Several major cryptocurrencies are displaying signs of stability and recovery, with Near Protocol (NEAR) and Zcash (ZEC) at the forefront of the market rebound. Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ethereum (ETH) are also showing notable price activity after recent declines.
Near Protocol: Strong consolidation and trendNear Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain focused on scalability and user-friendly development, is currently trading near $5.25, consolidating below its recent high of $6.00. The token experienced significant growth from $1.60 in August to nearly $6.00 in early October, marking an increase of more than 270%. Following this rally, NEAR pulled back to $4.30 and has since moved within a range between $4.60 and $5.60, consolidating recent gains.
The 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $4.80 has consistently acted as support during each dip, helping to maintain the uptrend. Additional key averages, including the 50 EMA at $4.20, 100 EMA at $3.40, and 200 EMA at $2.75, all trend upward and remain well below the current price, underscoring the coin’s bullish momentum.
Relative strength index (RSI) values have eased from overbought levels above 80 to a more neutral reading of 55, signaling that the market has cooled despite price stability. Volume has moderated since September’s spike, although buying interest resurfaced with the most recent upward move.
NEAR continues to trade in a strong uptrend, using its rising EMA levels as support. A close above $5.60 could pave the way for a retest of the $6.00 peak and potential new highs this cycle, while support rests at $4.80 and $4.30 should momentum fade.
A break above $6.00 would place NEAR in price discovery for the current cycle. Conversely, a sustained move below $4.30 could trigger further downside toward $4.20.
Mini dictionary: Exponential Moving Average (EMA), a technical indicator placing a greater weight and significance on recent price data to identify trends in market analysis.
Zcash: Key recovery levels in focusZcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, trades near $1,314 after recovering most losses from October. ZEC surged from $480 in August to a high of $1,700 in late September. After hitting that peak, the token dropped to around $1,050 but found support above its 100-day EMA at $1,010, prompting renewed buying activity.
ZEC has reclaimed the 20 EMA at $1,270 and is now confronting resistance in the $1,320 to $1,350 range, which marked a local top in early October. Its 50 EMA at $1,190 now serves as nearby support, while the longer-term 200 EMA sits at $790. All major average trend lines point upward, confirming an ongoing bullish trend.
Momentum has also improved, with the RSI rising toward 55. Trading volume increased slightly as ZEC rebounded, giving weight to the recent upturn.
The resistance zone at $1,380 represents a major barrier; a daily close above this level could open the way to $1,500 and eventually challenge previous highs near $1,700. Critical support remains at $1,190 and $1,050, with a break below the latter level threatening to weaken the positive outlook.
If ZEC can clear resistance, the next target would be $1,500, while renewed selling below $1,050 may expose the $1,010 level.
Mini dictionary: Zcash, a digital currency designed to provide enhanced privacy through zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs that enable transaction information to remain concealed from public view.
Dogecoin and Ethereum: Mixed recovery signalsDogecoin is trading near $0.0825 following a modest bounce from its recent low of $0.076. The coin had rallied from $0.070 in August to $0.106 in September before reversing course in October. DOGE now faces a set of technical resistance levels: the 50 and 100 EMAs at $0.0855, the 20 EMA at $0.088, and the 200 EMA at $0.092—all of which have capped bullish moves in recent months.
The RSI for DOGE stands at 45, rising from oversold territory, which suggests receding selling momentum. However, volume remains low both throughout the decline and during the current bounce, indicating that significant buying pressure has yet to emerge. The $0.0855 mark serves as initial resistance, with support levels at $0.080 and $0.076. A close below $0.076 could bring $0.070 back into view.
Ethereum is now trading at approximately $2,482 after rebounding off support near $2,320 earlier in the month. The coin previously advanced from $1,900 in August to a September high of $2,800, then slid to its current support area. The 100 and 200 EMAs (at $2,360 and $2,315) provided a cushion during the latest downturn and continue to form a stable base.
At present, ETH faces resistance at the 50 EMA ($2,480), and the 20 EMA ($2,550) will be the next test if the recovery continues. Breaking above $2,550 would signal a potential move toward $2,700 and a retest of September’s highs near $2,800. RSI is near 45, gradually climbing, while trading volume remains at typical levels for the asset.
If ETH fails to break through resistance, support levels to monitor are $2,360 and $2,315. A decisive move below these supports could expose the $2,100 level. Market participants view a close above $2,550 as a key confirmation of further upside potential.
Backpack had about 90% of its capital parked on FTX when the exchange imploded in November 2022. Founder and CEO Armani Ferrante has been retelling that story publicly, and it is not the usual founder origin myth.
Ferrante’s account matters now because Backpack is no longer a scrappy Solana wallet. It is a regulated exchange that owns what used to be FTX Europe.
The hole FTX left
The research behind Ferrante’s comments puts the loss at approximately $14.5 million. That figure represents somewhere between 88% and 90% of Backpack’s operating capital at the time.
The timing made it worse. In September 2022, just weeks before the collapse, FTX Ventures co-led a $20 million funding round in Backpack. The investor and the custodian turned out to be the same sinking ship.
Ferrante discussed the exposure publicly during an October 19, 2026 interview. He has recounted the episode across several conversations, framing it as the defining crisis of the company’s early life.
Before founding Backpack, Ferrante worked at Alameda Research, the trading firm whose entanglement with FTX sat at the center of the 2022 failure. He is also known for building Anchor, a widely used development framework for Solana programs.
From near-zero to a regulated exchange
Backpack did not fold. The company leaned on community support to restart operations after the collapse, then launched an exchange in beta in 2023.
Early 2024 brought a $17 million Series A round. For a company that had lost most of its capital barely over a year earlier, that was a meaningful vote of confidence.
The real headline move came in January 2025. Backpack acquired FTX Europe for $32.7 million.
The acquisition came with a MiFID II license, the European Union framework that governs investment services across the bloc, and responsibility for claims tied to around 110,000 European customers of the old FTX entity.
By early to mid-2026, Backpack reported cumulative trading volume exceeding $420 billion and more than 420,000 verified users.
Building around the FTX lesson
Backpack’s pitch leans heavily on not repeating FTX’s mistakes. The company emphasizes regulatory compliance, decentralized architecture and user control as core design principles.
One concrete example: independent verification nodes for balances. The idea is that users and third parties can check that funds are actually where the exchange says they are. That is a direct answer to the FTX failure, where customer balances on screen did not match assets in reality.
The company has also signaled plans to expand into tokenized equities on Solana.
What this means for users and the market
For the roughly 110,000 European customers tied to FTX Europe claims, Backpack’s track record carries unusual weight. The company running their claims process is one that was itself a victim of the same collapse.
For the broader exchange landscape, the MiFID II license is the strategic prize. Regulated access to European users is hard to obtain from scratch, and Backpack effectively bought a shortcut through an acquisition.
Backpack’s founder had insider knowledge of the ecosystem and still kept about 90% of capital in one place. If a builder with an Alameda background got caught out, retail users should take note. Spreading custody across venues, or holding assets in self-custody, is what separates an inconvenience from a near-fatal blow.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Aave V4 has taken the lead among decentralized finance platforms for Coinbase-issued tokenized stocks on the Base network, with deposits reaching $10.1 million. Token Terminal data shows that Aave controls approximately 53% of the total value locked (TVL) for this market segment, which currently stands at $18.9 million across DeFi venues.
Tokenized equities drive surge in DeFi collateralThe Equities Hub in Aave V4, operating on Base, enables eligible users to leverage tokenized versions of major U.S. company stocks as collateral to borrow USDC. Currently, the platform supports tokenized shares of Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, all issued by Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States.
By integrating Chainlink price feeds, Aave ensures accurate valuation of these collateral assets. At this stage, the tokenized equities can only be used as collateral and are not available to be borrowed directly from the platform. This arrangement provides stablecoin liquidity to users while maintaining exposure to their tokenized stock holdings. Token Terminal places Aave’s share at $10.1 million out of the total $18.9 million deposited across DeFi protocols for Coinbase-issued tokenized stocks on Base, giving it the largest share among its competitors.
Mini dictionary: Token Terminal is a data analytics platform that tracks financial and usage metrics for decentralized protocols. It serves as a reference for investors and market participants assessing DeFi activity and trends.
These totals highlight Aave’s strong position in the new market for tokenized-equity collateral. However, the share only reflects deposits for tokenized stocks, and does not represent Aave’s overall market share in decentralized lending.
Aave expands access to USDC liquidityThe increase in tokenized equity deposits underscores the connection that is forming between traditional financial markets and decentralized lending platforms. By allowing users to deposit tokenized stock as collateral, Aave expands avenues for participants to access USDC liquidity on-chain, without selling their holdings outright.
This functionality is designed to attract investors who want to interact with blockchain-based versions of established equities within DeFi ecosystems. At the same time, the addition of these assets broadens the scope of collateral supported on Aave and may encourage greater engagement among users looking for diversified lending opportunities.
A growing number of deposits and borrowing activity on Aave could hint at rising demand for these financial instruments. Still, TVL alone does not provide a full picture of the revenue or adoption rate for the Equities Hub. The potential for continued adoption will depend on the appeal of tokenized stocks and the growth of the ecosystem on Base.
AAVE price analysis: Support and resistance zones in focusAlongside the growth of tokenized stock deposits, AAVE’s token price is currently testing a key support band. Market analyst Crypto With Gopal identified a potential double-bottom pattern for AAVE at the $147-$148 range. This formation typically signals attempts by buyers to defend a price level following a period of decline.
The resistance level between $165 and $166 has emerged as the neckline for this technical pattern. For a trend reversal to be confirmed, AAVE’s price would have to break above this resistance. Should such a move occur, Gopal projects potential upside targets in the $185-$190 region. However, these targets only become relevant if the price action confirms a decisive breakout.
LevelTypeValue ($)SupportDouble Bottom Zone147-148ResistanceNeckline165-166TargetPost-Breakout185-190A drop below the $147-$148 support would weaken the likelihood of a successful reversal, while rejection at the $165-$166 resistance would leave the double-bottom scenario unconfirmed. Whether buyers can maintain momentum above support and break through resistance will likely determine AAVE’s short-term price direction.
Crypto With Gopal points to a double-bottom pattern forming at the $147-$148 level. If AAVE breaks through the resistance band at $165-$166, targets move to the $185-$190 area. Confirmation depends on sustained buying above support and a clear move above resistance.
Beyond technical signals, factors such as ongoing demand for tokenized equities and broader DeFi market trends will also influence price action. Increased adoption of Aave’s Equities Hub could serve as evidence of its strengthening role in the Base network.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Bitcoin is approaching a significant resistance level, as a concentration of sell orders emerges between $83,500 and $85,000, creating uncertainty around its ability to sustain its current upward move toward $90,000.
Clustering Sell Orders Slow BTC’s Upward MomentumAs of the latest data, Bitcoin trades at $83,904.38, reflecting a 1.06% gain during the most recent daily candle on TradingView. Market observer Ted Pillows has drawn attention to the dense group of sell orders short of $85,000, suggesting that significant buying activity is necessary to propel the price beyond this resistance.
Pillows highlighted on X that “A lot of sell orders have been placed between $83,500 and $85,000,” and suggested the $90,000 mark remains within reach if buyers overcome this cluster. This level’s importance stems from the fact that substantial sell orders can cap price increases, although these orders may be removed or altered, meaning the resistance is not guaranteed to hold.
A considerable concentration of sell orders between $83,500 and $85,000 is shaping the immediate resistance for Bitcoin, and a clear move above this zone could open the door to $90,000.
The CoinGlass futures order book provides a closer look at this resistance. Recent figures indicate 688.2 BTC in asks at $83,940 and 551.3 BTC at $84,000, adding pressure as the price approaches these levels.
On the buy side, there are 288.6 BTC in bids at $83,500 and 224.3 BTC at $83,520, but the order book can change swiftly. These bids may reduce short-term volatility, yet they offer no certainty of support.
Market Structure and Key Technical LevelsLooking at the daily Bitcoin chart, the price currently trades above the middle Bollinger Band, set at $83,231.61. The upper and lower bands are positioned at $86,194.31 and $80,268.91, respectively. Maintaining levels above the middle band supports a near-term recovery, but does not guarantee a decisive breakout beyond the heavy sell zone.
The on-balance volume (OBV) stands at around -1.22 million. This negative reading alone does not signal clear momentum, as the direction and persistence of OBV changes are more telling than the value itself.
CoinGlass data shows open interest near $53 billion, with a minor uptick in the latest period. Open interest measures the notional value of outstanding futures contracts, but an increase does not alone confirm which side—the bulls or the bears—holds a stronger position.
Volume analysis shows uneven trading activity, and no consistent rise in buy volume. For technical confirmation, a clear break above $85,000 on strong spot-market volume would be needed to signal lasting upward momentum.
Given the speed at which prices and order book data can change, traders are now seeking ways to monitor market moves and key resistance zones with greater efficiency. In a market where a single Fed decision or a sudden altcoin listing can change everything in seconds, jumping between different apps for charts, news, and portfolio tracking is costing investors money. 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.
Outlook: Which Levels Matter Next?Should Bitcoin maintain a break above $85,000, attention will likely shift to $86,200 as the next technical barrier before traders revisit $90,000 as a possible target, as noted by Ted Pillows.
A failure to clear $84,000 to $85,000 could bring support at the middle Bollinger Band of $83,231 into focus, with the lower band near $80,269 as a further area of interest should selling accelerate.
Order book dynamics continue to define Bitcoin’s immediate path, while technical indicators and market volumes provide the broader context. A sustained breakout above $85,000 with increasing spot activity sets a bullish tone, but rejection at resistance leaves BTC vulnerable to short-term declines.
