Ethereum sits below that August level. It still keeps the network in first place.

The total tokenized ETF market grew quickly over the same period. It stood at approximately $297.5 million at the end of Q1 2026 and reached $639 million by August 2026.

Ondo, BlackRock and the issuers doing the heavy lifting
Much of Ethereum’s position traces back to one issuer. Ondo Finance is the leading tokenized ETF issuer on Ethereum and accounts for a substantial portion of the network’s market share.

Ondo’s products are 1:1 backed tokenized ETFs and stocks that trade around the clock.

The research attributes much of the overall market’s growth to aggressive product deployment by issuers like Ondo.

BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have partnered to launch tokenized offerings in this space.

Rivals are gaining ground next door
Ethereum’s lead in tokenized ETFs specifically looks less commanding when you zoom out to the broader category of tokenized stocks and ETFs combined.

By early October 2026, that wider market had reached approximately $3.7 billion. BNB Chain led with roughly $1.1 billion, ahead of Ethereum at about $828 million and Solana at approximately $738 million.

Several tokenized stock products on Solana and BNB Chain threaten to erode Ethereum’s dominance in specific segments.

A rounding error next to traditional ETFs
The traditional ETF industry is valued at over $23 trillion. The entire tokenized ETF market represents roughly 0.003% of that.

What this means
For Ethereum, the takeaway is that first place is not the same as a moat. Its share fell from approximately 74% in May to 52.5% in August, a slide of more than 20 percentage points during a period of rapid market expansion.

The research suggests maintaining the lead may require continued adaptation and possibly new strategic partnerships to fend off BNB Chain and Solana.

Because Ondo Finance drives a large share of Ethereum’s tokenized ETF value, decisions about where Ondo and similar issuers deploy new products will shape the rankings.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Basic Attention Token [BAT] finally broke out of a multi-month descending channel, briefly clearing the $0.20 resistance.

At press time, the altcoin traded around $0.19, up 8.5% on the daily chart and 93% over the week. Trading Volume surged 120%, reflecting stronger market activity.

As BAT crossed $0.20, short sellers felt the squeeze, with over $1.2 million in short positions liquidated. However, the retreat below that level left buyers with another test: absorbing the tokens flowing onto exchanges.

What fueled BAT’s breakout?
Basic Attention Token experienced strong bullish pressure alongside growing interest in decentralized advertising models.

According to CoinMENA, BAT saw increased demand as capital rotated toward altcoins associated with real-world adoption. That growing interest was especially visible in the derivatives market.

CoinGlass data showed Open Interest surged 25% to an all-time high [ATH] of $59 million.

Source: CoinGlass
Meanwhile, Derivatives Volume climbed 340% to a record $632 million. Together, rising Open Interest and Trading Volume pointed to greater participation in BAT’s leveraged markets.

Source: CoinGlass
Futures Inflows reached $265.7 million, compared with $255.4 million in Outflows. Futures Netflows consequently rose 332% to roughly $10 million.

More capital entered tracked Futures venues than left, although these flows alone could not establish whether traders favored longs or shorts.

Could BAT exchange inflows slow the rally?
After the breakout, more BAT moved onto exchanges, potentially giving holders an opportunity to take profits.

On the 13th of October, Spot Netflows reached a record $2.5 million. At press time, the reading fell to $1.5 million but remained positive.

Source: CoinGlass
Positive Spot Netflows indicated that exchange inflows exceeded outflows. These deposits increased the supply available for selling, without confirming that holders had already sold.

For buyers, that creates a practical challenge. Sustaining the rally could require enough demand to absorb any selling from those deposits.

What’s next for BAT?
BAT’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) rose to 85, entering the overbought zone and reflecting strong recent buying momentum.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) also maintained an upward trajectory, supporting the bullish outlook.

Source: TradingView
Still, an elevated RSI leaves room for a pullback, even while momentum remains strong.

If buyers absorb profit-taking pressure and reclaim $0.20, Basic Attention Token [BAT] could target the $0.28 resistance. Conversely, sustained selling could undermine the breakout and bring the draft’s deeper downside level of $0.10 into focus.

Final Summary

BAT crypto gained 93% over the week, with record Open Interest accompanying its breakout above the descending channel.
Positive Spot Netflows raised selling risk, while reclaiming $0.20 could open a recovery path toward $0.28.

Shares of Constellation Energy (CEG -5.49%) jumped from $291.11 on Oct. 6 to $309.80 the same day following the announcement of its landmark 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and strategic collaboration with Alphabet.

