<h2>Users Have Until Oct. 26 to Exit Through the Regular Interface</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Blast will wind down its Ethereum Layer 2 because operating costs exceed revenue and the project sees no credible path to economic sustainability.</li><li>Users can withdraw through Blast’s regular interface until Oct. 26 before direct interaction with its Ethereum bridge contracts is required.</li><li>Blast’s TVL has fallen to a little over $32 million after the network once held more than $2.3 billion.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/blast-coin-blast">Blast</a> said on October 2, 2026, that it will&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/blast/status/2106032805280891073">wind down</a> its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-2">Layer 2</a> after the cost of maintaining the network rose above the revenue it generates. The project said it no longer sees a credible route to making the chain economically sustainable and is asking users to move their assets back to Ethereum&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">mainnet</a>.<blockquote>“We launched Blast with the goal of building a self-sustaining chain for users and developers. Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense,” Blast wrote on X. “The ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable.”“As a result, we've made the difficult decision to wind Blast down,” the team added.</blockquote>Blast will first withdraw the network’s assets from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/lido-dao-token-ldo">Lido</a>, a process expected to take about a week. Withdrawals will be temporarily unavailable during that process. Once completed, Blast said withdrawals will resume with a 24-hour delay. The withdrawal request also covers assets held through Blast’s PWA, or progressive web app.Users can continue withdrawing through Blast’s regular interface until Oct. 26. After that cutoff, assets will remain withdrawable, but users will need to interact directly with Blast’s bridge contracts on Ethereum. Blast said it plans to publish instructions before the interface deadline.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Blast Falls From More Than $2.3 Billion to $32 Million in TVL</h2>Blast currently has a little over $32 million in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-tvl-defi">total value locked</a>, according to DeFiLlama. The network had exceeded $2 billion in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-tvl-defi">TVL</a> from nearly 200,000 early-access users before its mainnet launch, while more than $2.3 billion was locked in its bridge by the February 2024 launch.The network went live in November 2023 after a $20 million funding round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto. Built by the team behind&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/nft">NFT</a> marketplace&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/blur-blur">Blur</a>, Blast promoted automatic yield on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> balances. Returns were generated through ETH&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">staking</a> and real-world asset protocols and distributed automatically to users. Paradigm publicly criticized the project’s launch messaging at the time.Users had deposited more than $1.1 billion before the network went live. Blast later briefly stopped producing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blocks">blocks</a> following Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March 2024. Its June 2024&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/airdrop">airdrop</a> allocated $354 million worth of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/blast-coin-blast">BLAST</a> tokens to users. By that point, TVL had already fallen about 30% from its $2.3 billion peak.The BLAST token fell 17% on Friday as the shutdown was announced, reducing its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market capitalization</a> to around $23 million.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Other Ethereum Layer 2 Networks Have Also Wound Down</h2>Blast joins other Ethereum Layer 2 projects that have closed or begun winding down. Wallet maker Zerion said in May that it would shut Zero Network, its gasless Ethereum Layer 2, after about 18 months of operation and gave users until July 31 to bridge their assets out.Silicon Network, an Ethereum Layer 2 associated with South Korean exchange&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/korbit">Korbit</a>, stopped accepting deposits on Sept. 2. Users were given until Dec. 31 to withdraw, while about $9.75 million remained on the network, according to L2Beat data.Shutdowns have also affected crypto exchanges. Hong Kong-founded CoinEx said last month that it will close on Dec. 22, joining BitMEX and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bitmart">BitMart</a> among exchanges shutting down this year.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Blast to Shut Down Ethereum Layer 2 as Costs Exceed Revenue

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<h2>Stablecoin issuer targets EU liquidity rules while expanding Bitcoin collateral access</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Circle asked the European Commission to revise parts of MiCA covering stablecoin liquidity, multi-issuance, foreign recognition and reserve management.</li><li>The company proposed an equivalence framework that could give qualifying non-EU stablecoins regulated access to European markets.</li><li>Circle separately launched cirBTC on Ethereum and Arc for Bitcoin-backed lending, trading and liquidity applications.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Circle has asked the European Commission to revise parts of the Markets in Crypto-Assets&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> framework, arguing that targeted changes could improve liquidity, market access and reserve management in Europe. Separately, the company launched Circle&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/wrapped-bitcoin-wbtc">Wrapped Bitcoin</a>, or cirBTC, on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> and its Arc&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a>, allowing Bitcoin holders to use&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> as collateral in supported onchain markets without selling the underlying asset.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Circle seeks broader global stablecoin access under MiCA</h2>Circle <a href="https://x.com/circle/status/2105719397448872325">submitted</a> its response to the European Commission’s MiCA Review Consultation on October 1, 2026. The company issues&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/eurc-eurc">EURC</a> under MiCA and said its operating experience gives it direct knowledge of how the framework works.<blockquote>“Circle has submitted its response to the European Commission’s MiCA Review Consultation. Our feedback draws on two years of experience operating USDC and EURC under MiCA, with a focus on strengthening Europe’s role as a dynamic, liquid stablecoin market. In the response, we…” Circle said.</blockquote>Circle said MiCA has established a solid regulatory framework, with about 30 e-money tokens currently authorized. However, it argued that access to major global&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> remains limited. Among the top 25 stablecoins by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market capitalization</a>, only 3 — USDC,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/global-dollar-stablecoin-usdg">USDG</a> and EURC — are regulated under MiCA.The company said the central issue is access to global liquidity rather than a lack of regulated European issuers. Circle proposed retaining multi-issuance, a model under which the same stablecoin can be issued by regulated entities in different jurisdictions. It said restrictions on that model could push European customers toward offshore platforms, moving transactions outside MiCA protections. Circle proposed additional safeguards, including mechanisms for moving assets between global reserves and reserves supporting European operations.Circle also proposed a broader equivalence system for non-EU stablecoins. Under the suggested 2-stage process, the European Commission would first determine whether another jurisdiction provides an equivalent level of regulatory protection. The European Banking Authority would then identify qualifying issuers under that framework, with European distribution handled through a locally licensed institution.The company said foreign issuers could remain primarily supervised by regulators in their home jurisdictions while meeting conditions recognized as equivalent to European requirements. Circle also proposed reciprocal recognition that could give EU-issued stablecoins similar access to overseas markets.Reserve rules were another focus. Circle argued that mandatory bank deposits can expose stablecoin issuers to risks within the banking system. It pointed to March 2023, when USDC temporarily lost its dollar peg after Circle disclosed that $3.3 billion of its reserves were held at Silicon Valley Bank. U.S. authorities later protected depositors and made the funds available, after which USDC recovered its dollar value.The European Commission will consider submissions from market participants as part of its MiCA review before assessing potential changes and making regulatory decisions.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>cirBTC brings Bitcoin collateral to Ethereum and Arc</h2>Circle separately launched cirBTC on Ethereum and Arc. The token is backed 1:1 by native BTC and is designed to bring Bitcoin into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contract</a> applications that cannot directly support native BTC. Circle said cirBTC is neither a derivative nor a yield-bearing product, but a representation of Bitcoin for supported lending, trading and liquidity markets.A Bitcoin miner, trading firm or corporate treasury could, for example, deposit cirBTC as collateral and borrow USDC for operating expenses or working capital without selling its Bitcoin. Market participants can also supply cirBTC or USDC to lending protocols or provide wrapped Bitcoin to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/Decentralized-Crypto-Exchange-dex">decentralized exchange</a> liquidity pools. Interest rates, collateral requirements, loan-to-value ratios and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/liquidation">liquidation</a> rules are set by the individual protocols rather than Circle.“Every cirBTC is backed 1:1 by native BTC and redeemable for BTC through the applicable Circle Mint workflow,” Circle said. The underlying Bitcoin is held through Circle’s Bermuda affiliate and custodied by Circle National Trust, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> Proof of Reserve provides onchain reserve information. Circle has also disclosed reserve addresses that allow market participants to inspect the backing.Circle said cirBTC is intended to expand to additional smart contract networks over time. Circle shares were trading at $84.71, up 2.18% on the day.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Circle Seeks MiCA Changes as cirBTC Launches on Ethereum and Arc