Market volatility remains high and displayed order book levels alone do not guarantee specific price outcomes. Monitoring price action, sentiment, and derivatives data is essential for traders considering entry or exit points.
Bitcoin falls below $83,000, down over 2% from its early morning high.
According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has fallen below $83,000, dropping more than 2% from its early morning peak and currently trading at $82,930.
9 minutes ago
Over the past 12 hours, $213 million in crypto liquidations hit the network, with both long and short positions liquidated.
According to Coinglass data, total liquidations across the crypto market reached $213 million in the past 12 hours, with long-position liquidations amounting to $112 million and short-position liquidations totaling $101 million.
9 minutes ago
Binance Square kicks off the second phase of the US stock earnings season, focusing on AI investment returns of Tesla and Meta.
Binance Square has launched the second installment of its U.S. stock earnings season coverage, with this edition focusing on Tesla (TSLA) and Meta (META)’s third-quarter financial results. Both companies will release their results after U.S. market close on October 21 (Eastern Time), with market focus centered on whether their artificial intelligence (AI) investments can translate into actual revenue, profits, and cash flow.
For Tesla, while its third-quarter delivery volume hit 486,532 units, exceeding consensus analyst expectations, the profitability of its automotive business remains a key highlight—particularly its automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credit revenue. Additionally, the performance of its energy storage business, progress in commercialization of Full Self-Driving (FSD), Robotaxi, and Optimus humanoid robot, as well as capital expenditures and free cash flow, will also shape market perceptions of its growth outlook.
For Meta, the market will prioritize ad business growth and returns on AI investments. Investors will monitor revenue, ad impressions, and average price changes to assess whether Meta’s AI recommendation systems and ad tools can boost monetization efficiency. Separately, Meta projects its 2026 capital expenditures will reach $130 billion to $145 billion. Whether this spending will drive corresponding profit and cash flow growth, along with full-year expenses and forward guidance, are key highlights of this earnings report.
It is reported that Binance Square will continuously follow both companies’ earnings performance via formats including earnings previews, post-release analyses, and analyst live streams in Chinese and English. Users can follow Binance Square’s dedicated earnings topic and join discussions via the hashtag #EarningsSeason to share their views on earnings results and market trends.
9 minutes ago
Aerodrome and Velodrome officially merge to launch unified on-chain DEX Aero.
Aerodrome and Velodrome have officially completed their merger, launching a unified on-chain spot trading platform called Aero. The new platform will operate across seven networks: Ethereum Mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc, and Arbitrum, integrating the operations of the two decentralized exchanges into a single platform. The core focus of the merger is the unification of the token system. Original AERO and VELO tokens will be migrated to the new AERO token, with old AERO swapped at a 1:1 ratio, and VELO converted at a rate of 1 VELO = 0.044 AERO. Existing veAERO and veVELO staked positions will be converted to sAERO. Binance announced on October 16 that it supports the token merger and contract swap, providing a migration path for existing holders. Prior to the merger, Aerodrome and Velodrome already held leading positions in their respective ecosystems: in Q3 2026, Aerodrome accounted for 58% of DEX trading volume on Base, while Velodrome captured 60% of DEX volume on OP Mainnet. Aerodrome also ranked first among all DEXs in Bitcoin-USD trading volume during the same period. The seven networks covered by Aero collectively handle approximately $120 billion in monthly DEX trading volume.
9 minutes ago
Whop Raises $200 Million Series D Round Co-Led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures, Valued at $5.1 Billion
Online business platform Whop announced on October 21 that it has closed a $200 million Series D funding round, with a post-money valuation of $5.1 billion. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Shopify’s investment arm, Shopify Ventures. Some market reports have cited the funding amount as $205 million, but the official figure from the company’s announcement is $200 million. This financing comes less than a year after Whop’s previous funding round. In February 2026, Tether made a $200 million strategic investment in Whop at a $1.6 billion valuation, meaning the company’s valuation has more than tripled in under a year. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Whop was founded in 2021 by three co-founders who met as teenagers while developing sneaker release tracking software. Co-founder Steven Schwartz serves as CEO. The platform caters to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses, offering one-stop infrastructure covering business setup, payment distribution and operational tools. Currently, around 25,000 merchants conduct business via Whop, generating approximately $550 million in monthly transaction volume on the platform, while also creating income streams for over 50,000 related service providers. Its revenue mainly comes from commissions on platform transactions, with an average combined rate of around 6%.
9 minutes ago
Robinhood officially establishes its presence in Dubai, selecting the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its Middle East regional headquarters, with its license application to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) also in progress.
Robinhood’s Middle East expansion has shifted from planning to tangible implementation. According to multiple sources, the firm has selected the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and submitted a Category 4 license application to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to secure regulatory approval for offering trading services in the UAE. If approved, Robinhood will serve clients in the UAE and across the broader MENA region, with its operational base located at DIFC.
This article was automatically generated using Dow Jones technology. All major cryptocurrencies were down at 10 a.m. Hong Kong time, with Avalanche seeing the biggest move, falling 3.2% to $9.52. Sui declined 2.6% to $1.02, and XRP dropped 2.4% to $1.35. Cardano dropped 2.3% to 22 cents, while Dogecoin shed 2.2 % to 8 cents.
Solana shed 1.7% to $106.10. Ethereum declined 1.6% to $2,450.04, and Bitcoin shed 1.5% to $83,343.20. Tronix dropped 0.3% to 33 cents. Data source: Dow Jones Market Data, Kraken (END) Dow Jones Newswires 10-21-26 2200ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Solana replaced TowerBFT with Alpenglow on its mainnet on October 21, in its most significant consensus change since launch. The new protocol targets a finality close to 150 milliseconds, compared to about 12.8 seconds previously, but part of the planned architecture is still to be deployed.
In Brief
Solana activated Alpenglow on October 21, replacing TowerBFT on its mainnet.
The new consensus targets a finality of 150 milliseconds, compared to 12.8 seconds previously.
The transition occurred without a network-wide outage, with participation from 654 validators.
The Votor mechanism speeds block validation through new voting procedures and BLS signatures.
Alpenglow promises faster final transactions and better fault tolerance.
Alpenglow Replaces TowerBFT on the Mainnet
The activation began at the start of epoch 1064. However, the network retained TowerBFT for the first 5000 slots of this epoch, about 18 minutes, to prepare the transition to the new system.
The transition completed at slot 459653000. The validators then formed the cryptographic certificate marking the birth of the Alpenglow consensus. Anza, the lead developer of the Agave client, described this operation as the “greatest upgrade in Solana’s history”.
The key elements of the activation illustrate the magnitude of the change :
Alpenglow replaces the TowerBFT consensus used since Solana’s inception ;
The targeted finality goes from 12.8 seconds to about 150 milliseconds ;
654 validators participated in the transition ;
The switch from one consensus to the other lasted about 900 milliseconds ;
Validator votes are no longer recorded as on-chain transactions ;
BLS signatures allow multiple votes to be aggregated into a single certificate ;
Each admitted validator must pay a ticket of 0.8 SOL per epoch.
The transfer occurred without a full network halt. During the critical phase, blocks temporarily stopped including user transactions and carried only the necessary votes. This precaution was to allow a rollback without invalidating a user-signed operation.
Once the genesis certificate was formed, nodes handed the consensus over to the new Votor algorithm. Transactions then resumed under the Alpenglow regime.
Votor Dramatically Reduces Final Confirmation Delay
The consensus allows validators to agree on the order of transactions and when a block can no longer be reverted. With TowerBFT, Solana produced blocks quickly, but their full finality required about 12.8 seconds.
Votor uses two voting procedures in parallel. The first can finalize a block in one round when 80% of tokens staked staking respond. The second can conclude after two rounds with 60% participation. The protocol adopts the path that finishes first.
Votes are no longer recorded as ordinary transactions. Validators exchange signed messages directly via the BLS system. Multiple signatures can then be aggregated into a compact certificate, freeing block space for user operations.
Alpenglow also targets better fault tolerance. Its design allows simultaneous tolerance of 20% of tokens staked on offline validators and 20% on hostile actors. TowerBFT relied on a limit of less than one-third malicious participation.
For users, the expected effect mainly concerns payments, decentralized exchanges, and applications demanding quick certainty. A finality near 150 milliseconds would reduce the wait before an operation is considered irreversible. However, this gain doesn’t mean all applications will respond that fast, as their interfaces, servers, and controls add their own delays.
Part of the Upgrade Is Still to Come
The activation on October 21 mainly concerns Votor, the new consensus mechanism. It does not yet deploy all the components described in the Alpenglow project.
Rotor, the future block propagation system, is set to replace Turbine in a later phase. It plans to distribute data shards via a single relay and to use the network’s full bandwidth. Its activation schedule is not yet set.
The economic operation of validators is also changing. Off-chain votes remove the old fees paid for each vote transaction. Instead, the protocol charges a validation ticket of 0.8 SOL per epoch on the vote account. An operator lacking the required amount cannot vote or produce blocks during the following epoch.
The comparison with Ethereum’s “The Merge” mainly illustrates the technical significance of the change. Ethereum abandoned proof-of-work for proof-of-stake in 2022. Solana keeps its general model but directly replaces the engine organizing agreement among its validators.
The coming weeks will verify whether the observed finality remains near 150 milliseconds during high activity periods. Network stability, validator participation, and the future deployment of Rotor will determine if Alpenglow lives up to its promises.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019.
Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
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.
Solana has activated Alpenglow, its largest consensus upgrade since the network launched in March 2020. The new protocol replaces TowerBFT and aims to reduce transaction finality from approximately 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds.
Anza, one of Solana’s core engineering teams, announced the activation today, October 21, at approximately 14:00 UTC. The network reached the Alpenglow genesis slot at 459,653,000, with 654 validators participating and a reported handoff time of 900 milliseconds.
Early measurements showed transaction finality dropping as low as 169 milliseconds. Anza designed the protocol to achieve finality in about 150 milliseconds, more than an 85-fold improvement over the previous 12.8-second benchmark.
Finality marks the point at which a transaction becomes irreversible under the protocol. Although Solana already offered faster conditional confirmations, Alpenglow shortens the wait for stronger settlement guarantees.
Why Alpenglow Matters for Solana
TowerBFT relied on a sequence of validator votes to establish finality. Anza developed Alpenglow from the ground up to eliminate much of that delay and improve how the network handles unresponsive or potentially malicious leaders. The upgrade could make Solana applications feel more responsive, particularly for payments, trading, and other time-sensitive financial activities.
"This is the largest, most ambitious blockchain upgrade since 'The Merge' and Anza took it from a white paper to running on mainnet in under 18 months. This aggressive timeline was only possible because of the caliber of our development team and the incredible cast of ecosystem teams and validator operators that helped harden the protocol over the last several months." - Brennan Watt, CEO, Anza
The launch also attracted praise from the wider Solana ecosystem. Solana co-founders Raj Gokal and Anatoly Yakovenko both reacted to the upgrade, with Raj describing it as a “huge accomplishment” and the pair further calling for a drop to the ‘beta’ tag in ‘mainnet-beta’ after the upgrade went live.
Solana has previously come under fire for never officially leaving beta, despite growing into one of the top blockchains and processing more transactions than all other blockchains combined. Solana’s co-founders are now calling for an official end to the beta phase as Alpenglow goes live.
Anza integrated Alpenglow into Agave, its validator software, with independent validator operators then adopting and activating the upgrade across the network.
Validators To Pay Less Now
Beyond faster finality, Alpenglow changes the economics of participating in Solana consensus. Under TowerBFT, validators paid 0.000005 $SOL per transaction to support consensus, costing approximately 1.1 $SOL per day. Alpenglow moves consensus votes offchain and replaces the per-transaction fee with a fixed cost of 0.8 $SOL per epoch.
This change could modestly reduce operating costs for validators, depending on their previous voting expenses and the epoch duration. It also removes the direct link between transaction volume and consensus voting fees.
What Comes Next After Alpenglow?
Anza first published the Alpenglow design in May 2025. Before deploying it to mainnet, the team conducted public testing, red-team exercises, penetration testing, migration rehearsals, and a security competition. The upgrade also passed through Solana's testnet and devnet.
However, the mainnet activation marks the beginning of further development rather than the end of the project. Other planned changes include starting block production before finalization and using geographically aware leader rotations to reduce handoff latency between leaders.
Anza has also outlined Quantumglow, a research design that would replace Alpenglow's elliptic-curve cryptography with hash-based signatures to address post-quantum security while preserving finality speed.
In a launch video, Anza CEO Brennan Watt stated that Alpenglow was built to “scale the chain in many different ways” and that he was excited to see “new emergent use cases that just weren't possible without that level of performance.” Alpenglow’s launch now puts Solana's new consensus architecture to the test under real network conditions.
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Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade entered its mainnet activation process on October 21, with the Solana Foundation listing its activation switch as active. The change introduces a new way for the computers running the network to agree that transactions are final.
For users, the goal is to have a shorter wait before a payment is settled. Alpenglow wants about 150 milliseconds, or 0.15 seconds, this is instead of the 12.8 seconds that the previous system has.
What faster finality means for users A transaction appearing in a wallet does not mean it has become final. What “finality” is is when the network considers that the transaction is settled and cannot be reversed.
The Foundation says that the figure is what is expected based on testing, but actual performance will depend on network conditions.
Activation comes before the completed handover The system in place before will still continue to operate for a while before the new process then takes over.
Another thing that will also be seen is that validator votes will not count as transactions recorded in blocks again. And what this means is that the total transactions that are reported could fall without user activity falling.
SOL approaches a nearby recovery hurdle SOL traded around the $106.85 price area at the time of this writing, up 0.39%.
It had pulled itself from the $100–$102 price levels that it was, and this was after it fell from the $124 price level. What this showed was that buyers were coming back, but prices were still not feeling the impact yet.
