Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

All five directors of Solana treasury company SkyAI kept their seats at its annual meeting despite an opposition campaign by Forward Industries and Bastion Trading.

The directors each saw between 18.4 million and 20.7 million withheld votes, compared with 6.9 million to 9.2 million votes in support, according to a Thursday SEC filing. But due to a plurality voting rule, the withheld votes did not count against a nominee, letting each of the five directors retain their respective seats.

This was an outcome that Forward previously acknowledged would be likely when it urged shareholders to withhold their votes.

However, shareholders did reject SkyAI's proposed 2026 equity incentive plan by a wide margin, with 22.5 million votes against and 5 million in favor. The plan would have authorized 5 million shares for stock-based compensation on top of shares still available under the company's existing plan.

Forward, which is currently the largest Solana (SOL) treasury company by a wide margin, has been seeking to acquire SkyAI since mid-June. Forward submitted an updated purchase proposal on Sept. 15 after SkyAI rejected the first offer. The offer values each SkyAI share (SKYA) at the equivalent of 0.306 Forward shares (FWDI).

SkyAI has not yet publicly announced a decision on the second offer, which Forward requested a response to by 5 p.m. ET on Friday.

SkyAI shares were up 4.4% on the day but down 15.8% this year, while Forward shares were up 2.5% on the day and around 23% year-to-date.

SkyAI (SKYA) share price vs Forward Industries (FWDI) share price. Source: TradingView

Raydium [RAY] has surged by more than 10% to the current trading price at $2.05 over the last 24 hours, significantly outperforming the broader market as new asset integrations strengthen its role in Solana’s [SOL] growing tokenization ecosystem.

The launch of USDv and Injective [INJ] on Raydium is driving fresh activity across the platform, while rising altcoin rotation and strong trading volume provide additional support for the rally.

New integrations strengthen Raydium’s utility The addition of USDv and Injective expands the range of assets available on Raydium and could increase trading activity across the Solana-based decentralized exchange.

These developments arrive as capital continues rotating into altcoins, creating a more supportive environment for RAY and other Solana ecosystem tokens.

As a by-product of the increasing utility, Raydium trading volume across the Futures market has increased significantly. Over the last 24 hours alone, the network’s trading volume has doubled to $185 million.

Source: Santiment The network’s Futures Volume has surged threefold to $25.25 million, with the bulls slightly outweighing the sellers by one percent. The proportion of the leveraged positions in long positions stands at 51%.

Source: CoinGlass The overall market’s derivatives data is supporting the current bullish push. Raydium’s current push is strongly supported by increasing retail orders as the Volume Bubble Map sparks overheating signals across both Spot and Futures markets.

Source: CryptoQuant RAY breaks into new highs On the daily chart, RAY’s price action has also strengthened considerably over the past week, with the token recording a new all-time high of $2.12 at yesterday’s market close.

The latest 10% daily gain extends that breakout and keeps RAY firmly above its previous high. The only obstacle against the current bullish advance stands at the local high at $2.12.

That being the case, a sustained trading volume will now be key for determining whether buyers can maintain the momentum at these elevated levels.

But with the new asset integrations increasing Raydium’s utility and broader altcoin rotation supporting risk appetite, the market is now watching whether RAY can extend its breakout and establish another rally.

Source: TradingView Final Summary RAY surges by more than 10% to $2.05 after new USDv and Injective integrations boosted activity on Raydium. Raydium reached a new all-time high of $2.12  as altcoin rotation and strong trading activity support the breakout.

Arbitrum One has ditched its Timeboost transaction ordering system in favor of Priority Gas Auctions, a model that lets users compete for execution priority on every single transaction rather than winning broad time-based slots. The change went live on September 24, marking the end of a system that had only been running since April 2025.

Alongside PGA, the network is rolling out Fast Feed, a paid WebSocket service that gives subscribers access to ordered transaction data before it hits the standard sequencer feed.

How Priority Gas Auctions actually work Under the old Timeboost model, users participated in sealed-bid, second-price auctions to secure priority over a chunk of time.

PGA flips the script. Instead of buying a time window, users set a maxPriorityFeePerGas value on individual transactions. These bids are evaluated in rapid-fire 125-millisecond rounds that fit inside 250-millisecond blocks.

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The system also includes what Arbitrum calls an “anti-starvation mechanism.” In plain terms, transactions with low or zero tips don’t get permanently stuck at the back of the line. The mechanism ensures they eventually get processed.

Fast Feed: paying for speed, not for power Fast Feed is the more commercially interesting piece of this upgrade. It delivers ordered transaction data to subscribers in real time, before that data becomes available through the standard sequencer feed that everyone else uses.

The key constraint: Fast Feed subscribers can see the order of transactions early, but they cannot change it.

Revenue from Fast Feed subscriptions splits 97% to the Arbitrum DAO Treasury and 3% to the Arbitrum Developer Guild.

Governance and competitive positioning This wasn’t a top-down decision. The transition from Timeboost to PGA went through a full Constitutional AIP process, with an onchain vote in June 2026 that passed with overwhelming community support.

For context, Timeboost had only been live for about 17 months before the community decided to replace it.

For DeFi protocols building on Arbitrum, the shift to 125-millisecond bidding rounds within 250-millisecond blocks could improve execution quality for automated market makers, lending protocols, and any application where transaction ordering directly affects user outcomes.

PGA generates revenue through priority fees paid by all users, while Fast Feed captures willingness-to-pay from institutional participants who value speed. Together, they give the Arbitrum DAO two distinct revenue streams tied to transaction ordering and data availability.

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

From Infrastructure to Interface@DeepBookonSui Protocol has officially launched its consumer-facing application in alpha on @SuiNetwork mainnet, marking a significant shift for a protocol that has until now operated largely as background infrastructure. The alpha app brings that plumbing to the surface for the first time.

The protocol's on-chain order book has now facilitated over $20B in cumulative trading volume, providing the liquidity backbone on which the new app is built.

, reflecting strong demand ahead of the public rollout. The app is organized around two core modules: Spot and Predict, each targeting distinct types of active traders.

Predict: Bitcoin Range Trading With Sub-Minute ExpiriesThe headline feature is the Predict module. Rather than forcing traders into binary outcomes, the module uses a peer-to-pool options primitive that lets users trade price ranges on $BTC directly.

That prior testing period helped shape the product before its mainnet debut.

The speed required to support such short-dated instruments is underpinned by Sui's architecture.

Sources:
Crypto Briefing: SUI enables one-minute prediction markets with DeepBook App launch
Sui.io: Instant Finality for Institutional Finance
Sui Documentation: DeepBook

3 hours ago

According to official announcements, Ondo Finance has launched a new on-chain product category: "Ondo Intelligent Portfolios", presented as a single transferable on-chain token that grants non-US qualified investors access to professionally designed portfolio exposure via one single on-chain token. The three portfolio tokens launched today are all built on portfolio strategies custom-developed by BlackRock for Ondo, targeting three core investment needs: - BLKHIon: Ondo High Income Powered by BlackRock (high-yield strategy) - BLKDIGon: Ondo Diversified Growth Powered by BlackRock (diversified growth strategy) - BLKGRWon: Ondo High Growth Powered by BlackRock (high-growth strategy) Ondo Intelligent Portfolios will also unlock a suite of new capabilities, including an automatically executed rebalancing mechanism at the smart contract level, programmatically composable portfolios that integrate with the broader on-chain economy, and the ability to combine multiple asset classes within a single token. Holding these portfolio tokens provides economic exposure to the portfolio’s underlying asset basket. Each portfolio token is issued by Ondo Global Markets and tokenized by Ondo Finance. Investors only need to mint or redeem the single token to hold a basket of weighted tokenized assets, eliminating the need to individually purchase, weight, or rebalance separate positions. Holdings, weights, and every rebalancing event are visible in real time on-chain, and the tokens can be freely transferred peer-to-peer between wallets, trading platforms, and DeFi protocols. Ondo plans to continuously expand this product line going forward, rolling out additional on-chain portfolio products.

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DoubleZero has launched five Hyperliquid data feeds on Edge, giving subscribers a live view of the exchange’s order book and trade[XYZ] markets over dedicated fiber.

