Pump.fun has launched Pump Bridge, making the new product the default route for crosschain trades in its app and replacing Relay, the provider it previously shared with rival social trading platform FOMO.
The company claims its new bridge delivers buys 2x faster, reduces transaction errors by 92%, and gives traders more tokens for their money. Pump.fun also says Pump Bridge currently charges no additional bridging fees.
The move follows months of user complaints about slow transactions, failed buys, and poor execution through Relay, according to Pump.fun co-founder Alon.
The platform launched cross-chain swaps in May 2026, entering the market later than competitors. It has now developed its own infrastructure to address the problems it identified.
Pump.fun Reports Faster Buys and Fewer Errors
Pump.fun compared both providers in a randomized test conducted through its app between September 28 and October 7. The test covered crosschain trades involving Robinhood, BNB Chain, Base, Arc, and Ink, with users assigned to different providers several times.
The company claims that Pump Bridge outperformed Relay across speed, reliability, and execution quality. According to the report, the fastest 10% of Pump Bridge buys landed in 1.23 seconds, compared with 2.75 seconds for Relay, while a typical Pump Bridge buy took 1.95 seconds versus almost 4 seconds for Relay.
Pump.fun says 90% of its trades landed before a typical Relay trade. Relay recorded an 11.2% error rate, compared with 0.9% for Pump Bridge, representing a roughly 92% reduction in errors, or about 12 times fewer errors. Pump.fun also says the gap between the spot price and the tokens traders actually received was approximately 17% smaller with Pump Bridge.
The company estimates that someone buying $500 worth of tokens 10 times daily would lose approximately $11,000 more over a year using Relay than Pump Bridge, based on the observed execution differences.
Pump.fun claims to have measured speed across 383,326 timed trades, errors across 416,669 trade outcomes, and execution quality across 35,333 completed $USDC buys under $500.
These figures come from Pump.fun's own testing. Independent verification would help establish whether the results hold across broader trading conditions.
Why Pump.fun Wants Its Own Infrastructure
Pump Bridge represents another step in Pump.fun's effort to control more of its trading stack. The platform launched on Solana in January 2024 with a focus on creating and trading memecoins. In May 2026, it expanded into crosschain swaps, allowing users to trade assets across ecosystems without manually bridging funds.
Earlier today, Pump.fun went further by introducing EVM limit orders, calling it the first time a social trading app has supported limit orders on EVM-based chains. In a post, Pump.fun co-founder Alon reiterated that the launchpad is “dedicated to giving you the best possible onchain trading experience, no matter what it takes.”
Building its own bridge gives Pump.fun greater control over transaction routing, execution quality, and future product improvements. It also reduces the platform's reliance on an external provider for a core part of the trading experience.
It is not the first time the memecoin launchpad has built out its own infrastructure. Pump.fun launched PumpSwap, its own automated market maker, in March 2025. Its launch brought token migrations and liquidity deployment in-house, reducing the platform's dependence on Raydium for that part of its ecosystem.
What This Means for Traders
For traders, fewer failed transactions and better execution could reduce the friction involved in buying assets across chains. However, the reported improvements still require independent validation, and the absence of additional bridging fees does not eliminate other trading costs or price slippage.
The competitive implications are more immediate. Pump.fun now directly controls a service that FOMO still obtains through Relay, giving it more freedom to optimize execution and introduce upgrades.
Pump.fun says it will continue working to reduce transaction times toward the fastest theoretical limit of approximately 1.1 seconds.
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Saudi Arabia-backed Gulf International Bank (UK) reveals multimillion-dollar investment in the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder.
As per a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 13F filing, Gulf International Bank (UK), based in London, reported having 19,842 shares of Strategy at the end of September.
As of the third quarter, Gulf International Bank's shares in Strategy were worth about $3.04 million, though the current market estimates the value to be around $2.9 million.
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This is not the first investment in Bitcoin by the bank. In fact, Gulf International Bank (UK) has had a Strategy holding since 2024.
In its recent filing, Gulf International Bank (UK) states that it did not adjust its Strategy holding in the third quarter of 2026.
Gulf International Bank's previous Bitcoin exposureGulf International Bank has experienced some drastic swings in terms of its Strategy holdings over the last two years.
The first Strategy holding the bank reported was in the second quarter of 2024. At the time, the bank held 1,285 shares of MicroStrategy worth about $1.77 million.
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However, that would have been 12,850 shares after MicroStrategy's 10-for-1 stock split in August 2024.
In June 2025, Gulf International Bank (UK) owned 12,774 shares in Strategy worth about $5.16 million.
This is the highest valuation for Gulf International Bank's Strategy holding at the end of a quarter that the bank has reported so far.
By the end of 2025, Gulf International Bank had 13,249 shares of Strategy, which were worth about $2.01 million.
In the first quarter of 2026, the bank significantly increased its Strategy holdings.
The bank added 6,958 shares, bringing the total Strategy holding to 20,207 shares. This was about a 53% increase in Strategy holdings.
However, in the second quarter, the bank sold off 365 shares, resulting in a Strategy holding of 19,842 shares. These shares were worth about $1.72 million by the end of June.
And as the recent filing indicates, the Strategy holding did not change in the third quarter in terms of shares.
Saudi Arabia's indirect Bitcoin exposureGulf International Bank is closely linked to the Saudi government.
The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), owns 97.2% of
So, in essence, this is indirect Bitcoin exposure that Gulf International Bank is getting through owning shares in Strategy, not direct Bitcoin.
Strategy's Executive Chairman Michael Saylor's firm is the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.
With its latest purchase (reported on Oct. 19), the company's cryptocurrency holdings are now 848,517 BTC.
Crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen assessed the current outlook for Bitcoin (BTC) price and warned investors about a key support zone. Cowen suggested that if Bitcoin continues to stay below the $83,000 level, the price could fall to the mid-$70,000s.
In his latest analysis published on his YouTube channel, Cowen drew attention to Bitcoin’s bull market support band, noting that a significant portion of other major financial assets have tested this region, but Bitcoin has not yet experienced a similar correction.
According to the analyst, the Nasdaq index retreated to a bull market support band, while the S&P 500 approached this area. The TOTAL2 and TOTAL3 indices, representing the cryptocurrency market excluding Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin, tested their 21-week exponential moving averages (EMA).
Cowen stated that Bitcoin’s relative resilience so far demonstrates its strength in the market, arguing that this also explains the rise in Bitcoin dominance. The analyst believes that expectations of tightening monetary policy could shift investors from altcoins to relatively lower-risk crypto assets like Bitcoin.
Critical Level for Bitcoin: $83,000 Cowen said that the technical outlook needs to be evaluated more carefully after Bitcoin fell back below $83,000.
According to the analyst, a daily close below Bitcoin’s 50-day moving average would be the first significant signal of a pullback towards the 21-week EMA.
Cowen stated that the support zone in question is between the beginning and the middle of $70,000, and offered the following assessment:
“If we lose the $83,000 level, the next significant stop will be the bull market support band. This corresponds to the early to mid-$70,000 range. Below that, a retest of the lows of the previous sideways movement range would come into play.”
The renowned analyst also stated that defending the bullish scenario would become difficult if Bitcoin were to close below $83,000 for a second week. He added that for buyers to regain strength following such a development, the bull market support band would need to be maintained.
Cowen Warns of False Price Rise Cowen also touched upon some past bear markets in the Bitcoin market, noting that peaks formed without strong enthusiasm can lead to different outcomes.
According to the analyst, such peaks are sometimes followed by shorter bear markets similar to the one in 2019, while other times longer periods of decline occur with upward movements that mislead investors.
Cowen, pointing to the fraudulent breakouts seen particularly in 2015 and 2022, argued that a similar risk should not be ignored in the current market.
On the other hand, the analyst stated that Bitcoin’s technical outlook is not entirely negative, but macroeconomic conditions are making the rise more difficult.
Cowen stated that a potential correction in the US stock market could also drag Bitcoin down, adding that price movements before and after the US midterm elections on November 3rd should be closely monitored.
*This is not investment advice.
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Chinese authorities are working to seize nearly 62,000 bitcoins — worth around $5 billion at today’s prices — linked to one of the country’s largest-ever fraud cases.
Prosecutors allege that Qian Zhimin, the alleged controller of Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, recruited associates to sell fake wealth management products nationwide from 2014 to 2017 without financial regulatory approval, promising guaranteed returns to investors, according to a report last week from Shanghai’s The Paper.
The scheme raised some RMB 40.3 billion ($2.8 billion). Qian allegedly used investors’ cash to pay off earlier participants — Ponzi-style — while channeling funds into the bitcoin holdings, property, cars, and jewelry. Little of the money went toward legitimate business operations.
In July 2017, as the scheme unraveled, Qian fled to the UK carrying computers holding the bitcoin wallets. British authorities later seized the crypto assets and other property, including roughly 61,900 BTC along with cash, jewelry, and other cryptocurrencies.
The case took a significant turn recently when the UK High Court ruled that Chinese law — not UK law — applies to ownership disputes over the seized bitcoin.
The coins have appreciated enormously since 2017, and the applicable law determines whether victims share in those gains. The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service says victims may recover losses through China’s compensation mechanism, but representatives from Fieldfisher law firm, acting for some victims, are considering an appeal. Further hearings will determine whether victims can prove their entitlement to the assets.
Meanwhile, the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin announced it accepted the prosecution’s application on September 28 to confiscate Qian’s illicit assets.
Victims can register to participate in asset recovery proceedings through a WeChat platform, with a six-month notice period before the formal trial begins.
China has some of the world’s strictest rules in regulating crypto. Its government banned digital asset trading and bitcoin mining back in 2021.
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
Chinese prosecutors have applied to seize roughly 61,896 Bitcoin and associated digital assets currently held by British authorities, linking them to a large-scale fundraising fraud.
The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court accepted the application in late September and issued a public notice in mid-October, opening a six-month window for victims and other interested parties to join the proceedings. After that period, the court is expected to hear the case.
The matter centers on Qian Zhimin (also known as Zhimin Qian or Yadi Zhang), who allegedly controlled Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology.
Between 2014 and 2017, the company marketed unlicensed wealth-management products across China, promising principal protection and high returns.
Prosecutors say the scheme collected more than 40.38 billion yuan from over 102,000 investors, yet most of the funds were not deployed in legitimate business activity.
Instead, money went toward earlier investor payouts, fictitious projects, Bitcoin purchases, real estate, vehicles, and jewelry. Investor losses are estimated at nearly 20 billion yuan.
Qian fled China in July 2017 carrying computers that held cryptocurrency wallets and eventually reached the United Kingdom.
British police later seized the assets, including the Bitcoin haul, substantial quantities of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin SV, millions of XRP tokens, tens of millions of Dogecoin (some of which UK authorities have already converted and placed in an interest-bearing account), plus cash in multiple currencies, jewelry, and investment holdings.
In the UK, Qian pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property and received an 11-year, 8-month prison sentence in November 2025.
A recent High Court ruling in London determined that Chinese law, rather than English law, governs victims’ substantive property claims to the seized Bitcoin.
The decision does not yet settle ultimate ownership or distribution; further hearings will examine the content of Chinese law.
Victims’ representatives have indicated they will seek to appeal.
Chinese prosecutors, for their part, argue the assets constitute illegal gains that should be recovered, with priority given to compensating victims before any residual amounts are confiscated.
This cross-border dispute unfolds against a wider shift in how governments treat Bitcoin.
In March 2025, the United States established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by executive order.
The reserve is capitalized exclusively with Bitcoin that has been finally forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings and is directed to be held rather than sold, treating the asset as a long-term national reserve akin to digital gold. On-chain tracking places U.S. government-controlled holdings near 328,000 BTC, the largest known sovereign position.
China already ranks second with an estimated 190,000 BTC derived primarily from earlier seizures, while the United Kingdom’s holdings of roughly 61,000 BTC place it third.Most large sovereign stacks still originate from law-enforcement actions rather than open-market purchases.
El Salvador remains a notable exception, having pursued deliberate accumulation and once making Bitcoin legal tender, though international lending conditions have complicated its strategy.
As Bitcoin’s fixed supply and global portability become clearer, additional countries may move from incidental holdings to formalized reserve policies in the coming years—whether by retaining seized coins, exploring budget-neutral acquisition methods, or studying the U.S. model. The outcome of the UK-China case could influence how states reconcile victim restitution with the strategic value of the assets themselves.
Gulf International Bank (UK), backed by Saudi Arabia and based in London, disclosed a significant investment in MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, according to its latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gulf International Bank reported ownership of 19,842 shares in MicroStrategy as of the third quarter, a position valued at approximately $2.9 million at current market prices.
MicroStrategy Exposure and Saudi ConnectionMicroStrategy, led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, is widely recognized for holding the largest corporate cache of Bitcoin, currently amounting to 848,517 BTC following its most recent purchase on October 19. By investing in MicroStrategy, Gulf International Bank indirectly obtains exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements through equity, rather than direct cryptocurrency ownership.
The investment links Saudi interests to the Bitcoin market, since the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, owns 97.2% of Gulf International Bank. As reported, this establishes an indirect channel through which Saudi funding gains exposure to the digital asset sector.
Investment Fluctuations Over TimeGulf International Bank’s involvement in MicroStrategy has seen considerable shifts over the past two years. The bank first reported holding MicroStrategy shares in the second quarter of 2024, initiating with 1,285 shares valued at about $1.77 million. After MicroStrategy executed a 10-for-1 stock split in August 2024, this stake translated into 12,850 shares.
By June 2025, the bank’s holding rose to 12,774 shares, reaching a valuation of $5.16 million—its highest reported quarterly stake in the company. At the end of 2025, Gulf International Bank expanded its position to 13,249 shares, valued at approximately $2.01 million. This pattern of increased investment marked an expanding exposure to MicroStrategy’s fortunes and, by extension, to Bitcoin’s price dynamics.
In the first quarter of 2026, Gulf International Bank made a substantial move, increasing its MicroStrategy holdings by 6,958 shares to reach 20,207 shares in total—a 53% increase within that period. However, the second quarter saw a trim of 365 shares, bringing the holding down to 19,842 shares, which were then worth about $1.72 million as of June.
Gulf International Bank (UK), having maintained its position through the third quarter, continues to align its portfolio with the digital asset market via substantial equity in MicroStrategy, strengthening its indirect Bitcoin exposure through this linkage.
The Broader Context: Monitoring Market MovementsAs institutional investors like Gulf International Bank navigate volatile asset classes, tracking technical patterns, timing, and portfolio adjustments has become essential. Market observers emphasize not only monitoring asset prices but also closely watching the strategies investors employ in selecting and timing their positions.
In the rapidly evolving meme token market, a viral trend can quickly attract millions of dollars in trading activity. For instance, Fomo App data highlights a recent trade in the “Niu Lai” token, which transformed a $99 investment into roughly $370,000—illustrating the speed at which these opportunities can develop. Being able to follow both price movements and the trading behaviors of leading investors is critical. Fomo App offers a unified platform where users can discover new tokens, receive real-time trade notifications, and view investor rankings, providing tools to track the dynamic meme token environment alongside investor activity.
While Gulf International Bank continues to hold its MicroStrategy shares, the decision to maintain rather than increase or decrease holdings in the third quarter reflects a measured approach amid shifting cryptocurrency market dynamics. The institution’s evolving portfolio aligns with broader trends of institutional engagement with digital assets through strategic equity positions.
Bitcoin approaches a decisive threshold as markets await new American inflation indicators. After several positive sessions, capital inflows into spot ETFs have sharply slowed, reducing support for prices. On Friday, PMI indices and household inflation forecasts could change investor expectations before the next Federal Reserve meeting. Maintaining the 80,000 dollar level will therefore also depend on these economic signals.