The price area it needs to cross is around the $108–$109 price area. If it is able to hold above that area, the recovery case will become stronger, and traders can then look at the $112 price area.
Source: TradingView If the rebound fails, the $100–$102 price area remains the recent area where buyers previously stepped in.
Final Summary Alpenglow’s mainnet activation has begun for transaction finality of around 150 milliseconds. SOL traded near the $106.85 price zone, with the $108–$109 looking like the next recovery area.
Ethereum and Solana both set new highs for staking participation during the third quarter of 2026, even as the returns available to stakers declined, according to Bitwise’s latest quarterly staking analysis.
Growing amounts of capital locked into securing the networks diluted individual rewards, while the bulk of those rewards continued to come from newly created tokens rather than transaction-related activity.
On Ethereum, the amount of ETH held by active validators climbed to a record 43.80 million tokens, equal to 35.9% of the total circulating supply.
Net inflows totaled 1.99 million ETH for the quarter, marking the sixth consecutive period of positive growth.
Cumulative staking additions for the first nine months of the year reached 7.96 million ETH—more than six times the volume seen in the same period a year earlier.
Institutional participants drove much of the expansion.
Bitmine, the Ethereum treasury firm associated with Tom Lee, increased its staked holdings from roughly 410,000 ETH in late 2025 to 5.07 million ETH by late September.
The higher participation level pushed average annualized gross staking yields down to 2.63% from 2.81% in the previous quarter.
Protocol-issued consensus rewards accounted for 96.3% of the total yield (2.53 percentage points), while priority fees and maximal extractable value contributed only a marginal 0.10 percentage points.
As the pool of staked ETH expands, the same stream of rewards is shared among more participants, lowering the return on each token.
Ethereum network revenue from fees and MEV also fell, dropping to approximately $40.6 million from $63 million in the second quarter.
The network processed 199.32 million transactions—still elevated relative to the prior year—yet users paid less per transaction following capacity increases from earlier upgrades.
Solana exhibited a similar pattern. Active stake rose to a record 440.5 million SOL, or 69% of total supply, after adding about 13.4 million SOL during the quarter.
Gross staking yields slipped to 5.99% from 6.38%.
Roughly 90% of Solana’s yield derives from new token issuance under its disinflationary schedule, which reduces issuance by 15% annually toward a long-term floor.
Higher network fees provided only a partial offset.
Solana handled a record 14.2 billion non-vote transactions, a 45% increase from the prior quarter, while transaction fee revenue climbed to $76 million.
Application-level revenue also rose sharply.
The network’s higher throughput and lower latency supported this activity, even as average transaction costs remained relatively stable.
Validator counts declined on both networks for different reasons.
Ethereum’s active validator set fell from around 1.1 million to roughly 881,000 following the Pectra upgrade, which enabled operators to consolidate multiple validators into fewer, higher-balance ones while maintaining the same amount of secured ETH.
Solana’s validator count dropped from 696 to 659 under ongoing cost pressures, continuing a longer-term contraction of about 30% over the past year as smaller operators exited.
Bitwise’s report frames the quarter as one in which proof-of-stake networks grew more capable and cheaper to use by design.
Increased staking strengthens economic security for the expanding volume of on-chain activity—including tokenized equities and other traditional assets—yet the dominance of issuance-funded rewards means non-staking holders face dilution while yields compress as participation rises. The data highlight a maturing infrastructure where security commitments expand even as per-token returns moderate.
Item 5.02: Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
Mailing Address 3500 LACEY ROAD SUITE 700 DOWNERS GROVE IL 60515
Business Address 3500 LACEY ROAD SUITE 700 DOWNERS GROVE IL 60515 800-983-0903
Invesco Galaxy Solana ETF (Filer) : 0002074409 (see all company filings)
: 000000000 | State of Incorp.: DE | Fiscal Year End: 1231
Type: 8-K | Act: 34 | File No.: 001-43001 | Film No.: 261475965
: 6221 Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers
(CF Office: 09 Crypto Assets)
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SkyAI (Nasdaq: SKYA) began paying out its own cash on October 16, opening a tender offer that would return up to $201.3 million to stockholders at $3.00 a share — a price the company says equals roughly 0.95 times its net asset value. Two days after the offer documents landed, its largest outside stockholder, Bastion Trading, put the entire process under a governance challenge, demanding that the board explain how a company that told shareholders it “reaffirms its commitment to its Solana DAT strategy” in September had sold its entire SOL treasury within a month and was now returning the cash at a discount to the company’s own stated value.
The tender offer was disclosed in the company’s tender offer announcement on October 19, and Bastion Trading’s escalation followed in its own public statement on October 21. What makes the situation unusual is not that a company is returning capital. It is the speed of the pivot. Four days before its annual meeting, SkyAI said it held more than two million SOL. A month later, it held none.
The Offer Is Live: $3.00, a 95% Cap, and a $22.5 Million Residual The tender offer seeks up to 95% of each class of SkyAI’s outstanding securities at $3.00 apiece: 48,311,489 common shares, 4,880,734 cash pre-funded warrants, 9,939,850 cryptocurrency pre-funded warrants, and 3,955,293 strategic warrants — 67,087,366 securities in total. Warrants are purchased at $3.00 less their $0.0001 exercise price, or $2.9999 each. The offer expires at one minute after 11:59 p.m. New York City time on October 29, unless extended or terminated.
SkyAI said it held approximately $223.8 million in cash as of October 16 and has completed the sale of all of its SOL. Because it no longer holds any SOL, the offer is not conditioned on SOL’s price — a condition the company had initially expected to include when it announced the offer on October 11. “The Offer is not subject to a financing condition and does not require any borrowing,” the company wrote. If fully subscribed, the aggregate purchase price is about $201.3 million.
The arithmetic is straightforward. A fully subscribed tender at $201.3 million against $223.8 million of cash leaves roughly $22.5 million on the balance sheet before transaction fees and expenses — about 90% of the disclosed cash balance would leave the company in a single transaction. Each class also carries its own minimum tender condition: at least 50% of the shares sought must be tendered, at least 50% of the two pre-funded warrant classes combined, and at least 50% of the strategic warrants. If more than 95% of a class is tendered, purchases are made pro rata within that class.
From “Reaffirms Its Commitment” to Zero SOL in a Month SkyAI was known until recently as Sharps Technology, a medical-device maker that pivoted into one of the more aggressive corporate Solana treasuries. In 2025 the company was marketing a treasury it sized at roughly $400 million, built with Coinbase’s collaboration.
The reversal came quickly. On September 14, 2026, four days before its annual meeting, the company’s proxy material said it “reaffirms its commitment to its Solana DAT strategy” and continued to hold more than two million SOL, according to Bastion Trading’s recitation of the Schedule 14A. On October 11, SkyAI announced the buyback and said its board had rejected the latest all-stock takeover proposal from Forward Industries as undervaluing the company. On October 14, Bastion issued its first public challenge — which BlockchainReporter covered at the time as Bastion’s demand for a higher tender price and a board reset — after flagging that most of the SOL had already been sold. By October 16, the tender offer was open and the SOL was entirely gone.
Bastion’s Math: A $3.30 NAV, a $3.50 Ask, and an $11.9 Million Warrant Question Bastion Trading, which with affiliates beneficially owns about 9.99% of SkyAI’s common stock, wants the price raised from $3.00 to at least $3.50 per share or warrant. Its stated basis is a net asset value of roughly $3.30 per share, calculated — in the firm’s own words — as “(market value of SOL holdings + cash and cash equivalents – total liabilities) / fully diluted share count,” based on an assumed SOL price of $110 per token.
The more pointed demand concerns the strategic warrants. Bastion said those warrants were granted without any cash consideration to Sol Markets, an entity controlled by James Zhang, the brother of SkyAI director and Chief Investment Officer Alice Zhang. “By our calculation, those warrants could receive up to approximately $11.9 million in the Tender Offer,” Bastion wrote.
Bastion also flagged a related relationship: Sol Edge Limited, another James Zhang-controlled entity, has already received “substantial compensation” under a 20-year consulting agreement, including a $10 million upfront payment, according to the company’s Form 10-K. Bastion’s position is that allowing this insider-related party to monetize warrants through a tender funded by the sale of the company’s core treasury asset would be “fundamentally unfair.”
The firm’s language is blunt. “Directors are not elected merely to rubber-stamp management’s decisions,” Bastion wrote. “Their fiduciary duties require them to exercise independent judgment and oversight, challenge potential conflicts and protect stockholders’ interests.” It is demanding that Executive Chairman Paul K. Danner III and directors Soren Bo Christiansen, Timothy J. Ruemler and Jason L. Monroe publicly explain their roles, or resign — and it wants the strategic advisor warrants excluded from the offer entirely, plus a special stockholder meeting if the board cannot demonstrate accountability.
What the $3.00 Price Actually Values SkyAI’s own footnote frames the price as a multiple of net cash. The company defines mNAV as the $3.00 purchase price multiplied by roughly 70.6 million shares and warrants outstanding, divided by net cash of about $223.8 million. That works out to $211.8 million of implied value against $223.8 million of cash — a multiple of about 0.946, which is the “approximately 0.95x” the company cites.
In other words, a stockholder tendering at $3.00 accepts roughly 95 cents on the dollar of the company’s stated cash value, while the strategic warrants Bastion wants excluded would absorb about $11.9 million of the payout — close to 6% of the full $201.3 million offer. The gap between the two positions is a single number: SkyAI’s $3.00 sits about 9% below the $3.30 NAV Bastion computes, while Bastion’s $3.50 ask sits about 6% above it, a 16.7% difference over whether the company should pay out at a discount to cash or a premium above NAV.
The Countercase: Why the Board Says the Offer Works SkyAI’s framing is that the offer is clean and funded. The board approved it unanimously, and the company notes the offer carries no financing condition, requires no borrowing, and leaves the common stock listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company also makes no recommendation on whether holders should tender, leaving the decision to each stockholder.
There is a narrower defense embedded in the structure. The minimum tender conditions mean the offer only closes if a meaningful share of each class participates, and the pro-rata mechanics cap any single class at 95%. A company returning cash at a discount to NAV is not automatically destructive: if the board believes the remaining business is worth less than the cash it holds, returning capital at 95 cents on the dollar can still exceed what the market would otherwise offer.
What the board has not yet provided is the independent analysis Bastion is asking for. The offer documents disclose no financial advisor, valuation, or fairness opinion — a point Bastion leans on directly — and the company has not separately responded to the October 21 statement. That silence, more than the $3.00 price itself, is where the governance risk sits.
What Decides This Between Now and October 29 The tender offer runs to October 29, and the practical questions are now concrete. Whether the 50% minimum conditions are met will determine whether any payout happens at all. Whether the strategic advisor warrants are excluded — and whether SkyAI responds to Bastion’s demand for director-level disclosure — will determine whether the governance fight stays in the filings or moves to a stockholder vote.
For a company that spent a year marketing itself as a Solana treasury, the liquidation itself is now settled; the capital return is the open question. The $3.00 price, the $11.9 million in strategic warrants, and the absence of a fairness opinion are the three numbers that will decide whether this is remembered as a clean exit or a contested one. SkyAI’s board has not answered. The next filing will show whether it intends to.
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Shiba Inu’s [SHIB] holder base grew significantly in 2026. Reportedly, SHIB saw an additional 150,017 on-chain holders, bringing its total to 1,698,647 by the 19th of October.
In fact, the figure reflected a significant growth from the 1,548,630 holders recorded at the beginning of the year 2026. Additionally, SHIB also attracted attention following developments surrounding T. Rowe Price’s proposed multi-asset cryptocurrency ETF.
In particular, the proposed fund identified SHIB among the crypto assets eligible for potential exposure, offering another possible avenue for institutional participation.
Here, it is worth noting that the filing, however, did not confirm actual SHIB holdings or establish a dedicated spot ETF. Both developments nevertheless highlighted SHIB’s growing reach across both the retail and potential institutional markets.
Source: X
Alongside the improving token adoption, SHIB continued decreasing its circulating supply through its token-burning mechanism. According to Shibburn on X, the network reportedly burned 111,395 SHIB across two transactions during the 24-hour period.
The seven-day total meanwhile had reached 81,765,038 SHIB, highlighting a continued burning activity over a longer period.
Notably, the cumulative burns totaled approximately 410.85 trillion SHIB, representing a significant portion of the token’s original supply.
Rising reserves expose persistent selling pressure
Shiba Inu‘s Exchange Reserves surged as spot trading activity continued favoring sellers, despite the expanding adoption.
CryptoQuant reported the memecoin’s Exchange Reserve USD climbing 3.11% in 24 hours to $449.6 million as of writing, reflecting greater exchange-held token value.
This increase implied potentially greater selling availability, even though USD-denominated reserves also reflected valuation changes. The Spot Taker CVD additionally remained seller-dominant, which suggested a stronger aggressive selling than buying activity.
These indicators combined highlighted persistent selling pressure despite the improving adoption figures of the memecoin. Such conditions therefore placed greater significance on the token’s ability to defend its immediate technical support.
Source: SHIBA INU Exchange Reserve USD on CryptoQuant
Can SHIB defend its critical weekly support?
At the time of reporting, SHIB traded around $0.00000511 after struggling to sustain its weekly recovery towards the $0.0000060 resistance region. Subsequently, the price rejection pushed the memecoin toward the $0.0000050 support, where buyers had previously defended this support region.
Meanwhile, the CMF indicator showed an improvement toward neutrality, reaching -0.01 as pressure around capital outflow eased. On the contrary, the Stochastic RSI highlighted weakening bullish strength. A bearish crossover emerged after the indicator’s recent overbought conditions, raising concerns about another potential price decline.