Summary

Four feeds cover Hyperliquid’s native perpetuals and trade[XYZ] markets, including contracts linked to commodities. A fifth feed carries order intents drawn from Hyperliquid’s mempool transactions. DoubleZero says subscribers receive sequenced data without having to rebuild the order book from public API updates. Hyperliquid joins Solana and Kalshi as the third venue available through Edge. According to a Sep. 24 announcement from the DoubleZero Foundation shared with crypto.news, the new service delivers Hyperliquid market data in a machine-readable format for trading firms, market makers and quantitative desks. The launch was built with Hyperliquid validator operators and ecosystem partners Hyperion DeFi, MAVAN and Kinetiq.

Subscribers can receive four market data feeds covering Hyperliquid’s native perpetual futures and trade[XYZ] markets under HIP-3, the system that lets outside teams create perpetual futures markets on Hyperliquid. A separate feed carries order intents from mempool transactions. Together, the products give firms information they can use in their own pricing, hedging and trading systems, according to DoubleZero.

The foundation said the feeds are available now through a paid subscription. Its website lists prices, and each subscription includes two IP addresses per region.

Hyperliquid feeds replace work firms did through public APIs For firms tracking many contracts at once, DoubleZero said, maintaining a current order book has meant collecting public API responses, managing WebSocket connections, and rebuilding the book on their own systems. Changes to Hyperliquid’s public APIs have reduced the update frequency and depth available through those endpoints, according to the announcement.

Edge instead sends subscribers a sequenced feed across DoubleZero’s fiber network. The company says its infrastructure draws on validator operators and partners in Tokyo to provide a view of Hyperliquid’s order book. It describes the service as its fastest commercially available Hyperliquid feed, though the announcement does not include comparative latency measurements.

The distinction matters for automated systems that act on changes in bids, offers and completed trades. DoubleZero says a delayed or missed update can affect whether a trading strategy fills an order. Its product supplies the data path; firms still use their own systems to decide whether and how to trade.

In a September interview about Kalshi, DoubleZero co-founder Austin Federa described Edge as a read-only data service without order-entry or execution functions. That account explains the role the company has assigned to its distribution platform, although the Hyperliquid announcement does not set out separate execution terms for the new feed.

Trade[XYZ] brings commodity markets into the feed The Hyperliquid package includes trade[XYZ]’s HIP-3 contracts tied to assets such as oil, gold and silver. Unlike a conventional futures contract with an expiration date, a perpetual contract can remain open while funding payments help keep its price close to the reference asset.

The size of those markets gives the data launch a use beyond crypto pairs. A September report covered by crypto.news put trade[XYZ] Q2 volume at $202.36 billion, up 79.2% from the previous quarter, based on research by GLC Research, Four Pillars, Arrakis and GRZ Research. The report also estimated that trade[XYZ] accounted for 95.1% of HIP-3 trading volume during the quarter. Those figures came from external research, rather than audited company results.

DoubleZero said Hyperliquid as a whole processed more than $662 billion in trading volume in Q2. Its launch statement presents the growth of crypto and asset-linked perpetuals as a reason firms need a consistent stream of market data, particularly when the contracts continue trading outside the hours of established exchanges.

“When traditional markets are closed, oil and other assets still trade, they just trade somewhere else,” Federa said in the announcement. He compared Edge’s publish-once distribution model with the market data systems used by NYSE, Nasdaq and CME.

DoubleZero adds Hyperliquid after Kalshi and Solana Hyperliquid is the third venue on Edge. In August, Kalshi opened its order book to Edge subscribers, starting with Level 1 and Level 2 data for sports contracts and crypto perpetual futures. Level 1 covers the best bid and ask and completed trades; Level 2 shows orders at multiple prices. DoubleZero had earlier introduced Edge with Solana validator data.

The Kalshi rollout also showed how DoubleZero distributes venue data: a publisher sends information once, and the network delivers it to connected subscribers. Hyperliquid adds another source to that service, with feeds spanning its native contracts and markets operated by an outside HIP-3 deployer.

Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi, said his firm is participating in the launch alongside Kinetiq and MAVAN. DoubleZero named the three as ecosystem partners but did not assign each one a separate technical role in the announcement.

U.S. energy proposal remains before the CFTC The Hyperliquid feeds include markets relevant to a U.S. regulatory debate, though a market data subscription does not, by itself, authorize trading a contract in the United States. In August, Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] asked the CFTC to permit regulated perpetuals tied to West Texas Intermediate crude, Brent crude and Henry Hub natural gas. Their filing argued that continuous contracts could let U.S. firms manage energy exposure during weekends.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was reviewing questions about continuous energy trading and perpetual contract design, including reference prices, surveillance, margin and customer safeguards. The agency had not approved the proposed energy products when the groups submitted their filing in August.

DoubleZero’s announcement also referred to an August signal from the U.S. president about a possible compliant path for Hyperliquid. It did not identify an approval, a launch date for U.S. trading, or a change to the platform’s existing access rules.

For the present launch, DoubleZero says the five Hyperliquid feeds are available by subscription through its website, with two subscriber IP addresses included per region.

CryptoBriefing

Anchorage Digital has announced plans to build support for Bitcoin staking on the Stacks platform, enabling institutional investors to fund Bitcoin bonds and receive weekly BTC rewards. This development is part of a broader initiative to enhance institutional access to Bitcoin-yield products without altering the underlying Bitcoin protocol. The program involves locking BTC on Bitcoin’s Layer 1 and STX on Stacks for a fixed period, allowing participants to maintain custody of their assets while earning BTC-denominated yields. Anchorage’s move is seen as a step towards increasing institutional engagement with Bitcoin through Stacks.

Key Takeaways Anchorage’s support for Bitcoin staking on Stacks suggests growing institutional interest in BTC yield products. The development appears consistent with increased demand for Bitcoin, which could influence market sentiment positively. While supportive of Bitcoin’s price, the move is not viewed as a transformative change to Bitcoin itself. What to Watch Markets will be monitoring how the introduction of Bitcoin staking on Stacks by Anchorage impacts BTC demand and institutional participation. Key indicators include any shifts in Bitcoin’s price ahead of the September 26 price threshold. Potential regulatory developments or changes in macroeconomic conditions could also play a significant role in influencing Bitcoin’s market dynamics.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h September 26 2026 98% — — View market → September 26 2026 1.7% — — View market → September 26 2026 0.8% — — View market → September 26 2026 96% — — View market → September 26 2026 55% — — View market →

Doppler Finance, a platform offering yield products for XRP holders, has announced that its XDP token will go live on September 28, 2026.

The project disclosed the date in an announcement on X, stating: “September 28, 2026. $XDP goes live.” It described the token as built for the capital markets of the tokenized era.

September 28, 2026.$XDP goes live.

Built for the capital markets of the tokenized era. pic.twitter.com/1QvqAHDSUr

— Doppler Finance (@doppler_fi) September 24, 2026

XDP Utility and Token Distribution Doppler formally introduced XDP on August 26. According to the project, users will be able to stake the token to become eligible for selected benefits, potentially including advanced vault strategies, priority access to new products and ecosystem campaigns.

Broader governance remains subject to implementation. Planned decision-making areas include protocol parameters, treasury initiatives, and incentive budgets. A separate Safety Module is intended for a future phase, allowing eligible participants to commit staked XDP to coverage pools while accepting defined risks in exchange for potential incentives.

According to Doppler Finance, XDP has a fixed total supply of 10 billion tokens. Of this amount, 43%—or 4.3 billion XDP—is allocated to ecosystem development and incentives, while 1%, or 100 million XDP, is reserved for the Genesis Airdrop.

Doppler finace token supply and distribution The project’s airdrop announcement states that eligible recipients’ allocations will be fully unlocked at the token generation event. Eligibility covers qualifying participants from Doppler Points Seasons 1 and 2, alongside other activities meeting the program’s criteria.

XRP Ledger and Base Deployment Plans Doppler outlined its cross-chain token plans in July, saying XDP would be deployed across both Base and the XRP Ledger. However, it specified that governance would initially launch on Base before expanding to the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Eligible airdrop participants were consequently required to register a Base wallet address.

That distinction means the announced token launch should not be read as confirmation that every planned XRP Ledger integration or governance feature will be available immediately. Doppler’s published roadmap separates initial token utility from subsequent governance and safety functions.