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<h2>Plan would permit limited self-custody and expand permitted crypto custodians</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The SEC proposed new crypto custody rules on October 1, 2026, covering registered investment advisers and regulated funds.</li><li>Advisers could self-custody client crypto in limited circumstances, while qualifying state-chartered trust companies could serve as permitted custodians.</li><li>The proposal remains subject to public comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div>
</div><hr>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/proposed/2026/ia-7023.pdf">proposed</a> a new crypto custody framework on October 1, 2026, that would let registered investment advisers and regulated funds self-custody crypto assets under certain conditions while expanding the types of institutions permitted to provide custody. The measure is a proposal, not a final rule.The framework would update requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said existing custody rules had failed to keep pace as crypto developed from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>'s launch in 2008 into a multi-trillion-dollar asset class.“Unfortunately, our rules and regulations have not kept pace,” Atkins said. He added: “To that end, today’s proposal would provide a clear regulatory framework for the custody of crypto assets, giving investment advisers and funds a compliant pathway where none existed before and replacing the grey of uncertainty created by custody rules crafted for a bygone era.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>How the SEC’s Crypto Self-Custody Proposal Would Work</h2>The self-custody provision would apply in limited circumstances, including cases where an adviser determines that no permitted custodian is available. Here, self-custody means an adviser acting as custodian for client assets rather than an individual investor personally controlling a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a>. Advisers taking that route would face safeguards covering custody expertise, cybersecurity, annual reviews, internal reporting, account statements and client disclosures.SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said adviser self-custody creates an inherent conflict of interest and that an adviser’s fiduciary duties continue to apply when it holds client crypto.The proposal would separately recognize state-chartered trust companies as permitted crypto custodians under specified conditions. Advisers and funds would need a reasonable basis to believe a trust company is authorized by its state banking regulator and maintains written protections against theft, loss and misuse.SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce backed preserving custody choice, saying: “True self-custody is not the right choice for everyone, but many crypto owners prize being able to custody their own assets.”Crypto market participants also welcomed the proposed shift. Analyst Dan Gambardello said: “For years, old rules built for stocks and bonds left firms with no compliant path to hold Bitcoin and other crypto for clients. Today’s proposal opens that door. This is the unlock institutions have been waiting for.”ETF analyst Nate Geraci described the proposal as a “breath of fresh air,” adding: “Such a breath of fresh air for regulators to support innovation &amp; actually let the crypto industry breathe.”&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> and Fidelity already provide third-party custody services for funds and ETFs holding Bitcoin and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>, while the proposal could broaden custody coverage for smaller and newer crypto assets.The cited market data showed funds and ETFs holding 1.44 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>, equal to 7% of Bitcoin supply, compared with 13.9 million BTC, or 66.6%, held by individuals.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>SEC Opens 60-Day Comment Period</h2>The SEC said public comments will remain open for 60 days after the proposing release is published in the Federal Register. The new framework follows a 2023 custody proposal that was later withdrawn after industry criticism over its treatment of crypto custody.The proposal also comes as Peirce departs the SEC after leading its Crypto Task Force. Her departure leaves the commission with two sitting members as the agency continues its digital-asset rulemaking agenda.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

SEC Proposes Crypto Self-Custody Rules for Advisers and Funds

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<h2>Full ownership adds Bitbank’s regulated platform and Ripple-linked activity to SBI’s crypto business</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>SBI Holdings completed its takeover of Bitbank, making the Japanese crypto exchange a wholly owned subsidiary.</li><li>Combined operations are expected to rank first among Japanese exchange operators by custodied assets.</li><li>The deal also deepens board ties between Bitbank and SBI VC Trade as SBI expands its RLUSD and stablecoin operations.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>SBI Holdings&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sbigroup.co.jp/english/news/pdf/2026/1001_c_en.pdf">completed</a> its acquisition of Japanese crypto exchange&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bitbank">Bitbank</a> on October 1, making it a wholly owned subsidiary after Bitbank bought back shares held by MIXI and Ceres. The transaction was valued at about ¥46.7 billion, rendered in the two reports as approximately $289 million and $290 million. The final ownership change brings Bitbank into SBI’s crypto business while leaving Noriyuki Hirosue as Bitbank’s CEO.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>How SBI Completed the Bitbank Acquisition</h2>SBI first agreed to acquire Bitbank in June. SBI’s June 25 notice outlined a three-stage transaction involving SBICAH GK, a wholly owned SBI unit, existing Bitbank shareholders and a new share allotment.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Stage</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Transaction</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Shares</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">First</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">SBICAH bought shares from Hirosue and other individual shareholders.</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">53,704</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Second</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">SBICAH subscribed to a third-party allotment of new Bitbank shares.</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">48,952</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Third</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitbank used the proceeds to repurchase all shares held by MIXI and Ceres as treasury stock.</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">All remaining corporate holdings</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The transaction required clearance from the Japan Fair Trade Commission. Bitbank has said the ownership change will not affect existing accounts, trading or services.Board roles also shifted. Tomohiko Kondo, president of SBI VC Trade, joined Bitbank’s board, while Hirosue became an outside director at SBI VC Trade. Bitbank outside directors Satoshi Takagi, Nobuhiro Kanayama and Masaya Kubota stepped down. SBI had previously folded Bitpoint Japan into SBI VC Trade in April. Bitbank also “has maintained zero hacking incidents” since its founding.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bitbank Adds Custody Scale, XRP Trading and Stablecoin Links</h2>Bitbank brings a Financial Services Agency license, a spot exchange offering dozens of crypto assets against the yen, and coin-lending and custody services. It serves roughly 960,000 registered users and has deep yen-quoted&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/altcoin">altcoin</a> liquidity.Using April 30 figures for SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, the combined businesses held about $6.97 billion, or ¥1.1 trillion, in assets under custody across roughly 2.92 million crypto accounts. Another report rendered the same yen custody figure as roughly $7 billion. Both placed the combined platform first among Japanese exchange operators by custodied assets.Bitbank is also one of Japan’s busiest&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> venues. At press time, 5.82 million XRP had traded in its XRP/JPY market over the previous 24 hours, with XRP turnover approaching bitcoin’s daily volume on the exchange.SBI has worked with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">Ripple</a> for about a decade. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2025 to bring Ripple USD, or&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ripple-usd-rlusd">RLUSD</a>, to Japan. RLUSD went live through SBI VC Trade on June 24 after Japan Financial Services Agency approval, and its global supply has since passed $2.4 billion.SBI has said the combined business would develop “new financial services utilizing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>.” JPYSC, a yen&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a>, is under development through SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, while SBI also completed a Korea-Japan cross-border stablecoin test last month.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>SBI Extends Its Crypto Consolidation Strategy</h2>SBI VC Trade absorbed TaoTao in 2020 and later took on DMM&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> accounts following a 2024 hack. SBI also took a majority stake in Singapore’s Coinhako in July. Analysts at Architect Partners identified&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bitflyer">bitFlyer</a>, described as the last large independent Japanese exchange, as an obvious potential next target.Japan is meanwhile moving crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, alongside legislation that would reduce taxation on crypto gains to a flat 20%. The regulatory changes increase compliance costs for smaller standalone exchanges, encouraging financial groups to consolidate scale.SBI’s expansion has also extended outside Japan. The group led a $76 million funding round for EDX Markets in July and has become Ripple’s domestic distribution platform for RLUSD. SBI said the Bitbank transaction would have a minor impact on results for the year ending March 2027.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

SBI Completes Bitbank Takeover, Creating Japan’s Largest Crypto Exchange by Custody

