Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The perpetual has its own pricing and hourly funding payments, unlike the fully funded OPAIPon spot note. US persons are excluded.

The perpetual has its own pricing and hourly funding payments, unlike the fully funded OPAIPon spot note. US persons are excluded.

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Tokenized stocks have tripled in 2026, growing from under $1 billion to more than $3 billion in onchain market cap in just eight months. That growth has the attention of the world’s most important financial institutions, which are no longer asking whether tokenization belongs in global markets but how to build around it.

In October, the IMF dedicated a chapter of its Global Financial Stability Report to tokenization, naming Ondo Finance among the largest tokenization providers and using Ondo Stocks in its analysis. Its findings show what investors want from tokenized stocks: the ability to trade around the clock, act on news as it breaks, and put their assets to work.

Ondo Stocks has been built for that demand from day one, setting milestones the rest of the category now measures itself against:

First to bring traditional finance liquidity onchain, minting and redeeming through U.S.-registered broker-dealers against the liquidity of traditional exchanges like Nasdaq and NYSE. First to scale to hundreds of permissionless tokenized stocks, with more than 450 stocks and ETFs available to eligible non-U.S. investors. First to reach $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) in May 2026, the total value of assets deposited in the platform. First with real 24/7 trading, with minting and redemption live around the clock for 25+ of the most popular Ondo Stocks, including Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla. What is Ondo Stocks? Ondo Stocks (previously known as Ondo Global Markets) has tokenized more than 450 stocks and ETFs, making them accessible to billions of eligible investors outside the U.S. Each token is fully backed by the underlying shares together with cash in transit, and mints and redeems to the liquidity of traditional markets such as Nasdaq and NYSE. That connection helps enable large trades with minimal slippage. Beyond trading, Ondo Stocks can be used as collateral across DeFi, and participating institutions can convert shares they already hold. Eligible investors outside the U.S. can gain exposure to U.S. stocks and ETFs onchain.

Here’s What Sets Ondo Stocks Apart 1. Connecting to TradFi Liquidity Liquidity on other tokenization platforms is limited because it relies on onchain liquidity alone. Those platforms are disconnected from traditional markets, so they have to bootstrap their own liquidity onchain. Ondo Stocks overcomes that limit by tapping into the deep liquidity of traditional markets. Ondo Stocks mints and redeems against the liquidity of exchanges like Nasdaq and NYSE. These venues process hundreds of billions in daily volume. This helps provide decreased slippage (the gap between the price you expect and the price you get) in a 24/7 environment. The result is that Ondo Stocks can be bought and sold at scale, with consistent execution.

2. Bringing True 24/7 to Tokenized Stocks Ondo Stocks recently became the first tokenization platform to support 24/7 minting and redemption for tokenized stocks and ETFs. Minting and redemption are live around the clock for 25+ of the most popular Ondo Stocks, including Apple, Nvidia and Tesla, across BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Solana.

Eligible users outside the U.S. can enter and exit positions at any hour, including weekends and public holidays. On other platforms, 24/7 features were limited to secondary-market transfers on centralized or decentralized exchanges, where thin onchain liquidity can lead to high execution costs. Market-moving news doesn't wait for the Monday open. Until now, tokenized stock holders had to either wait for the market to reopen or accept high slippage in thin onchain liquidity pools. The weekend data below shows the difference.

3. Institutional-Grade Investor Protections Ondo Stocks are built with several protections for holders. Each token is fully backed and secured by U.S. stocks and ETFs held at one or more U.S.-registered broker-dealers, along with cash in transit. An independent third-party Verification Agent reviews the asset backing and publishes a report each business day. An independent third-party Security Agent holds a first-priority security interest in the underlying assets for the benefit of token holders, and the structure is designed for bankruptcy remoteness. The underlying securities are not lent out without express token holder consent.

4. Global Access Across Ethereum, BNB Chain and Solana Ondo Stocks is built for a global audience. Eligible investors outside the U.S. can hold and trade Ondo Stocks on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, and more than 450,000 holders already do. Ondo Stocks are available through the Ondo web app and across platforms including 1inch Fusion, UniswapX, MetaMask, Ledger, Trust Wallet, Binance Wallet, Bitget Wallet, KuCoin, Gate, and MEXC, where available, and select Ondo Stocks are also admitted to trading on Nest Exchange, a Binance-operated venue in Abu Dhabi.

5. Composable Across DeFi Composability means onchain assets can plug into one another like building blocks. Because Ondo Stocks are tokens, holders can swap them on decentralized exchanges and aggregators, keep them in self-custody wallets, and use them in DeFi apps, all around the clock. It also means new products can be built directly on top of them, as the portfolios below show.

Ondo Stocks can be used as collateral in lending markets and for perpetual futures trading. On Morpho, SPYon, and QQQon can back stablecoin borrowing in isolated lending markets, with risk parameters managed by Gauntlet. On Euler, SPYon, QQQon and TSLAon can be used to borrow stablecoins, with risk parameters set by Sentora. On Ondo Perps, traders can post tokenized stocks and ETFs directly as margin, starting with SPYon and QQQon for Pre-Alpha users. Ondo Perps is built to draw on the real liquidity of the underlying markets. For market makers, hedging with tokenized stocks as collateral can improve capital efficiency, which means more capital deployed and deeper liquidity for everyone.

6. 450+ Tokenized Stocks and ETFs Across Every Sector Ondo Stocks covers more than 450 U.S. stocks and ETFs. Sectors include technology, semiconductors, AI and data infrastructure, consumer, financials, digital assets, energy and utilities, industrials, healthcare, mining and materials, fixed income, commodities, international ETFs, defense, space, quantum, cybersecurity, and many more.

7. Institutions Can Convert Underlying Shares Into Ondo Stocks Approved institutions can turn shares they already hold into Ondo Stocks, and back again. Through Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network, those shares become tokens on Ethereum or BNB Chain without the institution sourcing separate cash. For market makers, that means inventory they already hold can become onchain liquidity, which Ondo expects to support tighter spreads and deeper secondary-market liquidity.

8. Bringing Voting Preferences to Tokenized Stocks

Ondo has partnered with Broadridge so that holders of Ondo Stocks will be able to express voting preferences for the underlying shares. Holders will also be able to review prospectuses, regulatory filings, and other governance information through Broadridge's investor communications infrastructure.

"By working with Broadridge, we are enabling holders of our onchain wrapper stocks to access governance and voting capabilities like holders of the traditional offchain stocks, with all the additional benefits onchain wrapper tokens provide."