In Brief
Bitcoin defends the 80,000 dollars ahead of new American inflation data.
Net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs drop 95.6% between October 19 and 20.
Glassnode estimates the average cost basis of spot ETFs around 81,500 dollars.
The 85,000 to 87,500 dollar zone concentrates significant potential selling pressure.
Inflation figures and the Fed decision could determine the next market direction.
Bitcoin Defends 80,000 Dollars Against Institutional Acquisition Costs
The price of bitcoin moves around 80,000 dollars, a level that draws institutional investors’ attention. According to the Glassnode report published on October 21, this threshold approaches the average acquisition costs of several holder categories. American spot ETFs display an estimated cost basis of 81,500 dollars. Meanwhile, treasuries of companies followed by Glassnode hold their digital assets at an average cost close to 80,200 dollars.
The massive sell-off on October 15 brought the market near this reference zone. The price closed around 80,100 dollars after briefly falling below the ETFs’ estimated cost basis. This movement tested buyers’ ability to defend their positions. However, the market recovered to a level close to institutional acquisition costs, without confirming a lasting recovery.
Binance’s order book data provide another perspective on this battle. The main cluster of spot buy orders was concentrated around 80,000 dollars before the sharp drop. Selling pressure absorbed much of it, but new orders appeared on October 20. Their volume remains lower than before the drop, which limits the scope of this support.
It is also necessary to distinguish acquisition costs from orders displayed on platforms. An ETF’s cost basis corresponds to the average cost of its assets, while a company’s reflects its past purchases. However, orders in an order book can disappear at any moment. Maintaining the price above 80,000 dollars does not guarantee that buyers will sustainably defend this zone.
Bitcoin ETF Flows Slow Before Inflation Data
Capital inflows into American spot ETFs have sharply lost momentum. According to Farside Investors data, these products recorded 526.7 million dollars in net inflows on October 19. On the following day, inflows remained positive but dropped to only 23.2 million dollars. This decrease represents a 95.6% decline in one session and highlights the recent demand slowdown.
Over these two days, ETFs still attracted 549.9 million dollars in total. Thus, it is not an entirely negative trend, as both sessions recorded net inflows. However, this development shows new inflows are no longer growing at the same pace. For bitcoin, the question is now whether institutional buyers will continue to support prices despite this loss of momentum.
Glassnode also notes a decrease in activity over a longer period. The average trading volume on spot ETFs, calculated over 30 days, now represents less than a quarter of its level observed a year earlier. Corporate purchases of government bonds since June have remained below 10% of the peak reached in November 2024. These figures reflect a broader slowdown in some institutional investment activities.
This development occurs as several American economic indicators are due for release. On Thursday, an auction of inflation-linked Treasury securities, amounting to 26 billion dollars and maturing in five years, will assess demand for these bonds. On Friday, preliminary PMI indices and final inflation forecasts from the University of Michigan will complement available data. These events could shift rate expectations and influence flows into risky assets.
American Inflation Could Change Market Expectations
Recent inflation data show that price pressures remain significant. The consumer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in September. Moreover, the preliminary University of Michigan survey places one-year inflation expectations at 4.7%. Longer-term forecasts reach 3.5%, maintaining investors’ concerns regarding price trends.
Upcoming releases will verify whether these expectations evolve. Friday’s preliminary PMI indices, expected at 9:45 a.m., will provide indications on prices charged by companies. The final Michigan survey, scheduled at 10 a.m., will clarify household expectations. If these data exceed previous estimates, markets could anticipate more persistent inflationary pressures and reassess their monetary outlook.
The Federal Reserve’s policy is another key element in this sequence. In September, the American central bank set its target rate range between 3.75% and 4%. According to a Reuters survey, 94 out of 100 economists surveyed expect rates to hold at the October 28 meeting. Even without immediate changes, the new data could modify expectations about future decisions.
Bond yields and the dollar could then react to the releases. According to Glassnode, the two-year U.S. bond yield approached 4.8% on October 20, after rising by more than one percentage point since early 2026. High inflation numbers could intensify this pressure. Conversely, more moderate indicators could ease yields and provide a more favorable environment for risky assets.
Resistance and Support Levels Clarify Possible Scenarios
Above 80,000 dollars, several levels could slow price advances. Glassnode identifies an excess supply zone between 85,000 and 87,500 dollars. Investors who acquired their assets six to twelve months ago have an average price close to 86,700 dollars. Moreover, potential liquidations on futures markets concentrate between 85,000 and 87,000 dollars, reinforcing the importance of this zone.
With improved economic data, the market could attempt to reach this upper range. If Michigan inflation expectations remain stable or decrease and PMI price components retreat, yields could lose momentum. A drop in the two-year yield, accompanied by a stable or weakening dollar, would strengthen this scenario. Bitcoin could then test the 85,000 to 87,500 dollar zone, provided demand follows.
Crossing 87,500 dollars with higher volumes and repeated ETF inflows would be an additional signal. It would indicate buyers absorb some of the supply above institutional cost bases. However, a price increase alone would not confirm this move. Persistent inflows and bond market reactions would remain decisive factors.
Conversely, higher inflation expectations could strengthen selling pressure. If PMI prices rise, yields and the dollar increase, and bitcoin ETFs register net outflows, buyers could struggle more to defend the 80,000 dollar level. A close below this threshold would bring the liquidation zone near 79,600 dollars to the forefront. The market’s real average, estimated at 77,600 dollars, would then constitute another reference level.
The Fed Meeting Approaches Amid a Still Fragile Market
Market reactions will also depend on how economic data interrelate. A less well-received five-year TIPS auction could push real yields higher, even if inflation expectations remain stable. This is why the evolution of the five-year real yield and the equilibrium inflation rate deserve special attention. Their combination will help better understand investor reactions before Friday’s releases.
The scenario remains conditional, as some recent indicators have sent different signals. On October 15, a favorable producer price report coincided with a decline in the ten-year yield to 5.087%. The dollar also retreated after reaching an 18-month high. This episode reminds that positive economic data can quickly change expectations and influence financial conditions.
In the coming days, the market’s ability to maintain current levels will depend on several factors. More regular inflows into bitcoin ETFs, combined with lower yields, could facilitate a return to higher resistance levels. Conversely, persistent inflation and tightening financial conditions could weaken demand. The Fed meeting on October 28 will then shed new light on monetary perspectives.
Ultimately, Bitcoin remains close to the acquisition costs of several institutional investors, but this support is not enough to confirm a recovery. Friday’s inflation data will verify if demand can absorb supply between 85,000 and 87,500 dollars. If 80,000 dollars breaks, levels of 79,600 and then 77,600 dollars could regain prominence. The reaction of yields, the dollar, and ETFs will determine the next movement before the Fed decision.
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Ghiles A.
Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.
Bitcoin has fallen below $81,000 before recovering some ground, bringing $80,000 back into focus as Benjamin Cowen warns that a daily close below its 50-day moving average could send prices toward the bull market support band.
Summary
Bitcoin’s daily low fell below $81,000, with CoinGecko later recording a recovery toward $81,300. Cowen tied his downside warning to a daily close below the 50-day simple moving average. Mr. Wall Street said he has buy orders between $72,000 and $76,000. A Polymarket screenshot showed 3% odds of Bitcoin reaching $130,000 during 2026. CoinGecko showed Bitcoin fell to $80,989 after reaching $84,788 over the past 24 hours. BTC later recovered to $81,305, still down 3.5% on the day.
Bitcoin was then around 1.6% above $80,000, while its daily low was just $989 above that level.
Ether remained below $2,400 in CoinGecko’s separate snapshot. The provider recorded ETH at $2,380.48, down 4.4% over 24 hours, compared with Bitcoin’s smaller percentage decline. Both prices had recovered from the earlier figures accompanying the initial market update.
Bitcoin’s daily close is Cowen’s downside trigger In an Oct. 22 X post, Benjamin Cowen tied his warning to Bitcoin’s closing price relative to the 50-day simple moving average.
“Bitcoin getting a daily close below the 50D SMA likely sends it to the bull market support band.”
His accompanying chart showed Bitcoin near $81,098 while the daily candle was still trading. The post therefore described a possible next move from an unfinished session, without confirming a completed breakdown.
Cowen said Ethereum, Strategy shares, the Nasdaq and the TOTAL2 and TOTAL3 crypto market indexes were already at their respective bull market support bands. He grouped several markets into the same technical assessment but did not provide separate numerical targets for them.
Earlier in October, crypto.news previously reported analyst warnings around the $82,000–$82,500 region. Bitget Wallet research lead Lacie Zhang had warned that losing that area could accelerate a decline toward $80,000.
The Oct. 16 coverage placed Bitcoin’s 50-day moving average at $81,279 at that time. Its chart reading is a historical reference, separate from the average Cowen was watching six days later.
Mr. Wall Street keeps buy orders below the market A separate Oct. 22 post from the trader known as Mr. Wall Street described a more optimistic longer-term position despite the decline.
The trader said he was holding Bitcoin bought between $60,000 and $64,000 while describing the recent trading range as $80,000–$87,000. His stated purchase prices and holdings were self-reported.
He said he had buy orders between $72,000 and $76,000, conditional on the market reaching those levels. The post did not say that those orders had executed.
Using CoinGecko’s later $81,305.23 quote as the reference, the upper end of that buying range sat approximately 6.5% below the market. The lower end was around 11.4% below it.
Mr. Wall Street named $93,000 as his first upside target but gave no fixed date for reaching it. That target would require a gain of approximately 14.4% from the same reference price.
#BTC:
I am holding all the Bitcoin I bought at 60-64k while we trade in this boring 80-87k range. I have buy orders set at 72-76k if market makers are generous enough to allow such an opportunity. First target of $93,000 is coming when you least expect it.. pic.twitter.com/HE2O0dFvMI
— Mr. Wall Street (@mrofwallstreet) October 22, 2026 His chart showed several horizontal price zones above and below Bitcoin, alongside planned spot purchases beneath the current range. The stated orders describe his intended positioning; the screenshot does not independently establish buying demand from other traders at those prices.
Earlier rebounds had left resistance unresolved Bitcoin had already struggled to hold a recovery above $83,000 earlier in the week.
During the Oct. 20 stock rebound, Bitcoin briefly climbed above that level before retreating toward $82,600. The same coverage recorded gains in U.S. equities as oil prices eased.
Trader Ardi’s earlier assessment identified $84,200 as the threshold Bitcoin needed to clear to break its local bearish structure. He said he would consider long positions toward the top of the range after a move above that threshold.
U.S. fund demand had weakened during an earlier part of October. An Oct. 12 account of Bitcoin’s stalled recovery attempts cited Bitfinex Alpha figures showing weekly spot Bitcoin ETF inflows falling from approximately $2.39 billion in late September to $241.1 million for the period ending Oct. 2.
Bitfinex attributed repeated failures near $87,000 partly to insufficient spot buying despite activity in futures markets. The historical figures describe that earlier period and do not establish the cause of the Oct. 22 decline.
The 3% prediction concerns a $130,000 contract The Kobeissi Letter pointed to weakening expectations for a much larger recovery in another Oct. 22 post.
Its screenshot displayed a Polymarket contract asking whether Bitcoin would hit $130,000 in 2026, with a displayed probability of 3%.
BREAKING: The market now sees a new low 3% chance of Bitcoin hitting a fresh record high this year.
In October 2025, Bitcoin was trading at $108,000, currently down -25% year-over-year.
Crypto is in need of its next catalyst. pic.twitter.com/rjfnvkcMuQ
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) October 22, 2026 The post described that reading as the chance of a fresh record high this year. However, the visible contract specified $130,000, so the screenshot directly supports the narrower price threshold.
The displayed market showed approximately $77.6 million in volume and a Dec. 31, 2026 end date.
The Blockchain Association sent a letter to Senate and House leadership on Thursday asking Congress to pass bipartisan digital asset tax legislation, the group’s first broad push on taxes since the Clarity Act failed in the Senate last month.
The letter, signed by Chief Policy Officer Lindsay Fraser and addressed to Majority Leader John Thune, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, argues that the rules governing the 67 million Americans who hold digital assets “were written for a different era.”
The group paired it with a new site, TaxClarityforAmerica.com, built for constituents to contact their representatives.
The asks will sound familiar to anyone who has followed the tax fight: a de minimis exemption for small transactions, cash treatment for stablecoins, tax on mining and staking rewards at sale instead of receipt, broker reporting limited to firms that hold customer assets, and wash sale rules that close loss harvesting without catching everyday transactions.
The letter adds a safe harbor for foreign traders on U.S. exchanges, a mark-to-market election, and R&D credit eligibility for blockchain development. What the letter leaves out is an endorsement. Two bills are somewhat in play, and the association named neither.
Where the tax bills stand The House moved first. One day after the Clarity Act failed in the Senate, the Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 10357, a 114-page package from Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). It exempts network fees under $10 from capital gains reporting, with a carve-out for taxpayers who made more than 5,000 transfers in the prior year, and extends wash sale and constructive sale rules to digital assets. Qualified dollar stablecoins are exempt from the wash sale rule.
The package left out the provision the industry wanted most. Rep. Mike Carey’s Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, H.R. 9175, which would have let miners and stakers defer tax until they sell, was in an early discussion draft and gone from the text the committee released on September 14. Instead the bill classifies validation rewards as ordinary income, taxable on receipt. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), who had proposed capping the deferral at five years, voted for the package and said it leaves the question open for further work.
The Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation and Digital Chamber had asked the committee in June to pass that bill without changes. The committee did the opposite.
The Senate has its own version. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the ADAPT Act on September 30 with Sens. Cynthia Lummis, Bernie Moreno and Tim Scott as cosponsors. It exempts purchases made with GENIUS Act stablecoins from gain or loss, sets the same $10 fee threshold, and applies wash sale rules with grandfathering for existing holdings and exemptions for mining and staking rewards. It sits in committee.
Lummis’s earlier bill, S. 2207, with a $300 per-transaction de minimis exemption capped at $5,000 a year, has been in the Finance Committee since June 2025.
Neither chamber’s bill contains the exemption for small bitcoin purchases that the industry made a centerpiece at Bitcoin 2026. The House bill’s $10 threshold covers fees, not purchases. The Senate bill’s spending exemption covers stablecoins, not bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute and others have argued that any de minimis rule should cover bitcoin, and Thursday’s letter asks for a “meaningful” exemption without naming a figure.
Awkward timing Congress is in recess until after the November 3 midterms. When members return, they will have a lame-duck session measured in weeks, and crypto taxes compete with government funding and whatever else leadership decides to clear before the 119th Congress ends.
Lummis, the Senate’s loudest voice on digital asset taxes, retires in January 2027.
The Clarity Act’s collapse shapes all of this. The market structure bill passed the House 294-134 in July 2025, then stalled in the Senate for more than a year while the banking lobby fought the crypto industry over stablecoin yield and Democrats pressed for ethics language aimed at the Trump family’s crypto ventures.
The cloture vote on September 15 failed 49-50. No Democrat crossed over, and Republicans Susan Collins, Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran voted no. Sen. Thom Tillis switched his vote so he could file a motion to reconsider, which keeps the bill alive on paper and little more.
With market structure off the table, the industry has shifted its lobbying to what might move. Tax is the obvious candidate: the House package cleared committee with bipartisan votes, and the wash sale provisions raise revenue, which gives tax writers a reason to attach them to a larger vehicle. Punchbowl News reported Thursday that the association’s refusal to back either bill signals the industry wants more than what Congress has produced.