Moreover, SHIB would need to maintain the $0.0000050 support, before another recovery toward $0.0000060 becomes possible. Alternatively, losing this key support would expose the $0.00000413 level, particularly in case the spot sellers keep maintaining control.
Source: SHIB/USDT Chart on TradingView
Final Summary
SHIB added 150,017 holders as proposed ETF exposure opened potential institutional opportunities.
Rising exchange reserves and persistent spot selling could threaten SHIB’s $0.0000050 support.
Aerodrome and Velodrome officially merge to launch unified on-chain DEX Aero.
Aerodrome and Velodrome have officially completed their merger, launching a unified on-chain spot trading platform called Aero. The new platform will operate across seven networks: Ethereum Mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc, and Arbitrum, integrating the operations of the two decentralized exchanges into a single platform. The core focus of the merger is the unification of the token system. Original AERO and VELO tokens will be migrated to the new AERO token, with old AERO swapped at a 1:1 ratio, and VELO converted at a rate of 1 VELO = 0.044 AERO. Existing veAERO and veVELO staked positions will be converted to sAERO. Binance announced on October 16 that it supports the token merger and contract swap, providing a migration path for existing holders. Prior to the merger, Aerodrome and Velodrome already held leading positions in their respective ecosystems: in Q3 2026, Aerodrome accounted for 58% of DEX trading volume on Base, while Velodrome captured 60% of DEX volume on OP Mainnet. Aerodrome also ranked first among all DEXs in Bitcoin-USD trading volume during the same period. The seven networks covered by Aero collectively handle approximately $120 billion in monthly DEX trading volume.
1 seconds ago
Whop Raises $200 Million Series D Round Co-Led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures, Valued at $5.1 Billion
Online business platform Whop announced on October 21 that it has closed a $200 million Series D funding round, with a post-money valuation of $5.1 billion. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Shopify’s investment arm, Shopify Ventures. Some market reports have cited the funding amount as $205 million, but the official figure from the company’s announcement is $200 million. This financing comes less than a year after Whop’s previous funding round. In February 2026, Tether made a $200 million strategic investment in Whop at a $1.6 billion valuation, meaning the company’s valuation has more than tripled in under a year. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Whop was founded in 2021 by three co-founders who met as teenagers while developing sneaker release tracking software. Co-founder Steven Schwartz serves as CEO. The platform caters to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses, offering one-stop infrastructure covering business setup, payment distribution and operational tools. Currently, around 25,000 merchants conduct business via Whop, generating approximately $550 million in monthly transaction volume on the platform, while also creating income streams for over 50,000 related service providers. Its revenue mainly comes from commissions on platform transactions, with an average combined rate of around 6%.
1 seconds ago
Robinhood officially establishes its presence in Dubai, selecting the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its Middle East regional headquarters, with its license application to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) also in progress.
Robinhood’s Middle East expansion has shifted from planning to tangible implementation. According to multiple sources, the firm has selected the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as its regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and submitted a Category 4 license application to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to secure regulatory approval for offering trading services in the UAE. If approved, Robinhood will serve clients in the UAE and across the broader MENA region, with its operational base located at DIFC.
1 seconds ago
A new SSV proposal aims to slash its budget significantly, shifting from an expansion strategy to "maintenance first".
SSV Labs recently submitted the DIP-59 proposal, requesting an extension of network management authorization to June 30, 2027, along with major adjustments to its budget and work scope. The proposal marks SSV’s shift from an expansion strategy to a “maintenance-first” approach amid market and funding pressures. On the technical roadmap, the second half of 2026 will focus on completing the Boole network fork and supporting Ethereum’s ePBS upgrade; the first half of 2027 will enter a pure maintenance period with no new product development. Financially, SSV Labs has scaled back its funding requests: it is seeking 1.5 million USDC for 2026, and 2.7 million SSV tokens (including an option conversion mechanism) for the first half of 2027. The proposal waives certain previously due outstanding funds and requires a $900,000 asset as payment collateral.
1 seconds ago
Fidelity settles California crypto withdrawal probe for $500,000, requiring advance notice for retail wallet transfers while exempting IRA accounts.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on October 16 that his office has reached a $500,000 settlement with Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, the successor entity to Fidelity Digital Asset Services. The settlement addresses restrictions Fidelity previously imposed on California retail customers transferring cryptocurrency off its platform, which regulators deemed potentially violated California’s 1990 Commodity Law. Under that statute, certain speculative commodity contracts are restricted unless the buyer obtains physical delivery within a set timeframe, and state authorities view the ability to withdraw cryptocurrency as the functional equivalent of such delivery. From November 2022 to April 2025, California customers could trade cryptocurrency on Fidelity’s platform but were barred from sending assets directly to external wallets. Fidelity attributed the restriction to its then-regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), failing to grant required approval. The approval was secured in April 2025, and the transfer function was extended to all California retail customers in June 2025.
1 seconds ago
Sonic Labs will transfer approximately 13 million S tokens via over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.
Sonic Labs announced on social media that approximately 13 million S tokens will be transferred over the next 24 to 48 hours under a strategic over-the-counter (OTC) agreement. The transaction counterparty is a long-term partner. The team is disclosing this information in advance to ensure the community clearly understands the rationale behind the on-chain fund transfer when it is observed on the blockchain.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Convex Finance [CVX] rallied significantly in the past day. The asset reached this level following a 22% increase in value to $260 million, while trading volume came closer to $26.66 million.
The gain followed an inflow of capital into CVX’s on-chain market, alongside a surge in the number of holders. Perpetual market activity also shows that traders are positioning for a possible upward rally.
CVX holders and income reach new highs In the past day, as CVX surged, there was a clear increase in the number of token holders, who reached an all-time high of 32,410. Between the 12th and the 21st of October, the number of CVX holders increased significantly, with 500 new holders added to the market.
Source: DeFiLlama A surge in the number of holders often indicates an inflow of capital into the asset. Another contributing factor has been Token Holder Income, which has performed relatively well since the start of October.
Roughly $499,000 has already been paid to Convex Finance holders this month.
Source: DeFiLlama On-chain activity supports CVX’s rally A surge in on-chain capital flow has helped support CVX’s price performance.
Total Value Locked (TVL), which tracks the value of capital deposited in a protocol, has gradually increased over the past couple of days. Between the 15th and the 21st of October, TVL surged by roughly $30 million, according to data available at press time.
A surge in TVL implies that investors are likely depositing more capital into the protocol because they anticipate that the asset will continue to perform well in the near term.
Source: DeFiLlama Likewise, there have been notable spikes in the fees generated by the protocol during this period, pointing to growing platform usage.
Within the same period as the TVL increase, fees generated rose from $25,626 to roughly $137,430 at the latest count, according to DeFiLlama. Growing activity and increased adoption of the asset add to its bullish market performance.
Positive Funding Rate backs bullish outlook Perpetual market activity reflects the same bullish outlook, with CVX’s Funding Rate remaining positive at 0.021%.
A positive Funding Rate indicates that long traders are paying funding fees to maintain their positions relative to short traders in the perpetual market.
Source: CoinGlass Typically, this occurs when traders expect the price to continue moving in the direction of the prevailing trend, which, in this case, is bullish.
A continued positive Funding Rate would imply that the asset is likely to maintain its bullish stance in the near term.
Final Summary Convex Finance rallied as token holders reached an all-time high of 32,410, with Token Holder Income hitting roughly $499,000 this month.
CVX’s TVL increased by $30 million, while protocol fees rose to $137,430, and the Funding Rate remained positive at 0.0021%.
SBI XDC Network APAC and SBI VC Trade signed an MOU with Shinhan Card to explore stablecoin cross-border payments and yen stablecoin in-store use, with $XDC Network in focus.
SBI XDC Network APAC (@sbixdc) and SBI VC Trade (@sbivc_official), the group's licensed crypto exchange, have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shinhan Card. The three companies will look at stablecoins for cross-border payments and explore linking a Japanese yen stablecoin to in-store payments, with test runs planned to check commercial viability.
What the MOU coversThe agreement is described as a phased collaboration across payment services, settlement solutions and blockchain infrastructure. according to FX News Group.
Shinhan Card is the card arm of Shinhan Financial Group. In its filings, That is consistent with the roughly 20 million card members cited in the announcement.
Reports on the agreement say the pilots could cover several use cases.
XDC Network and the wider pushBeyond payments, the deal touches the blockchain itself. @XDCNetwork is the chain behind $XDC. All three companies also plan to expand into cross-border trade settlement.
The timing fits a broader pattern at Shinhan. On the Japanese side,
Because the MOU is non-binding and no stablecoin type or launch timeline has been confirmed, the practical impact on $XDC and on cross-border payments between the two countries will depend on how the trials perform.
Sources:
FX News Group: SBI XDC Network APAC, SBI VC Trade sign MoU with Shinhan CardBitbase: Shinhan Card and SBI to pilot yen stablecoin paymentsShinhan Financial Group 6-K filing summary on Shinhan Card 2025 results
21 October 2026 | 18:52 Arbitrum (ARB) is up more than 5% on Wednesday, trading near $0.198 as buyers bounce from a three-layer support band and extend a break of its October downtrend.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
→ 50-day SMA and 0.382 Fib meet near $0.186.
→ Rallies keep stalling near $0.205 since mid-October.
→ RSI climbs back above its 50 midpoint.
→ ARB trades 22% below September’s $0.255 high.
On the ARB daily chart from TradingView, the rebound leaves the token about 169% above its mid-August low near $0.073.
From the September peak to an October base ARB’s August rally added nearly 250% before topping out in late September. The slide that followed broke the rising channel the token had tracked since late August, and on October 8 a wick reached the 0.5 Fib near $0.164 before buyers stepped in.
Arbitrum daily price chart. Source: TradingView ARB then spent two weeks building a base between roughly $0.17 and $0.20. Over the past few sessions it has pushed through the descending trendline from the September high, and Wednesday’s green candle extends that break.
Support stacks up just below the price The retracement found its footing at the 0.382 Fibonacci level of the August rally, and the 50-day SMA has climbed to almost the exact same price. The broken downtrend line now sits just underneath both. With three lines packed into a band less than a cent wide, this is the level buyers most need to hold.
Support band near $0.18–$0.186 0.382 Fib ~$0.186 50-day SMA ~$0.186 Former downtrend line ~$0.18 Resistance starts at $0.205 The top of the October base near $0.205 has turned back at least three rallies since mid-October, including Tuesday’s.
A little higher, the 0.236 Fib near $0.212 sits about 7% above the current price. It held as the floor of the late-September consolidation before breaking at the start of October, so it could cap the next leg up.
RSI has climbed to about 53, crossing back above its signal line while staying well short of overbought territory. The longer-term averages back the move: the 50-day SMA sits above the 100-day near $0.135 and the 200-day near $0.120, and all three are still rising.
Where the bounce could fail The bigger structure has not flipped yet. Each rally since the September peak has topped out lower than the one before, and Wednesday’s candle has yet to close. A daily close back under the support band would turn this week’s breakout into another false start.
Potential Moves ARB sits between the top of its base near $0.205 and the support band near $0.186. Upside A daily close above the base this week could open a move toward the 0.236 Fib, with the September high the next hurdle beyond it. Rejection Another failure there could pull ARB back to the support band. A daily close below it before the end of October could expose the 0.5 Fib. Bigger picture A pullback that holds above the 0.618 Fib near $0.143 would leave the August uptrend intact. What to watch beyond the chart Three dates could matter as much as any level on the chart.
Thu, Oct 22 Arbitrum DAO votes close. Four temperature checks end, including a plan to make Paxos’ USDG stablecoin a core strategic initiative and add 100 million ARB from the DAO treasury to the DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP). Temperature checks are early, non-binding votes, and a pass would send the plan to an on-chain vote. Treasury tokens count as circulating once the DAO deploys them, so a bigger incentive budget could add to supply over time. Wed, Oct 28 Fed rate decision. The Federal Reserve announces its policy decision at 2:00 PM ET. Rate decisions often move the whole crypto market at once, which can override token-specific setups like this one. Mon, Nov 16 Next token unlock. Team, contributor and investor allocations unlock on the 16th of each month under ARB’s launch vesting schedule. That works out to about 92.65 million ARB per release, or roughly $18 million at the current price. Four more releases follow before the schedule ends in March 2027. Is it ARB or the whole market? Bitcoin and Ether also rose on Wednesday, but by smaller margins, with gains of roughly 1% to 3% depending on the time window. ARB’s jump outpaced both, so the bounce is more than the broader market lifting every token. Whether Thursday’s governance votes are playing a part is something the chart alone cannot show.
How we read this chart
Daily ARB/USD candles on TradingView, captured at 15:35 UTC on October 21, 2026, with the day’s candle still open. Daily candles close at 00:00 UTC.
Fibonacci levels run from the mid-August low to the late-September high. Indicators used: the 50-, 100- and 200-day simple moving averages and the 14-day RSI.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency prices are volatile.
Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
Kaspa’s KCC Coordination Forum has finalized three standards covering covenant interfaces, authorization, and fungible tokens, establishing shared specifications for developers building applications on the network.
Summary
KCC-1 defines shared interfaces for wallets, compilers, indexers, and other tools working with covenants. KCC-2 specifies five standard authorization schemes, including public keys, scripts, and covenant identifiers. KCC-20 sets token transfer rules and supports receiving tokens through an existing compatible output. Finalization establishes ecosystem conventions without changing consensus rules or requiring every participant to adopt them. KCC Coordination Forum said in an Oct. 21 announcement that KCC-1, KCC-2 and KCC-20 were final and ready for adoption across the ecosystem. The forum invited builders to join its public channel for questions, implementation discussions, and support.