— Matthieu de Vergnes, MD, Global Head of Institutional at Ondo Finance

9. Curated Portfolios, Built With Ondo Stocks Ondo Stocks are the building blocks for Ondo Intelligent Portfolios, a new onchain product category. Ondo intelligent Portfolios are curated portfolios delivered as single onchain transferable tokens, whose underlying positions are Ondo Stocks. Ondo intelligent Portfolios are designed to scale with Ondo Stocks. The more stocks and ETFs available on Ondo Stocks, the more assets Intelligent Portfolios can choose from. The first three portfolios launched are based on strategies developed by BlackRock for Ondo, marking the first time eligible investors outside the U.S. can access onchain exposure to a full strategy through a single token.

Being onchain also unlocks programmatic rebalancing, onchain transparency, and multiple asset classes in a single token. Ondo Intelligent Portfolios offer diversified exposure in a single token with transferability and transparency of the blockchain.

Ondo Stocks vs. Others Put it all together and Ondo Stocks combines the best of traditional finance with the best of blockchain: the liquidity and asset backing of traditional markets, with the 24/7 access, transferability, and DeFi compatibility of onchain tokens.

Case Study: A 40% Return With Tokenized Stocks in 35 Days

Deep liquidity and fast redemption matter most at scale. Here’s one example of both in practice.

One wallet has already used Ondo Stocks to execute one of the largest trades in the history of tokenization technology thus far. It built a $13.5M position in CRCLon, the Ondo Stock for Circle, and redeemed at a 40% return in 35 days.

It started on January 19, 2026, when the wallet began accumulating CRCLon through Ondo Stocks. Over the following weeks, the wallet built a $13.5M position. By February 22-23, 2026, the wallet had redeemed a substantial portion of the position, receiving $18.9M in proceeds. A $13.5M position, built and redeemed entirely onchain, with the liquidity of traditional markets behind it.

*The change in the position's value over the period given above reflects movements in Circle's share price. A similar position could have lost value. This example illustrates liquidity and redemption features of Ondo Stocks and is not in any way a recommendation, guarantee of returns, or investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Conclusion Ondo has spent years building the infrastructure for tokenized markets, and it is not slowing down.Tokenized stocks, portfolios, and U.S. Treasuries are all part of the same platform. As markets move onchain, Ondo is building the infrastructure where they will run.

TLDR

Bitwise and the Hyperliquid Policy Center filed comment letters asking the SEC to revise its proposed crypto rules.
Bitwise wants a clear standard for deciding if a crypto asset is a security, based on public information.
Hyperliquid asked for a broader safe harbor, airdrop protections and guidance on token buybacks.
A former SEC enforcement official and a Duke University scholar urged the SEC to withdraw the proposal entirely.
The comment period closed Tuesday, and the SEC has not set a timetable for a final decision.

Bitwise Asset Management and the Hyperliquid Policy Center have asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to change its proposed crypto rules. Both groups filed comment letters on Monday, Oct. 19.

They want clearer guidance on how tokens are classified, how airdrops are treated and how tokens can trade after they are issued.

The letters arrived just before the SEC closed public comments on Tuesday for its proposed Regulation Crypto Assets.

The proposal would create exemptions for qualifying crypto fundraising. It would also set up a conditional safe harbor for tokens tied to investment contracts.

Bitwise and Hyperliquid Seek Clearer Rules
In its letter, Bitwise urged the SEC to explain how investment managers should decide whether a crypto asset falls under securities laws. The firm said managers need a standard they can apply using “publicly available information.”

Bitwise also asked for clearer rules on a proposed filing called Form TR. An issuer would use this form to certify that an investment contract no longer exists.

The firm wants to know when managers can rely on that filing. It also asked how managers should judge tokens when no Form TR has been filed.

In a separate letter, the Hyperliquid Policy Center asked the SEC to broaden its proposed safe harbor. The group said the protection could arrive too late in a project’s development.

It called for clearer protections for airdrops that reward people for taking part in a network. It also asked for guidance on token buybacks.

Hyperliquid said the proposal “fails to provide clarity” on two points. These are whether unregistered intermediaries can help with token trading and whether tokens can trade freely through onchain protocols.

The group urged the SEC to address secondary-market trading directly. It said exchanges and decentralized trading venues should not be left facing regulatory uncertainty.

Critics Call for Withdrawal
Not everyone wants the rules adjusted. Former SEC enforcement official John Reed Stark and Duke University finance scholar Lee Reiners asked the SEC to withdraw the proposal entirely.

In an Oct. 16 letter, they argued the plan goes beyond the agency’s legal authority and would weaken investor protections.

Stark and Reiners said current securities laws and the Supreme Court’s Howey test already provide a framework for regulating crypto offerings.

They said the fundraising exemptions would reduce protections for investors. They also argued the safe harbor would let issuers remove their tokens from securities oversight by certifying it themselves.

The pair warned that adopting the rules in close to their current form would invite an immediate legal challenge. That could lead to the framework being struck down.

With the comment period now closed, the SEC will review the submissions. It will then decide whether to revise, adopt or withdraw the proposed rules.

The commission has not announced a timetable for a final decision. Any final rule would need a commission vote before it takes effect.

Is the AI Agent Economy Really Booming? 6.4M Payments Tell a Different Story

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.

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PaperTrade has acknowledged reports of manipulation attempts on Hyperliquid’s best-bid/offer (BBO) used for synthetic execution. The incident involves attempts to shift Hyperliquid’s ETH quotes, impacting the reference prices used by PaperTrade for its BTC and ETH execution. PaperTrade has responded by tightening open-interest limits on-chain and through relayers. The situation highlights concerns over PaperTrade’s reliance on external price feeds and its exposure controls, although there is no indication of a breach in Hyperliquid’s native system.

Key Takeaways Reports suggest manipulation attempts on Hyperliquid BBO, which PaperTrade uses for reference pricing. PaperTrade is addressing the issue by tightening open-interest limits and enhancing controls. Market pricing suggests a decrease in confidence, reflected in reduced odds for PaperTrade’s FDV exceeding $25M. What to Watch Market participants will closely monitor any further measures PaperTrade implements to enhance security and control. The upcoming launch of PaperTrade’s token and its market reception will be key indicators of investor confidence. Developments in the Hyperliquid platform’s stability and any official announcements regarding improvements or partnerships will also be pivotal in shaping market sentiment.

Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h January 1 2028 50% — — View market → January 1 2028 44.5% — — View market → January 1 2028 36.5% — — View market → January 1 2028 24% — — View market → January 1 2028 29% — — View market → January 1 2028 23.5% — — View market → January 1 2028 46% — — View market → January 1 2028 17% — — View market →

CashCat [CASHCAT] gained 11% over the past day as the broader market recovered.

The gains coincided with bullish sentiment and increased activity in the perpetual market. Open Interest rose alongside the price, while the Funding Rate remained positive.