The Genesis Airdrop registration window has already closed. Doppler set the deadline for July 30 at 12:00 p.m. UTC and subsequently confirmed that registration had ended. Its program rules also state that submitting a wallet address does not, by itself, guarantee an allocation.

XRP Yield Products Anchor Doppler’s Expansion Doppler’s existing XRP Vault accepts deposits directly from the XRP Ledger and offers returns denominated in XRP. Its documentation states that the vault currently generates yield through strategies involving institutional custody and selected centralized platforms, rather than on-chain yield strategies. The project also identifies custody, counterparty, and market risks, including potential losses.

The XDP launch announcement follows two expansion initiatives disclosed in July.

On July 13, Doppler announced a strategic partnership with SBI Digital Finance to develop institutional XRP finance in Japan. The companies outlined cooperation on XRP and digital-asset infrastructure, institutional products, and tokenized financial services.

On July 29, Doppler announced plans to extend its infrastructure to Base, initially focusing on Coinbase Wrapped XRP, or cbXRP. The project described that expansion as a phased rollout, with additional tokenized assets and product details to follow.

Flare's FXRP has evolved beyond liquidity pools, as lending, staking, vaults and credit markets have now added new uses for XRP.

FXRP has reached its first anniversary on Flare as the network expands the number of financial applications available to XRP holders. The token went live on September 24, 2025, as the first asset launched through Flare’s FAssets system.

Its initial 5 million minting limit was filled within roughly four hours.

Flare’s Expansion The milestone comes after a year of development around lending, liquidity, staking, and yield products. FXRP represents XRP on Flare as an ERC-20 token. The asset is backed by XRP on the XRP Ledger through the FAssets system. Flare uses its oracle protocol FDC to verify activity on the XRPL.

Several protocols have since built products around the token. Kinetic introduced lending markets. SparkDEX, BlazeSwap, and Enosys developed liquidity venues. Firelight uses FXRP to build onchain cover, turning staked XRP into capital designed to provide capital against risks such as exploits, oracle failures, and bad debt. Spectra brought fixed-rate and yield trading to the asset. Upshift’s earnXRP and Clearstar added vault-based strategies. Enosys also introduced a way to use the token as collateral for debt.

Access from the XRP Ledger has also been a focus. Flare Smart Accounts connect XRPL activity with applications running on Flare. The system was integrated with Xaman in February 2026 through earnXRP. Later updates added more wallet support and reduced some supported processes to a single XRP Ledger signature.

The network also made changes for broader distribution. For instance, FAssets v1.3, which was released in May, added destination-tag minting. The feature is intended to make integrations with exchanges and custodians easier. FXRP also expanded in 2026 to Ethereum and Base.

Another development came in August. A Morpho market built with Sentora allowed it to be supplied as collateral for borrowing RLUSD on Ethereum. The development expanded FXRP’s use into credit markets, beyond liquidity and yield applications. Flare also made changes to its token economics. FIP.16 cut annual FLR issuance from 5% to 3%. The proposal also reduced the annual issuance ceiling from 5 billion FLR to 3 billion FLR.

You may also like: XRP Treasury Giant Evernorth Raises $30 Million – But There’s a Catch Could XRP Actually Flip Bitcoin? Former Ripple CTO Says Yes – But the Math Is Brutal Ripple CEO Breaks Silence After CLARITY Act Vote Fails: XRP’s Legal Footing Unchanged Additionally, the network is developing Flare Confidential Compute and Protocol Managed Wallets. The initial deployment path for these systems is planned through Songbird.

Flare said the technology is intended to support assets beyond XRP. Its data protocols are integrated into network consensus, which lets assets issued elsewhere be verified and used in applications without requiring the underlying asset to leave its original ledger. FXRP is the first production example of that model on Flare.

Partnership With D’CENT In May, Flare expanded its XRPFi push with D’CENT Wallet to give its hardware-wallet users a direct way to access XRP yield products. The integration was built around Flare Smart Accounts, so users did not need to move to another chain or hold a separate gas token.

Instead, they could access the Monarq XRP Yield Vault and earnXRP through two signatures on the XRP Ledger. The move was part of the newly formed XRP Alliance, which also includes Doppler, Banxa, and Squid.

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In a recent development, Cardano has welcomed a new native library for Python, Go, Rust, and JavaScript. Mesmo, a native shared library, implements Cardano's core functionality in Python, Go, Rust, and JavaScript without requiring a Java Virtual Machine.

In an official blog post, the Cardano Foundation explains the rationale behind Mesmo. Cardano SDKs cover 95% of developer needs, with Mesmo now filling the missing 5%—in Python, Go, Rust, and JavaScript—with no library switch.

Oftentimes, though, developers need to access extra features that sit outside of a certain library, with Mesmo giving them that option. Mesmo works by taking Cardano Client Lib (CCL)—the mature Java SDK—and compiling it with GraalVM Native Image into an ordinary shared library with a plain C ABI.

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Cardano node diversity gains tractionAs Cardano explores advancements in its native library, alternative node development continues to gain momentum. Dingo, developed by Blink Labs, recently reached a major milestone—validating blocks that have been accepted by the Mainnet network, expanding its accomplishments across Preview, PreProd, Musashi, Prime Testnet, and now Cardano Mainnet.

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Meanwhile, the latest Amaru release introduces improvements to duplex connections, peer management, block fetching, and governance-related functionality.

The Amaru node team achieved its Q3 goal with the release of a robust relay node binary and is now targeting a block-producing pre-release from September 29, followed by a beta approximately four weeks later, and first Mainnet block production in Q4.

In another demonstration of implementation diversity, a full Haskell Cardano node has also been demonstrated running directly in a web browser, following the chain tip and supporting transaction functionality.

As reported, Cardano recently marked its 9th anniversary with the first genesis block created on September 23, 2017. The mainnet launched six days later, on September 29, 2017, introducing ADA and beginning Cardano's journey as a public blockchain.

At the time of writing, Cardano (ADA) was trading up 4.80% in the last 24 hours to $0.25 and up 23% weekly.

MeshWallet has raised $10 million in a private funding round to expand its gasless USDT wallet on TRON and build new services around its self custodial payments platform.

Summary

MeshWallet raised $10 million from private investors and small family offices to expand its gasless USDT wallet. The wallet lets users send TRC20 USDT without maintaining a separate TRX balance to cover network fees. MeshWallet is self custodial and plans to use the funding to develop new features for retail and business users. According to the Tallinn based company, the round was led by a group of private investors and small family offices, with the capital set to fund product development and the expansion of its user ecosystem.

MeshWallet focuses on removing the need for users to hold TRX when sending USDT over the TRON network. Under the standard process, a wallet needs enough network resources or TRX to cover transaction costs. MeshWallet instead settles the fee using USDT, allowing the sender to manage the transfer without keeping a separate balance of TRX.

The company is targeting a market where TRON has become one of the largest settlement networks for Tether’s USDT. TRON processed $2.1 trillion in USDT transfers during the second quarter of 2026, crypto.news previously reported, citing Messari data. USDT supply on the blockchain stood at $87.9 billion at the end of the quarter, accounting for 98.5% of its stablecoin supply.

MeshWallet removes the TRX requirement for USDT transfers MeshWallet said its product was built around TRC20 USDT transfers, with users able to hold, receive and send the stablecoin without acquiring TRX specifically to pay transaction fees.

Gasless transactions do not remove the underlying cost of processing a blockchain transaction. Different networks and applications can instead handle transaction fees through mechanisms such as fee delegation, wallet subsidies or protocol level exemptions.

For MeshWallet users, the company handles the process within the wallet while presenting the cost in USDT. The interface is centered on a limited set of functions, including checking balances and sending or receiving TRC20 USDT.

MeshWallet said the model is intended for people who make occasional transfers as well as users who move stablecoins frequently for payments, trading or transfers to friends and family.

Businesses are another part of the company’s target market. MeshWallet said using USDT for both the transfer and transaction cost means companies do not have to maintain a separate TRX balance solely for network fees.

Accounting can consequently remain centered on one token against a business’s home currency, according to the company. MeshWallet said the setup is designed to reduce administrative work and make onboarding easier for businesses accepting or sending stablecoin payments.