Greetings $KAS. KCC-1, KCC-2 and KCC-20 are now Final, meaning they are ready for full adoption across the ecosystem.
We invite Kaspa builders to join the public KCC channel to ask questions, get support, discuss implementations and share what you build.
Come build with us.
— KCC Coordination Forum (@kccforum) October 21, 2026 Kaspa’s canonical standards repository lists all three documents as Final. Its index identifies KCC-1 as the covenant specification, KCC-2 as the authority specification, and KCC-20 as the application standard for fungible-token covenants.
The repository describes KCCs as shared conventions for independent implementations. Its documentation separates those conventions from changes to consensus or core-node behavior, which belong in Kaspa Improvement Proposals.
Kaspa standards cover different parts of application development KCC-1 defines common terms, data layouts and an application binary interface, or ABI, for covenants. The specification describes how software encodes information, calls program functions, and identifies the state carried between transactions.
Its authors, Romain Billot, Michael Sutton and Ori Newman, identify compilers, wallets, indexers and transaction builders among the tools that need to agree on those details. The document says independent implementations need common formats beyond simply producing scripts that pass consensus checks.
The KCC-1 specification leaves developers free to choose their programming language, compiler, and framework. Its shared interface covers program entry points, state templates, and rules for handling transactions involving multiple inputs.
Within the same document, the authors distinguish basic interface rules from features that depend on covenant identifiers. Programs without covenant bindings can follow KCC-1, but the specification says they do not receive the lineage and authorization guarantees supplied by KIP-20.
KCC-2 defines who can authorize an operation KCC-2, written by Billot and Sutton, specifies how programs identify an authority and the minimum checks required to establish its approval. An authority can be a public key, a commitment to a key, a script, or a continuing covenant lineage.
The specification assigns standard identifiers to five authorization schemes. Its public-key options cover Schnorr and ECDSA signatures, while its other options allow a script or covenant lineage to participate as an authority.
For public-key-hash authorization, KCC-2 requires the transaction to reveal the corresponding public key, match its hash against the stored authority value, and provide a valid signature. Higher-level specifications define the signed message and any further conditions.
The authority registry reserves separate ranges for standard and custom schemes. KCC-2 permits participants to adopt custom schemes without waiting for standardization, provided their definitions specify the format, meaning, and approval checks.
Under its covenant-identifier scheme, approval requires an input from the identified covenant lineage. KCC-2 says a higher-level convention can impose further checks on that input’s program and state.
KCC-20 sets token transfer and receiving rules KCC-20 builds on the first two standards, defining token amounts, ownership, and transfer interfaces. The document names Sivan Helfer, Sutton, Newman, and Billot as its authors.
Its specification requires each token covenant to publish program information that software can use to decode state and construct transfers. Configurations must disclose supported ownership schemes and limits on token inputs and outputs.
A feature called borrowed receive lets a sender use a recipient’s existing compatible token output as the destination. KCC-20 says the transaction recreates that output with more tokens, preserves its ownership and extended state, and cannot reduce its KAS value.
The security section warns that replacing the output changes its transaction reference, invalidating unconfirmed transactions spending the previous reference. A wallet must discover the replacement before spending it, according to the document.
The standard links an Argent reference implementation with generated SilverScript contracts and Rust conformance tests.
Final status carries implementation requirements KCC-0, the document governing the standards process, requires more than completion of a final review period. It says a standards-track convention needs human-readable and machine-readable test vectors, plus at least one public implementation that passes the machine-readable checks.
Dependencies must be Final for other KCCs or Active for KIPs, according to the same rules. KCC-0 says status changes occur through pull requests and the repository index must be updated with them.
KCC-0 describes machine-readable test vectors as the authoritative form for automated testing when they accompany human-readable examples. Its submission rules require security considerations to address threats, trust assumptions, and potential replay issues before a standards-track document can enter Last Call.
The governing document states that finalization does not require every ecosystem participant to implement a convention. Substantive changes generally require a replacement KCC, while corrections and clarifications follow the document’s amendment rules.
Kaspa’s application development has previously included separate Layer 2 infrastructure. Gate announced a Kasplex Layer 2 integration in April, enabling KAS deposits and withdrawals through the EVM-compatible network, as crypto.news reported.
In its earlier integration announcement, Gate said customers could transfer KAS from the base network to a Kasplex wallet. Kasplex’s project materials describe a two-way bridge and say developers familiar with Ethereum tools can deploy contracts by changing their remote procedure call endpoints.
Kasplex describes its design as a lightweight rollup that places EVM bytecode in Kaspa transactions and executes it off-chain. Its documentation says Kaspa supplies transaction ordering and data availability, while bridged KAS serves as the Layer 2 gas token.
DATA shifted from its broad intellectual property ambitions to AI training data after finding that established licensing markets were difficult to disrupt, CEO Andrea Muttoni told CoinDesk.The startup is moving to Sui following a $30 million investment from Sui Foundation, allowing the company to focus on its data verification tools rather than maintaining its own blockchain.DATA's Trace registry tracks the origins, consent terms and licensing history of AI training data, with partner Kled adding millions of contributions each day.DATA, the blockchain startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto and formerly known as Story Protocol, is shutting down its blockchain and moving to Sui after securing a $30 million investment from the network's foundation.
The move comes after spending years trying to bring intellectual property onchain. But after raising $140 million and building its own blockchain, the company found that changing how the world's intellectual property is licensed was harder than expected.
"We were trying to boil the ocean, and it was a very saturated and entrenched ocean," Andrea Muttoni, CEO of DATA Foundation, told CoinDesk in an interview.
That realization helped drive Story’s rebrand to DATA Foundation in June, when it shifted its attention to the market for AI training data. Four months later, the company is now narrowing its focus further to tracking the origins and usage rights of data used to train artificial intelligence models.
When the Bellevue, Washington-based startup was founded in 2022, the original plan covered everything from music royalties to patents and trademarks. The idea was to let owners register their intellectual property on a blockchain and set terms for how others could use it. The problem, Muttoni said, was that many of those industries already had systems in place, while large rights holders had little interest in making their intellectual property available for permissionless licensing.
"We were kind of spreading ourselves way too thin across so many different types of IP," he said.
Then came the rebrand earlier this year.
However, after that, the team began to question whether it still needed to maintain an entire blockchain, given that most of its work centered on a single product: Trace, which is a registry that records where training data comes from, who contributed it and what rights buyers have to use it.
Also, running a blockchain comes with costs, including engineers, validators, audits and infrastructure providers.
"Does it still make sense to run our own L1, or should we focus most of our energy on the protocol, on the product, on Trace?" he said.
That line of thinking led to the decision to shut down its blockchain and move to Sui.
Muttoni did not disclose how much of Story's original $140 million in funding remains, but said its existing investors, including a16z crypto, are still involved.
Now, Muttoni is positioning the new focus as a continuation of the first rebrand rather than another change in direction.
Finding a market in AI dataThe company's new strategy grew partly out of its experience with Poseidon, an AI data company incubated by the Story team that collects and processes data for training AI models.
Muttoni said the team found a market where buyers often had little way to check whether the datasets they were purchasing were original, properly licensed or even exclusive. In one case, vendors offered Poseidon supposedly exclusive datasets that were already available from other sellers.
"We were at one point given our own data set back to us," he said.
DATA is trying to address that problem through its product, Trace.
For example, when someone uploads a video or voice recording via a participating data marketplace, Trace creates a receipt for that file. The record includes details such as when it was submitted, the terms the contributor agreed to and any later licensing or payment events.
Kled, a marketplace that pays people to contribute data, accounts for much of the activity. Muttoni said the platform is adding between 3 million and 4 million contributions a day, including older records being brought onto Trace.
The figures show how much data is being registered, though not necessarily how much has been sold. DATA did not disclose how many records have generated licensing revenue.
The move comes as more crypto projects shift toward AI, betting on growing demand for training data and tools to track its origins. Muttoni estimates the AI training data market could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
For now, Muttoni said, the goal is not to compete with data marketplaces but to provide a record that buyers and sellers can check. "The main goal for now is being the infrastructure for, let's say, the auditability and provenance of data," he said.
He didn't rule out DATA eventually operating its own marketplace, but didn’t provide any further details.
Why Sui?Moving to Sui means DATA will no longer need to run its own blockchain, while gaining access to tools that Muttoni said fit what the company wants to build next.
One is Walrus, a decentralized storage platform that can hold copies of the original files registered through Trace. Another is Seal, which can encrypt those files and restrict access to buyers with the right permissions.
Today, Trace records information about a file rather than storing the file itself. Adding storage would let buyers compare what they receive with the original submission, making it easier to spot changes.
Sui Foundation will become DATA Network's largest institutional holder through its $30 million investment. Muttoni said Sui is taking a hands-off approach to DATA's product plans. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
The company also plans to move its existing token to Sui on a one-to-one basis, with its current blockchain remaining operational until the migration is complete. Existing $DATA tokens will move to Sui one-to-one, with holders retaining their rights and vesting schedules unchanged, according to a press release.
For Muttoni, the decision comes down to concentrating on the part of DATA’s original business that attracted the most interest.
"We were thinking of going in one direction, but you see the wind keeps pulling you in a different direction," he said. "Maybe the wind is coming from that way."
OKX wants euro traders to stop taking the scenic route through the dollar.
The exchange is expanding euro-native trading around EURC, Circle’s euro-backed stablecoin. It is doing that with a unified euro order book that pools liquidity for both EUR and EURC trading pairs into a single venue.
The feature was announced on October 21, 2026. It lets eligible users in the European Economic Area (EEA) trade against one consolidated pool. They can then choose to settle in either euros or EURC at a fixed 1:1 rate.
How the unified euro order book works When EUR pairs and EURC pairs live in separate order books, each book holds only part of the available buy and sell orders. Thinner books can mean wider spreads and more price slippage on larger trades.
OKX’s fix is to put everyone in the same market. Orders placed against EUR and orders placed against EURC now meet in one combined book. When a trade executes, the user picks which currency they want to settle in.
The 1:1 conversion rate is the key piece. Because EURC is designed to track the euro, OKX treats the two as interchangeable at settlement.
Skipping the dollar detour Under the new model, euro trades no longer need to pass through dollar-denominated pairs.
Crypto markets have long been built around the US dollar and dollar stablecoins. A European trader wanting to move from euros into a crypto asset has often ended up touching dollars somewhere along the way, which can mean another spread, another fee, and some exposure to the euro-dollar exchange rate.
OKX says the euro-native setup is focused on better execution depth for euro pairs. The company also claims the feature creates the deepest liquidity available for EURC anywhere in the market.
That claim comes with a caveat. OKX has not publicly disclosed the actual depth of liquidity in the unified book. It also remains unclear how that pool compares with the size of the broader euro market.
Building on the dollar playbook This is not OKX’s first attempt at merging books. The exchange previously rolled out a unified USD order book with a similar goal: streamline order execution and avoid the fragmentation common across crypto markets.
EURC is not new to the platform either. OKX had already enabled EURC deposits, trading, and withdrawals before this launch. The unified order book is an upgrade to existing support rather than a first listing.
EURC is issued by Circle and backed by euro reserves. Circle has said the OKX integration supports wider utility for the stablecoin within Europe’s financial ecosystem.
What this means for traders and the market For European traders, the most immediate effect is simplicity. Eligible EEA users can trade in euros or EURC without picking a side of a split market and can settle in whichever currency suits their next move.
There are open questions worth watching. Without published liquidity figures, outside observers cannot yet confirm how deep the combined book really is. The feature is also available only to eligible users in the EEA, which means not every OKX customer will see it.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
OKX has launched a unified EUR and $EURC spot order book for eligible European users, with euro-to-$EURC conversion at 1:1. Circle confirmed the service on October 21, 2026, describing a route to trade and manage activity in euro terms.
The change pools liquidity that would otherwise sit in separate fiat and stablecoin markets. Traders choose their settlement asset while using the same supported order book. OKX says customers with euro-funded accounts can trade without routing through dollar-denominated pairs and track profit and loss in their home currency.
Circle’s confirmation followed an OKX product FAQ published on October 11. The FAQ sets out app and web instructions, eligibility conditions and fee disclosures for the spot-trading product. Customers can use it where their jurisdiction and the markets available in their account allow access.
OKX says it adapted the routing engine it previously used to consolidate dollar markets. It compares the new arrangement with separate fiat and stablecoin pairings, where orders sit in different books. Supported EUR and $EURC markets now share a single pool, with settlement in either asset. OKX presents tighter spreads and lower slippage as benefits. The announcement gives no measured before-and-after execution results.
The product FAQ places the feature in the exchange’s spot interface. In the app, users switch to Exchange mode, open Spot and select a euro pair. On the website, they open Trade, then Spot, then a euro pair. The “Trade with” selector at the top of the trading screen lets them choose euros or $EURC as the trading asset.
Eligible users in supported European Economic Area jurisdictions can access the feature. OKX directs customers to search for EUR or $EURC in the app or on the website to see which pairs are available. Availability varies by region and can change over time. The public FAQ gives no fixed list of markets that every European account can trade.
Conversion at par comes with a separate fee disclosure. Standard trading fees may apply according to the customer’s tier and the transaction being completed. OKX says it displays applicable charges before the customer confirms a conversion or trade. The quoted 1:1 conversion rate needs to be read alongside those displayed charges; it does not mean every operation is free.
The FAQ also warns that prices and liquidity can change, and that stablecoins may fail to maintain their intended value. Euro routing removes the need to pass through dollar markets, while the risks described in the FAQ still apply to the assets customers hold and trade.
What sits behind the stablecoin balance Circle identifies the issuer of $EURC as Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, an electronic money institution authorized by France’s ACPR. Its product page classifies the token as an e-money token under MiCA. Circle says $EURC is fully euro-backed and publishes monthly reserve attestations for holders to inspect.