Regulators keep filling the gap in the meantime. The OCC issued its final GENIUS Act rule on Wednesday, and the SEC and CFTC have been setting market structure policy through rulemaking and enforcement in the absence of a statute.
Micah Zimmerman
Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.
Chinese authorities have started legal proceedings to confiscate nearly 62,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $5 billion, from an individual accused of masterminding one of China’s largest financial frauds.
Major investment fraud and crypto conversionProsecutors have named Qian Zhimin, controller of the technology firm Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, as the main suspect behind the scheme. From 2014 to 2017, Qian and associates reportedly sold fraudulent wealth management products to investors nationwide, promising guaranteed returns with no regulatory approval.
Authorities report the operation raised roughly 40.3 billion yuan, or $2.8 billion, during this period. Rather than pursuing legitimate business activity, Qian allegedly used investor funds to pay off earlier participants in a Ponzi-like system. Much of the money was converted into bitcoin holdings, real estate, cars, and jewelry.
Prosecutors said that the fraud involved promising investors high returns and moving their funds into assets such as bitcoin, luxury cars, real estate, and jewelry, with little money directed towards legitimate business uses.
By July 2017, as the operation unraveled, Qian fled to the United Kingdom, reportedly bringing computers containing access to the bitcoin wallets.
Bitcoin seized in UK, court battle over controlBritish authorities later confiscated roughly 61,900 bitcoin—along with other cryptocurrencies, cash, and valuables—believed to be linked to Qian’s activities. The UK High Court recently determined that Chinese law, rather than UK jurisdiction, will govern any disputes over ownership of the seized bitcoins.
Since the 2017 crackdown, the value of the confiscated bitcoin has increased dramatically, making the eventual allocation of the coins to victims a critical legal battle. The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has said that impacted investors may seek compensation under China’s asset recovery system, but Fieldfisher, a London law firm representing some victims, is reportedly considering an appeal of the court’s decision. Upcoming hearings are scheduled to determine whether victims can substantiate their claims to these crypto assets.
The Second Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin, a mid-level court in the major Chinese city, has officially accepted the prosecution’s application as of September 28 to confiscate Qian’s illicit assets.
Mini dictionary: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) — The CPS is the principal public agency in England and Wales responsible for conducting criminal prosecutions. It determines charges in serious criminal cases and represents the state in court proceedings.
AssetQuantityEstimated Value (2024)Bitcoin (BTC)61,900~$5 billionYuan Raised40.3 billion~$2.8 billionOther AssetsCash, property, cars, jewelryUndisclosedAsset recovery process and crypto regulations in ChinaVictims seeking restitution may now register on a designated WeChat platform, with a six-month notice period established ahead of the upcoming recovery trial. This process aims to ensure victims can participate in the distribution of any recovered assets.
China enforces some of the world’s tightest controls over cryptocurrency activity. In 2021, the Chinese government instituted a comprehensive ban on digital asset trading and bitcoin mining, positioning itself firmly against the use of crypto within its borders.
Victims will be able to apply through an official platform during a designated period before the court determines how assets will be distributed.
Emily Nicolle_ _takes a look at how crypto and prediction markets are becoming increasingly intertwined.
Addictive cycle
While Bitcoin appears to have fallen into an autumnal slumber, another corner of the speculative trading arena is thriving. Prediction-market volumes are soaring to new heights, and even with token prices rangebound, crypto’s playing its own role in the bounce.
Trading on crypto-tied event contracts hit a record last week, reaching $2.7 billion in weekly notional trading volume on Kalshi and Polymarket, according to user-compiled data on Dune Analytics. Leading the charge are so-called up/down contracts, which allow traders to bet on whether the price of Bitcoin or another asset will be higher or lower at the end of various time increments, from five minutes to the end of the day.
These markets are essentially a coin-flip, and traders have described them as highly addictive. The speed at which they conclude allows users to get locked into a cycle: start the clock, watch the chart, pick a side, win or lose and then do it all over again. Kalshi’s 15-minute Bitcoin contracts can attract more than $1 million in trading volume each time, while armies of trading bots can be deployed to harvest potential gains just seconds before the timer runs out.
“Prediction markets make crypto trading easier,” said Agnese Aggie Rozite, founder of prediction markets-focused events and education firm 51 Alpha. “For people already in crypto, it’s a natural next step. And because prediction markets run 24/7 like crypto does, the two fit together perfectly.”
There are longer-dated bets on offer too. A Kalshi contract on where Bitcoin will end the year has recorded more than $42 million in volume as of Thursday, while Polymarket’s “What price will Bitcoin hit in 2026?” has around $78 million. As a result, crypto is the second-largest category on both platforms — after sports, of course.
In perspective, these figures pale in comparison to the trillions of dollars recorded annually in spot cryptocurrency trading and on perpetual futures venues. But prediction markets are a rare bright spot for digital finance, where company valuations continue to double and investors are clamoring for their own slice of the pie. That’s not going unnoticed by crypto’s elite.
Digital-asset exchanges are keen to get in on the action, either by partnering with another platform that can provide the contracts or by seeking a license in the US to offer the bets themselves. Several exchanges — Coinbase Global Inc., Crypto.com, Gemini Space Station Inc. and Kraken to name a few — already have the required authorization, while others like Blockchain.com have recently applied for the same.
Some of the crypto volumes we’re seeing stem from a crossover between the two worlds. Coinbase’s prediction markets offering is currently powered by Kalshi, for example, with its website showing millions of dollars in trading volume on crypto-tied bets. Robinhood similarly uses many Kalshi markets, though it’s also slowly introducing contracts offered by others, including Crypto.com-spinoff OG.com and Rothera, a derivatives exchange it bought with Susquehanna International Group last year.
This poses an intriguing convergence of interests. Pure-play prediction markets venues like Kalshi are increasingly focused on drumming up demand for non-sports categories and an expansion into futures markets, with sports itself hanging in the balance. Dozens of states have taken legal action claiming that sports contracts are unregistered gambling products, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is defending its turf as Kalshi’s regulator. With a potential Supreme Court intervention looming and a breadwinner on the line, crypto volume is more valuable than ever.
At the same time, we’ve written before about how crypto exchanges’ business models are in need of a similar diversification. Spot volumes on centralized platforms on Wednesday were around $33 billion, per DefiLlama data — a far cry from the $70-100 billion days recorded regularly in January and February.
Crypto-tied prediction markets, of course, are far from the only appeal in entering the race. But if a Supreme Court decision on sports markets doesn’t end in the industry’s favor, how many crypto exchanges will still consider prediction markets to be a business opportunity worth pursuing?
Charting it out
Bloomberg
Bitcoin’s retreat toward $81,000 has pushed it toward its 50-day moving average line, a widely watched gauge of near-term breadth. “This return to the 50-day moving average means the bulls cannot celebrate a quick victory,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro.
Counting it out
US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs notched $1.1 billion in net inflows this week, recovering from $909.6 million in outflows over the previous two weeks.
Hearing them out
What we’re reading (and writing)
Trump and Crypto Firm Sued for Profiting From Foreign Government
Crypto Rule Finalized by OCC in Digital Asset Industry Win
Kalshi to Allow Futures Bets With Bitcoin-Backed Loans
Italy Targets Crypto Money-Laundering Ring Across Europe
Robinhood to Launch Retail Investing Platform in Middle East From Dubai
Crypto Megadonors Up Ohio Spending to $55 Million (Politico)
China Seeks 61,800 Bitcoin Tied to $5.7 Billion Fraud (CoinDesk)
What we’re watching on Bloomberg TV
Bloomberg’s Katherine Schwartz joins Scarlet Fu and James Seyffart on “Bloomberg Crypto.” Western Union and MoneyGram are adopting crypto technology to defend their businesses and deepen customer ties. Their money transfer time has gone from three days to as short as four minutes.
More from Bloomberg
Markets Daily for what’s moving in stocks, bonds, FX and commodities
Banking Monitor for staying on top of the global banking industry with emerging trends, winners and losers and market opportunities.
CFO Briefing for Nina Trentmann’s weekly newsletter on what finance leaders need to know
Going Private for coverage of private markets and the forces moving capital away from the public eye
Money Stuff for Bloomberg Opinion’s Matt Levine’s newsletter on all things Wall Street and finance
After going as high as nearly $85,000 in morning trade, bitcoin and most major cryptocurrencies joined the stock market in sinking as traders sought safe havens.
The flagship cryptocurrency was down 4.1% to $81,165, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, though it managed to bounce slightly off of a support level of $81,000 in the early afternoon. Bitcoin joined technology and AI stocks in selling off, with the Nasdaq settling the day down 2.6% in its largest sell-off since June.
Investors largely avoided assets regarded as riskier plays, as the 10-year Treasury yield fell back below 5% for the first time since late September. Concerns over France's gaping budget deficit and the risk that rising oil prices could weigh on consumption and economic growth hit global bond markets. French bonds sold off but other bonds perceived safer, like the German Bunds and the U.S. Treasurys, rose.
While the rush for safety pressured bitcoin, analysts looking longer-term still see reasons to remain optimistic on bitcoin. "Hashrate is recovering as the market turns from bear to bull," said analysts with CryptoQuant in a note Thursday.
Data from Coinglass shows that bitcoin ETFs have recorded net-inflows for 3 straight days, with over $500 million in inflows seen on Wednesday alone. Over the 3-day period, net inflows have totaled $1.07 billion.
Other major cryptocurrencies are deep underwater in trading following the close of the stock market Thursday. Ethereum falls 4.4% to $2,381, XRP is down 6.2% to $1.30, and solana falls 4.6% to $103.07.
Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes supporters have renewed calls for native trading on OpenSea after Leonidas shared a comment attributed to a company marketer saying community feedback helps shape its product roadmap.
Summary
Leonidas has asked OpenSea to add native support for Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes. A shared interface image features Runestone, Bitcoin Puppets and NodeMonkes among Bitcoin collections. OpenSea’s published blockchain compatibility guide does not list Bitcoin among its supported networks. The campaign follows earlier announcements to close Bitcoin services at Magic Eden and Ord.io. Leonidas, in posts dated Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, urged collectors to make their interest known and directly asked OpenSea to support both asset types. His posts included an image of Bitcoin collections displayed in an OpenSea interface and a separate promotional graphic imagining trading support.
“Please add support for Ordinals and Runes.”
The request establishes a public campaign for integration. Neither screenshot contains an official OpenSea announcement confirming native Bitcoin trading, an approved integration, or a release date.
OpenSea supporters press for a Bitcoin integration In his Oct. 21 post, Leonidas reproduced a statement attributed to an OpenSea marketer encouraging people who want Ordinals to keep asking for them. The quoted statement said community feedback “very much directly informs our product roadmap.”
The screenshot does not include the original recording or the full conversation surrounding the remark. Its wording describes how feedback informs product decisions without promising that Bitcoin support has been scheduled.
Alongside the statement, Leonidas shared an interface showing Runestone in a featured position. Bitcoin Puppets and NodeMonkes appeared under a section labeled “Trending Ordinals Collections,” alongside Bitcoin Wizards and Taproot Wizards.
The image displays collection prices in BTC and includes activity figures, but it does not show a completed purchase or a Bitcoin transaction. Collection visibility in that screenshot therefore remains separate from evidence of an available trading service.
A second post, dated Oct. 22, paired the direct request with an OpenSea-branded graphic reading “Ordinals and Runes trading is live!” Because Leonidas published the image while asking for support, the graphic cannot be treated as a company launch notice.
OpenSea’s blockchain compatibility guide lists networks including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and Arbitrum, without listing Bitcoin. Its older Ordinals explainer, published in April 2023, explicitly says users cannot buy Bitcoin Ordinals through OpenSea; that page is historical documentation, not a fresh roadmap statement.
OpenSea’s mobile launch includes trading and discovery OpenSea’s Oct. 20 mobile announcement describes an app available to everyone on iOS and Android, with token and collectible trading across more than 25 blockchains. The company says users can combine holdings from multiple wallets and synchronize their accounts with its web platform.
The launch description distinguishes trading from discovery features. OpenSea says its social feed displays activity from people a user follows regardless of the app or chain where their trades occurred, while a separate feature shows trending activity by chain.
For the mobile product, the company lists a 0.5% fee on token trades and a 1% fee on collectible purchases, with network fees potentially charged separately. The announcement does not identify a Bitcoin-specific trading rollout.
The company’s earlier OS2 announcement, issued in Miami in May 2025, introduced full token trading across 19 chains, including Solana fungible tokens. OpenSea identified Miami as its headquarters and said further chain integrations were part of its development plans, without naming a Bitcoin launch date.
Bitcoin marketplace operators have announced service closures The appeal follows several earlier announcements affecting Bitcoin asset services. In February, crypto.news previously reported Magic Eden’s planned Bitcoin marketplace exit, alongside the closure of its EVM marketplaces and multichain wallet. That announcement retained support for its Solana business.
Magic Eden had launched Ordinals trading in March 2023. At launch, the marketplace supported secondary sales and said it was investigating tools for creators to inscribe assets, while royalty support remained unavailable.
A separate May announcement set June 1 as the shutdown date for Ord.io and Zap. Leonidas attributed the decision to exhausted funding, while the associated trading app said it had not reached the user growth needed to continue operating.
Other operators announced new services during the same period. Unspendable Labs said on March 30 that Horizon Market had added Ordinal inscriptions alongside Counterparty assets and Bitcoin Stamps. Its announcement described inscription creation, listings, and purchases settling directly on Bitcoin, without an intermediary holding the assets.
Ordinals and Runes use different Bitcoin asset structures The Ordinal Theory Handbook describes inscriptions as content attached to individual satoshis, creating Bitcoin-native digital artifacts without requiring a sidechain or separate token. Those assets can be held in Bitcoin transaction outputs and transferred through Bitcoin transactions.
Runes represent interchangeable units, unlike unique inscriptions. The handbook says Bitcoin transactions can create, mint, and transfer them, with protocol messages called runestones stored in transaction outputs. A transaction can contain at most one runestone, and an individual output can hold balances of multiple runes.
A shareholder from one of the world’s biggest digital asset companies has sued U.S. President Donald Trump for alleged crypto corruption.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by shareholder and former Circle employee J. Benjamin Greenberg, alleges that a member of the United Arab Emirates ruling family agreed to pay half a billion dollars into the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial business — in direct violation of the Constitution.
Circle is the fintech company behind the stablecoin, USDC. Regulators in the U.S. are fast pushing ahead with pro-crypto rules despite lawmakers last month blocking landmark digital asset legislation, which President Trump backed.
A number of lawmakers didn’t back the draft legislation — the Clarity Act — because they said that the Trump family had illicitly cashed in on crypto ventures.
“The corruption at issue is not subtle, and it is not hidden,” the lawsuit alleges. “Since returning to office, President Donald J. Trump and his family have built a cryptocurrency business and invited foreign states to route money to him by paying into it. Foreign money has answered.”
The lawsuit goes on to allege that an investment fund created by the government of Abu Dhabi also gave the president $2 billion via World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin product.
World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance project co-founded by the president and his sons.
President Trump stopped being involved in the project after taking office in 2025.
Thursday’s lawsuit adds that the president allegedly gave the Emirati leadership access to advanced artificial intelligence chips and pardoned a convicted felon in turn for the crypto investment. It references a February Wall Street Journal article that reported the deal.
“Although the President has dressed his corrupt arrangements in the language of new technology — tokens and stablecoins, holding companies and reserve yields — that vocabulary must not obscure what this is: the oldest form of public corruption, a public official taking money from a foreign power,” the lawsuit further says.