Buyers had the edge, but could that positioning support another leg higher?

What supported CASHCAT’s 11% rally? CashCat recorded roughly $11.12 million in perpetual Inflows over the past 24 hours.

Inflows exceeded Outflows, leaving positive Netflows of $122,240 at the time of analysis. This pointed to net capital entering the tracked perpetual market, although flows alone did not establish traders’ direction.

Source: CoinGlass Alongside those positive flows, Open Interest climbed over 11% to $51.43 million, while the Funding Rate stayed positive.

Rising Open Interest indicated more outstanding contracts. The positive Funding Rate meant longs paid shorts, suggesting stronger demand for long exposure.

Together, these readings supported a bullish positioning bias, although they could not confirm further price gains.

Source: CoinGlass That left another question: were traders actively buying into the move?

Were CASHCAT buyers still setting the pace? An analysis of CashCat’s perpetual Trading Volume showed more aggressive buying than selling. The Taker Buy/Sell Ratio tracks this balance. A reading above 1 indicates higher taker buy volume, while below 1 indicates higher taker sell volume.

CoinGlass recorded a ratio of 1.14, meaning taker buy volume exceeded taker sell volume by 14%.

Source: CoinGlass In other words, buyers were more willing to cross the spread and execute immediately.

Hyperliquid, Gate, and Bybit also recorded Taker Buy/Sell Ratios above 1, reinforcing a buying bias across the three venues.

Together, these exchanges accounted for $45.5 million in Open Interest, roughly 88% of CashCat’s reported total. Much of the outstanding exposure therefore sat on those venues. Still, taker buying can reflect new longs or shorts closing positions.

Can bullish sentiment sustain CASHCAT’s gains? CoinMarketCap’s Sentiment indicator also favored bulls. The tool ranged from -10 to 10, with the extremes representing bearish and bullish readings, respectively.

At the time of analysis, Sentiment remained positive, suggesting a bullish outlook among participating users. That optimism aligned with the perpetual market’s buying bias. If buying pressure persists, CASHCAT could extend its recovery.

However, sentiment alone offers limited evidence of fresh demand. Continued taker buying would give the bullish outlook firmer backing.

Final Summary CASHCAT rose 11% as Open Interest increased and the Funding Rate remained positive. The Taker Buy/Sell Ratio favored buyers, but sustained buying pressure remains key to further gains.

US President Donald Trump plans to draw national attention to a federal crackdown on international cryptocurrency scams targeting American citizens, as authorities respond to a surge in reported digital asset fraud losses.

White House to Unveil New Enforcement ActionsTrump is scheduled to join senior cabinet officials at an October 21 White House event focused on recent efforts to dismantle fraudulent overseas cryptocurrency investment websites and tackle online impersonation schemes. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that authorities will discuss both the recovery of assets and measures to deter similar criminal activity in the future.

This initiative continues a series of federal investigations into organized scam networks, with particular scrutiny on criminal operations based in Southeast Asia. Officials have targeted professional networks using sophisticated social engineering tactics to defraud US residents.

Federal enforcement agencies have recently seized fraudulent domains, halted transaction flows via suspicious wallets, and collaborated with international partners to close cross-border exploit operations. Authorities emphasize that their approach aims to both disrupt ongoing scams and recover lost funds for consumers.

Crypto Investment Fraud Hits Record $7.2 Billion in 2025The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report confirmed that cryptocurrency-related investment fraud accounted for roughly $7.2 billion in consumer losses over the year, ranking among the largest categories of financial damage in the US cybercrime landscape.

More than one million internet crime complaints reached federal agencies in 2025, a 17% rise from the previous year. While these complaints span several cybercrime types, cryptocurrencies featured prominently in large-scale investment scams involving falsified platforms and manipulated profit records.

Many victims interact with fake investment sites or receive personalized outreach on messaging apps, where they are persuaded to deposit additional funds but discover they cannot withdraw purported profits.

Investigators have recovered significant sums, including $225 million in cryptocurrency linked to investment fraud. Experts say these scams often feature complex money-laundering methods and rely on convincing victims with fabricated account statements.

Trump Family Ventures, Conflict Claims, and Industry ResponseThe federal initiative comes alongside renewed questions over the Trump family’s own digital asset businesses, especially World Liberty Financial and its popular TRUMP meme coin. World Liberty Financial is a cryptocurrency financial services firm started by Trump’s business associates and family members, offering a range of digital asset products and the USD1 stablecoin token.

A June Reuters analysis estimated that Trump and his sons amassed at least $2.3 billion through cryptocurrency ventures between January 2025 and April 2026. Investors in these projects reportedly faced approximately $2.3 billion in combined losses during the same period. These figures refer to the business performance of the ventures and are not allegations of criminal activity against the Trump family.

World Liberty Financial’s growth and recent entry into financial services intensified public scrutiny, especially after the company obtained key banking approvals. Meanwhile, the White House denied any conflicts of interest, stating that policy decisions reflected the broader public good, not personal or family business interests.

Trump’s broader digital asset policy seeks to encourage crypto innovation while intensifying actions against cybercrime. This dual approach has drawn closer attention to the evolving regulatory environment for crypto businesses operating in the US.

The President’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October 2025 further fueled debate over the administration’s alignment with major crypto players.

Commercial pressure remains high for World Liberty Financial, as it contends with recent stablecoin redemptions and market volatility affecting its USD1 token.

Mini dictionary: World Liberty Financial, a digital asset company established by associates of Donald Trump, operates in the cryptocurrency financial services sector and issues the USD1 stablecoin.

Metric20252026US Crypto Fraud Losses$7.2 billionN/ATrump Family Crypto Gains$2.3 billion*$2.3 billion*Investor Losses (Trump Ventures)$2.3 billion*$2.3 billion*

Aster has launched pre-market perpetual futures for the Predict.fun token $PREDICT with up to 5x leverage, opening synthetic price discovery before the token generation event.

Decentralised exchange @Aster_DEX has launched pre-market perpetual futures contracts for $PREDICT, the token of prediction market protocol @predictdotfun. The listing opens synthetic price discovery ahead of the protocol's token generation event (TGE).

The new market allows up to 5x leverage. That gives traders and funds a way to take a view on the value of the protocol before spot exchange listings begin.

What the Aster listing offersPre-market perpetuals are derivatives that track an expected price for a token that is not yet trading in the spot market. Because no spot price exists, the contract price reflects what market participants think the token will be worth at launch. Leverage amplifies both gains and losses, so positions carry a higher risk of liquidation than unleveraged trades.

The listing appeared on Aster's trading list on October 21. TechFlow reported that the page showed up to 5x leverage and that trading was expected to go live at 8 PM that evening.