TRON’s existing payment activity gives the wallet a large pool of USDT transactions to target. The blockchain crossed 15 billion transactions in August, when daily activity was running above 12.5 million transactions.

USDT recorded 2.55 million transfers worth $28.1 billion on TRON on the day covered by the report. The network held approximately $90.28 billion in USDT at the time, spread across more than 75.37 million accounts.

Self custody remains part of the MeshWallet model MeshWallet operates as a self custodial wallet, meaning private keys remain on the user’s device instead of being stored by the company on a centralized server.

The company said its codebase is open source and that two independent security audits are underway. MeshWallet pointed to its Trustpilot presence as another source users can consult when assessing the service.

Self custody has remained central to product development among larger wallet providers as they move into payments, trading and other financial services.

MetaMask, for example, launched Money Account in June as a self custodial stablecoin product combining payments, trading and automated yield through one balance. Supported stablecoins can be converted into mUSD, with users able to opt into a variable yield without moving assets into a separate staking product.

Wallet developers have meanwhile been experimenting with different ways to reduce the number of steps required for onchain activity. For stablecoin payments, network fees remain one of those steps because a user can hold sufficient USDT for a payment while lacking the native token needed to move it.

MeshWallet is concentrating specifically on that problem within TRON instead of building a wallet around a large number of networks and tokens.

TRON remains a major network for USDT payments TRON’s stablecoin activity continued to grow during the second quarter. Messari data showed average daily USDT transfer volume reached $22.8 billion, up 4.3% from the previous quarter.

The network accounted for 47.6% of tracked USDT supply at the end of June. TRON’s total stablecoin market capitalization reached a record $89.2 billion during the quarter before USDT circulation moved above $90 billion in July.

Transaction fees remain part of that activity even when wallet applications make them less visible to end users. TRON generated $699.4 million in network fees during the second quarter, according to Messari, up 15.9% from the previous quarter.

The concentration of USDT activity has made TRON a common network for direct stablecoin transfers. CoinDesk Research data cited in August found that roughly 93% of the blockchain’s stablecoin transfer volume involved transfers directly between addresses instead of interactions with protocols.

Smaller payments represented a sizeable portion of activity as well. The same research found that TRON handled 52% of transfers below $1,000 across blockchains with native Tether issuance during the second quarter.

MeshWallet funding comes as US crypto rules remain unsettled MeshWallet announced its funding while U.S. lawmakers continue work on digital asset market structure legislation.

The company’s announcement pointed to President Donald Trump’s backing of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and said the proposal could establish a regulated framework for digital assets in the United States.

The legislation has progressed further since some of the procedural steps described in MeshWallet’s announcement, but it has not cleared Congress.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act by a 15 to 9 vote in May. A Senate procedural vote on September 15 later failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward, leaving further congressional action unresolved.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said after the vote that nearly all Senate Republicans had voted to advance the bill and called on the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish digital asset rules while Congress continues its legislative work.

MeshWallet said the newly raised capital will be used to continue development and introduce more features to the wallet. The application is currently available through Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

Stablecoin infrastructure provider HIFI has secured $37 million in a Series A funding round led by Left Lane Capital, as the use of stablecoins for payments and cross-border transactions accelerates despite ongoing volatility in the wider crypto market.

According to data from Chainalysis, cross-border stablecoin flows increased 77.5% to $220.3 billion in the 12 months ending June 2026, even as the overall crypto market contracted by more than a third during the same period. This trend underscores growing global interest in stablecoin-based transfers, particularly for international payments where traditional rails may pose delays and higher costs.

HIFI CEO Zach Walsh stated that this Series A round marks the company’s first priced fundraising. Although the firm did not disclose its current valuation, Walsh reported that HIFI is processing about $7 billion in annualized volume directly through its platform.

HIFI enables customers to move dollars into and out of stablecoins, facilitate payouts via US banking rails and cards, and settle dollar-denominated tokenized repo and Treasury transactions.

The demand for reliable stablecoin infrastructure has grown as more payments and financial assets shift onto blockchains, increasing the need for seamless connectivity between digital assets and the traditional banking sector.

Industry participation growsMajor financial institutions, including Visa and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), have initiated or expanded blockchain-based financial infrastructure solutions. In July, DTCC conducted production trades using tokenized securities across several market segments, such as US Treasury and repo settlement, equity transactions, and collateral management. HIFI participated in these transactions alongside over 30 firms, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and Nasdaq.

These pilot transactions utilized assets held at the Depository Trust Company, converting them into tokenized representations for delivery-versus-payment trades and other functions. DTCC has announced plans to launch its Tokenization Service in October, which is expected to further advance the adoption of tokenized financial infrastructure.

HIFI expands stablecoin payout optionsHIFI has also expanded its services to include card-based payouts in partnership with Visa Direct. Through its platform, customers can convert USDC and transfer the proceeds directly to eligible Visa debit and credit cards worldwide. This development reflects Visa’s ongoing efforts to incorporate stablecoin capabilities into its payments network.

Visa reported that during its fiscal second quarter, more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were active globally. Payment volume for these programs nearly tripled year over year, reflecting surging adoption of stablecoin-based solutions for retail and commercial payments.

Visa stated that its stablecoin settlement volume had surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, over 15 times higher than the prior year’s figure.

The increasing use of stablecoins, paired with innovative infrastructure, is attracting growing market attention. Market participants are now recognizing the importance of monitoring technical factors such as transaction volume, timing, and asset selection. In the meme token segment, internet-driven trends have shown how rapidly new tokens can capture substantial value. Data from Fomo App highlights a standout example where a $99 investment in “Niu Lai” ballooned to about $370,000. Fomo App integrates token discovery, trading, social feeds, investor rankings, and trade notifications in a unified platform, helping users stay updated on meme token opportunities alongside broader investor activity.

Hedera Steps Into UK's Tokenization PushHedera has joined the UK's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Taskforce, a government-backed initiative examining how tokenized financial markets can be scaled across Britain. The taskforce is led by Christopher Woolard CBE and supported by HM Treasury, with Hedera bringing its expertise in interoperability and settlement finality to the group.

The initiative sits within a broader national effort. In April 2026, the UK government appointed Woolard, a former interim chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority and currently a partner at EY, as Wholesale Digital Markets Champion. His remit is to coordinate industry and government on the development of a tokenized wholesale financial markets ecosystem. A 54-firm cross-industry taskforce, which now includes Hedera, was convened alongside the publication of Woolard's inaugural report to Chancellor Rachel Reeves in July 2026.

That report framed tokenization as a meaningful economic lever. Officials project that the UK could add up to £33 billion in annual economic output by 2035 if it moves decisively on digital market infrastructure. Woolard has described tokenized markets as a network game that rewards early movers.

Hedera's Track Record in UK Regulated FinanceHedera is not new to UK institutional finance. In July 2025, Lloyds Banking Group, Aberdeen Investments, and FCA-regulated exchange Archax completed what they described as the UK's first FX trades using tokenized real-world assets as collateral, settled on the Hedera network. The collateral included tokenized money market fund units and UK gilts. HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion report later cited the trade as an exemplary industry achievement.

Within the taskforce, Hedera's focus will be on practical use cases, clear delivery timelines, and the role of public blockchain infrastructure in supporting wholesale market activity. The group is expected to prioritize tokenized repo as its first live end-to-end use case, with Woolard due to deliver a fuller report on DLT adoption and interoperability standards to the Chancellor by July 2027.

Sources:
Markets Media: UK to Scale Tokenisation of Wholesale Financial Markets
Ledger Insights: Lloyds Bank and Aberdeen Use Tokenized Collateral for FX Trades on Hedera
UK Government: Terms of Reference for Wholesale Digital Markets Champion

PeckShield Flags $4.3M in Suspicious Duelbits Outflows.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield has reported approximately $4.3 million in suspicious cryptocurrency outflows from Duelbits across Ethereum and BNB Chain, involving ETH, stablecoins, BNB, and Shiba Inu.