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<h2>Zero-Knowledge System Lets Users Pay for API Access Without Revealing Identity</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The Ethereum Foundation and Open Anonymity Project launched zkAPI, a private payment system now live on the Ethereum mainnet.</li><li>Users deposit tokens into a vault, prove a funded balance with zero-knowledge cryptography and receive a temporary API key with a spending cap.</li><li>AI chat and agents are the first use cases, with blockchain queries, image and video generation, VPN bandwidth and AI-agent payments also listed.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Foundation and Open Anonymity Project launched zkAPI on October 2, 2026, bringing a privacy-focused payment system to the Ethereum&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">mainnet</a> that lets users pay for artificial intelligence model access without revealing their identity. The system uses&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof">zero-knowledge proofs</a> to show that an API request is backed by funded tokens while keeping the underlying private balance hidden.zkAPI is part of the Open Anonymity Project, an open-source AI privacy initiative. The Open Anonymity Project said its aim is to develop infrastructure where privacy and sovereignty are foundational and people remain in control.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>How zkAPI Handles Private API Payments</h2>Users begin by depositing tokens such as Ethereum into a vault contract on the Ethereum network. The contract records the deposited balance as a private note. When a user wants to spend those funds, software on the user's device generates a zero-knowledge proof showing that the request is backed by a funded note without revealing which note or funds are being used.A zkAPI server checks the proof and issues a temporary API key with a spending cap. The user then sends prompts directly to the AI model provider together with that key. After the key expires, the server deducts the amount used from the user's private balance.Each payment also publishes a serial number called a “nullifier.” The payment architecture is designed to let a service verify that access has been funded without requiring the underlying payment details to be publicly exposed.The system can support paid API structures such as pay-per-call access, tiered services and automated requests. Its zero-knowledge design separates proof of payment from the private balance that funded the request.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>AI Chat and Agents Are the First Use Cases</h2>The Ethereum Foundation identified AI chat and agents as the first use cases for zkAPI. The system allows users to pay for access to AI models through the temporary API-key process while keeping the funded note behind each request private.Other listed applications include&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> queries, image and video generation, VPN bandwidth and machine-to-machine payments between AI agents. Those use cases extend the same private payment mechanism beyond direct AI chat toward other services that charge for API access or automated usage.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum price</a> was listed at $2,765.00 on October 2.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Ethereum Foundation Launches zkAPI for Private AI Payments

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<h2>FinCEN proposal would cut A7-linked intermediaries from U.S. finance, including crypto transfers</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>OFAC designated the Russia-linked A7 Network a significant transnational criminal organization on October 1, 2026, while FinCEN proposed blocking transfers involving its Sub-Agents.</li><li>FinCEN said more than 180 entities processed at least $179.1 billion in the ruble-backed A7A5 token between February 2025 and June 2026.</li><li>Treasury tied the network to Iranian sanctions evasion, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Nobitex, weapons procurement and North Korean crypto hack proceeds.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The U.S. Treasury&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/USTreasury/status/2105715941653065743">moved</a> against the Russia-linked A7 Network on October 1, 2026, accusing the shadow banking operation of helping Iran evade sanctions through a mix of conventional finance and cryptocurrency. OFAC designated A7 a significant transnational criminal organization, while FinCEN proposed barring U.S. financial institutions from processing transfers involving A7’s network of Sub-Agents.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2105715941653065743.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2105715941653065743_747e9dd064.webp"></figure>FinCEN also issued an alert to help financial institutions detect and report suspicious activity tied to A7 and its affiliates. The measures are part of Operation Economic Outcast, which Treasury said was launched at U.S. President Donald Trump’s direction in late August 2026 as “an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe.”Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “Today’s action targeting A7 … sends a clear message that if you facilitate illicit finance for America’s adversaries, you will lose access to the U.S. financial system.”FinCEN is acting under Section 9714 of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. The agency selected the sixth of six available special measures, allowing it to prohibit transmittals of funds rather than relying only on restrictions covering correspondent accounts.TRM Labs said that distinction matters because A7A5 transfers can move outside correspondent banking. The proposed measure extends to fiat and convertible virtual currency and could apply to roughly 348,000 institutions, including cryptocurrency exchanges.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>A7A5 Moved $179.1 Billion Through a Crypto-Fiat Settlement Network</h2>A7A5 is a ruble-backed token issued by Kyrgyzstan-registered Old Vector on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tron-trx">Tron</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>, with backing held in Russian ruble deposits at Promsvyazbank, or PSB. FinCEN described a mirror settlement system in which tokens move between addresses inside Russia while A7 Sub-Agents execute corresponding overseas transfers in dollars, yuan, dirhams and euros.FinCEN said more than 180 entities processed at least $179.1 billion in A7A5 between February 2025 and June 2026. Historically, almost all of that activity passed through sanctioned exchanges Garantex and Grinex. A7A5 was commonly used as a bridge into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">USDT</a> and then fiat.Following a reported Grinex exploit in April 2026, A7A5 supply became increasingly concentrated in unhosted wallets, which FinCEN viewed as a possible shift away from sanctioned trading venues.A7 also built a large conventional-finance network. Hundreds of Sub-Agents held accounts at about 435 financial institutions across at least 83 countries and processed more than $17 billion between January 2025 and June 2026. Staff managed some accounts from Moscow through customized VPNs designed to make activity appear to originate in Dubai, Hong Kong or Bishkek.A separate investigation found that A7 moved nearly $7 billion through the international banking system using forged documents and front companies, including entities in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan. Treasury said those Sub-Agents “form a core layer of the A7 Network’s operational architecture.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Treasury Links A7 to Iranian and Other Illicit Finance</h2>Treasury said one A7 Sub-Agent dealt directly with entities tied to Iran’s shadow fleet of tankers. That Sub-Agent and a sister company received close to $140 million from firms involved in Iranian sanctions evasion, while another Sub-Agent transferred about $1.6 million to a company linked to weapons procurement.Treasury also connected A7 to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian proxies including Hamas, the designated Iranian digital asset exchange Nobitex and the laundering of proceeds from North Korean cryptocurrency exchange hacks.A7 was launched in September 2024 by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and Promsvyazbank. A7 is majority-owned by Shor and co-owned by state-controlled PSB. By January 2025, the network claimed to process more than 2,000 transactions per day.Shor later said A7 processed 7.5 trillion rubles over 10 months, valued at about $90 billion under one conversion and roughly $91.5 billion under another. Treasury said that volume equaled about 13% of Russia’s 2025 foreign trade transactions.The European Union had already sanctioned parts of the A7 network, while the UK National Crime Agency issued an alert in August 2026.FinCEN’s transaction prohibition remains a proposed rule. Its public comment period closes 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

US Treasury actions disrupt international Iranian crypto sanctions evasion network

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U.S. Targets A7 Network Over Iran Sanctions Evasion

<h2>Lido exits follow infrastructure compromise as separate Safe exploit drains 114.09 ETH</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>MetaMask began exiting Lido validators after disclosing an infrastructure security incident on September 30, 2026.</li><li>Kaden said about 17,000 MetaMask-operated validators holding roughly 523,000 ETH were being exited as Ethereum’s withdrawal backlog reached 773,447 ETH.</li><li>Separately, SlowMist said a FlashLoopAdapter flaw allowed an attacker to drain about 114.09 ETH from two Safe wallets without affecting Aave V3’s core contracts.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/review/metamask">MetaMask</a> Staking is exiting&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> validators it operates through&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/lido-dao-token-ldo">Lido</a> after MetaMask&nbsp;<a href="https://metamask.io/en-GB/news/user-update">disclosed</a> a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure on September 30, 2026. MetaMask said its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">staking</a> operation is non-custodial and does not control clients’ withdrawal keys, while Lido said&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/lido-steth-steth">stETH</a> holders do not need to take action. Separately, an unrelated exploit involving a third-party adapter built on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/aave-aave">Aave</a> V3 drained about 114.09&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> from two Safe wallets.MetaMask said it was “actively addressing and remediating the issue internally, in coordination with external partners and security advisors.” A follow-up on October 1 said there was “no indication that MetaMask wallets or customer funds have been affected.” The staking business, formerly known as Consensys Staking, does not manage withdrawal keys for client stake. The supplied account said compromised validator signing keys could still create slashing risk if misused.Onchain security researcher Kaden said about 17,000 MetaMask-operated validators holding roughly 523,000 ETH were proactively exited after analysis found transaction-fee rewards from 18 of 19 validators that proposed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blocks">blocks</a> had been redirected to an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a> funded through&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tornado-cash-torn">Tornado Cash</a>. Kaden estimated the attacker captured about 0.36 ETH. MetaMask had not confirmed those figures.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2105530184103563620.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2105530184103563620_a7188a8208.webp"></figure>Kaden also said 821 potentially affected validators had not yet exited, including three whose fee rewards were allegedly diverted. MetaMask had not disclosed how many validators were affected, whether signing keys were exposed or whether any slashing had occurred.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Ethereum Exit Queue Reaches Nine-Month High</h2>Lido&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/LidoFinance/status/2105443679905235344">said</a> the final validators were expected to enter the exit process by the end of October 7. The protocol estimated that completing the exit, withdrawal and eventual re-entry cycle could take up to 45 days. Lido’s security arrangements also include an ad hoc reserve fund of more than 6,750 stETH.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2105443679905235344.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2105443679905235344_67b8789b2a.webp"></figure><div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Ethereum staking metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Figure</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">ETH waiting to exit</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">773,447 ETH</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Previous May backlog</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Roughly 476,000 ETH</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Exit-queue wait</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">13 days, 10 hours</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Withdrawal sweep delay</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">7.6 days</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Entry queue</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">27 days</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Churn rate</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">256 ETH per 6.4-minute epoch</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The backlog was the largest since December 2025. Ethereum limits how quickly stake enters or leaves its validator set, so a large wave of exits is processed gradually rather than simultaneously.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Separate Adapter Exploit Drains Safe Wallets</h2>SlowMist&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SlowMist_Team/status/2105855276536725599">reported</a> on October 2 that attackers exploited FlashLoopAdapter, a third-party contract used to manage leveraged Aave V3 positions. The adapter’s&nbsp;open() and&nbsp;close() access control checked&nbsp;ISafe(msg.sender).isModuleEnabled(address(this)), which SlowMist said was “spoofable via a fake Safe that always returns true.”<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2105855276536725599.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2105855276536725599_7c47f38763.webp"></figure>The attacker used a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/morpho-morpho">Morpho</a> WETH flash loan to repay debt and unlock collateral, then manipulated the router and transaction data to move weETH and Aave-linked collateral. Around 1,306 weETH moved from one&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a>, but that represented gross movement rather than the attacker’s final gain. The loss was about 114.09 ETH, valued at roughly $305,000 to $310,000. Both affected Safes belonged to the same owner, who disabled the module afterward.The stolen funds were consolidated at&nbsp;0x7a83…42f1 before being sent in batches toward Tornado Cash. Aave founder Stani Kulechov said, “This is not Aave v3 contract, it’s third party external adapter built on top of Aave, zero effect on Aave v3.” The incident therefore involved the external automation layer rather than Aave V3’s core contracts or liquidity pools.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