Aster describes itself as a decentralised exchange. BitMEX Research notes that it was created through the merger of DeFi protocols Astherus and APX Finance in 2025 and supports perpetual contracts for stocks, commodities and forex settled in crypto.

Predict.fun and the token's path to launchPredict.fun is a prediction market on BNB Chain where users trade the outcomes of real-world events. According to Bitrue's overview, users trade with USDT or USDC while earning DeFi yield on their collateral.

Interest in the token has built for several weeks. ChainCatcher reported that the project teased a token with a post reading "Soon" earlier this month. Coingabbar reported that a separate pre-market on Aspecta opened on October 9 at an $800 million fully diluted valuation (FDV). The same report said no TGE date had been confirmed at the time.

Pre-market prices are indicative and can diverge sharply from where a token trades once spot markets open. Traders should check the contract terms, funding mechanics and settlement rules on each venue before taking a position.

SourcesTechFlow: Predict.fun token pre-market on Aster
Coingabbar: Predict.fun token pre-market on Aspecta
BitMEX: Aster overview

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.

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Bitcoin climbed alongside technology stocks as a revival in risk appetite spread to cryptocurrencies, lifting the token out of a bout of listless trading and offering another sign of resurgent speculative fervor across global markets.

The original digital asset rose as much as 2.4% to $84,737 as a rally sparked by SpaceX earnings helped reignite enthusiasm for riskier assets, even as questions lingered over the sustainability of the artificial intelligence boom.

Also helping sentiment: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency unveiled a final measure for payment stablecoin issuers, in latest sign pro-industry development.

The latest uptick has been in part driven by a rebuilding of leverage via perpetual futures. Open interest, or the total outstanding number of the futures contracts, has been rising again after weeks of deleveraging, according to data compiled by Coinglass.

“Risk assets in general got a lift from solid earnings and renewed AI interest while oil remains elevated and choppy.” said Jasper De Maere, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute. “At the moment, this still feels like a recovery vs the start of a rally, however that could turn quickly if we approach $87,000 Bitcoin** **with decent momentum.”

Besides futures, the crypto options market is posing a bullish posture as well with demand clustered around call contracts at the strike prices of $95,000, $90,000 and $100,000, according to crypto exchange Deribit.

“The longs that were on got cleared out on the way down, and a good part of the bounce was shorts closing. That’s largely positioning resetting rather than new leverage going on,” said Himanshu Sahay, co-founder of Arch Lending.

Many analysts are monitoring Bitcoin ETF flows for a read on the health of the rally and retail investor involvement. Over the past month, some $2.3 billion has gone into spot funds, data compiled by Bloomberg show, suggesting renewed investor interest. Within the cohort of offerings, BlackRock’s IBIT has been the biggest beneficiary, absorbing the majority of those flows during that stretch.

Still, researchers at Glassnode say that though spot ETFs have seen inflows, it hasn’t come with heightened trading volume. “Inflows that repeat on rising volume would show demand broadening beyond a single day,” they wrote in a note Wednesday.

“I think there’s plenty of fuel in the tank for it to fly higher again,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, chief executive officer of ZeroStack.

Their disclosed bitcoin positions would together rank sixth among CoinGecko’s tracked public companies. Musk says no transaction terms have been agreed.

Their disclosed bitcoin positions would together rank sixth among CoinGecko’s tracked public companies. Musk says no transaction terms have been agreed.

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ACINQ, the team behind the Eclair Lightning node software, has spent the past week patching security holes. Developers say bugs in Eclair v0.14.4 could allow peers to steal funds or disrupt payments.

The company has responded with two releases in five days. For node operators, the message is simple: upgrade now.

What ACINQ fixed
The first release, Eclair v0.14.4, landed on October 15, 2026. Its headline fix targets a cross-origin request forgery vulnerability in the node’s API.

Web browsers often remember login credentials so users don’t have to keep retyping them. In Eclair’s case, the API relied on HTTP Basic authentication, and those credentials could sit cached in a browser.

That cache created an opening. A malicious website could quietly send commands to the node through the operator’s own browser, piggybacking on the stored credentials.

The potential damage was not cosmetic. According to the release details, forged requests could trigger channel management actions and unauthorized payments, all without the operator’s direct oversight.

How the patch works
ACINQ’s fix is blunt but effective. Eclair v0.14.4 now rejects API requests that carry an “Origin” header.

Browsers attach that header when a webpage sends a request to another site. Command-line tools generally do not.

The result is a clean split. Operators who manage their nodes from a terminal keep working as before, while direct browser access to the API is shut off.

That choice has a cost for anyone running a browser-based dashboard. Those frontends now need a custom backend sitting in the middle, relaying requests to the node rather than talking to it directly.

The release also bundles earlier fixes. These address funding-fee and signer-related issues, with merge dates for the prior changes running up to September 15, 2026.

A second release, five days later
ACINQ wasn’t finished. On October 20, 2026, the team issued Eclair v0.14.5, addressing additional security flaws tied to peer behavior.

On Lightning, a peer is another node you share a payment channel with, and the protocol is designed so that peers can transact without fully trusting each other. Developers say the flaws could have allowed peers to steal funds or disrupt payments.

No confirmed fund losses have been reported from the vulnerabilities fixed in the recent releases.

Why Eclair matters
The Lightning Network is a payment layer built on top of Bitcoin. It aims to make small, fast Bitcoin transactions practical by moving most activity off the main chain and into payment channels between nodes.

Because Lightning nodes hold live funds in channels, they are essentially hot wallets that talk to strangers all day. Any bug in how they authenticate commands or handle peer messages is a direct line to money.

What this means for operators and the network
The immediate stakeholders are Eclair node operators, and their to-do list is short. Anyone still on an older version should move to v0.14.5, which includes the latest peer-related fixes on top of the API hardening in v0.14.4.

Operators who built browser-based control panels face more work. They will need to stand up a backend intermediary, since Eclair will no longer accept browser-originated API calls directly.

The research findings frame the response as proactive, arguing that tighter API security and quick fixes may support adoption of Lightning integrations over time.

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

British multinational Standard Chartered will buy digital asset custodian Zodia Custody, months after signing an agreement. 

A statement from London-based Zodia Custody on Wednesday said that the deal will see the company’s service integrated into Standard Chartered’s existing digital asset custody activities. 

Standard Chartered is expanding its crypto-related offerings worldwide. Earlier this month, it said it had plans to offer crypto custody services for institutional clients in Singapore. It already offers the service in the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong. 

“As institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates, custody is increasingly becoming part of the global banking landscape,” Zodia Custody CEO Richard Clark said. 

He added: “Zodia Custody has built a strong business with the specialist expertise and capabilities to meet the needs of institutional clients. 