It alleges that the president has “corruptly” profited from $2 billion via the deals.
President Trump, World Liberty, and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are named as the defendants in the lawsuit.
The president campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto industry and received major financial backing from the space but some Washington lawmakers have criticized the way the Trump family has profited from digital asset ventures.
Trump and the White House have always denied any conflicts of interest. The president in August, ahead of the crypto Clarity Act vote, said that Democrats criticizing his family crypto ventures had made money from stock trading.
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
XRP whales sent $112.4 million to Binance, the highest inflow level in seven months, according to crypto analysts. The move signals rising selling pressure from large holders.
However, fresh data suggests the heaviest selling may already be easing, and traders are watching key price levels.
🗞️ XRP Whale Inflows to Binance hit $112.4M, a 7-month high
ripple:native whale activity has intensified in recent weeks, with selling pressure rising sharply. Here, we define whales as transactions exceeding 1 million XRP, which allows us to attribute them to this specific… pic.twitter.com/FsLRe63FTp
— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) October 22, 2026 What XRP Whale Inflows Reveal About Selling PressureWhale inflows track large transfers from major holders to exchanges, usually before a potential sale. In this case, crypto analyst Darkfost counts transactions above 1 million XRP.
These flows matter because holders can sell tokens on an exchange within minutes. Therefore, rising inflows often precede short-term price weakness.
The surge coincides with XRP’s rebound of more than 30% since August. As a result, many large holders appear to have used the rally to lock in profits.
Monthly average inflows also rose by about $72 million, while the previous three months averaged roughly $90 million. In addition, daily spikes topped $400 million at times.
However, recent data shows inflows returning to more normal levels. That suggests the heaviest selling pressure may have eased, at least for now.
At the time of writing, XRP trades near $1.33, according to BeInCrypto data. Its 24-hour range sits between $1.32 and $1.40, while its market cap stands near $84 billion.
XRP Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoCan XRP Break Above $1.40 or Fall Toward $1.26?Technical analysts remain divided. CryptoBusy notes that XRP is testing a major descending resistance trendline on the four-hour chart. The token recently climbed from $1.26 toward $1.40.
A confirmed breakout above the $1.38 to $1.40 zone could open a path toward $1.45 and $1.50. However, failing to hold $1.33 could send XRP back toward $1.30 or even $1.26.
$XRP is testing a major descending resistance trendline on the 4H chart after recovering from $1.26 toward $1.40.
Price briefly broke above the trendline but faced selling pressure, pulling back toward $1.34.
A confirmed breakout above $1.38-$1.40 could open the door toward… pic.twitter.com/ApW8aoQB1b
— CryptoBusy (@CryptoBusy) October 22, 2026 Meanwhile, EGRAG Crypto offered a more cautious view. His chart sketch raises the possibility of a dip toward $1.18 before a push to $1.63 and $1.80. He also stressed that this remains a hunch until price action confirms it.
On the bullish side, Ali Martiez set an immediate target of $1.55 if key levels hold. For now, the $1.33 level acts as the line between a recovery and a deeper pullback. Traders may want confirmation before acting on either scenario.
Still, large holders can move markets quickly, so exchange inflows remain a key signal to watch.
XRP’s 365-day Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) has dropped to 0.92, marking its lowest level in over a year and placing most recent buyers firmly in negative territory. According to data from Santiment Intelligence, Dogecoin (DOGE) is the only other major altcoin with a similar pattern, showing a near-term MVRV score of 0.74. These subdued readings indicate minimal profit-taking incentive, as the majority of holders are currently experiencing unrealized losses.
XRP approaches critical demand zoneThe latest market behavior suggests a low-risk demand area has formed around XRP’s present support levels. Such depressed MVRV ratios typically highlight zones where selling pressure is tapering off and may identify price areas favorable for accumulation. Technical analysts often view ultra-low MVRV scores as signs of capitulation, signaling that sellers are exhausted and buyers could soon step in.
When MVRV is elevated, however, new buyers take on additional risk, as recent entrants are more likely to hold unrealized gains, fueling possible sell-offs. In comparison, BTC, ETH, and LINK reveal neutral MVRV readings ranging from 0.97 to 1.04, which places their holders near break-even and reflects scant evidence of extreme greed or panic in those markets.
It is important to note that a low MVRV score does not guarantee a price rebound. The situation remains contingent on increased activity from both institutional ‘whale’ investors and retail participants buying at local bottoms. Without robust inflows, the technical setup alone may not trigger sustained upward momentum.
Technical chart and derivatives market insightsXRP’s short-term outlook is shaped by technical signals on its price chart. The currency’s mid-tier Bollinger Band currently sits at $1.3822, providing a reference for potential bullish confirmation if prices push higher. Reaching this zone could set up a rally toward the upper Bollinger Band near $1.5255. On the downside, the lower band at $1.2418 highlights a key leveraged support level.
The derivatives market adds further context, with recent data revealing a 26% surge in trading volume. However, most liquidations have targeted long positions, and short-sellers outnumber bulls with a long-to-short ratio of 0.8345. Despite this, the funding rate on open interest (OI) has turned positive, indicating that traders holding short positions are paying a premium to maintain those bets as the price has shown upward movement.
Following a round of long position liquidations, open interest slipped slightly but remains strong, with total value approaching $3 billion. This matches aggregate spot and futures trading volumes, underscoring ongoing demand for XRP despite recent volatility and uneven sentiment in the broader cryptocurrency space.
XRP’s latest MVRV readings reveal that most recent buyers are still underwater, suggesting a diminished incentive for profit-taking at current levels and positioning XRP among the major altcoins with the lowest realized returns.
Market context and investor strategiesAcross multiple time frames, larger digital asset investors continue to show a selling bias, which may weigh on short-term price action. Nonetheless, yearly MVRV scores can be useful to monitor, as they often reveal market dynamics and sentiment shifts that traders might overlook or misinterpret as simple weakness.
In a market where a single Fed decision or a sudden altcoin listing can change everything in seconds, monitoring indicators such as MVRV, Bollinger Bands, and open interest has grown in importance. Smart traders are now utilizing privacy-first tools like CryptoAppsy to consolidate everything. Without even the hassle of creating an account, you get real-time charts, smart price alerts, coin-specific news, and critical macro data all on one screen. By bringing these resources together, investors hope to navigate shifting market conditions more efficiently and avoid unnecessary losses stemming from fragmented information.
XRP is displaying a familiar market structure on its weekly chart, according to cryptocurrency analyst EGRAG CRYPTO. The analyst reports that a potentially significant pattern involving the 50-week and 200-week exponential moving averages (EMA) has emerged, reminiscent of two previous cycles that led to substantial price recoveries for the token.
Historical EMA patterns and price cyclesEGRAG CRYPTO has identified a repeating sequence in XRP’s historical price movement, focusing on two previous instances when the 50-week EMA crossed below the 200-week EMA—an event traders call a “death cross.” These occurred between 2019-2020 and 2022-2023. In both cases, price entered defined ranges which the analyst marks as yellow accumulation zones, ultimately leading to strong rallies afterward.
In the current market, a third death cross appears to be forming. EGRAG CRYPTO highlights the importance of the yellow accumulation zones observed in previous cycles, posing a question about whether XRP will maintain its position in the upper part of this range or slip into the lower region before any potential reversal.
EGRAG CRYPTO points to two prior cycles marked by bearish EMA crosses and accumulation ranges, emphasizing, “2019–2020: EMA cross → accumulation → recovery. 2022–2023: EMA cross → accumulation → recovery. Will the third cross follow this pattern?”
The role of the ascending channelThe weekly chart also features a long-term ascending channel, established by two diagonal white lines encompassing the bulk of XRP’s historical price action. According to the analyst, XRP’s broad market direction remains bullish as long as the price remains within this channel. As of October 21, the token continues to hold above the upper accumulation range and within the channel boundaries.
EGRAG CRYPTO stresses that while EMA crosses can be informative, they are lagging indicators. Instead, the analyst assigns greater significance to the macro channel structure, stating that this pattern carries more weight than short-term moving average signals.
Mini dictionary: Exponential Moving Average (EMA), a type of moving average that places a greater weight and significance on the most recent data points, making it more responsive to recent price changes than a simple moving average (SMA).
Volatility and technical reference pointsEGRAG CRYPTO does not interpret the current setup as a definitive bearish sign for XRP. Instead, the analyst expects heightened volatility in both directions, warning of potential price wicks and shakeouts above and below the accumulation range before a clearer trend emerges.
The analysis also considers the 33-week and 111-week EMAs in addition to the primary 50 and 200-week averages. Notably, the 200 EMA, commonly depicted in red on technical charts, now sits considerably higher than its 2017-2019 lows and serves as an important support indicator for the current cycle.
EMA LevelRoleRecent Cycle Status50-week EMAShort/mid-term trend referenceCrossing below 200 EMA200-week EMALong-term trend, supportSignificantly above previous cycle lows33-week EMASecondary trend referenceTracked in current analysis111-week EMASecondary trend referenceTracked in current analysisXRP’s current position and analyst’s outlookAt present, XRP trades at $1.34, positioned above the upper section of the yellow accumulation zone and within the established ascending channel. The macro channel structure remains intact, with no breakdown below its lower boundary.
EGRAG CRYPTO, known for technical market insights, concludes that the overall macro structure is more critical than short-term indicator signals. Whether XRP temporarily dips lower within the accumulation zone or holds the high ground, the channel remains the determining factor for the long-term outlook unless it is decisively breached.
The analysis underscores, “The EMA cross is lagging. The macro structure is the key. Volatility will come, but unless the ascending channel breaks, the long-term trajectory remains unchanged.”
Ripple, a blockchain payment solution, has partnered with Swiss-regulated payment platform Arf to bring RLUSD-powered funding to the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The partnership will help licensed payment companies access short-term funds for cross-border payments without keeping large amounts of money in accounts across different countries.
Arf and Ripple Join to Speed Up Cross-Border PaymentsIn a press release on October 22, 2026, Arf and Ripple announced a partnership to help payment companies access money when and where they need it.
Cross-border payments move trillions of dollars each year, but payment companies often need working capital available in different countries before transactions are completed. Traditional bank credit lines can take months to establish and may require significant collateral.
This creates a problem for companies that need funds available in the right market at the right time. Through the partnership, Arf and Ripple aim to address this gap using RLUSD and the XRP Ledger’s settlement network.
Jasmine Cooper, Head of Product for RippleX at Ripple, said that “Settlement liquidity is exactly the kind of use case XRPL and RLUSD are built to support.”
Settlement liquidity is exactly the kind of use case @XRP Ledger and RLUSD are built to support.@Arf_One is bringing its approach to settlement liquidity to the XRP Ledger, using RLUSD to support short-term working capital for licensed payment companies as cross-border payments… https://t.co/h4XdEzA3IF
— Ripple (@Ripple) October 22, 2026 Under the first phase, Arf will provide short-term funding in Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRP Ledger. Licensed payment companies can use these funds to send money across borders and repay them once payments are complete, usually within one to five days.
Arf Brings $10B in Annual Settlements to XRPLArf payments platform has scaled to around $10 billion in annual global settlement volume since launching in November 2022. Its capital turns over about four times a month, allowing funds to support repeated payment flows rather than sit idle.
Ali Erhat Nalbant, Arf’s co-founder and CEO, said the partnership would bring stablecoin working capital to the XRP Ledger.
“We’re bringing stablecoin working capital to the XRP Ledger to help payment companies bridge that gap and support more payment volume.”
Arf Plans to Use XRPL’s Native Lending InfrastructureThe partnership could expand once the XRP Ledger’s native lending infrastructure becomes available. Arf plans to use the proposed Single Asset Vaults to pool capital and the Lending Protocol to support structured loans on-chain.
Arf would continue managing underwriting and working capital decisions off-chain, while the blockchain handles the lending infrastructure.
However, the proposed features must pass XRPL’s amendment process before they can launch on the main network.
Story Ends Here
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Ripple, a leading blockchain solutions provider, has unveiled a new partnership with Arf, a global platform specializing in liquidity and settlement services. This collaboration is set to enhance the utility and adoption of Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, across the international payments landscape.
New settlement solution for cross-border transactionsThe partnership aims to deliver settlement liquidity powered by RLUSD directly on the XRP Ledger, enabling licensed payment companies to access short-term working capital for overseas transactions.
With RLUSD integrated into the process, payment firms awaiting the finalization of international transfers can now secure liquidity efficiently, improving transaction speed and reducing the need to immobilize large pools of capital in multiple markets.
Ripple stated that the development specifically targets one of the most significant challenges in global payments, where businesses routinely allocate substantial funds to facilitate the movement of money between jurisdictions.
Licensed payment providers will be able to fund transactions without having to lock in significant reserves, as RLUSD settlement liquidity will now be provided immediately on the XRP Ledger through Arf.
Arf, a firm that supplies liquidity and settlement infrastructure to payment service providers worldwide, will take on the role of delivering direct RLUSD settlement liquidity to the network. This move supports both companies’ efforts to improve efficiency and accessibility for cross-border payments.
The partnership establishes a model where payment companies no longer need to tie up excess capital as they await settlements. By utilizing RLUSD’s stablecoin liquidity, firms can instead recycle the same capital swiftly with each completed transaction.
Short repayment periods to drive efficiencyRipple clarified that the settlement liquidity provided through this collaboration will be made available with a short repayment period, ranging from one to five days. This allows the same funds to be redeployed rapidly as payments settle, streamlining the flow of cross-border transactions for clients.
The ability to provide liquidity with repayment windows as brief as one to five days is designed to enhance operational flexibility for payment firms using RLUSD stablecoins in their international business.
Both Ripple and Arf expect this development to enable payment companies to execute stablecoin-powered, real-time foreign payments without the operational burden and financial inefficiency of holding capital in various currencies and markets.
This announcement follows a series of advancements by Ripple as it continues to pursue growth and wider adoption of its stablecoin ecosystem. RLUSD’s presence on the XRP Ledger is central to this strategy, offering consistent liquidity solutions for payments firms engaging in cross-border activity.
The partnership signals a continued focus by both organizations on solving practical, day-to-day frictions in global payments using digital asset technology.
Arf is known for providing real-time lending and settlement infrastructure to financial institutions, supporting a wide range of payment and remittance companies around the world.
Ripple’s expansion of RLUSD-supported payments aims to further streamline international money movement for regulated financial entities and support the overall growth of stablecoin usage.
With further updates anticipated, the collaboration is expected to drive greater adoption of digital assets in global settlements.
Mini dictionary: Arf is a financial technology firm that offers real-time liquidity and settlement solutions for licensed payment and remittance service providers, helping them execute instant cross-border transactions without locking up substantial capital in correspondent accounts.
Ripple announced that Arf, a company that provides liquidity to cross-border payment companies, is preparing to offer short-term working capital on the XRP Ledger using RLUSD. The collaboration focuses on the financing needs that arise between the start of a transfer and the completion of the final settlement in international payments.
Payment companies may need to hold funds in advance to complete transactions in different countries. This results in money sitting in specific accounts, reducing the capital available to the companies. ARF’s approach aims to bridge this gap with short-term liquidity.
Ripple stated that RLUSD and XRP Ledger are designed to support these types of settlement needs. The announcement specifically emphasized that the target audience is licensed payment companies.
The key point here is that the announcement does not include a loan product for individual investors or a direct XRP purchase program. The focus of the collaboration is on using the dollar-backed RLUSD in the daily financing processes of payment companies.
The parties did not disclose a total financing commitment in their official statement.
*This is not investment advice.