A robot detaching validator keys after a compromise in Ethereum infrastructure

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MetaMask Validator Breach Drives Ethereum Exit Queue Higher

<h2>Cross-chain withdrawals remain restricted as protocol pledges full compensation and traces stolen Bitcoin</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>NEAR Intents confirmed on October 1, 2026, that an Omni infrastructure integration bug enabled a $3.8 million exploit.</li><li>The protocol patched the flaw, kept deposits and withdrawals on 11 networks suspended, and pledged to compensate affected users in full.</li><li>The incident came two days after NEAR Intents blocked a $50 million swap linked to the Bitget hacker, though no connection between the events was established.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>NEAR Intents&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/near_intents/status/2105642219357241796">confirmed</a> on October 1, 2026, that an attacker drained about $3.8 million after exploiting a bug involving its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contract</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/omni-network-omni">Omni</a>’s deposit, withdrawal and custody infrastructure. The cross-chain protocol halted services, patched the vulnerability and began working with law enforcement and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> analytics partners to trace the stolen funds.“Earlier today NEAR Intents services were stopped after a security incident was detected. The incident was caused by a bug in the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interaction with NEAR Intents smart contract,” the NEAR Intents team said.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2105642219357241796.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2105642219357241796_caa1188d47.webp"></figure>The vulnerability allowed unauthorized withdrawals from the platform’s hot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/binance-coin-bnb">BNB</a> Chain. The stolen assets were transferred to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/kucoin">KuCoin</a> and then moved into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> through cross-chain bridges. On-chain investigator ZachXBT separately traced the funds to KuCoin and their subsequent movement into Bitcoin.“The incident has been reported to law enforcement, and we are working with security and blockchain analytics partners to trace the funds and pursue recovery,” NEAR Intents said.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>NEAR Intents Freezes Cross-Chain Deposits and Withdrawals</h2>NEAR Intents said the smart-contract flaw had been fixed and expected its main site and basic services to return within about one hour. Deposits and withdrawals across 11 blockchains were set to remain suspended for roughly another 12 hours while Omni completed additional fixes.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/polygon-ecosystem-token-pol">Polygon</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/toncoin-ton">TON</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/optimism-op">Optimism</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/avalanche-avax">Avalanche</a>, BNB Chain and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/scroll-scr">Scroll</a> were among the affected networks.NEAR Intents said its treasury would cover user losses. The protocol said the stolen funds “will be compensated in full,” while assets remaining inside the system, including assets held in its hot wallet, could be converted once services resumed.The protocol also said it planned to publish a more detailed incident report in the coming days.NEAR Intents uses an “intents” model that allows users to specify the outcome they want while underlying infrastructure handles tasks such as selecting networks, finding bridges and calculating gas fees. The protocol had processed more than $30 billion in swaps across 35 blockchains before the incident.The exploit occurred at the integration layer connecting that system with Omni’s custody infrastructure. The incident followed previous bridge-related attacks across the crypto sector, including the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/harmony-one">Harmony</a> bridge exploit in 2022, when about $100 million was lost.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Exploit Follows $50 Million Bitget Hacker Block</h2>The breach came two days after NEAR Intents blocked a $50 million swap attempt associated with the hacker behind a separate attack on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitget-token-bgb">Bitget</a>.That hacker had stolen approximately&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/bitget-restores-withdrawals-388m-exploit">$387.5 million</a> from the exchange the previous week. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic pointed to North Korea as the likely culprit in the Bitget attack, citing tell-tale signs, though that attribution had not been confirmed.No link was established between the Bitget hacker and the $3.8 million NEAR Intents exploit, and the relationship between the two incidents remained explicitly unresolved.The timing also followed the launch of Bitwise’s Near ETF two days earlier. Bitwise first filed paperwork for the fund in April 2025, when&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/near-protocol-near">NEAR</a> traded at $2.61.NEAR price readings varied during the October 1 selloff as the market moved rapidly around the disclosure.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Earlierpricesnapshot<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Down6.7%<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">4.96 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Market snapshot</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Change</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Price or level</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Initial post-disclosure move</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down 7.5%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Low near $4.76, partial recovery to about&nbsp;4.84</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Later price snapshot</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down 8.93%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$4.86</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Embedded live reading</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down about 7.43%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $4.91</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitwise Near ETF shares</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down more than 7%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">—</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

NEAR Intents halts deposits after Omni infrastructure exploit occurs

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NEAR Intents Confirms $3.8 Million Exploit After Omni Infrastructure Bug