#PeckShieldAlert #Duelbits has seen a suspicious outflow of ~$4.3M in crypto on #Ethereum and #BNBChain, including 836 ETH($2.23M), 1.146M USDT, 209 BNB ($160.68K), 96.805K USDC, 12.398B SHIB ($70.17K), and 31.515K DAI.

The attacker has since swapped the stolen funds for 1587.87… pic.twitter.com/zJ5HUtIghQ

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 24, 2026

PeckShield identified the recipient as an attacker and said the funds had been converted into approximately 1,587.87 ETH, valued at around $4.2 million, alongside about 31,500 DAI. Its alert did not identify how the funds were accessed or establish whether customer balances were affected.

ETH, Stablecoins and 12.398 Billion SHIB Involved According to PeckShield, the suspicious outflows included 836 ETH worth approximately $2.23 million, 1.146 million USDT, and 209 BNB valued at $160,680.

PeckShield Flags $4.3M in Suspicious Duelbits Outflows. The firm also listed approximately 96,805 USDC, 12.398 billion SHIB worth $70,170, and 31,515 DAI.

The $4.3 million figure represents PeckShield’s aggregate estimate. The individual amounts listed account for approximately $3.74 million at the quoted valuations, assuming the stablecoins traded near $1. The alert did not explain the difference between those figures.

Ethereum records dated September 24 show several incoming transfers from a Duelbits-labeled address to a wallet beginning 0xA77e24 and ending 05aef76. These included 31,515 DAI at 09:00:35 UTC, approximately 12.4 billion SHIB at 09:00:59, 96,804.68 USDC at 09:01:23, and 593,430.32 USDT at 09:02:11. The explorer also identified Duelbits as the address’s initial funding source.

Funds Moved Through deBridge and Relay Addresses Subsequent transactions show the recipient moving assets to addresses associated with cross-chain services.

At 09:27:35 UTC, the wallet transferred 96,804.68 USDC to a deBridge-labeled address. A separate transaction at 09:31:23 moved approximately 6.4 billion SHIB to the same labeled destination. Four later SHIB transactions, ranging from 1 billion to 2 billion tokens each, brought the displayed outgoing SHIB total to approximately 12.4 billion.

The records also show six transfers of 100,000 USDT each to Relay: Router V3, followed by another transfer of 83,346.89 USDT. Together, those seven transactions amounted to 683,346.89 USDT.

Following the transactions, the Ethereum address’s recorded balance stood at approximately 1,587.876 ETH, valued by Etherscan at $4,190,468.37. Its remaining token holdings consisted of 31,515 DAI worth approximately $31,510.37, placing the combined ETH and DAI balance at roughly $4.22 million at that snapshot.

Duelbits Previously Suffered a Separate Wallet Exploit Duelbits, which operates a cryptocurrency casino and sports betting platform, previously suffered an exploit on February 13, 2024. De.Fi’s incident report recorded losses of approximately $4.64 million and identified a loss of wallet access control as the apparent cause. Assets taken in that incident were also bridged and exchanged into ETH.

That historical finding does not establish the cause of the September 24 outflows. PeckShield’s latest alert focused on the assets moved and their subsequent conversion, without specifying an attack method.

TL;DR Optimism says aggregate TVL across the Superchain has moved above $14 billion. The figure combines multiple OP Stack networks rather than representing OP Mainnet alone. The milestone highlights the growing economic footprint of Base, World Chain and other interconnected OP Stack chains. Optimism’s Superchain has crossed a reported $14 billion in aggregate total value locked, giving the OP Stack another way to measure how far the ecosystem has expanded beyond a single Layer 2.

The number combines several networks built around Optimism’s shared technology rather than measuring OP Mainnet on its own.

The Superchain Is Bigger Than Optimism Mainnet That distinction matters.

The broader Superchain includes networks such as Base, World Chain and other OP Stack deployments that operate their own applications and user bases while sharing parts of the same technical roadmap.

Adding their TVL together creates a view of the capital sitting across the wider ecosystem.

It does not mean $14 billion is locked directly on OP Mainnet.

That makes the metric useful for understanding platform reach, but less useful if it is compared directly with the TVL of a single chain.

Interoperability Is The Bigger Bet Optimism’s long-term strategy is not simply to make one rollup larger.

It is to make many OP Stack chains behave more like parts of one interoperable system.

Upcoming work around shared proofs, messaging and cross-chain state is aimed at reducing the friction between those networks.

If that succeeds, aggregate metrics such as Superchain TVL may become more meaningful because capital could move more naturally across the ecosystem.

For now, the $14 billion figure shows scale rather than seamless interoperability.

Users still experience separate chains, bridges and application environments.

But the economic footprint is already large enough that Optimism can credibly talk about an ecosystem of chains instead of a single Layer 2.

The next stage is making that ecosystem feel as connected in practice as it looks on an aggregate dashboard.

For developers choosing where to deploy, the Superchain thesis also changes the decision from picking a single Layer 2 to joining a broader technical family. Shared tooling and standards can lower development costs, while future interoperability could make users less sensitive to which OP Stack chain an application actually lives on. That is the strategic promise behind the aggregate TVL figure. The ecosystem has already accumulated meaningful capital across separate chains; Optimism now has to prove that those chains can become more connected without recreating the security and liquidity fragmentation that rollups were supposed to reduce.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb (@BithumbOfficial) has added native Aptos ($APT) staking to its platform, giving users a straightforward way to earn rewards on their holdings directly through the exchange.

Bithumb Adds APT Staking With Launch Campaign The move brings APT staking to one of South Korea's most prominent exchanges. Bithumb is listed in the Aptos ecosystem directory as a South Korean exchange offering spot trading, margin features, fiat support, and a wide asset selection, making it a natural fit for expanding into staking services.

To mark the launch, Bithumb is running a limited staking campaign. The exchange has outlined specific eligibility requirements and participation terms through its official channels. Users interested in joining the campaign are encouraged to review those conditions directly on the Bithumb platform before participating.

Why APT Staking Matters Aptos is a Layer 1 proof-of-stake blockchain that launched in 2022. It was developed by Aptos Labs, a firm founded by former Meta engineers who worked on the now-defunct Diem project. The network has drawn growing institutional interest, with firms such as Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, and Bitwise building products on or around it. Bitwise launched the world's first Aptos staking ETP on the SIX Swiss Exchange in late 2024, targeting a yield of around 4.7% net of fees.

On the staking mechanics side, Aptos staking rewards originally followed a declining inflation schedule, starting at 7% at launch and decreasing 1.5% per year to a floor of 3.25%. Rewards are distributed roughly every two hours, with an unstaking period that can range from one to thirty days depending on the provider. In February 2026, the Aptos Foundation proposed a significant tokenomics overhaul, cutting staking returns from around 5.19% to 2.6% and introducing a hard supply cap of 2.1 billion APT.

The Bithumb integration gives Korean retail users access to staking rewards without needing to manage wallets or interact with validators directly, lowering the barrier to entry for participating in the Aptos network.

Sources:
Aptos Ecosystem Directory
Aptos Token Unlocks and Staking Schedule, DefiLlama
Bitwise Aptos Staking ETP, Unchained Crypto

Ondo Launches Private Client Program for High-Volume Traders@Ondo has introduced Ondo Private Client, a tiered loyalty program for its largest users on the Ondo Stocks platform. Membership requires holding at least $1M in eligible assets or generating $1M in spot trading volume over a rolling 30-day period, and is subject to verification, applicable terms, and jurisdictional restrictions. Ondo Stocks is not available to US persons. There is no application process and no fee to join.

The program runs across three tiers: Platinum, Diamond, and Obsidian, each offering progressively greater access to services. Benefits can include a dedicated relationship manager, early access to new features, and invitations to select events, though availability varies by tier, jurisdiction, and capacity. The top-tier Obsidian level is reserved for users with more than $25M in assets held or more than $50M traded.

Ondo Stocks: Context and Platform Developments@Ondo describes Ondo Stocks as the leading platform for tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs. The platform currently holds more than $1.17 billion in total value locked and lists 450+ assets. Eligible investors outside the U.S. can gain exposure to hundreds of U.S. publicly traded securities, including stocks and ETFs, as well as certain ETFs based on commodities.