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Bitcoin fell nearly 4% on Thursday to $81,000 despite strengthening institutional interest.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 102,764 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $454.81 million. SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $528.4 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $14.96 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Bitway, MemeCore and Akedo. Notable Developments:
Bitcoin Faces the ‘Curse of the 21st’: Is Another November Low Ahead?‘Cash Is A Melting Ice Cube,’ Says Industry Executive as Bitcoin Adoption Poised to SurgeBitcoin’s Boring Moves Are ‘Actually Quite Healthy,’ Says Analyst Eyeing $275,000 TargetBitcoin ‘Goes to Zero’ After a Hack, Chamath Palihapitiya PredictsRipple, Cardano, Chainlink Push for Binding SEC Rules Around Tokens‘Long Coins, Short Stocks’: Expert Bullish on Bitcoin, Cautious on XRP, Coinbase, CircleRipple Sees a $100 Million Opportunity for Banks—What’s in It for XRP?XRP Falls 2%: Final Dip Before a Big Rally or the Beginning of a Selloff?Trader Notes:
Benjamin Cowen warned in his podcast that Bitcoin could face another correction toward the low-to-mid $70,000 range after slipping below $82,000 and struggling to reclaim $83,000.
Bitcoin’s failure to reclaim $83,000 could shift momentum back toward the bears, raising concerns that its recent breakout was a fake out.
Ethereum, major altcoin indices, Strategy and the Nasdaq have already tested their respective bull market support bands. Cowen believes Bitcoin could follow as equity markets weaken.
Historical patterns suggest Bitcoin could establish a local high between Oct. 21 and the Nov. 3 midterm elections, followed by renewed selling pressure if stocks continue declining.
Cowen outlined two potential scenarios a relatively short, shallow bear market or a prolonged downturn characterized by repeated false breakouts.
Image: Shutterstock
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Crypto analyst Ali Martinez, recognized for his chart-driven market insights, outlined updated price targets for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP following a recent upswing in the broader crypto market.
XRP approaches key resistance levelMartinez identified $1.25 as a crucial support for XRP on its three-day chart, referencing a potential inverse head-and-shoulders pattern. According to technical analysis, this pattern can signal a shift from a downtrend to an uptrend when confirmed. The left shoulder appeared earlier in the year, the head formed near $1 in August, and the right shoulder began developing close to $1.25.
The analyst stated that maintaining support at $1.25 may trigger a move toward $2, but a sustained close above $1.56 would offer further momentum. Conversely, a drop below $1.25 could set the stage for a decline toward $1.
Martinez emphasized that immediate upside resistance for XRP stands at $1.55, while holding $1.25 remains critical for continued gains. A reversal at this level could limit the current rally.
Bitcoin and Ethereum target higher levelsFor Bitcoin, Martinez pointed to $81,000 as the key support within its daily rising channel. He suggested that defending this level could prompt BTC to revisit $84,000 and possibly reach the mid-channel target of $86,500. If BTC were to fall below $81,000, further downside could extend to $76,000.
On Ethereum, $2,350 emerged as the immediate support based on a right-angled ascending broadening pattern. A bounce from that level would see ETH aim for $2,700 or potentially $3,000, whereas a daily close below $2,350 could shift focus to $2,000.
Mini dictionary: Right-angled ascending broadening pattern, a chart formation where price action expands upward between two diverging trendlines, often indicating increased volatility and potential for a strong breakout.
Martinez outlined immediate price targets of $86,500 for Bitcoin, $2,700 for Ethereum, and $1.55 for XRP, noting that surpassing these resistance levels could drive further gains.
AssetSupport LevelCurrent PriceImmediate TargetNext TargetBitcoin (BTC)$81,000$84,535$86,500$90,000Ethereum (ETH)$2,350$2,512$2,700$3,000/$3,100XRP$1.25$1.39$1.55$2.00Current chart outlookOn the daily chart, Bitcoin currently trades at $84,535, approaching resistance at $86,500. Ethereum stands at $2,512, targeting $2,700 and potentially $3,100 if the move sustains. Meanwhile, XRP is valued at $1.39, with the next technical resistance at $1.55 and a longer-term target of $2.
Ali Martinez is widely followed for technical analysis on the digital asset markets, particularly through his social media presence, where he shares chart-based outlooks for major cryptocurrencies.
XRP whales sent $112.4 million to Binance in recent weeks, marking the highest monthly average since March, according to data from crypto analyst Darkfost. This surge in large transactions has drawn attention, raising questions over whether a wave of selling may now be behind the market.
Whale activity hits peak, then normalizesAnalyst Darkfost defines whale activity as single transactions exceeding 1 million XRP. Since August, the monthly average of XRP transferred by whales to Binance rose by $72 million, reaching $112.4 million. During the most active days, inflows have topped $400 million, which represents a significant escalation in market-moving behavior.
After this period of heightened activity, inflows have reportedly normalized. XRP is currently trading at $1.32, reflecting a 4.41% drop in the past 24 hours but a 2.66% gain over the last week. Daily trading volume stands at $1.71 billion, highlighting the high level of interest among market participants.
Whale activity has intensified in recent weeks, largely characterized by transactions exceeding 1 million XRP. This trend has coincided with a sharp increase in selling pressure, setting a 7-month high in exchange inflows.
Whales appeared to capitalize on a recent rebound, as XRP recorded a price gain of more than 30% since August. Analysts note that coins sent to exchanges often precede potential sales, although on-chain data alone cannot conclusively confirm that all transferred amounts were sold.
XRP tests major resistance amid selling waveTechnical analysts such as CryptoBusy have pointed out that XRP is currently testing a significant descending resistance trendline on the four-hour chart. The price recovered from a low of $1.26 and briefly moved above $1.40, but buyers failed to sustain the breakout. The token soon retreated toward $1.34, experiencing rejection near $1.37.
This pullback fits the narrative of whales seeking to lock in profits following the rally. However, analysts have cautioned that the link between whale deposits and price rejections cannot be directly established based only on these figures.
XRP was unable to hold above the key descending trendline after briefly breaking out, with strong selling pressure bringing the price back below $1.34. According to market watchers, a confirmed breakout above $1.38–$1.40 would be required to turn short-term momentum bullish again.
Focus shifts to key levels and whale flowsDespite recent selling pressure, Darkfost points out that September’s peak in whale inflows remained below the levels reached during August. Current inflows have returned to typical ranges, suggesting some normalization. Price has also held above the $1.26 rebound low, indicating that the market continues to absorb large transactions without significant breakdowns.
CryptoBusy has identified $1.38–$1.40 as a critical zone; a close above this range could open the door for an advance toward $1.45–$1.50. If the price loses the $1.33 level, however, analysts expect a decline back to $1.30 and possibly $1.26.
Market participants are closely monitoring four factors: renewed whale inflows above the $112.4 million average, defense of the $1.33 support, a confirmed breakout above $1.38–$1.40, and whether daily trading volume remains at current elevated levels.
Consolidating data and trading toolsIn an environment where a sudden announcement from the Fed or an unexpected altcoin listing can influence the market within seconds, analysts emphasize the importance of monitoring these technical levels alongside real-time data. As traders react to rapid shifts in whale inflows and key support or resistance breaches, many are moving away from juggling multiple apps to track their portfolios, news, and charts. Privacy-focused platforms like CryptoAppsy now offer consolidated access to live charts, price alerts, news, and macroeconomic metrics, without requiring account registration, streamlining the process for active investors.
Flare outlined its XRP DeFi strategy on Korean TV at Korea Blockchain Week, detailing how FXRP works, how collateral protects users, and its Korean partnerships.
Flare used an appearance on South Korean television to pitch its approach to bringing XRP into decentralised finance (DeFi). Speaking on Korea Economic TV's Crypto Labs at Korea Blockchain Week, @FlareNetworks APAC lead Kyle Kim (@Banktheworld) described Flare as a blockchain for data.
How FXRP worksKim said Flare checks outside information, such as prices or transactions on other chains, and makes it available to smart contracts. Holders of $XRP can convert their tokens into FXRP on Flare to lend, borrow against, or earn yield, and can swap back whenever they choose.
FXRP is issued through Flare's FAssets system. FXRP was the first live deployment of the system, which turns tokens that lack smart contract support, such as XRP, into overcollateralised assets that can interact with DeFi protocols. At launch, Flare's chief product officer Filip Koprivec told The Block that FXRP is designed to be non-custodial and over-collateralised, with onchain, protocol-level verification rather than reliance on a single custodian.
Kim said approved operators hold the XRP behind FXRP. Each must lock up collateral worth more than the XRP it holds, which is meant to protect users if something goes wrong. DefiLlama's research describes these operators as agents, independent operators who post collateral worth more than the XRP they back, partly in stablecoins and partly in FLR. If the collateral's value falls below the required level, the agent's position can be liquidated.
Growing usage and Korean partnershipsDemand for the token has built since launch. A DefiLlama report published on October 21 counts about 129 million of the 145 million FXRP in circulation deployed across protocols, close to 90% of supply. The same report notes the base is still small: 145 million FXRP equals roughly 0.23% of circulating XRP. Lending is the biggest use. Most of the lending demand comes from holders who use FXRP as collateral and borrow against it while keeping their XRP.
In Korea, Flare is working with hardware wallet maker D'CENT. In May, D'CENT's maker IoTrust announced a three-week campaign with the Flare network , and said D'CENT is an official partner of Flare Smart Accounts , which removes the need for users to buy extra gas tokens.
Flare is also running a pilot finance product with weather data firm K-Weather (Kweather). The two companies signed a letter of intent to pilot the integration of meteorological data onchain. The data will be delivered through Flare's Time Series Oracle and could support products such as parametric climate insurance. CoinDesk's Omkar Godbole cautioned that the initiative is still very early, and a letter of intent is not a working product.
The appearance shows Flare targeting the Korean market with a dual message: XRP holders can put idle tokens to work, and data-driven products can extend beyond price feeds.
Sources:
DefiLlama Research: How Flare uses data to expand what capital can doCrypto Briefing: Kweather taps Flare to develop weather finance productsGlobeNewswire via Manila Times: D'CENT launches Flare campaign
An XRP market analyst has outlined a long-term price target of $11.45 for the digital asset, suggesting that if the token approaches $11, its market capitalization would near $700 billion based on the current circulating supply. This projection, which extends to 2029 or 2030, signals a potential eightfold price increase from XRP’s recent trading range around $1.35–$1.36. However, it hinges on a significantly higher level of demand than presently observed.
Historical perspective and scaling challengesXRP has achieved multi-fold rallies in the past. According to crypto analyst More Crypto Online, a surge beginning in summer 2024 resulted in an 8.5-fold increase, with market capitalization rising from around $23 billion to current levels near $84 billion. While the token has previously registered large gains off smaller bases, repeating such performance now would require intensified buying interest given the much broader capital base.
Unlike previous cycles that started from lower valuations, any repeat of these multiples would no longer benefit from the same scale effects. The analyst underscores that achieving such high price targets is not simply a matter of chart patterns but necessitates widespread and sustained inflows to justify a valuation approaching $700 billion.
Market cap periodStarting valueEnding valueMultiple gainedSummer 2024–Present$23 billion$84 billion8.5×Projected 2029–2030$84 billion$700 billion (approx.)8.3×Key conditions and technical levelsThe $11.45 target is based on the assumption that the next major upward phase for XRP will match both the duration and magnitude of the move from its 2022 low to the forecasted 2025 high. The analyst refers to $11.45 as “a lighthouse,” emphasizing it as a directional goal rather than a fixed endpoint, and notes that reaching it may require several years.
Support levels between $1.10 and $1.38 are highlighted as critical near-term zones, with approximately $1 regarded as a broader reference. Any sustained breakdown below $1.10 would trigger a review of the bullish outlook, and the technical scenario is contingent upon a five-wave advance rather than a shorter, three-wave pattern.
The analysis also factors in ongoing market developments, including the rising circulating supply of XRP, which has grown from about 56 billion tokens in July 2024 to roughly 63 billion.
Institutional demand and supply dynamicsInstitutional participation remains uncertain. The analyst references estimated cumulative spot ETF inflows of $1.8 billion into XRP but cautions that broader institutional interest and continued inflows are necessary for sustained growth.
Ripple, the San Francisco-based blockchain technology firm behind XRP, conducts periodic releases of XRP from escrow. The analyst notes, however, that tokens held outside escrow are not immediately added to market supply, and not all end up being sold. The real test for investors will be whether persistent demand can offset the growth in supply, especially as institutions assess their actual need for the token in operational use cases.
Mini dictionary: Escrow, in cryptocurrency, refers to funds or tokens held by a third party (often a smart contract or company) to be released based on set conditions. Ripple’s XRP escrow is used to control token release schedules and reduce supply shocks.
A bank leveraging Ripple’s stablecoin infrastructure is not automatically required to purchase or utilize XRP for its operations, making institutional demand for the token itself a separate consideration.
XRPL's bug fix was nearly ready to go live, but a brief voting dip reset the 14-day countdown.
The XRP Ledger’s latest bug fix has been delayed until November after validator support briefly fell below the required threshold, just two days before its planned launch.
The amendment, called fixCleanup3_4_0, needed at least 29 votes from the 35 validators trusted by default to activate.
Upgrade Delayed Support reached that level on Monday, which kept the upgrade on track for an expected October 23 launch at 09:34 UTC. But that changed on Wednesday. At 12:54 UTC, only 26 validators were voting in favor, according to the XRPL Dashboard. That was enough to reset the entire approval process.
The vote count recovered to 29 by 14:46 UTC, starting a new 14-day countdown. XRPLWin now lists November 4 at 14:46 UTC as the expected activation time. Support has since increased to 31 validators, thereby giving the amendment a little more breathing room than it had during its first attempt.
It is important to note that the XRP Ledger requires support to remain above the threshold at every checkpoint, which takes place roughly every 15 minutes. That support must hold for 14 consecutive days. Even a brief dip can send the process back to the beginning. Neither XRPL Dashboard nor XRPLWin has identified which validators stopped counting toward approval. A validator does not have to actively vote against an amendment to affect the tally. If its server goes offline or restarts at the wrong time, its vote may not count at a checkpoint.
Meanwhile, the amendment in question bundles fixes across several parts of the network, including Single Asset Vaults, the Lending Protocol, automated market makers, the permissioned decentralized exchange, trust lines, NFTs, MPTs, escrow, transaction signing, and permission delegation.
Zooming Out The XRPL 3.4.0 server release introduces significant code changes, including the LendingProtocolV1_1 amendment. This proposed upgrade adds closed-ended vaults and cash-basis accounting to the upcoming native lending system.
You may also like: XRP Ledger Bug Fixes Set for Friday Activation as DeFi Lending Awaits Approval Ripple Pushes RLUSD Deeper Into Banking With New Cross River Partnership Major Ripple (XRP) Reveal From Seoul: XRPL Gets Privacy, AI Agent Upgrades, and More These vaults move through subscription, investment, and redemption phases, while interest is recorded as income only when loan payments arrive. It is currently open for voting, and validator support currently stands at 54.29%.
XRP is currently trading at $1.36, reflecting a 1.63% increase over the past week. This moderate rise stands in sharp contrast to one analyst’s bold forecast for much higher prices.
Crypto Captain, who posts technical analyses under the handle @UniverseTwenty, has released a projection suggesting that XRP could reach $22 per coin. He warned that the route toward this level will be marked by dramatic price swings, both upward and downward.
In a statement shared on social media, Crypto Captain described the potential price action:
Huge volatility ahead before reaching $22 per coin, with significant up and down swings. This scenario implies new all time highs are on the horizon.