“Bringing that expertise together with Standard Chartered’s global reach and established banking platform will strengthen its digital asset custody offering and provide institutions with greater access to trusted, regulated custody services worldwide.”

Ying Ying Tan, global head of securities services and digital assets at Standard Chartered, added that the deal “further deepens our digital asset custody portfolio and reinforces our position as a leading provider of digital asset services globally.”

Zodia Custody shareholders in May approved Standard Chartered’s offer to buy the company. 

The company works to custody bitcoin and other digital assets for institutional and asset managers. 

Standard Chartered has delved deeper into the crypto space in recent years. In 2025, the bank set up a trading desk for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in London, making it one of the first global banks to enter spot cryptocurrency trading.

It has since debuted custody and trading services in countries around the world. 

Top banks worldwide are debuting or planning to debut crypto custody services, with State Street, Standard Chartered, U.S. Bank, and Citigroup all committing to direct crypto custody over the past 18 months.

Crypto custody is often a starting point for banks moving into the digital asset space. BNY Mellon in 2022 became the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services.   

Mathew Di Salvo

Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

Representation of Bitcoin is seen with binary code displayed on a laptop screen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on August 17, 2021. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Bitcoin ecosystem has absorbed major hacks since July, totaling over $500M to date. Yet the real story lies in distinguishing between preventable hacks and AI-accelerated attacks, and in what the self-custody industry must learn afterward to re-establish itself as the default for storing bitcoin.

The Coldcard Entropy Hack Case Study ($110M)The first major hack with far-reaching consequences for self-custody that kickstarted this was the Coldcard Entropy Hack in July.

During an audit of Coldcard’s firmware by Bitcoin developer James O’Beirne over 17 months ago, he reportedly uncovered that they had relied on an obscure library named libngu to integrate the industry gold standard library libsecp256k1 to generate cryptographically secure random numbers, the critical component needed to ensure wallet seeds are secure, not easily guessable, and user funds protected.

Coinkite, the team behind the Coldcard, cited the aforementioned libngu library in their own technical post-mortem. Specifically, after their migration to libsecp256k1, they relied on libngu to communicate with the library, stating that “The cryptographic choice was sound. The integration was not.” According to the post’s timeline, the vulnerability was introduced in 2021. Meaning it went unnoticed for 5 years until it was exploited in July.

Coinkite eventually shipped an update that fixed the vulnerability with clear steps for users to migrate their bitcoin. Yet users who have collectively lost over $110M, according to Galaxy Research estimates, have no mechanism to be made whole. As of writing, Coinkite has not provided any information about a fund to make customers whole or legal redress.

Asked for comment, Coinkite says it will be publishing a third-party audit which will cover the hack’s timeline, why the bug went undetected, and changes they’ve made to their review process since July. Once public, this piece will be updated and a follow-up published.

CryptoBilis Ledger Reseller Hack ($91M)Beyond code, the supply chain is also an attack vector. The third-party reseller CryptoBilis, which operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, reported Ledger wallets containing custom implants that copied sensitive wallet material and stole user funds, totaling ~ $91M across 474 addresses, according to Galaxy Research.

Case Studies In AccountabilityLedger followed up by having CryptoBilis halt all sales and shipments, announcing its intention to roll out tamper-resistant enclosures to prevent similar supply-chain attacks, and providing users with guidance on how to handle the situation.

After the CryptoBilis incident, popular hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor announced last week a significant reduction in its reseller network to ensure it can accurately vet vendors and avoid a similar situation.

Even as the Coldcard hack was still actively draining user funds, the broader bitcoin ecosystem spent sleepless nights helping affected users migrate their coins and educating others on more secure alternatives and setups.

Away from hardware wallets, Blink, an open-source custodial bitcoin wallet, responded to a $430k hack by its shareholders, making users whole within days. Another is Boltz, an open-source, non-custodial bitcoin swap bridge, which faced successive, consistent AI-automated attacks on its servers and responded by shutting them down to prevent users from losing funds.

Liquid Network Hack ($320M)The recent $320M hit the ecosystem at a different layer away from exchanges and hardware wallets, and in the realm of side chains. Here, the attacker leveraged a zero-day vulnerability that let them mint—essentially create—unbacked L-BTC (the pegged BTC token on Liquid) and drain 4,000 BTC.

The attacker reached out to Blockstream on-chain by embedding OP_RETURN messages, with most of the exchange happening there for the public to see. The attacker initially posed as a white hat but held the coins for ransom until the bug was fixed. They later returned 3,400 BTC to Liquid and pocketed the remaining ~600 BTC.

Liquid initially froze redemptions for over 40 days as a mitigation, but have announced resumed peg-outs and swaps. As for the 600 bitcoin, it seems Blockstream will likely replenish that.

The Bitcoin Exchanges ConundrumA hallmark of bitcoin security advice has been keeping your coins off exchanges. However, examples like Bitget’s recent $387.5M hack show an important counterweight to self-custody setups. Namely, despite the significant hack, Bitget relied on its User Protection Fund, which stood at $464M at the time of the attack, to cover the full amount lost to affected users.

Ironically, while self-custody is theoretically more secure than exchanges, the last few months have shown it currently offers worse fallbacks for victims, especially in the case of the Coldcard hack. The broader question is why the industry has promised far more secure setups than exchanges, yet hasn’t adopted equivalent measures.

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The Super Intelligence (SI) AccelerantWhile we can’t squarely blame SI-accelerated hacks for the Coldcard situation, notwithstanding their upcoming review, the timeline does raise questions of how much of this was preventable independent of the AI-accelerated attacks that followed.

Regardless, what’s undeniable is the use of SI for defensive measures like frontier-model-led preemptive source-code audits and patches, as spearheaded by the Bitcoin Red Team, has become increasingly invaluable.

In the age of super intelligence, access to insurmountable stockpiles of compute that defend against perilous actors will become cheaper, while devastating attacks proliferate at unprecedented rates. Plus, at the pace of SI-accelerated reverse engineering, all code is functionally open source, further exacerbating the situation.

The Path ForwardTechnology is not the bottleneck; user-friendly multi-sig and single-sig self-custody products exist from companies like Bitkey, Casa, Trezor, and Bitbox.

The real test is whether Bitcoin’s self-custody ecosystem can rise to the level of maturity and accountability infrastructure required to safeguard billions of dollars in bitcoin. The industry must make “not your keys, not your coins” progress beyond a dunk on victims to the default operating principle.

Until then, users will keep their coins on exchanges and in ETFs.

Hardware wallets were supposed to be the safe answer to crypto’s oldest warning: not your keys, not your coins. In 2026, that answer developed some uncomfortable footnotes.