Circle Mint also converts euros to and from $EURC. Its ordinary service is aimed at qualified businesses and wholesale distributors, and Circle describes the conversion as near-instant. The OKX launch makes $EURC selectable within supported exchange markets, where customers use it under the exchange’s own eligibility and fee rules.
Selling through an exchange and redeeming directly with the issuer have different procedures. Circle’s MiCA redemption policy names OKX among exchanges where holders can buy or sell its coins. Holders denied redemption at an exchange, or those who specifically want to redeem with Circle France, must follow the issuer’s process. That process also applies when a holder wants to redeem directly with Circle a $EURC balance acquired through the new order book.
Direct redemption has its own checks Retail holders apply through a form on Circle France’s website. Circle assesses their eligibility and verifies their identity. Applicants must provide accurate information for know-your-customer and transaction checks, along with an IBAN for an EEA bank account. To receive euros from the issuer, a holder needs both the tokens and a qualifying bank destination.
The retail applicant must sign an electronic form confirming that the bank details are correct and that they are the account beneficiary. For $EURC redemption, the account must accept SEPA payments. Under the policy, the customer remains responsible for any currency-conversion or incoming-deposit charges their bank imposes.
Circle then provides a unique deposit address for the coins being redeemed. Once it receives them, it checks the assets and their previous transactions before paying the holder’s bank account. The policy says this process should take no more than 5 business days unless discrepancies arise. This timetable covers the issuer’s retail redemption process, separate from OKX’s conversion feature and Circle Mint’s description of its business service.
Non-retail holders must open a Circle Mint account for redemption-only service and agree to Circle France’s account terms. Circle’s policy also allows its ordinary redemption arrangements to be amended or suspended when a recovery or redemption plan is implemented.
The policy denies redemption to holders classified as restricted persons. If verification reveals inconsistencies or anti-money-laundering risks, Circle conducts further assessment under applicable law. The ordinary processing timetable depends on the holder and transaction passing those checks, as well as Circle receiving the coins.
Circle also excludes copies and wrappers from its support obligations. It accepts responsibility for its own coins, but not independently created assets that claim to incorporate them or be collateralized by them. Direct redemption requires the issuer-supported asset; holders cannot assume the same terms cover a third-party representation.
OKX leaves the complete supported-pair list to the app and website. Its launch documents publish neither a fixed market count nor a quantified execution improvement.
Tokenized equities were the biggest driver of onchain trading growth in the third quarter of 2026, according to ARK Invest’s DeFi quarterly report released Wednesday.
The value of tokenized stocks rose 86% to approximately $3.2 billion in the quarter, while tokenized active strategies climbed 166% to $4 billion as major crypto platforms such as Robinhood, Coinbase, and Payward expanded into tokenized equities, the report said.
The growth was also supported by the SEC clearing tokenized equity trading on permissioned DeFi venues.
Meanwhile, tokenized US Treasuries held at roughly $15 billion, and tokenized credit grew 25% to $8 billion, helped by products including a Securitize and Neuberger Berman tokenized high-yield fund.
The total real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market rose 19% quarter-over-quarter to $39 billion, up from $17 billion a year earlier, according to the report.
Ethereum still led but competitors started to gain round
Ethereum hosted about $16.7 billion in tokenized RWAs and remained the leading network for institutional issuance, although its share of public blockchain RWA value declined to roughly 44% from 50% at the end of the second quarter, the report stated.
BNB Chain, Solana and Stellar roughly tripled their RWA totals year-to-date as growth spread across competing networks.
BNB Chain gained from tokenized money market funds such as iBENJI and USYC, while Solana’s expansion was driven mainly by tokenized equities and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund.
Tokenized stocks drove DEX trading growth
Tokenized stocks became a larger part of decentralized trading, with spot decentralized exchange (DEX) volume jumping about ninefold to $50 billion, or approximately 9% of total spot DEX volume versus 1% in the prior quarter.
Total spot DEX volume rose 13% to $571 billion, marking its first quarterly increase in four quarters. Stablecoin transaction volume grew 16% to $781 billion and monthly active addresses rose 39% to 73 million, while total stablecoin supply declined 3% to $309 billion.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
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A series of security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in internet infrastructure software within a single day, affecting PHP, Node.js, and Go.
Multiple internet infrastructure software projects rolled out security updates in a single day, addressing vulnerabilities including remote code execution, TLS certificate validation bypass, and certificate trust risks. PHP fixed two critical flaws: CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, both enabling unauthenticated remote code execution that impacts PHP environments processing web requests. The patched versions are 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35. Node.js’ advisory details 10 vulnerabilities, four of which are high-severity: these include remote code execution via out-of-bounds write in the Brotli decoder, DNS name truncation, and two TLS certificate hostname validation bypass issues. Fixed versions are 26.12.1, 24.22.1, and 22.23.4. Additionally, Go’s crypto/x509-related risk is tracked as CVE-2026-111943, rated "Important" by Red Hat with a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.8. Attackers with specific network access and valid certificates could impersonate legitimate servers to intercept or alter communications. Go 1.26.10 and 1.27.3 have been added to a deny list, blocking trust for compromised intermediate certificates.
5 hours ago
Dataline completes $10.6 million seed round funding, and plans to conduct an ICO.
Decentralized data network for AI agents Dataline has closed a $10.6 million seed round, co-led by Lattice and Samsung-backed Dispersion Capital, with participation from Symbolic Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Anagram, and Robinhood co-founder & CEO Vlad Tenev, among others. The round, completed in April, utilized a SAFE agreement with token warrants; valuation was not disclosed. Dataline is now live, covering approximately 50 data sources to deliver on-chain and off-chain data, and scores data reliability, timeliness, and consistency using AI. Proceeds will be allocated to expanding data sources, enhancing data validation, and expanding into robotics, AI training data, and other sectors. Dataline plans to launch a token by the end of 2026 for network payments and data access, and intends to conduct a public token sale on Base via Uniswap’s Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) system, with details set to be revealed next week. The public sale’s target fundraising amount, token quantity, and other terms remain undisclosed.
5 hours ago
American Bankers Association voices dissatisfaction with OCC’s final GENIUS Act rule, which abandons proposed restrictions on stablecoin yields.
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that the American Bankers Association (ABA) has voiced dissatisfaction with the final rules implemented by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) under the GENIUS Act. The OCC abandoned the previously proposed restrictions on stablecoin yields, a move the ABA argues will "maintain the status quo for crypto platforms." The ABA’s CEO stated: "It is a mistake to wait until deposit outflows and economic harm have already occurred before attempting to address these issues."
5 hours ago
Beyond PHP, three Node.js version branches are also affected by high-severity vulnerabilities, and users need to update their runtime environments promptly.
Node.js rolled out a security update on October 21, covering its 26.x, 24.x, and 22.x version branches, with corresponding patched releases: 26.12.1, 24.22.1, and 22.23.4. The advisory details 10 total vulnerabilities, categorized as 4 critical-severity, 3 medium-severity, and 3 low-severity, with varying impact scopes across the three version lines. The critical CVE-2026-111497 is an out-of-bounds write flaw in the Brotli decoder that could enable remote code execution (RCE), affecting all three branches. Other critical issues include improper null character handling in DNS resolution and a TLS certificate hostname validation bypass. The update also resolves problems with persistent connection response processing, random number cache duplication, and permission models, while updating dependencies including c-ares, OpenSSL, and Undici. The official note warns that end-of-life (EOL) versions may still be vulnerable, advising users to use the latest supported releases. Separately, prior reports noted PHP has fixed two critical unauthenticated RCE vulnerabilities, with patches available for versions 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35; PHP users are urged to upgrade immediately.
5 hours ago
Bonk Guy: This round is the "privacy cycle", privacy protocol MASK is undervalued.
Renowned trader Bonk Guy posted that the current crypto market is showing characteristics of a "privacy cycle". He noted that since yesterday, Bitcoin has risen approximately 3%, ZEC is up 16%, adding over $3 billion in market capitalization. MASK currently has a market cap of roughly $26 million, with its protocol trading volume and fees hitting consecutive all-time highs, he added. Citing data from DefiLlama, he stated that MASK ranks first among privacy protocols by revenue, outearning the next 10 privacy protocols combined. By comparison, ZEC’s market cap gain over the past 24 hours is roughly 115 times MASK’s entire market cap. Bonk Guy also said that MASK’s upcoming deployment on Solana is set to launch in the coming days, which he expects will further drive growth in usage, trading volume, and fees. He went on to call MASK the most undervalued privacy protocol in the crypto market.
5 hours ago
Putin in principle has agreed to resume the trilateral peace talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine, with Abu Dhabi a possible venue.
According to reports from Reuters and Axios, the Kremlin stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday he "agrees in principle" to resume trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. around November 10 to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the venue potentially in Abu Dhabi. Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg the same day, presenting the latest plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Trump envoy Jared Kushner joined the session via video. Witkoff informed Putin that progress had been made in the Oslo talks, and expressed hope that both sides would consider restarting the Russia-U.S.-Ukraine trilateral negotiations and allow technical experts to participate in discussions on specific issues. He also submitted multiple documents on the peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to Putin. Separately, Putin raised with Witkoff the possibility of Russia acting as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. Putin noted that Russia has decades of special trust relations with Iran and is willing to contribute to resolving the current crisis.
OpenSea charges sellers a 1% platform fee on NFT sales, plus any creator earnings the collection sets, and both buyers and sellers pay blockchain gas fees for on-chain actions. Gas is now cheap on most networks: on October 21, 2026, Etherscan estimated an NFT sale on Ethereum at about $0.08, and on Base, Polygon and Solana a transaction costs a fraction of that. Among the other major marketplaces, Magic Eden and Tensor charge 2% on Solana, Rarible charges 2% on its EVM chains and 1.5% on Solana, and Blur charges nothing but is closing its website on November 12, 2026.
This guide explains every fee you can pay on OpenSea, how gas works for each action, and how OpenSea compares with Magic Eden, Tensor, Rarible, Blur and LooksRare on cost.
OpenSea Fees vs Other NFT Marketplaces at a Glance MarketplacePlatform FeeWho PaysCreator RoyaltiesMain ChainsStatus (October 2026)OpenSea1% on NFT salesSeller (included in the listed price)Enforced or optional, set by collectionEthereum, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Solana and 15+ moreActiveMagic Eden2%Taken on each transactionOptional (buyer chooses 0%, 50% or 100%), mandatory on some collectionsSolana onlyActive, Solana only since March 2026Tensor2% taker, 0% makerTaker (the side that accepts a listing or bid)Taker pays; optional royalties can be none, half or fullSolana onlyActive, run by the Tensor FoundationRarible2% on Ethereum, Base and Polygon; 1.5% on SolanaSellerSet by collection, deducted from proceedsEthereum, Base, Polygon, SolanaActive, brand acquired by IMPOSSIBLEBlur0%NoneRoyalty rules set by the protocolEthereumWebsite closes November 12, 2026LooksRare0.5% (since April 2023)SellerPaid to collection ownersEthereumLittle to no trading activity Sources: official help centers and documentation of OpenSea, Magic Eden, Tensor, Rarible and LooksRare, and project announcements, as of October 21, 2026.
What Fees Does OpenSea Charge? According to OpenSea’s help center, the platform charges:
1% on NFT sales. The fee is included in the price buyers see, so it comes out of the seller’s proceeds. 10% on primary drops. When creators sell newly minted NFTs through an OpenSea drop, OpenSea takes 10% of the mint price. 0% on private listings, which are listings reserved for a specific buyer. 0% OpenSea fee on token swaps. Third-party providers involved in a swap may still charge their own fees. OpenSea has changed its fee several times. It charged 2.5% for years, cut the fee to 0.5% with the launch of its rebuilt OS2 platform in 2025, and then raised it to 1% on all chains from September 15, 2025, as part of the final phase of its rewards program. In March 2026, when it postponed the launch of its SEA token, OpenSea waived trading fees for 60 days from March 31 and said a new fee structure for active traders would follow. OpenSea’s help center lists the fee at 1% as of October 2026. Fees are set when a listing or offer is created, and OpenSea says it can waive them on certain sales.
Our OpenSea review covers the platform beyond fees.
Creator Earnings on OpenSea Creator earnings, or royalties, are separate from OpenSea’s fee and go to the collection’s creator. On collections with enforced earnings, the set percentage is paid on every sale. On collections with optional earnings, the seller chooses how much to pay when listing or accepting an offer; the default is the creator’s preferred rate, and there is no minimum. Royalty rates vary by collection and are often between 0% and 10%, so they can cost more than the platform fee itself.
How Gas Fees Work on OpenSea Gas fees go to the validators of the blockchain you trade on, not to OpenSea. OpenSea does not set them and cannot refund them, and you pay them in the chain’s native token, such as ETH on Ethereum.
ActionGas Required?Connecting your walletNoFirst listing of an NFT from a collection (one-time approval)Yes, once per collectionLater fixed-price listings in the same collectionNoFirst offer with a new currency, such as WETH (one-time approval)Yes, onceLater offersNoLowering the price of a listing (ERC-721)NoRaising a price or canceling a listingYesCanceling an offerNo, though an on-chain cancellation is optionalBuying an NFTYes, paid by the buyerAccepting an offerYes, paid by the sellerTransferring or minting an NFTYes Source: OpenSea help center, as of October 2026.
The main takeaway is that listings are signed off-chain and cost nothing after the first approval, while anything that moves an NFT or cancels a listing on-chain costs gas. OpenSea lets you cancel all listings and offers in one transaction per chain, which costs less than canceling them one by one.