On the infrastructure side, Ondo Stocks has expanded its primary market options. The platform now supports in-kind conversion between underlying shares and tokenized stocks and ETFs for approved institutions, a route launched in partnership with Alpaca, sitting alongside its existing cash-funded flow. The conversions are currently available on Ethereum and BNB Chain.

Separately, Ondo's broker-dealer Oasis Pro joined DTCC's Fund/SERV network, a move designed to streamline fund distribution for the platform.

On the regulatory front, the SEC approved a temporary, conditional exemption on September 17, 2026, known as the Innovation Exemption, to allow limited trading of tokenized stocks on Tokenized Securities Venues (TSVs). The exemption creates a temporary framework that allows certain tokenized NMS securities listed on U.S. national securities exchanges to trade onchain through automated market makers on TSVs. However, the relief applies to tokenized stocks that carry full shareholder rights. Ondo Stocks, per Ondo's own disclosures, provide economic exposure only and do not give holders rights to the underlying shares, meaning the platform as currently structured would not qualify under the exemption.

Sources:
Ondo Finance Docs: Ondo Private Client
Ondo Finance: Ondo Stocks Platform
SEC: Innovation Exemption Press Release
PR Newswire: Ondo Finance Launches In-Kind Conversion

Circle now has a federally chartered national trust bank, and it wants to make your Bitcoin do more than sit in a wallet appreciating. Circle National Trust, operating as First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 10, 2026, and opened its doors for business on July 24.

The bank’s primary mission: serve as the regulated custodial backbone for cirBTC, Circle’s wrapped Bitcoin product that lets BTC holders access Ethereum-based DeFi protocols without actually parting with their Bitcoin.

What Circle National Trust actually does Think of Circle National Trust as a vault with a federal badge. It’s not a traditional commercial bank. It won’t accept deposits or issue loans. Instead, it functions as a qualified custodian, holding native Bitcoin in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts on behalf of cirBTC token holders.

cirBTC itself is an ERC-20 token backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin. For every cirBTC in circulation, there’s a corresponding BTC locked up under the bank’s custody. Holders can redeem their tokens for the underlying Bitcoin on a 1:1 basis.

The transparency layer comes courtesy of Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve system, which provides verifiable on-chain attestation that the reserves actually exist. This is a pointed response to the trust problems that have plagued other wrapped Bitcoin products over the years, where users often had to take a custodian’s word that the backing assets were really there.

All of this operates under OCC supervision. That’s the same federal regulator that oversees JPMorgan and Bank of America, now watching over a bank whose entire purpose is holding crypto for DeFi users.

The regulatory journey Circle didn’t stumble into federal regulation overnight. The company filed its application on June 30, 2025, received conditional approval in December 2025, and secured final OCC sign-off in July 2026. That timeline, roughly a year from application to operational status, is relatively brisk by federal banking standards.

The company’s regulatory credentials extend beyond the OCC charter. Circle previously secured a New York BitLicense, one of the more demanding state-level crypto licenses in the US. The company is also compliant under the EU’s MiCA regulations, giving it a foothold in European markets as well.

The cirBTC whitepaper dropped in August 2026, laying out the compliance framework and operational mechanics. Further integrations were announced throughout September, suggesting Circle is moving quickly to build out the token’s utility across DeFi platforms.

For context, Circle is already the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

Why this matters for Bitcoin holders Wrapped Bitcoin products have existed for years to bridge this gap. The most prominent, WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin), has been a mainstay of DeFi but has also been a source of controversy. Custody arrangements for wrapped tokens have historically relied on centralized entities without federal regulatory oversight, creating counterparty risk that made institutional investors uneasy.

Circle’s approach attempts to solve this by inserting a federally regulated bank into the custody chain. The segregated, bankruptcy-remote account structure means that if Circle the company were to face financial trouble, the Bitcoin held in custody should theoretically be protected from creditors.

The Chainlink Proof of Reserve integration addresses the transparency concern from the other direction. Rather than trusting quarterly attestations from an accounting firm, users can verify reserve backing on-chain in something close to real time.

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

Ripple’s XRP Ledger has two big upgrades in motion!

One is almost live. The other still needs votes. Here’s what you need to know.

PermissionDelegationV1_1 to go live on October 5? PermissionDelegationV1_1 started a 14-day activation countdown on September 21. About 29 of the 35 trusted validators are backing it.

If it gets 80% support or higher, it will go live on October 5, according to the live amendment dashboard.

But if it drops below 28 validators, then the whole situation changes.

Source: XRPL Dashboard But what is it about? Splitting authority by job; the same way banks already separate payments from compliance. A stablecoin issuer could let an online compliance system approve token holders while its master keys stay offline. An operations account could send payments, but it could not change keys or grant access to anyone else.

Each delegate gets up to 10 permissions, and this can be edited or revoked anytime.

This is the second time it is being tried.

The first version checked permissions before signatures, but some failed transactions still charged fees. An attacker could have spammed high-fee submissions, and this will allow them to drain someone’s XRP. A community tester caught it on September 15, and this led to validators rejecting it, and because of this, it did not go live.

The fix for this was to ship in xrpld 3.3.0, and this verifies signatures before any fee is charged.

More XRP Ledger updates… XLS-65 and XLS-66 still need over 80% validator support for two straight weeks.

XLS-65 brings Single Asset Vaults, which allow users to pool one asset and get shares in return for it. XLS-66 uses those vaults for fixed-term loans. The underwriting process happens off-chain, while loan creation, repayments, and defaults will be on-chain.

Source: X There are no automatic liquidations, which makes it a better fit for business loans and working capital. The LendingProtocolV1_1 design also includes several other features:

Closed-ended vaults with fixed subscription, investment, and redemption windows. Cash-basis accounting, meaning interest counts only once it’s actually paid. Optional first-loss capital from brokers to absorb part of a default. Judging borrower risk will be left to outside underwriters and the market.

Final Summary The XRP Ledger’s PermissionDelegationV1_1 could activate on October 5. XLS-65 and XLS-66 are pending validator approval.

In major XRP news today, Binance crypto exchange extended its support for the coin and Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on Thursday. The world’s largest crypto exchange will airdrop XRP coins to RLUSD holders, significantly boosting RLUSD market cap further and strengthening ties between companies.

Binance Announces XRP Rewards for All RLUSD Holders Binance, the crypto exchange founded by CZ, is launching a four-week airdrop campaign starting September 25 that will distribute $800,000 worth of XRP to users who hold Ripple USD (RLUSD).

Compared with the earlier XRP rewards launch, the exchange will now allow all users across Spot, Funding, Earn, and Margin accounts to earn XRP payouts every Friday until October 23. Users will get additional rewards for growing RLUSD holdings or parking funds in RLUSD Simple Earn.

However, Binance announced a 60% haircut for RLUSD acquired through borrowing other stablecoins in Margin. The exchange will account for liabilities in Margin Accounts from other stablecoins, including USDT, USDC, U, USD1, and FDUSD.

Eligibility and How Rewards Are Calculated Users become eligible by holding a RLUSD stablecoin balance of at least 0.01 in the above-mentioned accounts. Snapshots are taken hourly, with the lowest daily balance becoming that day’s qualifying balance. Weekly XRP rewards use a 7-day average of the qualifying balance multiplied by an effective APR that Binance will publish each Friday.

“Sub-account balances are aggregated at the Master Account level for calculation, and rewards are distributed only to the Master Account. For Broker accounts, the rewards will be distributed to virtual sub-accounts,” stated Binance.

There is no individual cap and each user’s share depends on their qualifying balance relative to the whole pool. Restricted accounts and users in listed jurisdictions, including the US, UK, EU countries, Canada, and others, are excluded.

Binance Pushing RLUSD Market Cap and XRP Price Higher RLUSD stablecoin’s market cap has surged from $1.51 billion since Binance launched the XRP rewards campaign to almost $2.45 billion. RLUSD market cap is $2.37 billion today.

In recent news, Ripple integrated XRP and RLUSD stablecoin support for AI agent payments on Stripe and Tempo’s Machine Payments Protocol.

Meanwhile, XRP pared earlier gains and fell 6% ahead of monthly crypto options expiry. Price is currently trading at $1.51 after dropping from the 24-hour high of $1.64. Trading volume has also fallen 18% over the past 24 hours.