A Forbes analysis frames the year’s Bitcoin hack losses at more than $500 million. Axis Intelligence estimates total hardware wallet losses for the year exceeded $240 million, with the research placing the figure at approximately $241 million when the major incidents and other reported attacks are combined.

Two breaches, two very different failures The first incident hit Coinkite’s Coldcard devices. A flaw in Coldcard firmware weakened the randomness used to generate seed phrases. The affected firmware dated back to builds from March 2021 onward. In late July and early August 2026, attackers drained an estimated 1,800+ BTC from thousands of wallets, with the haul valued at somewhere between $100 million and $150 million.

The attackers did not need to touch the devices. The weakness lived in how the keys were born, not in how they were stored. Owners could have kept their Coldcards in a safe, and the coins would still have been exposed.

According to Galaxy Research, funds from the Coldcard breach remained largely unmoved in collector addresses as of mid-October.

The second incident was a supply-chain attack. Ledger Nano X and Nano S Plus units sold by CryptoBilis, an authorized reseller, contained hidden implants that compromised users’ seed phrases. Losses from those devices are estimated at roughly $90 million to $100 million by mid-October, spread across various blockchain networks.

How big was the damage, really No compromise of Ledger’s or Coinkite’s core infrastructure was found. The problems were confined to specific firmware builds in Coldcard’s case and specific device batches in Ledger’s.

Bitcoin’s price showed limited volatility in response to the breaches.

What this means for self-custody Experts and Bitcoin enthusiasts began reassessing reliance on single-vendor devices, pushing instead for multisignature setups and stronger randomness in seed generation.

Multisig works like a bank vault that needs two or three separate keys turned at once. A wallet might require signatures from two of three devices, ideally built by different manufacturers. If one vendor ships flawed firmware or a tampered batch, the attacker still lacks the other keys. Neither the Coldcard flaw nor the Ledger implants, on their own, would have been enough to empty a properly configured multi-vendor multisig wallet.

Users who generate seed phrases with their own added entropy, such as dice rolls, reduce how much they depend on a device’s internal generator.

With more than $240 million lost to hardware vulnerabilities, some market participants may look toward regulated custody services and investment vehicles that bundle security into the product. Analysts noted a growing concern around hardware solutions relative to institutional custodians and exchange-traded funds, potentially influencing investor behavior moving forward.

What to watch next: whether the Coldcard thieves begin moving the coins Galaxy Research has been tracking, and whether further tampered Ledger units surface beyond the CryptoBilis batch.

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

Litecoin [LTC] ETFs spent most of the year getting the odd visitor or two. Lately, there’s been many more.

Is this the start of something, or just a good few weeks? Let’s look.

Litecoin ETF assets have doubled to $14 million
For most of the year, Litecoin ETFs were fairly quiet.

SoSoValue data showed a few big days early on, like the roughly $2 million that came in around mid-January. After that, it was mostly scattered. A small inflow here, a small outflow there, with weeks of nothing in between.

Total net assets drifted between about $5 million and $7 million for months.

Then, late September changed things.

Source: SoSoValue
Inflows landed almost every day; the biggest one came close to $1.4 million. That’s the most consistent run these funds have had since they launched.

Total net assets shot up to around $15 million at the peak. While it has fallen since, they’re 2x where they were in the summer.

Notably, after a few flat days, Canary’s Litecoin ETF [LTCC] saw $581,140 in inflows on the 19th.

There could be more company soon. Grayscale has also been pursuing the conversion of its existing Litecoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund, although the process has yet to be completed.

Litecoin price punches up, futures traders lean long
LTC got a nice push on the 20th, going up about 5% in a day. At the time of writing, it was at $61.35.

While a step below the late-September high of $75, it’s still a decent climb from mid-October slip down to $57.

RSI was near neutral, at 47.6 during press time. MACD was negative, though the red bars are evidently shrinking. A crossover isn’t a far off possibility.

Source: TradingView
Futures traders seem to be on board. Open Interest [OI] dropped to about $213 million on the 18th, then went back to $229 million. Funding was also positive at 0.0058%.

Source: Coinalyze
Getting back above $65 would help.

Final Summary

Litecoin ETF assets doubled to about $14 million after a late-September inflow run.
Litecoin price jumped about 5%, futures funding also looks positive.

Ripple has publicly supported a new proposal from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) aimed at clarifying the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty revealed that the blockchain payments firm spent more than $150 million on legal fees during its long-running dispute with the regulator over the status of XRP.

SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets: New Framework, Ripple’s ResponseThe SEC introduced Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18, outlining a specialized approach for investment contracts involving digital assets. The proposal would allow qualified crypto issuers to offer up to $5 million over four years or up to $75 million within a 12-month period under certain exemptions.

A conditional safe harbor provision features in the draft rule, specifying when an investment contract linked to a digital asset may no longer be considered a security under US law.

Ripple endorsed the SEC’s general approach but has urged the agency to clarify that federal securities laws should focus on the investment arrangement tied to a digital token, not on the token itself. This distinction played a key role in Ripple’s partial courtroom victory, where a federal judge differentiated between institutional XRP sales and some public-exchange trades.

Alderoty stated that regulatory enforcement actions have led to crypto innovation moving overseas, arguing that businesses seeking legal clarity should not be forced into lengthy litigation.

Ripple continues to advocate that companies should not have to spend years and tens of millions fighting for clear rules, as legal disputes have made the US less attractive for crypto innovators.

Alderoty clarified that Ripple’s $150 million legal expenditure is separate from the $125 million civil penalty ordered in the aftermath of the company’s XRP case.

Mini dictionary: Ripple, a US-based blockchain technology company, is best known for its digital payment protocol and the associated cryptocurrency XRP. The firm has been central to legal debates over how cryptocurrencies should be classified under US securities law.

Push for Clarity on XRP and Investment Contract RulesRipple’s main contention is the application of the Howey test, a legal standard used to determine whether a given arrangement constitutes an investment contract subject to securities regulation.

The company maintains that while a cryptocurrency may be initially sold as an investment contract, subsequent secondary market transactions involving the same token should not automatically be considered securities transactions.

The debate over whether secondary-market transactions of digital assets like XRP should fall under securities law remains significant for token holders and other blockchain projects.

Ripple has emphasized that assessing decentralization alone does not suffice as a clear standard for ending securities-related obligations. Instead, the firm argues for criteria based on tangible promises and responsibilities established during the original offering.

The SEC’s ongoing safe-harbor initiative seeks to establish predictable rules for fundraising in the digital asset space, while still ensuring regulatory oversight. Proposed exemptions for fundraising do not eliminate all regulatory requirements, nor do they automatically free all XRP trades from oversight.