There was plenty of enthusiasm for the $4.3 billion deal, which will add 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity through updates at 11 Constellation-owned nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

However, in the days since the announcement, Consellation stock is actually down more than 3%. The reason is that the energy stock is already trading at a high multiple relative to its peers, at more than 28 times trailing earnings and more than 23 times forward earnings.

Here are three reasons why Constellation is worth that lofty valuation after the Alphabet agreement.

Image source: Getty Images.

The deal provides cash flow security The deal locks in long-term demand over a 15- to 20-year horizon. It also has an additional 15-year agreement covering 2,700 megawatts from Constellation's existing nuclear fleet. Pairing the Alphabet announcement with a similar recent $3 billion, 20-year deal with Amazon establishes a predictable baseline of contracted cash flows.

This shields a significant portion of Constellation's nuclear fleet from merchant power price volatility and guarantees high-margin monetization for decades.

Instead of worrying about the typical construction delays, budget overruns, and regulatory hurdles connected with building nuclear plants from scratch, this deal focuses on uprates, which increase the maximum licensed electricity output of an existing, operational nuclear reactor. These include modernizing turbines, steam generators, and controls at existing facilities.

Just look at what happened with the last two new reactors, Georgia Power's Vogtle 3 and Vogtle 4 plants in Georgia, which cost more than $35 billion to build and took 15 years to build. Constellation is updating reactors already in place, a far more economical process, and expects to have the updates ready in 2028.

Analysts have an average price target of $341.53 for the stock, well above its current trading price.

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Constellation isn't really overpriced The stock is trading at lower valuations than its historical averages. That's because its shares have fallen more than 17% so far this year. It isn't fair to compare Constellation to other nuclear power stocks, as there isn't a direct comparison. Constellation operates the largest nuclear fleet in the U.S., about one-fifth of all nuclear capacity in this country.

Through six months, the company reported revenue of $18.6 billion, up 44.5%, year over year. Earnings per share were $5.88, an increase of 92.7% over the same six months a year ago. Those numbers show that the mystery isn't the company's valuation, but why it isn't even higher.

The company is a go-to for hyperscalers Its size and scope mean Constellation is best positioned to benefit from the growing need for stable power for data centers, as it can provide 22 gigawatts of carbon-free nuclear power, three times more than any other utility in the U.S.

Hyperscalers such as Alphabet require firm, 24/7 carbon-free power to fuel energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centers, making intermittent renewables insufficient on their own. This deal, alongside consecutive mega-deals from other tech giants, validates that nuclear operators possess irreplaceable pricing power. It also shows that tech companies are willing to heavily co-invest to secure reliable electricity.

Most of Constellation's nuclear assets are on the PJM Interconnection grid. PJM encompasses Northern Virginia and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic regions, with the highest density of data center infrastructure in the world.

Individual hyperscalers are asking for multi-gigawatt commitments. Constellation is one of the only energy providers in the country with a large enough portfolio to handle multiple GW-scale agreements without exhausting its asset base.

Worth it, despite some risks There are legitimate reasons that Constellation isn't trading higher. It's important to note that revenue from these uprates won't begin until 2028, leaving the stock vulnerable to a broader tech sector sell-off, especially if artificial intelligence (AI) spending cools.

However, these deals also de-risk the company's investments in expanding its nuclear capacity. Constellation shouldn't be viewed as another boring utility stock but as a prime enabler of infrastructure for AI data centers. It expects more than 20% EPS growth through 2029, and based on its first-half earnings, is delivering on that forecast.

Japanese Yen Outlook: Intervention Risk Limits Dollar Upside
MUFG sees Japanese intervention risk limiting the US Dollar against the Yen, even as firmer US inflation puts renewed pressure on the exchange rate.
Japan's resistance to a weaker Yen faces a fresh test after US inflation exceeded expectations, but MUFG doubts the Dollar can sustain a move above ¥160.

The bank's near-term USD/JPY range of 156-160 allows for renewed Dollar strength while recognising the risk that a further depreciation would draw a response from Japanese authorities.

Latest-Exchange Rates:

Dollar to Yen (USD/JPY): 158.3426 (+0.01%)

Euro to Dollar (EUR/USD): 1.115517 (-0.41%)

Pound to Dollar (GBP/USD): 1.31884 (-0.52%)

Wednesday's US consumer-price release showed core inflation rising 0.3% in September, against the 0.2% consensus cited by MUFG before the figures.

That outcome strengthens the immediate test of its range, without establishing that intervention is imminent or that the Federal Reserve will raise rates in October.

MUFG's Tokyo head of global markets research, Teppei Ino, had identified a renewed October rate-hike debate as a potential trigger for a break above the pair's 200-day moving average.