<h2>ETF recovery and easier financial conditions underpin Citi’s new 12-month crypto outlook</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Citi raised its 12-month Bitcoin target to $113,000 and its Ether target to $3,028 on October 1, 2026.</li><li>Recovering crypto ETF flows, stronger market activity and improving macro conditions were central to the upgrades.</li><li>Bitcoin received the larger implied upside, while Ether remained capped near a key technical resistance area.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Citi&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/citi-raises-bitcoin-ether-forecasts-strong-crypto-activity-2026-10-01">raised</a> its 12-month&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether</a> forecasts on October 1, 2026, citing stronger crypto-market activity, renewed ETF demand and improving macro conditions. The bank lifted its Bitcoin target from $82,000 to $113,000 and its Ether target from $2,240 to $3,028, shifting from more defensive assumptions toward an institutional-recovery scenario.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.coin360.com/Chat_GPT_Image_Oct_1_2026_07_32_05_PM_1_3a723e4245.webp" alt="citi's 12 month crypto forecast"></figure>The forecasts came from a Wednesday research note. Bitcoin was trading near $84,000 and Ether near $2,700 when the forecast coverage appeared, putting Citi’s targets about 35% above the prevailing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin price</a> and roughly 12% above the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether price</a>.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">113,000 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Ether<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">2,240 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">788, or about 35.2% </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Asset</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Previous Target</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">New Target</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Forecast Increase</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">82,000</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">31,000,orabout37.8%</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">3,028</td></tr> </tbody> </table></div>Bitcoin’s implied gain from its prevailing market price was therefore more than twice Ether’s. Citi’s framework placed greater weight on the maturity of Bitcoin’s spot ETF channel, which gives advisers and brokerages an established regulated route for increasing exposure.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bitcoin ETF Flows Reverse Midyear Weakness</h2>Citi expects approximately $5 billion of net inflows into products such as crypto ETFs over the next 12 months. The bank’s framework assumes advisers and brokerages will increase allocations gradually rather than making one large portfolio shift, leaving the forecast dependent on a steady pipeline of institutional buying.U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had recorded $5.8 billion of year-to-date net outflows by July 13. By late September, the 2026 total had swung to approximately $800 million of net inflows, an improvement of more than $6.6 billion from the July deficit.That reversal became an important component of Citi’s higher Bitcoin forecast because ETF demand can absorb available supply without requiring retail investors to provide the entire increase in buying.Citi also pointed to U.S. Treasury purchases of longer-dated bonds as a source of renewed momentum across risk assets. Easier financial conditions can reduce the relative attraction of cash while increasing investors’ willingness to hold volatile assets such as crypto.Bitcoin gained more than 10% between the Senate’s September 15 failure to advance the Clarity Act and the end of the month. The stalled legislation left a major part of the U.S. crypto market-structure framework unresolved, though Citi assessed that later Securities and Exchange Commission rule announcements softened the market reaction.The bank’s forecast therefore assumes ETF access and administrative regulatory progress can continue supporting demand while congressional uncertainty persists. The targets remain dependent on changing ETF flows, liquidity, policy developments and macro conditions rather than functioning as fixed estimates of value.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Ether Faces $2,800 Resistance Despite Stronger Forecast</h2>Ether’s higher Citi target came as the asset repeatedly failed to hold above the $2,800 area during the previous week. An earlier breakout attempt reached roughly $2,804 before reversing, leaving&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> between support around&nbsp;2,600-2,660 and resistance near $2,800.A sustained break through that ceiling would put the psychologically important $3,000 level back into play, with Citi’s forecast sitting in roughly the same technical zone. Strong ETF demand had already accompanied an earlier attempt above resistance but was not enough to keep ETH there.Institutional demand remained substantial but became less consistent toward the end of September.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">September22<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">162.2 million inflow </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">September30<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">59.6 million outflow </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Date</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">U.S. Spot&nbsp;Ethereum ETF&nbsp;Flow</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">September 21</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">270millioninflow</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">September 23</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">104.5millioninflow</td></tr><tr></tr> </tbody> </table></div>The first three sessions together produced approximately $536.7 million of inflows. Farside Investors recorded the later September 30 outflow, showing that institutional demand remained supportive but volatile.Ethereum also had a supply-side factor beneath the price setup, with approximately 35% of all ETH staked. That reduces the amount of liquid ETH available for trading and could amplify the impact of renewed demand if institutional buying accelerates.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.coin360.com/Chat_GPT_Image_Oct_1_2026_07_32_06_PM_2_00b0981299.webp" alt="flows and levels behind the forecast"></figure>Citi’s revised outlook leaves the two assets with different near-term setups. Bitcoin’s forecast relies heavily on the durability of recovering ETF flows, continued adviser allocations and supportive bond-market conditions. Ether received a substantial forecast upgrade but remained constrained by the $2,800 technical ceiling and less consistent ETF flows.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Citi raises Bitcoin price target to $113,000 following ETF recovery

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Citi Lifts Bitcoin Target to $113,000 and Ether Forecast to $3,028

<h2>Liquidations accelerate the selloff as Lighter trading activity stays resilient</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>LIT fell sharply on September 30 after Robinhood chose Bitstamp for perpetual futures offered to eligible U.S. customers.</li><li>The selloff pushed LIT into the $3.70 range and triggered $7.2 million in liquidations, mostly from long positions.</li><li>Lighter Protocol still processed about $1.6 billion in perpetual trades over 24 hours, while its Robinhood integration was not publicly confirmed as terminated.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/review/lighter">Lighter</a>’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/lighter-lit">LIT token</a> fell below $4 on September 30 after Robinhood chose&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bitstamp">Bitstamp</a> for its U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/perpetual-futures">perpetual</a>-<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">futures</a> rollout, reversing part of a September rally that had been fueled by expectations of deeper Robinhood exposure. The LIT price dropped as low as $3.6719 before a modest rebound, while leveraged liquidations intensified the move.LIT had started September near $4.00 and climbed to about $5.60 by September 24, a gain of roughly 40% following the launch of Bitwise’s Lighter Staking ETP. Trader expectations that Lighter could deepen its integration with Robinhood Wallet also supported the rally before the market abruptly repriced those expectations.Robinhood said eligible U.S. customers would access crypto perpetual contracts through Bitstamp, which Robinhood acquired for $200 million in 2025. The initial product list reportedly includes&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">SOL</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dogecoin-doge">DOGE</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/cardano-ada">ADA</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">LINK</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/hyperliquid-hype">HYPE</a>, with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/leverage">leverage</a> of up to 10× on BTC and ETH and up to 3× on the other assets.The announcement pushed LIT through the $4.00 support level that had held since the start of the month. One market snapshot showed the token reaching $3.6719 before recovering to $3.7325. Another put the LIT price at $3.86, down 13% over 24 hours and 26% over seven days, while separate intraday updates placed the token between about $3.70 and $3.89.Whales Premarket said LIT fell more than 14% within minutes and briefly traded around $3.74 after news that Robinhood had selected Bitstamp for perpetuals available to eligible U.S. users. The account also linked Lighter’s earlier rally to expectations surrounding Robinhood.Trading activity surged during the decline. One measurement showed LIT volume rising 183% to $204 million, while another 24-hour snapshot showed $254 million in volume.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Lighter activity holds up despite token weakness</h2>The decline spilled into derivatives as leveraged long positions were automatically closed, adding selling pressure. Longs represented roughly 96% of the reported&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/liquidation">liquidation</a> total. Continued liquidations were identified as a risk to any attempt by LIT to regain the $4.00 area.Lighter Protocol’s underlying trading activity did not fall in line with the token price. The platform processed approximately $1.6 billion in perpetual trades during the preceding 24 hours and carried about $590 million in open interest. Fees also continued to be generated, indicating that traders remained active on the platform during the LIT selloff.That divergence leaves the market repricing expected future economics more quickly than current protocol usage. A decline in activity and fee generation would provide evidence that weaker LIT sentiment was spreading into actual platform use, while sustained trading would leave protocol activity intact despite pressure on the token.Technical levels highlighted before the Robinhood news put primary support at $3.64 and the near-term recovery level at $3.92. Holding support and reclaiming $3.92 was presented as the bullish scenario, while continued trading between the two levels represented the base case. A sustained break below $3.64 was identified as increasing downside risk toward $2.78.Robinhood’s Bitstamp decision does not establish that its existing relationship with Lighter has ended. Robinhood previously integrated Lighter crypto perpetuals into Robinhood Wallet, and its materials continued to describe Lighter as the platform used in eligible jurisdictions. A cited account of the development also said there was no public confirmation that the integration had been terminated.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robinhood routes futures through Bitstamp as LIT token drops

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LIT Slides Below $4 After Robinhood Routes U.S. Perps Through Bitstamp