According to David Schwartz, Ripple CTO Emeritus, the asset’s current record stands at $3.65. XRP reached this all time high in July 2025 and has not approached the level since.
Should Crypto Captain’s $22 target be met, this would constitute a price gain of more than 1,500% compared to its present value.
Mini dictionary: Ripple, a technology company focusing on real-time gross settlement systems, currency exchange, and remittance networks. XRP is the digital asset used within Ripple’s payment platform to facilitate cross-border transfers.
Technical outlook and chart patternsThe analysis shared by Crypto Captain centers on the weekly chart for XRP on the Bitstamp exchange, spanning from July 2025 to a projected period approaching 2027. The chart features numerous Fibonacci extension levels, with the 1.618 level placed around $8.15, the 1.272 near $5, the 0.786 at about $3, and the 0.382 close to $1.75.
A descending yellow trendline, connecting lower highs from mid-2025 through late 2026, represents a significant resistance zone. XRP consolidated for a prolonged period beneath this barrier until a breakout occurred in late August, propelling the price above the trendline.
Fibonacci LevelApproximate Price1.618$8.151.272$5.000.786$3.000.382$1.75Potential trajectory and key levelsAccording to the analyst’s outlined roadmap, XRP is once again testing the top of the descending trendline. If this level holds as support, the analyst suggests the price could accelerate toward the previously cited targets.
The projected price action begins with XRP moving above $2, briefly pulling back to establish support, then spiking toward $8.15 in line with the 1.618 Fibonacci extension. A sharp retracement to $2 is expected before the asset climbs rapidly to $10.50, dips to $8.15 again, and finally targets the $22 level.
While volatility is anticipated, the trendline breakout is viewed as a pivotal technical event. Crypto Captain’s outlook indicates that swift rallies and steep corrections may characterize the path upward, but $22 remains the final long-term target far above current levels.
As volatility continues in the cryptocurrency market, data from the XRP Ledger network has caught the attention of investors. On-chain analytics platform Santiment reported that the number of wallets on the XRP network has reached an all-time high, with a significant increase in new user participation.
According to data shared by Santiment, the number of wallets with a balance greater than zero on the XRP Ledger network has reached a new all-time high of 8.24 million. It was noted that this steady increase in wallet numbers continues despite the fluctuations in the XRP price in recent months.
The acceleration of network growth during the period when XRP was trading at approximately $1.36 was also noteworthy. According to Santiment data, 4,772 new wallets were created in a single day. This figure marks the fifth largest daily increase recorded since March.
Analysts believe the acceleration in new wallet creation activity could signal a renewed surge in interest in the XRP ecosystem. However, Santiment stated that for growth on the network to support bullish expectations, price movements must also confirm this trend.
XRP Price at $1.40 Critical: Two Different Scenarios Santiment stated that the first important level to watch for the XRP price in the short term is $1.40.
According to the platform, a rapid return to the $1.50 level could become possible if XRP maintains a sustained move above $1.40 and the number of new daily wallets remains around or above 4,000.
However, in a negative scenario, if XRP loses the $1.30 support level and daily new wallet creation falls below approximately 3,000, it could indicate that the positive signals from increased adoption on the network are weakening in the short term.
*This is not investment advice.
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The cryptocurrency market has grown into a global industry, with billions of dollars in digital assets changing hands on exchanges every day. From Bitcoin and Ethereum to smaller altcoins, traders can access thousands of cryptocurrencies on platforms that operate around the clock. As the market has expanded, exchanges have become central to how people buy, sell, and manage their digital assets.
However, not all exchanges are created equal. The user experience can vary significantly depending on trading fees, the range of crypto assets supported, liquidity, the security in place, and the tools available. Some exchanges are perfect for the novice trader looking for a simple way in; others are geared more toward the experienced trader. With so many exchanges in the market, here’s a look at the top 8 crypto exchanges to trade on in October 2026.
1. Binance
Binance provides users with a huge amount of scope whether they’re looking to buy Bitcoin, look at altcoins or trade futures. It’s now the world’s largest crypto exchange by both trading volume and number of users, with hundreds of cryptos available via spot markets, leveraged futures and token swaps. Users can stake eligible assets and access lending products, as well as simply buy and sell crypto if they don’t want to get into any of the more sophisticated features.
The exchange lists over 500 cryptos on over 1,300 trading pairs. Reported daily trading volume is $11.14bn in spot markets and $41.7bn in futures. The base fees are 0.1% for both makers and takers, with discounts available to BNB holders. BNB holders can access the Launchpools, and there’s a crypto debit card available that also offers cashback in certain regions. Binance is not available to US customers, although Binance.US is available as a separate service with a much smaller range of coins and features.
2. Coinbase
For a first-time crypto buyer, the whole process of funding an account and making a trade can be a bit confusing. Coinbase have made it very easy to do since they launched in 2012. Users can buy crypto via bank transfer or card, and the platform supports trading pairs against traditional currencies. Coinbase is also publicly traded in the US, which adds another layer of transparency to the business and its operations. Its security record and its educational rewards, where users can earn a small amount of crypto by learning about different assets, may also be of interest to new users.
Coinbase has over 390 cryptos listed across 500+ trading pairs and reportedly sees $1.88bn in daily trading volume. The base fees are 0.40% for makers and 0.60% for takers with higher volume traders being eligible for reduced rates. There’s also the option to stake a number of the available cryptos. The fees are higher than some of the other exchanges out there but the simplicity of the buy process and the fact that it’s a very good place to learn how crypto trading works makes it a very useful entry point.
3. Kraken
Kraken has been around since 2013 and has built its reputation on security. They’ve had no incidents of their wallets being breached and offer a range of security features, including two-factor authentication to help users protect their own accounts. They also have a fairly bespoke trading interface which can be tailored to individual preferences and offer customer support. It’s an exchange that would be suitable for both the novice and the more experienced trader.
Kraken supports over 620 cryptocurrencies and 1,350 trading pairs with a daily volume of circa $1.60 bn. Users can trade Bitcoin and other digital assets directly against fiat, which makes it very easy to move between the two. The base trading fees are 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers, with lower rates available to high-volume traders. The range of assets is a bit smaller than some of the others, but it’s a very broad range of established cryptos.
4. MEXC
MEXC is the exchange for the trader who wants to be in the market and wants access to tokens that aren’t necessarily on the big, established exchanges. It has over 1,700 cryptocurrencies listed and is renowned for its speed of listing new projects, including the memecoins that are currently highly popular. It’s a very relevant exchange for those who are following the newer projects in the market. It also has Launchpad and Kickstarter in place so users can get involved with projects that are launching via the exchange.
Cost is another big part of the appeal. Spot trading is completely free; futures have a 0% maker fee and a 0.010% taker fee. There are over 2,130 trading pairs and approximately $2.04bn in daily volume. Users can fund their purchases via bank transfer or credit card, trade both spot and futures, and also utilise savings products to earn rewards on eligible assets. Users can also hold MX, the platform’s native token, to benefit from reduced fees and access to further rewards. As with any token, particularly new listings and smaller tokens which may have limited liquidity and higher risk, it’s still important to look at the individual project rather than simply the fact that it’s available.
5. Bybit
Bybit was founded in 2018 and focused solely on crypto derivatives, specifically futures, and has since grown into a much wider trading platform. Futures are still a major part of the business, but users can now trade crypto on the spot and margin markets as well as use trading bots. Copy trading is also available, which allows users to copy the trades of other traders, as well as a Launchpad for new projects and an NFT marketplace. They also have products that allow users to earn yield by lending.
The exchange lists over 390 cryptos across more than 520 trading pairs with a reported daily trading volume of circa $2.04bn. Standard fees are 0.10% for both makers and takers, with users in the VIP programme being eligible for reduced rates. There’s a good range of products on offer in terms of derivatives, automated trading and copy trading, so users can approach the market in a variety of ways depending on their own experience and strategy. Bybit is not available to customers in the United States, and leveraged products carry added risk because losses can build quickly when markets move against a position.
6. KuCoin
It’s notoriously difficult to find smaller cryptos on the major exchanges. That’s where KuCoin comes in. Since launching in 2017, it’s had a broad selection of altcoins to offer, including a number of lower-cap projects that aren’t seen much anywhere else. It’s also a platform that caters to a range of different types of crypto users with futures and margin trading, crypto lending, an NFT marketplace and a launchpad. There’s a Beginner Zone to get new users up and running with onboarding and crypto rewards.
KuCoin’s base trading fees are 0.1% for both makers and takers. If a user holds KCS, they can qualify for reduced rates, VIP programme benefits, and access to exclusive events. The exchange has a daily volume of circa $1.31bn and lists over 840 cryptocurrencies across 990+ trading pairs. It’s an exchange that offers a wide variety of assets and services for those who want to look at projects beyond the most well-known coins. Access is regional, though, and KuCoin is not licensed to operate in the US.
7. PrimeXBT
PrimeXBT takes a very different approach to the business of trading crypto than the typical exchange, which is all about buying and selling crypto. It was founded in 2018 and is fundamentally a derivatives trading platform. It offers crypto futures and CFDs, as well as the ability to trade a range of traditional markets. Traders can also trade gold, oil, forex pairs such as EUR/USD, along with stock indices like S&P 500 and Nasdaq. It’s a platform for traders who want to trade across a number of markets from one place.
PrimeXBT supports over 150 cryptocurrencies and trading pairs and has a reported daily trading volume of c.$2.38bn. Crypto futures fees start at 0.01% for makers and 0.015% for takers, with other market fees varying by asset class and market conditions. The platform also provides advanced charting tools, a range of technical indicators and up to 1,000x leverage on crypto. That 1000x leverage is going to massively amplify both potential gains and potential losses, so it is vital that users understand how leveraged positions work before they trade.
8. Crypto.com
Crypto.com is for users who want more than just a place to buy and sell crypto. In addition to spot and derivatives trading there’s an NFT marketplace and Crypto.com Earn, which enables users to earn rewards on their eligible crypto holdings. There’s also the Visa card which allows users to spend their crypto at Visa-accepting merchants and earn tiered cashback in CRO, which is the platform’s own token.
The exchange supports over 400 cryptos across more than 560 pairs and has a reported daily volume of $803m. Fees start at 0.075% for both makers and takers and can be reduced via higher volume or by locking up CRO. Some of the platform’s other benefits are also contingent on holding the token, so users will need to consider the benefits against the risks of the token’s price volatility. For users looking for a platform that offers both crypto trading and a range of ways to spend their crypto, Crypto.com brings a number of services together in one place.
Final thoughts Crypto exchanges have evolved from platforms for buying and selling digital assets into broader ecosystems offering trading tools, investment products, and access to a growing range of cryptocurrencies. As the market continues to develop, choosing the right exchange means understanding how its features, fees, security measures, and supported assets align with individual needs. Before committing funds, users should research each platform, understand how it works, and assess the risks involved.
Disclaimer. Readers are encouraged to do their own research. Ambcrypto is not liable for any outcomes related to the use of information, products, or services mentioned. This content may include affiliate or partner links.
Ethereum’s next big upgrade has hit a speed bump on its final practice track. Developers have called off the October 26 activation of Glamsterdam on the Hoodi testnet.
Node operators are now being told to run client software that does not include the scheduled fork. The mainnet activation date, which was never set in stone, remains undecided.
What changed on Hoodi Glamsterdam had been slated to go live on Hoodi on October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC. That timestamp corresponded to epoch 132,352, the point where the network would have switched to the new rules.
Hoodi is one of Ethereum’s public test networks. It is where client teams and validators rehearse an upgrade under realistic conditions before anything touches real money.
The prior plan had a clear sequence. Operators were expected to upgrade both their execution and consensus clients to fork-ready versions before the activation epoch. Releases such as Lodestar 1.50.0 and Nimbus 26.10.1 had been listed among the compatible versions.
Skipping that step under the old plan meant getting stranded on the pre-fork chain. The new guidance flips the risk: operators should avoid running a fork-enabled build on Hoodi for now.
What Glamsterdam is supposed to deliver Glamsterdam is a combined upgrade. It pairs execution-layer changes, known as Amsterdam, with consensus-layer changes, known as Gloas.
The headline feature is enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, introduced mainly through EIP-7732. Today, Ethereum relies on outside middleware to split those jobs between block proposers and block builders. ePBS bakes that division of labor directly into the protocol itself.
The upgrade also adds block-level access lists. These let a block declare upfront which parts of the network’s state it will touch, which can help nodes process transactions more efficiently.
Gas pricing adjustments round out the package. Together, these changes are aimed at scaling Ethereum’s base layer, often called Layer 1.
One of the more eye-catching planned changes involved Hoodi’s block gas limit target. It was expected to jump from roughly 60 million to 200 million after the fork.
The Sepolia precedent The cancellation stands out because Glamsterdam already cleared one testnet. It activated on Sepolia on October 6, 2026.
The Hoodi gas limit increase was designed to mirror how Sepolia behaved after its fork. So the upgrade had, at least on one network, already done what it was built to do.
Before the change in plans, discussions around a mainnet launch had hinged on what developers observed on Hoodi. Early December had been floated as a potential candidate window. With the Hoodi activation off the calendar, that window now looks considerably less certain.
What this means for Ethereum For everyday ETH holders, nothing changes today. Users holding ETH or running mainnet nodes had no required action ahead of the upgrade, and that remains the case.
The people who need to pay attention are Hoodi node operators and validators. Running the wrong client build on a testnet will not cost anyone real funds, but it does muddy the test data developers rely on. Following the revised guidance keeps the rehearsal clean.
The next signals to watch are a rescheduled Hoodi epoch, fresh client releases from teams like Lodestar and Nimbus, and any update on whether the early December mainnet window survives.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Ethereum researchers want to reduce the finality time of transactions from 16 to 4 minutes. Behind this technical improvement is a concrete economic issue: to allow transfer services to mobilize less capital while waiting for the definitive confirmation of operations. For now, the project remains under study and does not plan any deployment date.
In brief
Ben Edgington and four co-authors propose to separate validator votes to speed up Ethereum finality.
For a service advancing one million dollars per hour, the locked capital would drop from about 267,000 to 67,000 dollars.
The project has no schedule or final parameters yet, while Solana targets about 150 milliseconds finality with Alpenglow.
Faster finality: less locked capital
While Ethereum updates advance despite the 11% drop in its price, settlement speed remains an important challenge. A transaction can appear in a block without being definitively validated. Validators still need to confirm their commitment not to revert this decision.
This is precisely the problem targeted by the “Decoupled Consensus” EIP project. When a service transfers funds to another network, it often must wait for this finality before recovering its money.
Let’s take an example: a customer wants to send 10,000 dollars. To spare him the wait, the provider can immediately pay the amount from its own reserves. However, it must wait before recovering the corresponding funds on Ethereum.
At large scale, these delays are costly. An operator advancing one million dollars per hour thus locks nearly 267,000 dollars for 16 minutes, versus about 67,000 dollars if the delay drops to four minutes.
Circle’s model also illustrates the benefit of speed. For its stablecoin USDC, the company charges 0.01% on its fast route from Ethereum, i.e., one dollar per 10,000 dollars transferred, excluding network fees. Its standard route, however, does not incur any Circle transfer fees.
Two distinct votes to accelerate Ethereum
Today, validators use the same vote for two functions: participating in the choice of the next block and definitively confirming previous blocks. Since finality depends on two rounds of voting, this mechanism limits settlement speed.
With “Decoupled Consensus,” researchers propose to separate these functions. Validators could thus confirm blocks according to a distinct rhythm, faster and adjustable over time.