XRP Futures Open Interest. Source: Coinglass CoinGlass data showed buying activity in the derivatives market in the last few hours. The total XRP futures open interest fell nearly 9% to $3.60 billion in the last 24 hours. However, the 4-hour XRP futures OI climbed 1.26%, with 1.51% on CME and 1.07% on Binance.

As CoinGape reported, XRP surpassed Hyperliquid and Zcash in futures open interest amid massive buying on derivatives exchanges CME and Binance. Analysts have predicted a massive upcoming XRP price rally.

Traders looking to take advantage of these market swings can evaluate the features and fee structures of the best crypto futures trading platforms.

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Anchorage Digital, home to America’s first federally regulated crypto bank, has selected LayerZero as its interoperability partner for stablecoin issuance, the company said on September 21. The arrangement routes stablecoins issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. across LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, giving institutional issuers a single path to move dollar tokens between the growing number of blockchains where banks and institutions operate. The bank’s issuance platform already supports tokens tied to Tether, Western Union, OSL Group and Falcon Finance.

The OFT standard and 170-plus chains LayerZero describes OFT as the industry’s most widely adopted interoperability standard for stablecoins, spanning more than 170 blockchains, and reports the framework has processed roughly $280 billion in lifetime transfers, or about 87 percent of cross-chain volume. Under the partnership, LayerZero becomes the preferred interoperability layer for Anchorage-issued stablecoins while the bank remains responsible for regulated issuance. The OFT standard lets an issuer maintain a unified token supply across chains rather than relying on wrapped assets or third-party bridge liquidity, and issuers keep control of their token contracts. The integration builds on the same cross-chain machinery that already carries dollar liquidity such as USDT0’s expansion to Stellar.

USAT goes first, then Western Union and OSL Tether’s USAT is the first Anchorage-issued stablecoin to launch with LayerZero interoperability, with transfers expected to span Ethereum, EVM-compatible networks and Solana. USAT launched in January as Tether’s U.S.-regulated dollar token, with Anchorage Digital Bank acting as issuer rather than Tether itself. Anchorage’s platform also supports Western Union’s USDPT, OSL Group’s USDGO and Falcon Finance’s fUSD, which can adopt the same standard over time. LayerZero has not published activation dates or destination-chain lists for those three assets, so their OFT routes remain forthcoming.

Why a federally chartered bank matters The deal attaches cross-chain reach to a bank operating under Office of the Comptroller of the Currency supervision rather than a patchwork of state money-transmitter licenses. Anchorage continues to publish monthly reserve attestations for the stablecoins it issues, and the partnership targets use cases spanning cross-border payments, institutional trading, on-chain lending and treasury management. The move lands as banks deepen their use of stablecoin rails for settlement, a theme visible in deployments such as SoFi’s stablecoin settlement across Mastercard’s network.

AUTHOR

Jide Idowu is a skilled freelance writer with expertise in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and digital finance. Known for his ability to break down complex topics into clear, engaging content, Jide crafts articles, blog posts, and analyses that resonate with both beginners and seasoned professionals. His work spans a wide range of subjects, from emerging crypto trends to in-depth explorations of blockchain innovations. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for educating readers, Jide is a reliable voice in the rapidly evolving world of digital assets.

Circle has expanded its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol beyond USDC on Arc, bringing native EURC and cirBTC transfers into the network while preparing Gateway and Bridge Kit for additional multi-asset workflows.

Summary

Circle expanded CCTP beyond USDC, enabling native transfers for EURC and cirBTC across Arc routes. EURC currently moves through CCTP across Arc, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, and World Chain routes today. cirBTC CCTP support currently connects Arc and Ethereum, while Gateway integration remains planned for later. Gateway currently unifies USDC balances on Arc and Ethereum, with additional asset support coming later. Arc launched September 16 with USDC gas, institutional validators, and interoperability across twenty-plus blockchain networks. Arc’s Sept. 23 update said Interop on Arc is now live with CCTP, Gateway and Forwarding Service integrated into the Layer 1, giving developers separate tools for native Circle-issued assets, third-party tokens, new multichain assets and unified balances.

The latest deployment does not mean every Circle product already supports all three assets in the same way. CCTP is live for USDC, EURC and cirBTC on specific routes, while Gateway remains limited to USDC at launch. Circle says EURC and cirBTC support for Gateway is planned over time.

Circle expands CCTP beyond USDC on Arc CCTP now handles native crosschain transfers for USDC, EURC and cirBTC, extending a system that was originally built around USDC burn-and-mint transfers.

Circle’s current CCTP product page describes the protocol as infrastructure that lets supported assets move 1:1 between chains. For Circle-issued assets, CCTP burns tokens on the source network and mints native tokens on the destination, avoiding liquidity pools used by some traditional bridge designs.

EURC entered the system earlier this month. Circle said on Sept. 2 that CCTP had expanded from USDC to native EURC transfers, initially between Ethereum and Base. The Arc launch has since extended EURC coverage to Arc, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum and World Chain.

cirBTC now follows a similar route. Interop on Arc lists CCTP support between Arc and Ethereum for Circle Wrapped Bitcoin, creating a native crosschain path for the BTC-backed token across the two networks.

Circle separately brought cirBTC to Arc on Sept. 21. The company says each token is backed 1:1 by native BTC held for cirBTC holders, with reserve information available for onchain verification. The wrapped asset is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, which holds a Class F Digital Asset Business license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Circle launched Bitcoin-backed USDC borrowing through cirBTC on Arc and Ethereum, allowing eligible Circle Mint institutions to post cirBTC to third-party lending markets and receive USDC. Morpho was the first supported lending protocol when the service went live.

EURC and cirBTC get different routes at launch The three assets do not share identical network coverage. USDC remains CCTP’s most established asset and can use all compatible routes offered through the current Arc interoperability stack. EURC supports Arc, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum and World Chain, while cirBTC currently supports Arc and Ethereum.

Circle says CCTP Fast Transfer can complete transfers in “sub-10-second” times on supported Arc routes. The company cautions in its terms that transfer times and fee estimates are not guaranteed because results depend on the selected chain, route and network conditions.

Forwarding Service handles another part of the flow. It can relay the destination-chain transaction after CCTP completes the asset movement, removing the need for users to separately hold the destination network’s gas token for supported transactions.

Circle updated CCTP earlier in September with prepaid Fast Transfer fees. CCTP now lets developers quote and collect certain crosschain fees on the source network, allowing an application to show the recipient amount before the transfer executes.

Arc routes receive preferential CCTP pricing, according to the Sept. 23 announcement, although rates depend on the asset and route. Circle has not published one universal Arc transfer fee for USDC, EURC and cirBTC.

Gateway still supports USDC before multi-asset expansion The product creates a unified balance from supported funds held across different networks, allowing applications to treat eligible crosschain liquidity as one available balance. On Arc, Gateway currently supports USDC balances on Arc and Ethereum.

EURC and cirBTC Gateway support is listed as “coming soon.” Circle has not disclosed a launch date for either asset, so CCTP support should not be confused with live Gateway balance support.

Circle’s current legal disclosures likewise describe Gateway as USDC-only. The company says Gateway is non-custodial software infrastructure and does not itself hold, control or transfer customers’ assets. It has not been reviewed or approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services or another regulator, according to the product disclosures.

The company has been building toward multi-asset interoperability for several months. In an April product roadmap, Circle said CCTP had already processed more than $140 billion in cumulative USDC transfers across more than 20 chains and that future versions would extend the same model to assets including EURC and cirBTC.

The Sept. 23 release turns part of that roadmap into production infrastructure, while Gateway’s asset expansion remains unfinished.

Arc lets third-party assets use separate crosschain models Circle’s interop stack is not limited to tokens issued by Circle. Interop on Arc supports third-party assets through wrapping and a Crosschain Token Standard, or CTS. Developers and issuers can use CTS when they require controls such as allowlists, transfer rate limits, pausing, upgrades and governance rules.

The company says it does not retain override authority over CTS or custom third-party token contracts. Issuers remain responsible for their token structures, operating rules and regulatory obligations.

For new assets, CTS provides a standardized contract structure that can be deployed across chains. Circle describes the system as an alternative to maintaining different token contracts and bridge integrations for each network.