<h2>Private payments return with transaction limits, Alpha-stage safeguards and a rebuilt network</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Aztec Labs relaunched zk.money on September 29, 2026, bringing its self-custodial private payments wallet back on Aztec Network after a multi-year shutdown.</li><li>The wallet hides balances, payment amounts and counterparties inside Aztec Network, while Ethereum deposits can still expose the sender and amount.</li><li>zk.money returns with strict transaction limits as Aztec Network remains in Alpha and a previously disclosed proof-system flaw awaits a later fix.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Aztec Labs relaunched zk.money on September 29, 2026, bringing its self-custodial privacy&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> back on Aztec Network, its privacy-focused Ethereum&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-2">Layer 2</a>. The rebuilt wallet lets users make payments without publicly exposing balances, payment amounts or counterparties once funds are inside the network, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> deposits remain partly visible.Aztec Labs CEO Joe Andrews said the product is designed around financial confidentiality. “Onchain transactions between two individuals shouldn't mean publishing your financial history to the world,” Andrews said. “zk.money is a self-custodial crypto wallet where your financial history stays yours.”Users can send or request money through readable zk.money handles, such as bob.zk.money, or through shareable payment links. The handles use&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-name-service-ens">Ethereum Name Service</a> technology and can work with applications that support&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-name-service-ens">ENS</a>. Users can also control who is allowed to interact with their handles and can send funds from Ethereum-based exchanges directly to a zk.money handle.The wallet supports&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dai-dai">DAI</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">USDT</a> deposits from Ethereum, but USDC and USDT are converted into DAI when deposited, leaving DAI as the currency used inside zk.money. Andrews said Aztec selected DAI because it is “the most decentralized of the mass-market&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> used today on Ethereum.” Additional assets could be supported later.Privacy does not extend backward to the Ethereum deposit itself. A deposit can reveal the Ethereum sender and amount on the public chain, although the recipient on Aztec can remain private. Subsequent balances and payments inside zk.money are designed to keep equivalent transaction details from appearing publicly.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Alpha launch comes with strict limits and security warnings</h2>Aztec has imposed tight operating limits while the system remains new. Every deposit, payment and withdrawal must stay below the product-level cap shown below, while all users share a network-wide daily deposit allowance.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Shareddailydepositallowance<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">50,000 across all users </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Withdrawalfee<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">0.20 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Item</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Limit or fee</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Maximum deposit, payment or withdrawal</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Below&nbsp;2,500</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Deposit fee</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">0.35plusEthereumtransactionfees</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sponsored transactions</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">100 per user per day</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The shared allowance replenishes over time. Aztec's documentation describes the limits as a safeguard while the system is new and says raising them would require a new contract. “The limits are in place as the system is new, experimental cryptography,” Andrews said. Aztec plans to increase them as confidence grows and a later version becomes available.Sponsored payments depend on a fee-paying contract having enough funds to cover network costs, meaning a payment may have to wait if that contract runs out of funds or cannot cover prevailing fees. Ethereum addresses used for deposits and withdrawals are also screened under a sanctions policy.zk.money remains self-custodial, and Aztec Labs said it cannot spend, move or freeze user funds. A sealed server co-signs operations inside the wallet, but the server cannot independently spend those funds. Users can access zk.money through a web interface or run the software locally.Aztec Network itself remains in an early Alpha phase. Its software has not been fully audited, and Aztec's documentation warns that critical bugs are possible. Contributors disclosed a critical flaw in Aztec's V5 proof system in August 2026, with a fix planned for V6.Andrews said zk.money will launch before that flaw is fixed. A separate system called Oxide will inspect payments for errors caused by network-software bugs, and users are expected to be able to move to the updated network after the fix becomes available.Two older Aztec&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contracts</a> were exploited in June 2026. Aztec said those contracts belonged to separate products that had been shut down years earlier, were not part of the current Aztec Network and did not affect the new zk.money deployment.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>zk.money returns after Aztec rebuilt its privacy infrastructure</h2>The original zk.money launched in 2021 and attracted more than 75,000 unique wallets while processing more than $100 million in transaction volume before being discontinued. The supplied accounts differ on the shutdown date: Andrews said, “We sunset in 2023, not because private payments were a failed thesis, but because they needed infrastructure that did not yet exist,” while another account places the closure in 2024.Andrews said the earlier architecture was the problem rather than demand. “The system back then was very hard to add features and did not scale globally.”Aztec then spent the following years developing Aztec Network as a decentralized Layer 2 capable of supporting private applications. The nonprofit Aztec Foundation now oversees the network, while Aztec Labs develops products on top of it.“Now that the network is live and stewarded via the non-profit Aztec Foundation, our team at Aztec Labs is back shipping open-source privacy products on top of it,” Andrews said.The network also supports Noir, Aztec's programming language for zero-knowledge applications, which Andrews said gives developers more flexibility to add features than the previous system.Aztec Labs plans a mobile application for Q4 2026 and is also working toward&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> integrations on Ethereum during the same quarter. The company was already working with possible DeFi partners but had declined to identify them ahead of future announcements.The relaunch comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-hegota-roadmap">Ethereum's public roadmap</a> calls for privacy to become a “first-class property” of the network. Ethereum developers are also considering privacy-related changes for the planned 2027 Hegotá upgrade that could help privacy applications manage transaction approvals and fees with less dependence on outside services.Aztec has raised $125 million to date, including a $100 million Series B in 2022 backed by a16z crypto and Paradigm.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Aztec Network relaunches zk.money privacy wallet on Ethereum Layer 2

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Aztec Relaunches zk.money Privacy Wallet on Ethereum Layer 2

<h2>NRR brings direct NEAR exposure as Bitwise builds investment case around AI agents</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Bitwise launched NRR on NYSE Arca, giving U.S. investors direct spot exposure to NEAR with staking rewards added to the fund’s net asset value.</li><li>Bitwise is positioning NEAR as infrastructure for an emerging economy of autonomous AI agents.</li><li>Research from Bitwise modeled sharply different long-term outcomes depending on whether decentralized networks or centralized AI platforms dominate.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://bitwiseinvestments.com/newsroom/the-bitwise-near-etf-nrr-launches-as-first-spot-near-etp-in-the-us">launched</a> the Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/near-protocol-near">NEAR</a> ETF, ticker NRR, on September 29, 2026, marking the first U.S. spot exchange-traded product providing direct exposure to NEAR. The fund began trading on NYSE Arca and carries a 0.75% annual management fee. Bitwise plans to stake the fund’s underlying NEAR holdings internally, with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">staking</a> rewards accruing to shareholders through the ETF’s net asset value.The staking component adds a second source of potential return beyond changes in NEAR price. The underlying tokens were described as generating around 5% in annual staking yield. NRR joins Bitwise’s existing lineup of single-asset crypto products, including the Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> ETF, or BITB; Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> ETF, or ETHW; Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a> ETF, or BSOL; Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> ETF, or XRP; and Bitwise&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/hyperliquid">Hyperliquid</a> ETF, or BHYP.Bitwise is tying the launch closely to its view that NEAR could become infrastructure for a growing AI-driven economy. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said, “AI is fundamentally changing how we access information and how economic activity happens.”“We're moving toward a world in which AI agents increasingly act on our behalf, coordinate with one another, and participate in the economy,” Horsley said. “We believe this shift—to an agentic economy where more and more happens through AI agents—could unlock an enormous new frontier for the global economy. NEAR is building a platform for that future.”<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/near-protocol-near">NEAR Protocol</a> is a decentralized proof-of-stake&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> built to simplify the creation and deployment of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralized-application">decentralized applications</a>. The network was described as having 47 million active addresses, ranking second globally by that measure, while transaction activity through NEAR Intents was also described as growing rapidly.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bitwise Models Wide Range for NEAR Through 2030</h2>Bitwise paired the ETF launch with a 40-page&nbsp;<a href="https://bitwiseinvestments.eu/blog/special-reports/the-investment-case-for-near/pdf/Near_investment_case_ENG.pdf">research study</a> from Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan and Head of European Research André Dragosch. Their framework treated NEAR as a possible coordination and transaction layer for autonomous AI agents and modeled a wide range of outcomes depending on how that market develops.Under the most optimistic scenario, labeled the Max Case, NEAR would capture 3% of the global AI-agent market, equal to about 950 million agents. The framework used what Bitwise described as a conservative software-as-a-service valuation method with a 50x price-to-sales multiple.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">NEARcapturesthemodeledshareoftheglobalAI-agenteconomy</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Bearishcase<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">1.63 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Scenario</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Modeled NEAR Value</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Core Assumption</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Max Case</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">562.81</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Centralized AI companies such as OpenAI dominate the agent economy</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The bullish framework compares NEAR’s potential role to Visa’s position in payments, with the blockchain acting as infrastructure that helps autonomous agents coordinate and conduct economic activity. The valuation is a modeled scenario rather than a guaranteed price forecast and depends heavily on AI adoption, decentralized market share, network monetization and the valuation multiple applied to that activity.NEAR was trading around $4.93 with a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market capitalization</a> of approximately $6.5 billion at one market snapshot, placing it among the top 20 non-<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> cryptocurrencies. A separate snapshot placed NEAR price near $4.99. Relative to a price near that level, the Max Case would represent an increase of more than 100 times.Price action during September was characterized by a parabolic move, with NEAR breaking above key moving averages and showing strong momentum. Claims that large investors had begun pricing in NEAR’s AI potential were presented as an interpretation of that market behavior rather than transaction-level evidence identifying the buyers.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Existing Bitwise Funds Provide Early Comparison</h2>NRR enters Bitwise’s lineup after other single-asset products had already accumulated substantial investor flows. The available figures provide a comparison for how much capital different products had attracted.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">XRPfund<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">677 million </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Bitwise Product</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Cumulative Net Inflows</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Solana fund</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">1.23billion</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BHYP</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$148 million</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Expectations cited around the launch suggested NRR could eventually attract capital at a pace comparable with the XRP product, although no specific dollar target or timetable accompanied that expectation.NRR’s investment proposition combines direct exposure to NEAR with staking rewards from the network’s proof-of-stake design. Bitwise is separately using the launch to advance a broader investment thesis that decentralized blockchain infrastructure could serve autonomous AI agents as they coordinate and participate in economic activity.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Bitwise launches spot NEAR ETF NRR featuring direct staking rewards