"We expect broad dollar strength would likely push the USD/JPY above its closely watched 200-day moving average if the CPI and Chair Warsh's speech instead trigger a sharp reversal in expectations and markets once again come to expect an October hike."

The moving average was around 158.50 when the bank made that assessment.

Why Japan's warning matters at 160
Ino says: "Even then, a break above 160 is likely to prove difficult."

Ino was referring to Katayama's interviews earlier in October:

"In interviews with several media outlets last weekend, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said that USD/JPY levels above 160 ahead of the coordinated intervention at the end of July represented an extremely weak yen."

"With President Donald Trump also expressing concern about yen undervaluation, her remarks could be read as signaling that the authorities would not tolerate a sustained rise in the USD/JPY above 160."

Official resistance changes the risks facing investors selling the Yen, because a currency-buying operation can force a rapid reversal even when US interest rates favour the Dollar.

The number is nevertheless MUFG's interpretation of officials' tolerance, rather than an announced exchange-rate ceiling.

Japan's fiscal message also matters to that assessment.

Ino says: "Katayama subsequently said the government would seek to fund measures including the consumption tax cut without relying on deficit-financing bonds, through a thorough review of special tax measures, government funds and other spending, and that this would be reflected in the FY27 budget process."

He adds: "Prime Minister Takaichi also said fiscal policy would be managed while closely monitoring its impact on interest rates, exchange rates and other developments, signaling an intention to maintain confidence in the yen."

"Katayama has also stressed the importance of consistent government messaging and maintaining market confidence in relation to the Takaichi administration's economic and fiscal policies, which Treasury Secretary Bessent has cited as a factor behind yen weakness."

Ino nevertheless doubts that a consistent government message alone will trigger outright Yen buying.

Japanese rates offer a separate source of support
MUFG also sees expectations of further Bank of Japan tightening helping the currency, following the central bank's September rate increase.

Its senior currency analyst Lee Hardman says: "In the current environment of broad-based US dollar strength, we expect the yen to continue to perform better against non-US dollar crosses."

That is a more limited claim than an immediate fall in USD/JPY.

The Yen can strengthen against European currencies while making little progress against a Dollar supported by higher US yields.

Exchange Rates UK's coverage of Japanese investors' persistent overseas buying identified another obstacle to a sustained recovery: higher domestic rates have yet to produce a decisive shift away from foreign assets.

Nor does MUFG assume that every US rate increase reflected in markets will ultimately be delivered.

Before Wednesday's inflation release, its research head Derek Halpenny said: "Still, we remain sceptical that inflation pressures will continue to build and while we expect the Fed to hike again in December, we do not expect the Fed to deliver the two further rate hikes currently priced by the markets."

The firmer core CPI figure challenges that assessment at the margin, but it is one release and MUFG's argument concerned how far the full tightening cycle would extend.

The next domestic signal comes from Bank of Japan board member Junko Koeda, whose 15 October speech in Kumamoto is confirmed on the central bank's calendar.

Ino does not expect an explicit October hike signal from that appearance or the governor's post-G20 comments.

"Neither her remarks nor Governor Kazuo Ueda's press conference after the G20 is likely to signal a rate hike at this month's meeting. However, they should provide an opportunity to keep expectations of further rate hikes alive, lending support to the yen."

USD/JPY exchange rate FAQ
What range does MUFG expect for USD/JPY?

Its near-term assessment is 156-160, rather than a dated year-end target.

Does 160 guarantee Japanese intervention?

No. MUFG sees heightened resistance around that level, but officials have not announced a fixed ceiling.

What could help the Yen recover?

Further Japanese tightening and a reduction in expected US rate increases would improve its interest-rate position.

Stellar (XLM) declined by approximately 3.6% on October 14, trading near $0.184, as the token continued to struggle despite new partnerships and increasing institutional involvement in its blockchain. The drop extended recent losses, keeping Stellar below the $0.20 level even as industry initiatives signal a growing role for its infrastructure in global finance.

Institutional Expansion Meets Token Price WeaknessStellar’s ongoing efforts to modernize traditional finance have been highlighted by collaboration with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which processes infrastructure for trillions of dollars in traditional financial assets annually. In May, DTCC announced plans to connect its tokenization platform with the Stellar public blockchain, aiming to bring eligible assets onto Stellar’s network by the first half of 2027.

Assets under consideration include prominent US equities such as Russell 1000 stocks, major exchange-traded funds, and US Treasury securities. These plans, however, remain in development, and no such assets have yet been moved onto the Stellar blockchain.

DTCC custodianship covers more than $114 trillion in assets, illustrating the scale of the opportunity. While the announcement initially boosted optimism for Stellar, XLM’s price has since decoupled from the pace of institutional adoption.