CCTP’s updated architecture supports both burn-and-mint and lock-and-mint models. Native supported assets can move through burn-and-mint, while third-party assets can use wrapping infrastructure where appropriate.

Bridge Kit packages these flows into an SDK for application developers. Arc Studio provides a separate development environment where teams can build applications using the same interop stack without manually connecting every service.

Circle launched Arc Studio as an AI-assisted tool for building applications on Arc, with examples ranging from cross-border payments to software billing and machine-to-machine transactions.

Arc interoperability builds on September mainnet launch Arc went live publicly on Sept. 16 with USDC used for transaction fees, deterministic sub-second finality and a permissioned founding validator set.

Circle said more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders and more than 100 applications were participating at launch. Founding validators include BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa and Worldpay.

Arc mainnet launched with USDC gas and institutional validators including BlackRock and Visa. Circle said the network began with interoperability across more than 20 blockchain ecosystems through CCTP and Gateway.

Arc’s asset layer has expanded quickly since launch. cirBTC became available on Sept. 21, followed by StableFX on Sept. 22 and the integrated Interop product on Sept. 23. StableFX uses Arc for 24/7 stablecoin-based foreign-exchange settlement with request-for-quote pricing and atomic payment-versus-payment settlement.

Circle says cirBTC can already serve as collateral in Arc lending markets, including supported Aave and Morpho applications. Eligible Circle Mint customers can deposit native BTC, mint cirBTC, provide it to approved third-party lending markets and receive borrowed USDC through Circle’s Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing workflow.

The mainnet roadmap extends beyond interoperability. Circle minted a 10 billion ARC genesis supply before the network launch and is exploring a transition from its current Proof-of-Authority structure toward Proof of Stake in 2027. The company says the genesis mint does not constitute a commitment to publicly launch the ARC token.

Gateway support for EURC and cirBTC remains among the next published interoperability steps. Circle has not provided a launch date, while its Sept. 23 Arc documentation continues to list both assets as “coming soon” for unified balances.

Dr. Leemon Baird (@LeemonBaird) is the inventor of the hashgraph distributed consensus algorithm and co-founder of @hedera. He held a position as Professor of Computer Science at the US Air Force Academy and holds a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Previously, @hedera had an exclusive license to the hashgraph patents held by Swirlds, the company Baird co-founded. That arrangement kept the underlying technology proprietary, with Swirlds controlling who could use the algorithm and under what terms.

The Council's DecisionIn January 2022, the @hedera Governing Council voted to purchase the intellectual property rights to the hashgraph consensus algorithm from Swirlds, Inc., the original creator of the hashgraph consensus algorithm and founding member of the Council. The purchase was made for an undisclosed fee.

The Governing Council members further committed to making the code open source under the Apache 2.0 license in 2022. The open-sourcing of the consensus layer was intended to accelerate its development and expand the number of contributors.

Why the Patents Were No Longer NeededThe reasoning behind the move was straightforward. Hedera stated that technical controls are in place to ensure that the network state cannot split, meaning the hashgraph patents were no longer needed to be used defensively to protect @hedera ecosystem participants. In other words, the patents had served as a deterrent against anyone forking @hedera into a competing network. With those technical safeguards in place, the IP became redundant.

The Hedera mainnet is maintained by governing council members that include companies such as Deutsche Telekom, IBM, FIS Global, and Tata Communications. At the time of the vote, the council comprised approximately 25 organisations, with IBM, Google, and Boeing among its members.

Sources:
Hedera Official Blog: Governing Council Votes to Purchase Hashgraph IP
PR Newswire: Hedera Governing Council Announcement
Wikipedia: Hedera Distributed Ledger

Attackers drained roughly 11.7 million XRP from thousands of D’CENT App Wallet users. The theft, worth close to $20 million, unfolded between September 15 and 20. XRPL.to published the on-chain forensic timeline.

The operation unfolded across six separate waves. It hit a combined 6,678 wallets using keys the thief already controlled.

How the Attack Actually UnfoldedSomeone manually drained eight wallets, each holding over 99,999 XRP, within an hour on September 15. An automated script then swept a total of 1,682 wallets that same day.

Five more waves followed through September 20. Each wave reused the same script, manual tool, and stolen keys.

Attackers went beyond simple transfers, too. They deleted 5,001 accounts entirely to claim their remaining reserve balances, XRPL.to reported.

Notably, 2,470 of those wallets had never been swept. That detail suggests the thief held a broader list of compromised keys than the initial drain revealed.

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Wallets swept per hour (up) and accounts deleted per hour (down). Source: xrpl.toThe stolen funds moved fast. Roughly 5.6 million XRP crossed into Ethereum through THORChain. Other funds are routed through exchanges, including Binance, as well as services like unionchain.ai and NEAR Intents.

Each sweep often reached an off-ramp within hours, limiting the window available for freezing stolen funds. About 1.3 million XRP still sat in the attacker’s own wallets as of September 21.

Why Are D’CENT Users Specifically at Risk?D’CENT confirmed abnormal transfers affecting its App Wallet on September 16. The company clarified that hardware wallets remained unaffected. It later urged users to move funds immediately, though it has not confirmed whether reimbursement will follow.

Notably, no XRP Ledger exploit caused this incident. Every sweep used valid signatures from the wallets’ own private keys. That detail means the compromise originated from how those keys were exposed, not from any flaw in the network itself.

5.6 Million XRP Moved to Ethereum Through THORChain. Source: xrpl.toXRPL.to’s analysis found the operation reused identical scripts and fee patterns across multiple waves. That pattern strongly suggests a single coordinated actor carried out every stage. Security researchers now recommend one specific step.

Anyone who used D’CENT’s App Wallet at any point should migrate funds to a new wallet immediately. The exact method behind the original key compromise still remains unconfirmed.

XRP trades near $1.49 at the time of writing. That figure marked a 6% drop over the past 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto data. The token’s market cap stood near $93.82 billion, ranking fifth among all cryptocurrencies.

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@Sei_Labs has published benchmark results for Hermes, the consensus protocol it plans to run on @SeiNetwork's Sei Giga. In a controlled test across 51 validators at 100,000 transactions per second, Hermes recorded a median finality of 68 milliseconds. Even when three block-proposing validators were stalled, the protocol finalized 95% of transactions within 206ms, finishing ahead of three rival designs in the team's own internal comparison.

What Hermes Is Built to Solve Fault tolerance is the central problem Hermes is designed to address. Most consensus protocols slow down or stall when validators go offline. The Hermes results suggest the protocol can absorb validator failures without a significant collapse in confirmation speed, which matters most in high-stakes trading environments where every millisecond counts.

Hermes sits within a broader, multi-phase engineering program Sei Labs calls Sei Giga. Sei Giga is not a single upgrade; it is a multi-phase engineering program that rebuilds Sei's execution client, storage layer, and consensus mechanism from scratch. The design goal is to allow for efficient, fast, and fair on-chain trading, which requires very high throughput, low latency, and the ability to bound censorship and MEV risk.

Where Hermes Fits on the Roadmap Hermes is a later-stage addition to the Giga stack. The current roadmap calls for deploying a testnet for Hermes consensus before merging it into Sei mainnet. The protocol's full whitepaper has not yet been published. Hermes is listed as a next-generation consensus protocol on the official roadmap, with its whitepaper still pending.

The Giga program has already set ambitious top-level targets. The layer-1 blockchain is targeting over 200,000 transactions per second and sub-400 millisecond finality, numbers that would make it one of the fastest EVM-compatible chains in existence. Sei's updated Giga Whitepaper v2 reduced the targeted finality to below 250 milliseconds, down from the previously stated 400 milliseconds. The 68ms figure from the Hermes lab results, if it holds in a live environment, would represent a meaningful step beyond even those revised targets.

As with any benchmark published by the team developing the protocol, the results carry caveats. Real-world mainnet performance after any upgrade may differ from devnet benchmarks. Live networks carry economic activity, validator diversity, and unpredictable transaction patterns. Sei Labs has not yet set a hard launch date for Hermes on mainnet.

Sources:
Sei Giga official roadmap tracker
Sei Giga Technical Specification, Sei Docs
Sei Unveils Giga Whitepaper V2 With Faster Finality, BanklessTimes