This architecture could also facilitate the adoption of quantum-resistant signatures if current cryptographic methods became vulnerable.
A project still far from deployment
For now, no date is announced. Researchers still need to specify voting rhythms, penalties, and several security aspects. Ben Edgington emphasizes that many elements remain to be defined. The submission aims first to formally register the proposal in Ethereum’s development process.
The project adds to other network initiatives. Glamsterdam crossed an important first milestone on Sepolia on October 6, before the next deployment phases.
However, competition reminds us of the scale of the challenge. Solana has activated Alpenglow on its main network, targeting finality of about 150 milliseconds. The two networks rely on different architectures, but the speed gap remains considerable.
It remains to be seen if the Ethereum network can reduce its delays without compromising its security. For operators, the challenge is clear: to recover locked capital faster and facilitate transfers between networks.
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Fenelon L.
Passionné par le Bitcoin, j'aime explorer les méandres de la blockchain et des cryptos et je partage mes découvertes avec la communauté. Mon rêve est de vivre dans un monde où la vie privée et la liberté financière sont garanties pour tous, et je crois fermement que Bitcoin est l'outil qui peut rendre cela possible.
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
In brief U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $524.8 million on Wednesday, bringing a three-day inflow streak to about $1.07 billion and flipping October positive by roughly $460 million. Ethereum ETFs snapped a five-day outflow streak with a $14.9 million inflow but remain down about $1.07 billion for the month. Bitcoin fell 2.4% to about $81,470, and Myriad traders give it only a 20% chance of topping $87,500 in October. Bitcoin ETF buyers have erased October’s losses in three trading days.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $524.8 million on Wednesday, according to Decrypt’s ETF tracker, stretching an inflow streak that began Monday to three sessions and roughly $1.07 billion.
Myriad: How high will Bitcoin go? Click to make your prediction.That’s enough to flip the month positive. After shedding about $615 million through last Friday, the funds are now up roughly $460 million for October.
Monday’s $526.7 million haul, the funds’ best day since Sept. 22, came entirely from BlackRock’s IBIT. The rebound follows two weeks in which the funds lost about $910 million. Cumulative net inflows since launch stand at $58.4 billion, with total net assets at $100.8 billion.
The return of buyers coincides with a fresh vote of long-term confidence from Wall Street. J.P. Morgan Asset Management this week projected a 10% compound annual return for Bitcoin over the next 10 to 15 years in its first long-term forecast for the asset, while cautioning about 55% volatility.
Ethereum ETFs, meanwhile, finally caught a break. The funds took in $14.9 million on Wednesday, snapping a five-day outflow streak that drained about $389 million. They remain deep in the red for October, though, down roughly $1.07 billion so far. Cumulative net inflows stand at $12.8 billion.
The inflows haven’t lifted prices. Bitcoin traded at about $81,470 on Thursday, down 2.4% over 24 hours but still up 2% on the week. It marks a sharp turn after Bitcoin hit a weekly high near $85,000 just yesterday.
Ethereum fell 2.6% to roughly $2,393, and the total crypto market cap slipped 2.9% to $2.84 trillion. Zcash was among the hardest hit in the top 10, dropping 5.6%, though it remains up nearly 14% over seven days.
Traders on Myriad, a prediction market developed by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, aren’t betting on a breakout.
Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.Myriad traders give Bitcoin just a 20% chance of topping $87,500 before October ends and 9% odds of reaching $90,000. On the downside, they put the odds of a drop to $77,500 at 35%; Bitcoin already briefly slipped below $80,000 last week.
Sentiment on Ethereum is brighter, with Myriad users giving ETH a 61.3% chance of pumping to $3,000 before dumping to $1,500.
In terms of catalysts to watch, the Federal Reserve next meets on Oct. 27-28, with persistent inflation keeping another rate hike on the table.
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The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
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StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation will jointly study leaving Ethereum's layer 2 model, though the poll commits Starknet to nothing yet.
Starknet holders back researching a move to an independent layer 1
Posted October 22, 2026 at 12:47 pm ET.
Starknet has started researching whether to stop operating as an Ethereum layer 2 and run as its own blockchain, after a community poll backed the study. The network says it wants full post-quantum security by 2027, though the vote does not commit it to the switch.
The non-binding Snapshot poll closed on Thursday, Oct. 22, after running for seven days. The option “Yes, this should be researched” took 93.52% of the roughly 489 million STRK in voting power cast across 3,236 votes. About 4.6% of voting power chose “No,” and about 1.9% picked the neutral option asking for more information.
In a results post on its governance forum, the Starknet Foundation maintained that the vote “does not approve Starknet’s transition to an L1,” and that formal approval would be sought once research and design work is finished.
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What Happens Next
According to the Foundation, StarkWare and the Foundation will now run a joint working group and post its findings to the forum. If the work supports moving ahead, detailed proposals would then go back to the community for further votes. The Foundation asked node operators, app builders and STRK holders to reply with the questions they want the research to address.
StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson wrote on X that “any path to transition to an L1 will be brought to a community vote” and that STRK will stay the network’s token. He called the result “a huge shift and a milestone,” adding that “the AI and quantum challenges ahead require it.”
The poll discussion thread also said no new token would be issued and that bridges from Ethereum to Starknet would stay open whatever the outcome.
Why Starknet Is Looking at an L1
The Foundation said Starknet “has an architectural head start on post-quantum security,” pointing to proof systems built on hash functions and user accounts that can switch to new signature schemes without a protocol upgrade. In a separate post, Ben-Sasson wrote that ZK-STARKs “were designed with post-quantum security in mind” and that the team “will do the needed work to ensure all of Starknet is post-quantum secure.”
The constraint, according to Starknet, is its reliance on Ethereum. Its official account said on X it is “targeting full post-quantum security by 2027,” while Ethereum’s target is 2029, and that as an L2 it “cannot complete that transition while its bridge and data availability remain tied to Ethereum’s timeline.”
Starknet first set the 2027 goal on Oct. 8, when it said it was considering becoming an L1. Ben-Sasson raised the idea the same day in a post on X, writing that “chains need to become future-proofed. And fast.” Two days later, StarkWare said in its own post on X that “Starknet becoming an independent L1 is our clearest path forward.” StarkWare’s three-phase post-quantum roadmap from June 30 had left the bridge and blob data availability tied to Ethereum’s own upgrade, and did not mention an L1.
Related Listen: Why People Are Worried AI Could Crack the Math That Secures Every Blockchain
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
On October 22, 2026, ChainSecurity said the Glamsterdam hard fork on Ethereum’s Hoodi testnet had been delayed after its researchers identified security impacts in existing contracts. The firm said it had found 13 real-world examples and was conducting responsible disclosure with the affected projects. Its announcement asked teams to check their contracts while the Ethereum Foundation assessed the extent of the impact.
The problem affects contracts that catch a failed external call and keep executing. Under the gas changes ChainSecurity examined, a failure handler can finish where it previously would have run out of gas and reverted. A caller can deliberately supply too little gas for an operation while leaving enough for the surrounding contract to record a permanent failure. An operation that should have remained retryable can then lose its recovery path.
ChainSecurity’s technical disclosure examines EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 using specifications reviewed on October 13. Its gas examples describe proposed execution behavior, not balances read from affected contracts. The announcement names neither the projects under disclosure nor their contract addresses.
The failure handler gets another source of gas
Contracts defend against insufficient-gas griefing in several ways. Some check before an external call that they can forward a chosen gas budget. Others examine the gas left after a failed call and revert when too little remains. Others rely on the failure handler itself running out of gas. That rolls back the surrounding operation without an explicit check.
Checks after a call and handlers that rely on running out of gas depend on how much gas the call forwards, consumes and returns. Under EIP-150, a call can forward approximately 63/64 of its available gas. When the immediate target exhausts that allocation, the caller retains only a small share. A check can reject that remainder, or an expensive storage write can force the caller to revert.
The state-gas reservoir gives the caller another source of funding. ChainSecurity describes a separate pool that travels with calls in full, while the forwarding limit applies to execution gas. Solidity’s gasleft() reports only the execution balance. A contract with a low reading can still have reservoir funding for state creation. If the target reverts or runs out of gas, its reservoir returns to its call-entry value and remains available to the caller.
In the report’s example, around 15,000 execution gas can cover a cold fresh-slot write and a short continuation when the reservoir pays the state-creation charge. Under Osaka, the corresponding write costs 22,100 gas. A handler that previously could not record a failure may now commit it. Because the reservoir is forwarded in full, an outer wrapper can combine a funded reservoir with a limited execution budget.
Clearing storage can refill the execution balance
A contract can also allocate a persistent storage slot, call another contract, catch a failure and clear that slot before continuing. Under Osaka, clearing storage allocated earlier in the transaction produces a refund subject to a cap. The refund settles at the end of the transaction, so it cannot pay for the next instruction.
Under the Glamsterdam rules examined in the disclosure, undoing state creation triggers an immediate refill. The refill first restores execution gas up to the outstanding state-creation charges paid from that balance. Any remainder enters the reservoir. Clearing a slot can restore up to 97,920 execution gas, enough to change whether the rest of the failure handler completes.
For this to happen, the slot must have been zero at the start of the transaction. The frame must have outstanding state-creation charges funded from execution gas, either from its own work or successful subcalls. It also needs enough execution gas to clear the slot: the SSTORE stipend check still requires more than 2,300 execution gas, regardless of reservoir funding.
A gas check performed after the clear can see a replenished balance even though the target ran out of gas. ChainSecurity says a check that rejects the failure before the clear is unaffected by that refill. Its review instructions ask teams to locate storage refills relative to checks, since the order determines whether the check sees the restored gas.
Gas can also return through an intermediary. In ChainSecurity’s example, a defending contract calls an intermediary, which creates state and calls a target. The target runs out of gas. The intermediary then propagates that failure with REVERT.
Under the reviewed changes, reverting restores the intermediary’s state-gas accounting. It credits outstanding execution-funded state-creation charges back to the intermediary’s execution balance. That restored gas can return to the defending contract and lift the remainder above a post-call check’s threshold. It can also fund a failure handler that previously would have reverted.
The intermediary must retain enough gas to execute REVERT. If it runs out of gas itself or halts exceptionally, its resulting execution balance is consumed and no execution gas returns. Tests need to distinguish those paths, even when both ultimately report that a subcall failed.
What contract teams need to review
Pre-call checks avoid inferring the cause of failure from returned gas, but their budgets need revalidation too. A check can guarantee delivery of the requested allocation even when that allocation no longer covers the target’s work. ChainSecurity calls for bounds covering every permitted execution path under the new schedule, including cases where the reservoir cannot contribute. Forwarding overhead also needs rechecking.
The review starts with external calls that let execution continue after failure. Teams should trace the target’s complete path, including proxies, and the caller’s instructions before it commits a failure response. Tests should force a subcall failure and compare Osaka and Glamsterdam using the same relevant pre-state and explicit gas assumptions. The outcomes to inspect are disabled retries, removed claims and incorrect recorded results.
Where possible, ChainSecurity recommends propagating call failures so the entire operation reverts. Where execution must continue, it recommends preserving a recovery path instead of making an irreversible decision from remaining gas alone. Responsible disclosure continues with the affected projects unnamed. The firm’s announcement gives no replacement date for the Hoodi fork.
Developers pulled the Oct. 26 testnet activation days ahead of time. The upgrade's early-December mainnet candidates had depended on that test going smoothly.
Ethereum developers have called off Glamsterdam’s activation on the Hoodi testnet, four days before the upgrade was due to go live there. The decision leaves the network’s next hard fork without its final public test date, and with it the trigger for picking a mainnet date.
Christine D. Kim, founder of research and advisory firm Protocol Watch, said in a post on X on Oct. 22 that the cancellation was “due to security issues found in” Glamsterdam by the security firm ChainSecurity.
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Gas Accounting Concerns ChainSecurity’s Oct. 13 analysis focused on EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, two Glamsterdam proposals that change how Ethereum charges gas for creating and accessing state. The firm warned that code handling a failed call could behave differently after the upgrade even if no one edits it. “Even with unchanged contract code, a failure path that previously reverted can now complete,” it wrote, adding that continuing in that situation “can turn a retryable operation into a permanent failure.”
A day before the Oct. 22 All Core Devs Execution call, security researcher pcaversaccio asked developers on GitHub to discuss the findings, writing that “these findings call for a reassessment of this hard fork” while noting the decision was not his to make.
What Node Operators Need to Do Kim’s message to operators, posted on X minutes before her post on the cause, gave them two choices: “revert to an older release without the Hoodi upgrade scheduled,” or hold off until their execution-layer client publishes an update that drops it.
Besu developers merged a pull request titled “Unschedule Amsterdam on Hoodi” on Oct. 22, but merging code does not update nodes already running the old build. The PR states that Hoodi nodes on Besu 26.10.0 “still activate Amsterdam at that timestamp until they run a release with this change.”
On the network’s side, Barnabas Busa, who works on DevOps at the Ethereum Foundation, unscheduled the fork in Hoodi’s shared configuration files. That took out the Amsterdam start time set for Oct. 26, the Gloas fork at epoch 132,352 and a scheduled jump in Hoodi’s gas limit to 200 million at that epoch, returning the files to how they looked before the fork was scheduled.
December Candidates Hinged on Hoodi The agenda for the Oct. 22 call listed Dec. 1, Dec. 8 and Dec. 9 as candidate mainnet dates, with a plan to pick one on the following week’s consensus-layer call “if Hoodi goes smoothly.”
Glamsterdam, which would move proposer-builder separation into the protocol (EIP-7732) and add block-level access lists (EIP-7928), went live on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6. The Ethereum Foundation announced the Hoodi schedule on Oct. 16.
Neither Busa’s rollback nor Kim’s posts named a new date for the Hoodi test.
Related Listen: Is Ethereum’s Real Problem Debate, Not Tech? – Uneasy Money
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
Ethereum options traders are bracing for turbulence. The actual price chart has been far calmer.
According to Coinbase Markets data dated October 21, 2026, Ether’s one-month at-the-money implied volatility stands at 49%. Its 30-day realized volatility is 37%. That leaves a 12.5-point premium, which ranks in the 90th percentile of readings over the past two years.
Reading the volatility gauges Implied volatility (IV) is the market’s forecast of future price swings, backed out of what traders are willing to pay for options. Realized volatility measures how much the asset actually moved over a past window, in this case 30 days. “At-the-money” refers to options with strike prices near the current market price.
The gap between the two is often called the variance risk premium. A spread landing in the 90th percentile of the past two years suggests demand is running well above the usual baseline.
The numbers line up across platforms Options analytics platforms including Swolecharts and Coinotag reported that Ether’s 30-day ATM implied volatility held steady between 49% and 51% through mid-to-late October 2026. Those same sources put realized volatility around 32% during that stretch.
On October 22, 2026, ATM implied volatility was approximately 49.7% to 50.0% on Bybit and Binance.
Broader figures from Derivasys and Glassnode show Ether’s options implied volatility sitting in the mid-to-high 40s up to the low 50s across various near-term tenors throughout October 2026.
Why the premium is notable A 90th-percentile reading over two years means that in roughly nine out of ten observations across that period, the gap between expected and actual volatility was smaller than it is now.
The source data does not point to a specific catalyst. No commentary on upcoming events or trader positioning accompanied the figures.
What this means for traders and the market For option buyers, purchasing protection or directional exposure when IV sits well above realized volatility means paying a hefty premium. If Ether keeps moving at its recent pace, those options can lose value even if the eventual direction is right.