Regulatory Developments and Industry ImpactRipple’s support for the SEC’s crypto regulation proposal arrives in the wake of Congress failing to advance comprehensive cryptocurrency market-structure legislation. The stalling of the CLARITY Act in September left the digital asset sector without much-anticipated statutory guidance.

The SEC’s current rulemaking process may provide an alternative path for regulatory certainty, although the ultimate impact depends on the wording that appears in the final version and the Commission’s authority.

Earlier SEC deliberations involving XRP underscored the significance of clear definitions and regulatory exemptions for digital asset businesses seeking to operate in the US market.

Binance Announces Massive XRP Giveaway

Ripple Price Analysis: Is XRP Out of the Woods After 10% Rebound?

Yellow Network, a blockchain initiative backed by $10 million from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, is preparing to launch a platform that enables instant settlements between autonomous artificial intelligence agents. The upcoming technology will use XRP as its core settlement currency, aiming to merge Yellow’s rapid transaction channels with the established capabilities of the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Yellow Network aims for real-time AI settlementsA recent teaser shared on X by Yellow Network outlined plans to create an “ultimate AI stack,” making the XRP token the fundamental medium for instant settlements between autonomous programs. Yellow Network’s development team stated that their software is designed to eliminate transaction fees for internal AI-to-AI trades, while still allowing the final settlement to be instantly documented on the XRP blockchain.

The teaser described how AI agents using the Yellow system can pay each other in real time, without fees, and conclude settlements directly on the XRPL, supporting high-frequency microtransactions.

Yellow Network acts as a digital guarantor, providing verification and protection for transactions between AI agents before submitting them for final recording on the XRP Ledger. The teaser illustrates the process with two AI systems connected by a secure “bridge of trust.”

Addressing speed and trust issues for autonomous transactionsTraditional banking systems offer neither the speed nor the trust logic needed for robotic agents operating at machine speeds. When autonomous AI systems transact—for example, when one purchases data or computational resources from another—they must finalize payments within moments, often fractions of a second, and generally without a prior relationship or established history.

Predictability and efficiency are crucial for these AI agents, which regularly perform millions of micro-operations. The XRPL blockchain may be well-suited for this scenario, providing transaction speeds of 3 to 5 seconds and charging fees that amount to just a small fraction of a cent. With Chris Larsen’s investment, the project directly connects to Ripple’s longstanding expertise within blockchain-based payment ecosystems.

Mini dictionary: XRPL (XRP Ledger), launched by Ripple Labs, is a decentralized, open-source blockchain network designed for fast and cost-efficient settlement of assets. It is widely used for cross-border payments and supports the issuance and transfer of various tokens, including XRP.

Early adoption and real-world performanceThis new settlement infrastructure is already operating within the XRPL AI Hub, which has registered 174 artificial intelligence services so far. According to project data, autonomous agents on the platform have executed over 14.5 million microtransactions and successfully closed nearly 6,000 deals. The agents use the x402 protocol to transact payments for inference routing, token analysis, and contextual data exchange.

Yellow Network positions itself at the forefront of an emerging market where autonomous AI systems will soon buy and sell digital services without human input. By leveraging instant XRP liquidity, the network aims to lay the foundation for a self-sufficient, machine-driven economy.

MetricXRPL AI Hub DataRegistered AI services174Microtransactions14,500,000+Total deals closed6,000

Crypto analyst Amonyx has published a long-term technical analysis of XRP, predicting the potential for a significant price surge that could propel the asset to levels never before sustained in its history. According to Amonyx, XRP is approaching a “supercycle” move, supported by a decade-long chart structure that is currently resolving upward. As of now, XRP is trading near $1.50, while projections on the chart point to a possible rise toward $45.50.

Decade-Long Chart StructureThe chart referenced by Amonyx was originally created by chartist MrGert and spans XRP price data from 2014 to an outlook into 2028. It utilizes a logarithmic scale to map the full market history of XRP and highlights three distinctive market cycles across the period.

The first cycle, running from 2014 to 2017, saw XRP consolidating below resistance before breaking out. The second cycle began in 2018 and reached its peak in 2021. During this phase, XRP surged toward a resistance area, briefly pulled back, recovered, and then failed again at the same barrier, causing this zone to act as a critical ceiling for several years.

“Each XRP cycle recorded in the chart has consistently produced a higher low and a stronger breakout. The difficulty in surpassing the $2.10 resistance level defined its market structure for years.”

Mini dictionary: Amonyx is a digital assets analyst known for technical forecasts and chart analysis, especially regarding XRP price cycles.

Breakout and Support ShiftThe analysis highlights that the current, third cycle is now underway. A rising trendline connects XRP’s lows from 2018 through 2024, creating an ascending triangle formation. The upper boundary of this triangle is marked at the long-standing $2.10 resistance area.

XRP surged above $2.10 during a rally in late 2024, reaching highs above $3. This move transformed the former resistance level into a support zone. Since then, the price has corrected to $1.50, now sitting within what the chart identifies as a critical support area between $1.50 and $2.10, which is expected to serve as the launchpad for any further breakout.

CycleStartPeakResistance LevelOutcome1st Cycle20142017Beneath $2.10Broke resistance, surged2nd Cycle20182021$2.10Pulled back after failed break3rd Cycle2022Ongoing$2.10Broke resistance, support now at $1.50-$2.10Supercycle Target and Technical ContextOn the chart, a prominent purple vertical line projects the anticipated supercycle move. It starts from XRP’s base in 2020 and points toward the upper right, signifying a potential rally to $45.50. This projection mirrors the structural dynamics of the 2017 breakout, indicating the possibility of steep acceleration if a supercycle takes hold.

Amonyx claims that the confirmation of the current phase comes from XRP’s successful break above years-long resistance. The analyst views this technical signal as a strong confirmation for an impending rally. However, the continuation of the bullish pattern depends on XRP’s ability to hold the $1.50-$2.10 support area.

“The next move depends on whether XRP can maintain its structure above the $1.50 critical level, holding this region could pave the way for a renewed surge.”

Current Price and Market PositionXRP is currently positioned within the support zone on the chart, trading at $1.50. The technical structure remains intact as long as the price holds above this support. Analysts regard a breakout above $2.10 as the key element for initiating another strong upward phase, while the historical role of this level as resistance now transforms it into a potential support buffer for further gains.

Ripple has announced a significant update to its institutional offerings, unveiling 24/7 stock trading for its clients through the Ripple Prime brokerage platform. The new capability allows institutional investors to trade stocks at any time, utilizing the firm’s stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), as collateral for their trades.

RLUSD gains utility in institutional tradingWith the integration of RLUSD as collateral, Ripple aims to offer institutions more flexibility in managing their trading positions and capital flows. Traditionally, such transactions require coordination during market hours and reliance on conventional banking systems. By enabling round-the-clock trading, Ripple positions RLUSD as a key tool not just for payments and treasury use, but also for financing and trading within institutional markets.