How Much Is Gas on OpenSea Right Now? Gas costs have fallen sharply since the NFT boom of 2021 and 2022. On Ethereum, average gas was about 0.051 gwei on the morning of October 21, 2026, and Etherscan estimated an NFT sale at about $0.08 with ETH near $2,450.
BlockchainGas Price (October 21, 2026)Typical CostEthereum~0.051 gwei~$0.08 for an NFT sale (Etherscan estimate)Base~0.005 gwei~$0.002 for a token swap (Basescan estimate); NFT trades cost a fraction of a centPolygon~246 gwei base fee, POL near $0.10About a cent, by our estimateSolana5,000 lamports per signature, plus an optional priority feeAbout $0.0005 per signature at SOL near $107 Sources: Etherscan and Basescan gas trackers, the Polygon gas station and Solana’s fee documentation, morning of October 21, 2026. Gas prices change by the minute and spike during busy periods.
In practice, the platform fee and creator earnings now cost far more than gas on any of these chains. On a $500 NFT, OpenSea’s 1% fee is $5 and a 5% royalty is another $25, while gas on Ethereum is under a dollar at current prices.
OpenSea vs Magic Eden, Tensor, Rarible and Blur Magic Eden charges 2% on all transactions and nothing to list, and it has supported only Solana since March 9, 2026, when it ended its Ethereum, EVM and Bitcoin marketplaces. On Solana, royalties are optional for most collections, and the buyer chooses whether to pay all, half or none of them. See our Magic Eden review.
Tensor, the main Solana trading platform, charges a 2% fee to the taker and nothing to the maker, so placing a listing or bid that someone else accepts costs no platform fee. Since November 2025, the Tensor Foundation runs the marketplace and sends all of its fees to the TNSR treasury.
Rarible charges 2% on Ethereum, Base and Polygon and 1.5% on Solana, paid by the seller, and adds a 2% fee when buyers purchase listings it aggregates from other marketplaces on EVM chains. IMPOSSIBLE acquired the Rarible brand and key platform assets in 2026.
Blur charged no marketplace fee and became the largest Ethereum NFT marketplace by volume in 2023, but its monthly volume has since collapsed by more than 99%. Its website will shut down on November 12, 2026, while its smart contracts stay live on-chain. Read our report on Blur shutting down its marketplace.
LooksRare cut its fee to 0.5% in April 2023, but trading on the platform has dried up, and it now focuses on other products.
For Solana collections, Magic Eden and Tensor are the main options at 2%. For Ethereum and its layer-2 networks, OpenSea’s 1% is now one of the lowest fees among marketplaces that are still actively traded.
How to Pay Less When Trading NFTs Trade on low-cost chains. Base, Polygon, Arbitrum and Solana keep gas to fractions of a cent. Approve once, then list for free. After the first listing in a collection, new listings and price cuts cost no gas on OpenSea. Lower prices instead of canceling. Reducing a price is free on ERC-721 NFTs, while canceling or raising a price costs gas. Cancel in bulk. OpenSea’s cancel-all option clears listings and offers in one transaction per chain. Use private listings for agreed sales to a specific buyer, which currently carry a 0% OpenSea fee. Be the maker on Tensor. Listings and bids that others accept carry no Tensor fee. Check royalties before buying or selling. On many collections they cost more than the platform fee. The NFT Market in 2026 Lower fees have not brought back volume. NFT sales totaled about $167.2 million in September 2026, according to CryptoSlam data, down from about $554.8 million a year earlier and about $1.78 billion in December 2023. Marketplaces have responded by consolidating: Magic Eden narrowed to Solana, Rarible changed hands, Blur is closing its website, and OpenSea has expanded into token trading, opening its mobile app with trading across more than 25 blockchains to all users on October 20, 2026. Follow the market in our NFT news section.
Data sources: OpenSea help center and developer changelog, Magic Eden help center, Tensor documentation, Rarible FAQ, LooksRare documentation, Etherscan and Basescan gas trackers, Polygon gas station, Solana documentation, CryptoSlam via Decrypt, and project announcements, as of October 21, 2026. Fees can change at any time; check each marketplace before trading.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions What fees does OpenSea charge?
OpenSea charges a 1% platform fee on NFT sales, included in the price buyers see, and 10% on primary drop mints. Private listings carry a 0% fee, and OpenSea charges no fee of its own on token swaps. Creator earnings set by each collection and blockchain gas fees come on top. The 1% fee has applied on all chains since September 15, 2025.
Do buyers pay fees on OpenSea?
Buyers do not pay OpenSea’s 1% platform fee, which comes out of the seller’s proceeds. Buyers do pay blockchain gas when they purchase an NFT, and on collections with enforced creator earnings, the royalty is part of the sale. On Ethereum, gas for an NFT sale was estimated at about $0.08 on October 21, 2026, and it is lower on Base, Polygon and Solana.
How much are gas fees on OpenSea?
It depends on the blockchain and network activity. On October 21, 2026, Etherscan estimated an Ethereum NFT sale at about $0.08 with gas near 0.051 gwei, while Base, Polygon and Solana cost a cent or less. Listing is free after a one-time approval per collection, but buying, accepting offers, transferring and canceling listings all cost gas.
Which NFT marketplace has the lowest fees?
Blur charges no marketplace fee but is closing its website on November 12, 2026, and LooksRare’s 0.5% fee comes with almost no trading activity. Among active marketplaces, OpenSea’s 1% fee is the lowest for Ethereum and its layer-2 networks, while Magic Eden and Tensor charge 2% on Solana, with Tensor charging nothing to the maker side of a trade.
Is OpenSea cheaper than Magic Eden?
On platform fees, yes: OpenSea charges 1% on NFT sales, while Magic Eden charges 2% on all transactions. The two now serve different markets, though. Magic Eden has supported only Solana since March 2026, where gas costs fractions of a cent, while OpenSea covers Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Solana and many other chains. Creator royalties often matter more than either fee.
Are creator royalties mandatory on OpenSea?
Only on collections that enforce them. On those, the set percentage is paid on every sale. On collections with optional creator earnings, the seller decides how much to pay, starting from the creator’s preferred rate, with no minimum. OpenSea’s Deals feature, which lets users swap NFTs directly, does not include creator earnings.
Is Blur still open?
Blur’s website, blur.io, will shut down on November 12, 2026, according to the team’s October 12 announcement, after its monthly trading volume fell more than 99% from its 2023 peak. Its smart contracts will stay live on-chain, and its Blend lending product will stop matching new loans on the same date. Users with funds in Blur’s lending products should review their positions before the closure.
Lighter (LIT), a decentralized derivatives trading platform in the cryptocurrency market, has announced plans to enter the US market and expand its collaboration with Robinhood.
According to information shared during a meeting with investors, Lighter plans to apply for the necessary license to operate in the U.S. in November 2026.
The company stated that it aims to integrate into Robinhood’s main investment platform in the US after obtaining the necessary approvals from regulatory authorities.
The chart shows the increase in the LIT price. *This is not investment advice.
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Lighter’s LIT token rose more than 15% on October 21, 2026, reaching approximately $3.90. The move came as the perpetual futures exchange said it plans to seek a US license next month.
Lighter’s management plans to file for a derivatives license with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in November 2026. If approval eventually comes, it could open the door to wider institutional access in the US market.
What’s driving the move Lighter is a decentralized exchange built around perpetual futures, or “perps.” These are futures contracts that never expire, allowing traders to hold a leveraged bet on an asset’s price indefinitely without ever owning the asset itself.
Founder Vladimir Novakovski has said the team has spent roughly a year in conversations with regulators. The research cites more than 11 months of discussions ahead of the planned filing.
His stated goal: make Lighter the first on-chain perpetual decentralized exchange to obtain legal approvals from the CFTC. Such approval could also lay the groundwork for a dedicated US operating entity.
The Robinhood connection Robinhood Chain launched on July 1, 2026, and integrated Lighter for perpetual trading. The arrangement uses a 50/50 revenue split on trades executed through the platform.
According to the research, millions of dollars in trading volume have already been routed through the partnership. Lighter has set aside 11 million LIT tokens for incentives, with activity through the Robinhood Wallet earning double points.
Lighter has also been expanding its product lineup, recently introducing binary options on BTC and ETH. These allow traders to bet on whether a price will be above or below a set level at a set time, with an essentially yes-or-no payout.
Background: money, backers and burns Lighter is operated by Elliot Technologies, a company based in Delaware. In November 2025, it raised $68 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. Robinhood Ventures was among the backers.
On the token side, protocol revenues fund ongoing buybacks and burns of LIT, with millions of tokens burned each quarter. Fewer tokens in circulation means each remaining token represents a larger slice of the supply.
What this means The most consequential piece here is the CFTC filing, not the price move. A successful application would put Lighter in a different category, potentially making it a regulated on-chain venue that US institutions can access.
For LIT holders, the setup has a few moving parts. Revenue sharing with Robinhood drives volume, volume drives protocol revenue, and protocol revenue funds buybacks and burns.
Regulatory approval is uncertain and can take time, and the filing itself is still weeks away. The research flags both regulatory hurdles and market swings as ongoing challenges.
Novakovski is explicitly aiming for first-mover status among on-chain perp exchanges seeking CFTC approval. What to watch next: whether the CFTC filing lands in November as planned, how regulators respond to it, and whether trading volume through Robinhood Chain keeps growing. The pace of quarterly token burns will offer another read on how much revenue the protocol is actually generating.
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Lighter’s LIT token has climbed more than 20% to around $3.90 as attention has returned to its Robinhood Wallet partnership and Delphi Digital’s assessment of the exchange.
Summary
Robinhood announced the wallet integration in July, months before the latest token rally. 11 million LIT tokens were allocated to a rewards program for eligible traders. Delphi included Lighter in its research on businesses earning revenue from speculative trading. U.S. residents remain excluded from Lighter perpetual futures offered through Robinhood Wallet. CoinGecko showed LIT at $3.88, up 21.3% over 24 hours, with token trading volume of roughly $125.5 million. Its price page listed a daily range of $3.21 to $3.97 and a market capitalization near $974.4 million.
Against other major cryptocurrencies, the main panel showed LIT gaining 18.3% in Bitcoin terms and 17.6% against Ether. CoinGecko listed a circulating supply of 250 million tokens against a maximum supply of 1 billion.
Lighter’s Robinhood integration dates to July Robinhood announced access to Lighter perpetual futures inside its self-custody wallet on July 1. The company limited the service to eligible users in selected jurisdictions when it introduced the product.
The integration arrived alongside the Robinhood Chain mainnet launch, an Ethereum layer-2 network built using Arbitrum technology. Robinhood presented the rollout at its London event, as crypto.news previously reported.
Robinhood’s announcement allocated 11 million LIT tokens to its community through a points program. Eligible participants earn twice the points for perpetual futures trades through Robinhood Wallet compared with trades through Lighter’s web application, with points converting into tokens subject to the exchange’s terms.
A July 17 account of the Robinhood Wallet perpetuals partnership described USDG as both the collateral and the currency in which contracts are priced. It put the revenue split between Robinhood and Lighter at 50/50.
The same account traced the companies’ financial relationship to November 2025, when Robinhood Ventures participated in Lighter’s $68 million funding round at a valuation of roughly $1.5 billion. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev serves as an adviser to the exchange, according to that account.
Delphi places Lighter in its trading-platform thesis Delphi Digital discussed Lighter in an Oct. 20 report examining speculative trading businesses and the platforms that earn revenue from them. The research placed the exchange alongside Hyperliquid in its discussion of perpetual futures venues.
Using DefiLlama figures dated Oct. 6, the report listed approximately $56 billion in Lighter trading volume over 30 days. Comparable figures in the research were $203 billion for Hyperliquid, $66 billion for Variational and $60 billion for Aster.
Delphi cautioned that some activity across the category comes from traders farming incentives. Its chart noted that Lighter’s figure appeared to include the Robinhood Chain integration.
The researchers described Lighter as an order-book exchange using zero-knowledge proofs to verify matching, with ordinary accounts trading without fees. Their account listed stocks, commodities, and foreign exchange alongside cryptocurrencies among the venue’s markets.
With retail trading free, Delphi tied the business’s revenue opportunities to premium accounts and distribution agreements. The report described the Robinhood arrangement as a revenue-sharing deal operating outside the United States since July.
Robinhood’s disclosures exclude U.S. residents Robinhood’s product disclosures say Lighter perpetual futures are unavailable to residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Singapore, alongside other restricted jurisdictions.
The company states that users execute transactions directly through their self-custody wallets and Lighter’s smart contracts. Robinhood Non-Custodial supplies wallet-management services for that interaction, according to the disclosures.
The July launch account separately described Robinhood’s Stock Tokens as debt securities providing economic exposure to underlying equities. Holders do not receive ownership of the underlying shares or voting rights, according to the company’s explanation.
Robinhood said eligible users could trade those tokens around the clock and use them across decentralized applications, including lending services and collateral arrangements.
Lighter’s latest developer release remains a devnet Away from the wallet partnership, Axiom announced a public Lighter EVM development network on Oct. 16. The release connects an Ethereum-compatible environment with Lighter Core, its order-matching and risk engine.
Axiom said smart contracts can read account balances, positions, orders, and market information through the connection. Contracts can submit, change, and cancel trading orders through asynchronous instructions that execute in seconds.
The Oct. 16 account of the Lighter EVM devnet release described one-second blocks, ETH gas payments, and support for Ethereum development tools including Foundry, Hardhat, Viem, and Ethers.
The launch post said developers could deposit assets from the devnet settlement layer, transfer them between Core and EVM, and withdraw to that settlement layer.
Lighter’s developer documentation identified limits in the test environment, including mocked proofs for settlement finalization and an asset-recovery mechanism that was not fully functional. Requests to read Core data worked only at the latest block, with historical reads planned for a later update.