For option sellers, collecting premium priced at around 49% to 50% volatility while the underlying moves at 32% to 37% is the core logic behind many volatility-selling strategies. The catch is obvious: sellers carry the risk if the expected storm actually arrives.
Wide gaps between implied and realized volatility tend not to persist forever. Either realized volatility rises to meet expectations, or implied volatility drifts lower as the anticipated turbulence fails to show up.
Traders watching this setup will likely track whether realized volatility begins climbing from its recent range in the 30s, and whether IV holds near 50% across Coinbase, Bybit and Binance, or starts slipping back into the mid-40s range that also appeared across some near-term tenors this month.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Starknet holders approved research into turning the network into an independent, post-quantum Layer 1. The vote was non-binding and does not commit Starknet to leaving Ethereum. Foundation-delegated STRK supplied most of the voting power. STRK has erased most of its October rally and trades inside a descending channel. Starknet’s non-binding governance poll on researching a move from Ethereum Layer 2 to an independent, quantum-resistant Layer 1 closed on October 22 with 93.52% of voting power in favor. More than 2,800 wallets voted over seven days on Snapshot. The outcome authorizes study, not migration, and StarkWare plans to publish a draft whitepaper in November 2026. STRK did not rally on the news. The token fell 11.7% in 24 hours and 41% over the week, according to CoinMarketCap, and trades near $0.0545 with a market value of about $414 million.
Snapshot poll ends at 93.52% for research, not for an exit 93.52%
Voting power in favor
2,800+
Participating wallets
Oct 15-22
Voting window
No
Migration approved
Voters had three choices: back more research, reject the idea, or stay neutral until more details emerge. The 93.52% figure measures voting power, which scales with the STRK behind each address, so it says little about how many individual holders agreed. Early tallies above 99.9% circulated widely before the final count. The final count showed about 489 million STRK in voting power across 3,236 votes, with 4.6% choosing No and 1.9% asking for more information. According to the poll on Starknet’s Snapshot space, a Yes result triggers research and further proposals, so any real transition still needs separate governance votes.
The Starknet community has voted to research whether Starknet should become an independent, post-quantum L1.
Starting today, a joint @StarkWareLtd × @StarknetFndn working group will lead the research and publish a paper in the coming months. pic.twitter.com/26jV9IXKLv
— Starknet (@Starknet) October 22, 2026
StarkWare’s 2027 target collides with Ethereum’s December 2029 deadline Starknet works as a validity rollup. It executes transactions off Ethereum’s main chain and posts a cryptographic proof to Ethereum showing each batch was processed correctly. Ethereum handles settlement, and Starknet’s bridge and data availability depend on it. Most blockchains authorize transactions with elliptic-curve signatures, which a large enough quantum computer could in theory break, and post-quantum signature standards exist precisely to replace them. Starknet’s STARK proofs rely on hash functions, which are considered more resistant to known quantum attacks. The Ethereum-linked components still upgrade only as fast as Ethereum does.
STARKNET TARGET
2027
Full quantum resistance, a goal rather than a confirmed date
ETHEREUM TARGET
Dec 2029
Execution, consensus and data layers, subject to reassessment
StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson first raised the L1 idea on October 8, and two days later StarkWare called an independent L1 its clearest path forward, so the poll asked holders to endorse a direction the team had already chosen. The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol cluster aims for quantum resistance across execution, consensus and data by December 2029, while the Ethereum quantum-resistance roadmap treats that year as a planning target. After the vote, Ben-Sasson told The Block that Ethereum’s 2029 target is too late and that deadlines slip, pointing to the long wait for the Merge.
41 addresses carried 94% of the voting weight Analyst Illia Cherviakov reviewed 2,593 votes recorded by October 19 and found that Foundation-delegated STRK supplied 94.1% of the 375.7 million voting power, spread across 41 addresses.
Who supplied the voting power
375.7M STRK across 2,593 votes, as of October 19
Foundation-delegated STRK94.1%
353.7M, held by 41 addresses
Staked STRK5.7%
21.29M
vSTRK on Starknet0.2%
0.70M
STRK on Ethereum<0.1%
0.02M
Delegation is not direct voting. Under Starknet’s model, the Foundation delegates voting power and does not vote directly. Cherviakov also found that independently held voting power backed the proposal by about 99.3%, so the result likely stands without the delegated stake. The weak link is turnout. A 2025 governance call showed only 9% of available voting power used across two proposals, and that pattern would shape any binding vote.
An independent Starknet would rely on $84 million of staked STRK The Starknet Foundation says STRK remains the native token and the Ethereum bridges stay open. On an independent chain, staked STRK would become the main barrier against attacks instead of Ethereum’s validators. An October 19 analysis published by ICKWEB3 counted about 1.54 billion STRK staked across 137 validators, worth roughly $84 million at today’s price. No issuance model or validator reward design has been announced. Bridged deposits and data availability would also need new security models, and quantum-resistant cryptography alone does not make a chain decentralized or well capitalized.
STRK sellers defend $0.0588 after a 57% drop from the peak STRK/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Alexander Stefanov on TradingView STRK trades at $0.0545 on the 4-hour Binance chart, about 57% below the October 11 high of $0.1265, after unwinding most of a 231% rally from $0.0382. The steepest leg of that move started on October 8, the day Ben-Sasson floated the L1 idea. On October 21 buyers pushed price above $0.066 on the heaviest volume since mid-month, but the move stalled at the upper channel line. Price then closed below the 200 EMA at $0.0588 and the 0.786 Fibonacci level at $0.0571, so that band now acts as resistance.
Resistance
$0.0588
200 EMA, the level to reclaim
Price now
$0.0545
Inside a descending channel
Support
$0.0482
0.886 Fibonacci and channel floor
The $0.0482 level matches the October 7 and 8 lows, and the lower channel line is converging on it. A 4-hour close below would leave little support until $0.044. The RSI reads 38.35, below the neutral 50 mark but not oversold, and it made a higher low while price retested $0.0537. Sellers are losing some force, though the trend has not turned. A close back above $0.0588 would be the first sign of a recovery.
November whitepaper becomes the next test for the L1 case The draft whitepaper should show how consensus would work, what replaces Ethereum for data availability and how many validators the network would need. Ethereum’s timetable is the other variable. The Ethereum Foundation has said that reaching full post-quantum readiness would require an average of 7.2 months per fork, a faster cadence than most of Ethereum’s past upgrades, with even the next upgrade, Glamsterdam, still waiting for a mainnet date. Each delayed upgrade strengthens StarkWare’s argument, while a faster Ethereum schedule would weaken the main reason to leave.
Alex is a financial markets journalist and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, and he's spent close to ten years trying to answer one stubborn question: what's really driving this? It started in 2016, when Bitcoin refused to make sense to him - and rather than shrug, he stayed with it until it did. That patience became his method. He's less interested in what an asset is doing today than in the plumbing behind it: how liquidity flows, where risk hides, what a chart is quietly telling you that the headline isn't. That lens eventually stretched well past crypto into traditional markets, because the same forces - fear, leverage, incentives, timing - show up everywhere once you know how to look. Most coverage, in his view, insults the reader by stopping at the surface. Price up, price down, moving on. He'd rather leave someone genuinely understanding a move than merely informed that it happened. His path into markets ran through a Tourism degree at New Bulgarian University - proof, maybe, that curiosity beats credentials. With more than 200 deep analyses and over 10,000 articles behind him, he still walks away from most trading days having learned something he didn't know that morning.
Ethereum developers have canceled the planned activation of the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi testnet, just four days before its scheduled implementation. The move leaves the network’s next hard fork without a finalized public testing date, delaying the timeline for selecting a mainnet launch.
Security findings halt rolloutChristine D. Kim, founder of the crypto research and advisory firm Protocol Watch, stated on October 22 that the cancellation followed security issues uncovered by the cybersecurity company ChainSecurity. Kim posted on X that ChainSecurity had identified problems in the Glamsterdam upgrade significant enough to halt the testnet deployment.
An analysis by ChainSecurity, released on October 13, examined EIP-8037 and EIP-8038—two proposals within Glamsterdam that modify Ethereum’s gas charging model for creating and accessing state. According to the firm, the upgrade could cause smart contracts to behave differently in failure scenarios, even when their code remains unchanged. The analysis cautioned that a “failure path that previously reverted can now complete,” which could convert retryable operations into permanent failures.
Mini dictionary: ChainSecurity, a cybersecurity company specializing in blockchain and smart contract audits, is known for identifying vulnerabilities in major blockchain upgrades to help prevent potential exploits and security breaches.
ChainSecurity warned that even with no changes to contract code, failure conditions that once led to reverts could now allow operations to proceed, creating new classes of permanent failures.
Developer response and suspension processBefore the Ethereum All Core Devs Execution call on October 22, security researcher pcaversaccio urged developers on GitHub to review ChainSecurity’s findings, emphasizing the need to reassess the hard fork. However, he noted the decision would rest with Ethereum’s core development team.
Shortly afterward, Kim advised node operators to either revert to an older release without the Hoodi upgrade or await further updates that would remove the upgrade altogether.
On October 22, Besu developers, who maintain one of Ethereum’s main client implementations, merged a pull request titled “Unschedule Amsterdam on Hoodi.” The update does not automatically change nodes that are already running the previous version; nodes operating on Besu 26.10.0 will still activate the upgrade until they have the new release installed.
Barnabas Busa, part of the Ethereum Foundation’s DevOps team, also removed the upgrade schedule from Hoodi’s shared network configuration files. This rollback eliminated the programmed launch date of October 26 for Amsterdam, the upcoming Gloas fork at epoch 132,352, and an increase in Hoodi’s gas limit to 200 million at that same epoch, restoring the original configuration.
Technical teams returned Hoodi’s network settings to their earlier state, removing all planned hard fork events and leaving the upgrade timeline uncertain.
Delay impacts hard fork timelineOriginally, the schedule for Hoodi’s testnet upgrade was announced by the Ethereum Foundation on October 16. The agenda for the October 22 all-core developers call had included potential mainnet deployment dates for the Glamsterdam upgrade—December 1, December 8, and December 9—with the intention to finalize a date after successful Hoodi testing.
The Glamsterdam upgrade introduces key features to the Ethereum protocol, including EIP-7732, which embeds proposer-builder separation at the protocol level, and EIP-7928, which adds block-level access lists. The upgrade had previously been tested on Sepolia, one of Ethereum’s testnets, since October 6.
At present, neither Kim nor Busa have announced a new date for the Hoodi testnet upgrade. The next steps and the mainnet timeline will likely be determined only after further analysis and security verification by the development community.
Robinhood has won a Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) license to serve retail investors across the Middle East. However, the US trading app will not launch its products until 2027.
The approval is also older than it looks. Robinhood MENA Limited received its license on July 20, three months before Thursday’s announcement.
Robinhood chooses the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its regional headquarters to drive its Middle East expansion, having received authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to introduce its retail investing platform in the Middle East from… pic.twitter.com/zwnmNQ9Asi
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) October 22, 2026 What Does Robinhood’s Dubai License Actually Allow?Robinhood MENA, led by Salah Kaddoura, will operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial free zone.
The company says the license covers all 10 DFSA-approved asset classes. These include stocks, ETFs, crypto, and investment tokens, meaning tokenized securities.
The public register reads narrower. It lists “arranging” permissions, including futures and options, suggesting trades and custody may run through other group entities.
“The DIFC is one of the world’s most important financial hubs, and our expansion there brings us closer to building a global platform that enables anyone, anywhere to own the highest quality financial assets.”
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Can Robinhood Catch Rivals Already Live in the Gulf?Dubai follows Singapore and Canada in Robinhood’s 2026 expansion. The company says its stock tokens traded $15 billion in Robinhood Chain’s first 100 days.
ARK Invest data shows that network out-earned Ethereum last quarter.
Still, DIFC already hosts 72 brokers, up from 49 in 2022, per DFSA data. eToro, Interactive Brokers, and local app Baraka already serve UAE investors.
Crypto-native rivals are moving faster. Kraken won full approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) on Oct. 12. Its launch, due within weeks, includes xStocks tokenized equities.
Bybit added a VARA spot trading license on Thursday. Exchanges worldwide are also pushing into stock trading.
Gulf Wealth Opportunity or Crowded Niche?Bull caseBear caseLicense spans tokens, crypto, and derivativesRegister lists arranging permissions only$15 billion in stock token tradingAMC’s CEO questions whether tokens are fully backedYoung, wealthy Gulf retail baseMENA drew 4.1% of broker web traffic in Q3, versus 42% for Europe (FM Intelligence)Over 1 million funded users outside the USA 2027 launch hands rivals a year’s head startMeanwhile, US regulators have backed real stock tokens over synthetic copies.
Which Markets Could Feel Robinhood’s Gulf Entry? Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares barely moved, suggesting little Gulf revenue is priced in. Regional brokers such as Baraka and eToro face the most direct overlap. VARA exchanges like Kraken and Bybit overlap on spot crypto and tokenized stocks. Tokenization issuers could gain a licensed Gulf distribution channel. Robinhood has yet to name which countries it will serve. By 2027, DFSA brokers and VARA exchanges may be chasing the same Gulf investor from opposite rulebooks.
COIN Stock price hovered near $167 as investors assessed stronger employment figures ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
Bitcoin price traded around $81,100, while Ethereum hovered near $2,376 and XRP changed hands around $1.31.
Jobless Claims Fall to 194,000, Beating Market Expectations The Labor Department reported 194,000 initial unemployment claims, below the market forecast of 200,000. Applications declined by 6,000 from the previous week’s revised reading, reinforcing evidence that employers remain reluctant to cut staff.
BREAKING:
🇺🇸 US Initial Jobless Claims have just been officially released
Expected: 200,000
Actual: 194,000
This is good news ahead of the FOMC meeting!! https://t.co/UOxcrEHKt9
— ᴛʀᴀᴄᴇʀ (@DeFiTracer) October 22, 2026
The average across four weeks fell to 197,750, offering a smoother measure of recent unemployment applications. However, continuing claims increased by 25,000 to 1.728 million, presenting a less reassuring picture for people already receiving benefits. The mix is indicative of low levels of layoffs, and an increase in the number of ongoing claims suggests re-employment problems.
Upcoming FOMC Meeting Puts Inflation in Focus The Federal Open Market Committee is ready for its next meeting, with inflation and employment being the key issues in the policy debate.
Source: CME data Traders expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged at its October 28, 2026, meeting. The supplied FedWatch shows a 92.8% probability of retaining the target range. That would leave the federal funds target range between 3.75% and 4.00% following the meeting.
An increase to between 4.00% and 4.25% carries a 7.2% probability, indicating limited expectations for tighter policy. This assigns no probability to a rate cut, with pricing strongly favoring a hold. These are market expectations at the time of recording and can be altered prior to announcement of the rate.
COIN Stock Price Forecast: Will Buyers Reclaim $170? Price action is currently bearish, as COIN stock has broken below its session open levels and is approaching the session lows at $170.25. The first level of support is the session low at $166.82, and an initial recovery hurdle is the opening level.
Source: COIN stock A move above $170.25 would further solidify the recovery scenario and put the session high around $173.64 on the radar. Clearing that barrier could encourage another advance, although stronger trading volume would make the breakout more convincing.
Below $166.82, the round numbers of $165 and $160 become possible downside reference points for traders.
The proposed upgrade speeds Ethereum-to-Aztec messaging and funds 30 days of V5 operation during migration; the dashboard lists October 26 for execution.
The proposed upgrade speeds Ethereum-to-Aztec messaging and funds 30 days of V5 operation during migration; the dashboard lists October 26 for execution.