Ripple stated that this move is intended to streamline access to global markets and provide seamless operational continuity for institutional clients. The use of RLUSD as collateral is seen as a step toward broader adoption of the stablecoin, extending its function well beyond its original purpose as a payment asset.

The integration of RLUSD as collateral in Ripple Prime enables institutional clients to manage trading positions and move funds more efficiently without exclusively relying on traditional banking hours, a company spokesperson indicated.

Liquidity concerns and market limitationsDespite these advancements, market observers have pointed out potential challenges related to liquidity. As 24/7 stock trading remains a relatively new feature, liquidity in these markets can be inconsistent, especially during off-peak hours. Some industry participants suggested that institutional traders could struggle to execute large transactions without a sufficient number of active buyers and sellers, resulting in price volatility or higher transaction costs.

For Ripple Prime’s new 24/7 product to fully meet institutional needs, the development of a deeper pool of liquidity will likely be necessary. This echoes concerns expressed by analysts who emphasize the importance of monitoring trading volumes and market activity outside of traditional hours.

Emergence of dynamic trading tools amid rapid market shiftsAs the technical landscape for institutional and retail trading evolves, platforms that combine trading execution and investor engagement are gaining attention. In particular, the meme token market exemplifies how quickly investment interest can build. In this space, an internet trend can quickly turn modest sums into substantial gains within days. Data provided by Fomo App illustrates this phenomenon, with one highlighted trade involving “Niu Lai” turning a $99 initial investment into approximately $370,000. In fast-moving markets like these, observing not just price charts but also investor timing and token selection is essential to navigating opportunities and risks.

Fomo App seeks to address these challenges by integrating token tracking, trading capabilities, social feeds, investor rankings, and trade notifications into a single platform. The application is designed to allow users to follow both asset trends and the activity of prominent investors in real time.

Platforms integrating token discovery, social engagement, and live trading are becoming increasingly important for those looking to participate effectively in the rapidly changing meme token ecosystem, according to Fomo App’s development team.

Standard Chartered has started holding Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, marking a significant move for the international banking group into crypto asset custody. The latest development was detailed by Dr. Kamilah Stevenson, an analyst specializing in wealth and banking, who described both the current custody process and new trading possibilities for institutional clients.

Institutional custody and proposed trading modelStandard Chartered’s RLUSD custody is managed through its branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre, regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The bank plans to extend its offerings through a partnership involving Ripple, the blockchain-focused payments operator, and LMAX, a platform providing institutional access to currency and cryptocurrency trading.

Under a solution described as “collateral mirroring,” Standard Chartered would maintain custody of institutional clients’ RLUSD. The bank would then communicate the amount of available collateral to LMAX, allowing clients to trade against these holdings without the need to transfer assets directly onto the trading platform. This approach could offer security benefits by reducing the exposure of client capital on external venues.

Dr. Stevenson noted that, while RLUSD custody is already operational, the trading feature involving LMAX is still under development and awaits further technical testing, legal assessments, and regulatory approval. As of now, it is not an active service.

Mini dictionary: LMAX is a UK-based financial technology firm providing institutional exchange services in FX, crypto, and other asset classes, aiming to offer efficient, transparent trading infrastructure for large-scale investors.

Clients would be able to keep their RLUSD with Standard Chartered, while trading against that collateral elsewhere, minimizing risks linked to asset transfers onto outside platforms. This system is not yet live, pending regulatory and legal review.

Impact on XRP and broader strategyDr. Stevenson indicated the arrangement is specifically focused on RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, rather than XRP itself. RLUSD is designed to maintain parity with the US dollar and operates natively on the XRP Ledger.

While the trading and custody processes utilize the XRP Ledger, they do not require meaningful amounts of XRP for operation. Accounts on the ledger must maintain small XRP reserves, and minimal transaction fees are paid in XRP, which are subsequently burned. However, these requirements do not equate to substantial demand for the XRP token.

Approving the XRP Ledger for custody purposes could pave the way for broader future services from the bank, but immediate effects on XRP demand remain limited unless upcoming financial products require more significant XRP holdings.

Dr. Stevenson linked the RLUSD custody service to Ripple’s wider business interests, such as collateralized lending and prime brokerage, indicating that the infrastructure for institutional-grade stablecoin custody could accelerate adoption of related services in the future. However, there is no confirmation that Standard Chartered will accept XRP as direct collateral at this stage.

Standard Chartered is a multinational financial institution headquartered in London, with a strong presence in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The bank’s expansion into digital asset services reflects growing institutional interest in tokenized assets and blockchain technology for traditional finance applications.

BitMine, a prominent cryptocurrency investment firm led by Tom Lee, has significantly increased its Ethereum staking activity, pushing its staked ETH portfolio to new highs. This move comes as the company reinforces its commitment to Ethereum amid ongoing market volatility.

BitMine’s major Ethereum commitmentBitMine, recognized as one of the largest Ethereum treasury firms, recently staked an additional 159,728 ETH. The latest transaction, valued at approximately $390.6 million, has boosted the company’s total staked Ethereum holdings to 5.23 million ETH, a position now worth $12.78 billion.

With these actions, BitMine has now staked 86.5% of its total Ethereum holdings as of October 21. The company’s Ethereum holdings account for about 5% of the total ETH in circulation, highlighting BitMine’s influence among large corporate holders in the crypto sector.

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported the details of this latest staking activity, drawing significant attention from both investors and market watchers.

Mini dictionary: BitMine is a digital asset management firm led by Tom Lee, known for large-scale holdings and active participation in staking within the Ethereum ecosystem.

By aggressively increasing its staked position, BitMine has reinforced its dominance as a corporate Ethereum holder, signaling strong confidence in Ethereum’s long-term prospects.

MetricValueNew ETH staked (recent)159,728 ETHTotal staked ETH5.23 million ETHEstimated value$12.78 billionPercentage of portfolio staked86.5%Share of total ETH supply5%Ethereum price rebounds amid bullish sentimentThe timing of BitMine’s substantial staking move followed several weeks of price swings in the broader cryptocurrency market. Ethereum has recently shown renewed strength, recovering to trade near $2,450, reflecting about a 2.78% increase over the last 24 hours.

The dual effect of BitMine’s expanded stake and Ethereum’s price recovery has bolstered market sentiment, with many observers perceiving increased optimism regarding the asset’s near-term outlook.

BitMine’s expanded Ethereum staking comes amid renewed optimism in the crypto market, with Ethereum’s price approaching $2,450 after rebounding from recent volatility.

Market participants are closely watching whether the firm’s sustained staking activity and Ethereum’s current momentum will support further gains for the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.