XLM’s recent decline highlights a growing gap between advances in financial tokenization and the investment demand for its native cryptocurrency. The underlying infrastructure may attract institutional interest, but this does not guarantee increased market value for XLM itself.

One critical factor behind XLM’s price difficulties involves how the Stellar network operates. Institutional activity, such as securities or stablecoin transfers, does not require holding an equivalent amount of XLM, as the token’s primary role is to cover transaction fees and minimum balances.

MoneyGram Deepens Its Stellar PartnershipBeyond securities tokenization, Stellar’s institutional expansion is also evident through its partnership with MoneyGram. The payments company, along with the Stellar Development Foundation, has recently strengthened their alliance by rolling out stablecoin-powered services and digital-dollar solutions across Latin America.

MoneyGram’s extensive network now supports receiving, holding, and withdrawing funds using stablecoin integrations, making the transfer of digital assets easier for users in the region. Additionally, MoneyGram has joined Stellar’s ecosystem as a Tier 1 validator, joining other institutional nodes such as Figure Markets and Range. This move is expected to reinforce Stellar’s technological reliability and governance.

Despite these advances and a surge in tokenized real-world asset volumes, volatility in XLM persists. Analysts point out that the network’s evolution does not necessarily translate into direct purchasing demand for XLM, mirroring adoption trends throughout the crypto sector.

Meme Tokens and Market MonitoringDetailed observation of market cycles has become increasingly vital in the crypto sector, especially with the rising prominence of meme tokens. In this space, viral trends can rapidly catch fire, drawing millions of dollars of interest within a matter of days. Data from Fomo App pointed to the example of “Niu Lai,” where an initial purchase of just $99 ballooned to approximately $370,000. For participants, monitoring the timing, investor choices, and price movements is essential. Fomo App aggregates token discovery, social activity, investor rankings, and trade notifications in a unified platform, helping traders keep pace with the swift dynamics of meme coins and investor sentiment.

XLM Price Levels and Broader Macro TrendsBroader conditions in the cryptocurrency market have also weighed on XLM’s performance. Recent data shows Bitcoin’s dominance climbing toward 60%, with overall trading activity in altcoins diminishing, suggesting a shift toward larger, more established cryptocurrencies.

Macroeconomic concerns have added pressure. The US inflation rate rose to 3.7% in September, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve could maintain tighter financial conditions and reduce speculative inflows to digital assets.

Market participants are closely watching the $0.182 to $0.185 zone, historically a region where buyers have emerged. A conclusive move below this range could shift attention to the next psychological support near $0.18, while a sustained recovery above $0.19 would signal the first signs of stabilization. The $0.20 threshold remains a key marker following the recent selloff.

While institutional involvement with the Stellar blockchain is growing, wider adoption does not directly fuel sustained demand for XLM, especially as regulatory shifts, inflation, and competitive pressures continue to shape the market environment.

6 hours ago

StarkWare has opened OffMarket to the public, allowing users to trade on Polymarket without publicly linking their positions to existing accounts. The service has been in limited beta testing since August, leveraging zero-knowledge technology and sharing a privacy pool on Starknet. Current per-account deposit limits are set at 1,000 USDC, with adjustments planned based on demand. Prediction orders still execute on Polymarket with the same counterparties and at identical market prices. The service is non-custodial, with user keys remaining stored locally in users’ browsers. Additionally, Polymarket transaction records are public on Polygon, with positions, order sizes, and trading history all viewable. OffMarket still does not fully prevent others from inferring a trader’s identity through trade size or timing, as market quotes and executions themselves remain public. This product is not an official Polymarket offering, has no formal partnership or special access privileges, and is part of Polymarket’s Verified Builder Program, retaining its geographic restrictions including a ban on U.S. users. Independent compliance firm Financial Privacy Inc. holds the master viewing key for sanction screening and required disclosures under lawful requests. L2BEAT data shows that the shared privacy pool on Starknet currently holds approximately $1.5 million in total value across 17,000 deposits.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced that it has classified USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as an Important Electronic Money Token (EMT) under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. To date, 45 EMTs in the EU have completed notification under MiCA, with USDC being the first to be designated as an Important EMT. Starting November 12, 2026, USDC will be subject to dual supervision for Important EMTs under MiCA: direct regulatory responsibilities for own funds, asset reserves, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans will be transferred from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) to the EBA; ACPR will retain oversight of governance, qualifying holdings, suitability assessments, outsourcing, and conflicts of interest. USDC is issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS in the EU and Circle Internet Financial, LLC in the U.S. The EBA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New York State Department of Financial Services to facilitate cooperation and information exchange on cross-border stablecoin activities.

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