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Bitwise Launches First U.S. Spot NEAR ETF With Staking

<h2>Crypto company seeks year-end public listing after confidential SEC filing</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Blockchain.com is preparing for a U.S. IPO before the end of 2026, targeting about $500 million in proceeds.</li><li>The company is discussing a valuation of roughly $4 billion to $6 billion with prospective investors.</li><li>Blockchain.com confidentially filed for a proposed IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Blockchain.com is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-28/blockchain-com-is-said-to-target-500-million-ipo-this-year">preparing</a> for a potential U.S. initial public offering before the end of 2026, with the cryptocurrency financial-services company discussing a roughly $500 million raise and a valuation of about $4 billion to $6 billion with prospective investors. The terms remain under discussion and could change before any listing is completed.The latest information was published on September 29, 2026. Blockchain.com is prepared to raise a smaller amount if necessary, making its fundraising figure a target rather than a finalized deal size. People familiar with the discussions said the talks are private and ongoing.Blockchain.com has already taken a formal step toward entering public markets. The London-headquartered company confidentially filed for a proposed IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier in 2026, beginning the regulatory review process while keeping detailed financial information private during the early stages.The company declined to comment on the IPO discussions in one instance and did not respond to a separate request for comment. The proposed valuation, fundraising target and timing therefore remain based on information from people familiar with the discussions rather than finalized offering terms confirmed directly by Blockchain.com.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Blockchain.com Pushes Ahead After Three Profitable Years</h2>Founded in 2011 by three members of BitcoinTalk.org, one of the earliest online&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> forums, Blockchain.com provides cryptocurrency services including an exchange, crypto wallets, trading and lending products.People familiar with Blockchain.com's finances said the business has operated “in the green” for the past three years. No specific revenue, net income, EBITDA or cash-flow figures accompanied that characterization.The potential listing comes as cryptocurrency markets recover from a prolonged downturn. The first half of the year was described as a depressed period for the sector, with asset prices strengthening during the last couple of months after weakness earlier in the year.That backdrop followed a more active period for crypto-related public listings during 2025, when Circle,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/table">Gemini</a> Space Station,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bullish">Bullish</a> and eToro Group entered public markets.Performance since those listings has been mixed. Gemini shares had fallen more than 80% since the company's IPO, while eToro shares had declined about 50% since going public as Bitcoin and other digital assets weakened.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Company</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Post-IPO share performance</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Gemini Space Station</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down more than 80%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">eToro Group</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down about 50%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Blockchain.com's planned flotation would follow those listings as the company seeks to complete its own public-market debut before year-end. Its confidential SEC filing has already occurred, while the fundraising amount and valuation remain proposed terms being discussed with prospective investors.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot carefully charting Blockchain.com's $6B [IPO] valuation climb in London

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Blockchain.com Targets $500 Million IPO at Up to $6 Billion Valuation

<h2>New verifier controls arrive alongside a bank-facing connection to Swift’s tokenized-deposit ledger</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Chainlink’s CCIP 2.0 lets asset issuers add independent cryptographic checks, transfer-speed settings and compliance controls to cross-chain transfers.</li><li>Required Cross-Chain Verifiers can delay destination delivery when a mandatory attestation is unavailable, though no confirmed issuer-blocked transfer was identified.</li><li>Chainlink is also connecting banks to Swift’s tokenized-deposit ledger while banks retain authorization keys and existing settlement processes.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> launched&nbsp;<a href="https://chain.link/blog/introducing-ccip-2-0">CCIP 2.0</a> on September 28, 2026, adding issuer-configurable Cross-Chain Verifiers, transfer-speed controls and compliance tools for digital assets moving across blockchains. The upgrade keeps Chainlink’s standard verification layer in place while allowing issuers to require extra cryptographic approvals for selected transfers, creating a design in which destination delivery can remain pending if a required verifier does not provide its attestation.CCIP 2.0 uses an additive verification model. The default Chainlink Committee Verifier remains active, while issuers can attach independent Cross-Chain Verifiers, or CCVs, to transactions that meet selected criteria. Chainlink’s example uses transfers above $1 million, where an additional approval could be required. The threshold illustrates the mechanism rather than establishing a network-wide rule.The default Committee Verifier consists of 16 independent, security-reviewed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/node">node</a> operators. Supplementary CCVs can impose additional approval conditions without replacing that committee, allowing different transactions to use different security policies.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Required verifiers can leave destination transfers pending</h2>CCIP’s OnRamp assembles the verifier requirements for a transfer before the token pool locks or burns assets on the source&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a>. Off-chain verifier services then monitor the source-chain event, apply their finality rules and produce cryptographic attestations.The destination-side OffRamp checks every required attestation before tokens are released or minted. If a mandatory additional verifier becomes unavailable or does not provide its proof, the source-side operation can succeed while destination delivery remains pending.Token-only transfers that do not call a receiver contract avoid separate receiver-side verifier checks, but they still must satisfy the mandatory attestations configured earlier in the CCIP process.Chainlink’s launch information did not identify a specific asset or transfer lane where an issuer-operated CCV had already been used to block a live transfer. The design allows a transfer to be delayed when a required verifier is unresponsive, but no confirmed case of an issuer deliberately freezing a CCIP transfer was identified.Execution remains permissionless once all required proofs exist. Chainlink’s default executor generally submits the destination transaction, but another party can execute it manually. A missing mandatory attestation cannot be bypassed through manual execution.Unprocessed messages remain marked “UNTOUCHED.” A transaction that reaches the OffRamp but fails execution is marked “FAILURE” and can be retried after the underlying problem is fixed. The automated retry period is currently eight hours.CCIP 2.0 also supports configurable finality speeds. Faster-than-finality transfers are available, while full source-chain finality remains the default security setting. Transfer timing and verifier requirements are separate configuration choices.Chainlink also added compliance functionality through its Automated Compliance Engine, which supports know-your-customer checks, anti-money-laundering controls, sanctions screening and transaction limits.Chainlink framed the launch in broader institutional terms, saying: “CCIP 2.0 is officially live. The infrastructure for the next $600 trillion in onchain finance is now in your hands.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>LINK rises as CCIP 2.0 goes live</h2><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">LINK</a> moved sharply higher around the rollout, although no causal link between the upgrade and the price move was established.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">24-hourchange<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Morethan10%</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Seven-daychange<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">17%</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Seven-dayrange<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">12.10 to&nbsp;15.50</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Nextcitedhurdle<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">16-$17 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">All-timehigh<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">52.70 </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Reported value</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">LINK price snapshot</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $15.28</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Second LINK price snapshot</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About&nbsp;15.20</td></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Cited upside area after a sustained breakout</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Around&nbsp;20</td></tr><tr></tr> </tbody> </table></div>Gordon wrote on September 29: “We saw&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/quant-qnt">QNT</a> pull a 6x /&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/hedera-hashgraph-hbar">HBAR</a> began to pump / The next utility coin to see a big move will be / $LINK / I’ll come back to this.” The statement was market commentary rather than evidence linking CCIP 2.0 to LINK’s move.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Chainlink connects banks to Swift’s tokenized-deposit ledger</h2>Chainlink is also providing banks with a connection layer for Swift’s developing tokenized-deposit ledger. Chainlink’s September 28 announcement said banks retain the keys used to authorize transactions while the Chainlink Runtime Environment, or CRE, coordinates workflows connecting bank systems, Swift’s ledger and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contracts</a>.The setup follows a self-signing model. Banks remain responsible for transaction authorization rather than handing control to an outside network, while shared infrastructure coordinates programmable payment instructions.Swift’s blockchain ledger operates as an orchestration layer rather than replacing the settlement system beneath it. Final settlement can continue through existing mechanisms, including real-time gross settlement systems.Tokenized deposits also remain distinct from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>. The deposits stay as liabilities of their issuing banks and remain on bank-controlled ledgers, allowing institutions to extend payment availability outside normal banking hours without moving customer funds into a separate third-party token.Swift said the ledger was designed with more than 40 financial institutions, with 17 first movers piloting tokenized-deposit transactions. Swift’s wider network connects more than 11,500 financial institutions and corporate users across more than 200 markets. Those figures show the scale of the existing network but do not establish how many institutions will ultimately adopt the ledger.Banks still have to demonstrate that tokenized deposits can operate across different balance sheets, jurisdictions and settlement arrangements while handling reconciliation failures, liquidity gaps, sanctions screening, failed transactions and cross-institution disputes.The Swift and CCIP initiatives use different infrastructure but follow the same basic Chainlink approach: connect existing institutional systems to programmable networks while allowing issuers and banks to retain their own security, authorization and compliance controls.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Chainlink robot pauses cross-chain transfer at required verifier security checkpoint