Axiom said developers were being admitted in groups and could review public documentation and bridge-contract code while applying for access. The team planned to open the network to all developers in the following weeks.
Injective’s INJ price prediction is gaining attention as on-chain activity and developer contributions trend higher. Monthly active addresses have climbed from 1.4K to 2.2K over the past 90 days, while monthly code commits have risen from around 250 in August to more than 500 in September and October. That’s encouraging. But a $100 target still needs considerably more than optimism.
INJ Fundamentals Show Signs of Stronger ActivityMonthly active addresses measure unique wallets transacting with applications across the ecosystem over a rolling 30-day period. The increase suggests more addresses are interacting with Injective’s applications.
Developer activity is also picking up. Public GitHub commits have stayed above 500 during September and October, compared with roughly 250 in August. These metrics point to greater ecosystem engagement, although they don’t automatically guarantee rising token prices.
INJ Price Prediction Faces Several Resistance ZonesThe technical roadmap starts at $9 to $10, followed by supply around $12 to $16. If INJ clears that region, the next resistance zones sit at $20 to $24 and $30 to $35.
The biggest hurdle remains the previous cycle high around $50 to $53. A breakout above that area, followed by a successful retest, would strengthen the longer-term bullish scenario. Until then, the $100 discussion remains speculative.
Could a Rising Trendline Point Toward $100?The proposed projection by analysts post connects approximate cycle highs near $25 in 2021 and $52 in 2024. Extending that rising trendline on a linear chart points toward $100 around 2029.
It’s a geometric projection, not a guaranteed destination. The chart’s path also identifies $75 as an intermediate objective after a confirmed break above the previous high.
⚡ $INJ: THE $100 LINE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT 👀
Connecting the approximate cycle highs near $25 in 2021 and $52 in 2024 creates a rising trendline that extends toward $100 around 2029 on a linear chart.
That’s a geometric projection, with the recovery still needing… pic.twitter.com/FvvHjTcAOX
— Giannis Andreou (@gandreou007) October 21, 2026 INJ’s $100 Target Still Depends on ConfirmationThe downside scenario matters just as much. Losing $6 and failing to reclaim it would weaken the setup, potentially exposing $4 to $5.
Ultimately, the INJ price prediction depends on continued ecosystem engagement and price reclaiming resistance step by step. The $100 target around 2029 is possible within the proposed scenario, but neither the on-chain data nor the trendline confirms that outcome.
Story Ends Here
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Charles Schwab stated that Avalanche’s positioning in real-world assets and institutional use cases could support a higher valuation for AVAX, despite its smaller market share.
Jim Ferraioli’s research highlighted the customizable blockchain infrastructure. Stablecoin issuance, lending, asset management, and liquid staking were cited as key examples of economic activity on the network.
The fundamental question for the organization was whether investors would focus solely on transaction volume or on the economic value and quality of the transactions. A stronger emphasis on the latter approach could make Avalanche’s institutional use case even more valuable.
The study reported that, based on September 7th data, Avalanche ranked fifth among smart contract networks with $3.4 billion in locked assets. However, it added that Ethereum did not yet have the sector standard status.
AVAX’s token economy was rated as above average. The maximum supply of 720 million, the burning of transaction fees, and the staking mechanism were cited as positive aspects.
However, Schwab noted that the network’s monthly transaction fees have been declining since 2023. A warning was issued that the growth of private networks may not increase mainnet usage and AVAX demand at the same rate.
On the valuation side, the ratio of market value to the total fees generated by the network was examined. It was noted that this indicator has varied between 200 and 1,200 times in the last three years.
*This is not investment advice.
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Fixed-rate lending is the clearest growth lever for real-world assets (RWAs) in decentralized finance (DeFi). It unlocks a strategy that credit desks have run for decades but DeFi has never meaningfully implemented: buy a quality income asset, borrow against it at a locked rate below the asset’s yield and buy more of the asset. Stablecoins are steadily sitting around $300 billion in supply and aggregate vault assets are nearing the $20 billion milestone. Morpho alone carries more than $16 billion in deposits, most of it in variable-rate markets priced on pool utilization, which serve crypto-native traders who manage liquid positions in real time but leave longer-dated borrowers with uncertainty. Fixed-rate, fixed-term lending closes that gap by matching the term of the loan to the duration of the collateral, especially for RWAs whose redemptions can settle anywhere from T+7 to T+90. With the borrow cost and maturity known at entry, institutional counterparties can underwrite an RWA looping vault the same way they approve conventional term financing. This is the same bedrock foundation that formed and grew traditional credit markets to $51 trillion in US fixed income versus $1.6 trillion in floating-rate leveraged loans. The move to fixed rates is already underway: Morpho recently opened fixed-rate, fixed-term markets through Morpho Midnight, which Coinbase used to launch fixed-rate crypto-backed loans to its customers in September 2026.
DeFi is a battle-tested real-time execution engine with a narrow collateral base of volatile crypto assets that move by magnitudes in stress. This is what turned the October 10, 2025 liquidation cascade into a $19 billion event, marking the start of a nearly 60% reduction in DeFi total value locked for the eight months to follow. Expanding DeFi beyond crypto requires non-crypto-correlated RWAs, and RWAs require more precise lending markets to scale. RWAs already back the largest stablecoins, with Ethena and Sky committing more than $2.4 billion to JAAA, BUIDL, STAC, and USTB.
RWA leverage onchain runs almost entirely through variable-rate pools, where the borrow rate is set by utilization rather than by a lender agreeing to a price. Illustratively, Aave’s rate curve lifts the USDC borrow rate from 4% to 14% as utilization climbs from 92% to 100%. JAAA yields between 4.5% and 5% and Maple’s syrupUSDC pays 5.2%, while the one-year average USDC borrow rate on Aave V3 Ethereum is 4.56%, leaving just 50 basis points of spread to work with. The variance in these borrow rates scares off would-be RWA loopers or limits them to double-digit-yielding RWAs, which greatly narrows the accessible universe of investment-grade credit. Coin Metrics found routine daily utilization spikes on a $2 billion pool and the April 2026 KelpDAO rsETH exploit pinned Aave’s USDC pool at 100% utilization, causing borrowers to pay the maximum 14% rate for five days. Since tokenized credit products can take anywhere from T+1 to well beyond T+90 to settle redemptions, a spike like that can outlast the holder’s ability to exit while running an unprofitable trade.
Fixed-rate, fixed-term lending solves this because it lets the allocator match the duration of the loan to the duration of the RWA, the same way a bank extends a 70% advance at a fixed spread against investment-grade paper. Fixed-rate platforms like Tenor Finance, Kamino, Term Labs and Loopscale now quote rates against products, with a Kamino market offering 5.3% fixed-rate loans against Figure’s auto loan portfolio in rolling 30-day terms. Combined with one-click leverage providers, which compress multiple loops into a single transaction, these markets let institutional underwriters size into leveraged RWA positions at scale.
For sizing, a 5% reallocation of the $12 billion in Sky and Ethena reserve capital into fixed-rate looped RWA strategies at 3x is $600 million of equity and $1.8 billion of RWA demand, before foundations, digital asset treasury companies and exchange Earn programs contribute to growth. Well-positioned issuers of underwritten, loopable, non-crypto correlated RWAs will be the beneficiaries as DeFi’s collateral base finally grows beyond crypto.
Headlines of the weekby Francisco Rodrigues
This week’s headlines show banks further expanding blockchain payments and crypto services, while MSCI tightened index eligibility and BlackRock proposed a new way for its clients to manage bitcoin exposure.
JPMorgan brings tokenized dollar deposits to Ethereum: The bank deployed JPM Coin on Ethereum for institutional clients, expanding beyond Base and allowing customers to use tokenized bank deposits for blockchain payments and settlement.Thirty-seven-bank euro stablecoin venture secures Dutch e-money license: Qivalis, backed by banks including BNP Paribas, ING and BBVA, received authorization as an electronic money institution but must complete remaining requirements under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation before issuing its planned euro token.MSCI adopts rules that could remove Strategy and Metaplanet from equity indexes: New financial screens will exclude companies classified as non-operating, with affected constituents to be announced Nov. 11 and changes effective after the Nov. 30 close; neither company’s removal is yet confirmed.Kraken parent Payward agrees to buy Lithuania’s Saldo Bank: The acquisition would expand Payward’s European business into interest-bearing deposits, lending, card issuance and euro payments, with closing expected in 2027 subject to regulatory approvals.BlackRock files for a bitcoin ETF designed to cushion losses: The proposed iShares Bitcoin Managed Protection ETF (PBIT) would use options linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to seek downside protection in exchange for limited upside, without guaranteeing investors a fixed loss limit.Tron led crypto card volume in Q3 2026Tron was the largest chain for crypto card volume in the third quarter of 2026 with a 27.5% share (about $638 million). The weekly share has since fallen to 23.7%, as total card volume grew and Tron’s volume held steady. Tron’s TRX has been roughly flat at $0.33 to $0.34.
For more on the Tron network, view the new CoinDesk research report on Tron.
Looking for more? Receive the latest crypto news from coindesk.com and market updates from coindesk.com/institutions.
Ethena [ENA] is among the most widely used DeFi protocols, providing liquidity through its USDe stablecoin. Over the past 24 hours, the altcoin has grown by over 7%, that is, from $0.18 to $0.20.
Its daily trading volume is in excess of $405 million. However, ENA has started to face rejection, despite some analysts projecting an upside potential.
Understanding Ethena’s fundamentals Recently, Lark Davies announced he had bought a bag of Ethena tokens after conducting detailed research. The analyst cited that Ethena had generated over $1 billion in real fees and not emissions or printed tokens.
This was actual revenue, and almost none of that had gone to the people holding ENA tokens. But that was about to change, as these fees would fund a buyback mechanism.
Lark Davies argues that it could be the best bet on stablecoins and potentially better than Circle [CRCL] due to the upcoming buyback program.
Additionally, its Total Value Locked [TVL] has grown $1.32 billion since early August. Its most recent daily fees were over $4 million.
Source: DefiLlama Moreover, Janus Henderson Investors, which took a position in ENA in June, plans to use its staked USDe for cash management. This follows Ethena’s integration of Janus Henderson’s AAA CLO strategy.
These are AAA-rated floating-rate collateralized loan obligation tranches, tokenized via Centrifuge [CFG], and are eligible backing assets for USDe. This move shows traditional finance (TradFi) is catching ENA bids.
Is ENA’s correction about to end? While these are bullish signs, Ethena has been in a downtrend due to long liquidations and whale sales. However, that could come to an end soon as the price action starts to shift.
Currently, ENA is bouncing off an Optimal Trade Entry (OTE) that lies between the 0.618 and 0.786 Fibonacci Retracement levels. The altcoin has reclaimed $0.20 but needs to flip the $0.215 level into support.
This would mean the price entering the premium zone is now at a discount. The MACD has turned bullish, suggesting it’s taking into account the looming fundamental changes.
Source: ENA/USDT on TradingView Furthermore, the CVD shows that over 23.76 million ENA were bought at press time. In case the uptrend stays alive, then $0.30 becomes the next target, while failure would cause a full retracement to $0.135.
Final Summary Some analysts project a bullish trajectory for Ethena due to an upcoming buyback mechanism funded by fees. ENA was bouncing off $0.18 but needed to clear $0.215 as resistance to confirm a bullish trend shift.
Ondo Finance tokenized instruments reached 166,723 active addresses over 30 days, up 100.16% in three months, passing PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin in active users.
Ondo Finance's tokenized instruments have doubled their on-chain user base in three months, according to on-chain data. The products recorded 166,723 active addresses over the last 30-day period, a 100.16% increase from 83,295 active addresses three months earlier.
The figure puts Ondo's on-chain presence ahead of the active user base of PayPal's dollar stablecoin, $PYUSD, which has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion.
What is driving Ondo's growthOndo began by tokenizing U.S. Treasuries and now offers a wider range of products. Ondo Finance said the total value locked across its products has crossed $4 billion, a milestone driven by growth in tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The company said more than $1.3 billion of that total now sits in tokenized stocks and ETFs, and that its products have drawn more than 1 million cumulative holders.
Ondo's Treasury business is also expanding. Crypto Briefing reported, citing Token Terminal data, that Ondo added $41.6 million in market cap over seven days, ahead of Superstate at $34.2 million. The same report said Ondo crossed $3 billion in tokenized U.S. Treasury assets on October 13, 2026, with its USDY product accounting for about $2.328 billion of that total.
Ondo's reach across networks may also be helping user numbers. According to a KuCoin News summary of Ondo's disclosure, Ondo Stocks can be transferred permissionlessly on Solana, Ethereum and BNB Chain.
How PYUSD comparesPayPal USD is a regulated stablecoin. CoinMarketCap describes $PYUSD as issued by Paxos Trust Company and backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. Treasuries and similar cash equivalents. Its market capitalization has hovered near the $2.8 billion to $2.9 billion range in recent weeks, according to market data aggregators such as Bybit, which listed $2.84 billion as of October 20, 2026.
The comparison is limited. Active addresses measure wallet activity, not the amount of capital held, and the two products serve different purposes. PYUSD is a payments-oriented stablecoin, while Ondo's instruments are investment products such as tokenized Treasuries and stocks. Address counts can also vary depending on the data provider and how activity is measured.
Even so, the jump in active addresses points to growing demand for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), as issuers expand from Treasuries into equities and other asset classes.
SourcesOndo Finance Says Total Value Locked Has Topped $4 Billion (Yahoo Finance)
Ondo and Superstate lead weekly growth in tokenized US T-bill market (Crypto Briefing)
PayPal USD price and statistics (CoinMarketCap)