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Chainlink Launches CCIP 2.0 With Custom Cross-Chain Verification

<h2>Clearing registration completes Coinbase’s regulated U.S. derivatives infrastructure while margined products stay with partners</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The CFTC registered Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization, completing Coinbase’s exchange, brokerage and clearing infrastructure.</li><li>Coinbase Clearing can handle fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps using USDC as collateral with around-the-clock settlement.</li><li>Margined derivatives, including planned Apple, Tesla and Nvidia single-stock perpetuals, will continue clearing through existing partners.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The Commodity Futures Trading Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cftc.gov/IndustryOversight/IndustryFilings/ClearingOrganizations/64361">registered</a> Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization on September 28, 2026, giving Coinbase its own regulated clearinghouse for fully collateralized derivatives and completing the company’s end-to-end U.S. derivatives infrastructure.<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> already operated Coinbase&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/derivatives">Derivatives</a>, LLC as a designated contract market and Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc. as a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">futures</a> commission merchant. Coinbase Clearing adds the remaining clearing layer, which sits between derivatives trades and ensures obligations are settled. The structure gives Coinbase control over product listing, customer access and clearing for contracts covered by the new registration.“Today’s CFTC approval completes Coinbase’s end-to-end derivatives infrastructure,” Molly Abraham, the company’s general counsel, said.Coinbase said owning the clearinghouse will reduce its reliance on outside providers when building eligible products. “For the first time, we can create and settle fully collateralized contracts directly,” the company said, adding that the structure is expected to support faster product development and fewer dependencies when new products are launched.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Coinbase Builds USDC Into the Clearing Layer</h2>The CFTC registration allows Coinbase Clearing to handle fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps. Coinbase is positioning the business as the first&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a>-native clearinghouse, accepting USDC as collateral and supporting settlement 24 hours a day.Coinbase called the system “purpose-built for the always-on markets of the future.” Traditional clearinghouses generally rely on cash and Treasuries and operate around banking schedules, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> collateral removes a banking-calendar constraint that can otherwise affect weekend derivatives activity.The approval does not move Coinbase’s entire derivatives business onto its own clearinghouse. Margined derivatives remain with outside clearing providers because Coinbase Clearing’s current scope covers fully collateralized contracts.That distinction includes Coinbase’s planned single-stock&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/perpetual-futures">perpetual futures</a> tied to Apple, Tesla and Nvidia. Those products will continue to clear through existing partners rather than Coinbase Clearing.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Kraken Parent Took an Acquisition Route</h2>Coinbase built its exchange, brokerage and clearing registrations internally, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a> parent Payward used an acquisition to assemble a similar derivatives structure.Payward paid $550 million for Bitnomial in 2025, gaining a combination of exchange and clearinghouse registrations. Payward plans to use that infrastructure for perpetual futures offered to U.S. clients through&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/hyperliquid">Hyperliquid</a>, with Bitnomial creating and clearing the market while it runs on a public&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a>.Coinbase now holds the licenses needed to pursue a comparable vertically integrated structure, although Coinbase has not announced such a plan.The clearing approval arrived during a broader expansion of Coinbase’s financial infrastructure. Also on Monday,<a href="https://coin360.com/news/citi-coinbase-stablecoin-payments-businesses">&nbsp;Coinbase expanded its relationship with Citi</a> to let the bank’s institutional clients accept stablecoin payments at checkout.The previous week, Coinbase introduced fixed-rate USDC loans backed by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> through&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/morpho-morpho">Morpho</a>. Coinbase also launched tokenized stocks on Base for non-U.S. users in August 2026.The new clearing registration adds regulated derivatives settlement to that broader push across stablecoin payments, lending, tokenized securities and blockchain-based financial products. Coinbase’s infrastructure is now complete at the licensing level for its regulated derivatives business, while the clearing scope remains limited to fully collateralized contracts.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Coinbase robot completes regulated derivatives clearing infrastructure across connected financial layers

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Coinbase Gets CFTC Approval for USDC-Native Derivatives Clearinghouse

Europe is now one of the key regulatory fronts in the crypto war. The U.S. has tended to navigate court cases and enforcement actions, while the European Union has pursued a more well-defined rulebook with MiCA, its Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. It's important for Ripple, as the company's long-term narrative has always been pegged to regulated financial use cases rather than retail trading hype.However, the larger question may be whether Europe will provide Ripple with the regulatory clarity it needs to shift the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.binance.com/en/price/xrp">price of xrp today</a> from a crypto asset debate to a more widely accepted element of cross-border payments and institutional digital finance.<h2>Why MiCA Matters for Ripple</h2>Firstly,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica">MiCA</a> introduces a clearer path for crypto firms to conduct business in the EEA through licensed crypto-asset service providers. That's valuable for Ripple. For years, the company has been gearing up around compliance, payments, custody, stablecoins, and institutional settlement.That makes Europe attractive. Rather than setting up country-by-country in a fragmented market, a MiCA-aligned business can achieve a single regulatory path across a significantly larger region. This isn't a cure-all, but it provides a more consistent base.Ripple's European strategy also aligns with the overall trajectory of Europe's finances. European banks, payments, and fintech are already experimenting with tokenization, stablecoins, and faster settlement systems. Ripple would like to be among the companies already at the table if digital assets become more entrenched in regulated finance.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>XRP Could Benefit From Regulatory Clarity</h2>XRP has often been viewed in light of the legal uncertainty. That has complicated some institutions' ability to consider the asset as standard financial infrastructure. While MiCA is not the answer to all global regulatory problems, it is a step towards establishing a more transparent regulatory landscape in the EU.Such clarity can aid XRP in two ways. To begin with, it could help regulated firms view XRP-related infrastructure with less uncertainty. Second, it could bolster the broader XRP Ledger economy, particularly if additional tokenized assets, stablecoins or payment products are developed to rely on compliant rails.But this isn't necessarily a positive for XRP's price, as MiCA doesn't automatically lead to a price rise. The crypto&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/?dependsOn=marketCap">market</a> remains dependent on liquidity, sentiment, exchange flows and overall market conditions. Regulation, however, can influence confidence and it is important in the context of institutional partners.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Exchanges Show Why Compliance Is Now the Main Story</h2>It's helpful to compare with Binance. Binance is one of the most significant global crypto platforms; however, its European standing has been under strain due to MiCA, which requires stronger licensing, governance, and anti-money laundering regulations. That's how far the market has come.Scale was more important than regulation in the previous crypto cycle. But the larger exchanges and tokens were the first to have users and then deal with compliance. MiCA turns this model on its head. Permission to operate is increasingly a factor in product demand in Europe.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Europe Could Become a Payments Testing Ground</h2>Ripple's best bet in Europe might not be XRP trading. It may be payments. Europe has a big cross-border economy, a lot of financial institutions, prominent fintech hubs and a regulatory framework that is attempting to move crypto into the mainstream, not just on the margins.That provides Ripple with some space to explore use cases in settlement, liquidity, and value transfer via tokens. While XRP will always be a bridge asset, it's not the only thing Ripple has in mind for its ecosystem.This broader strategy might be significant. Certain financial institutions might want to consider using stablecoins for some transactions, and others could consider using XRP for liquidity or settlement. Ripple doesn't have to rely solely on XRP to support all use cases. It requires the XRP Ledger ecosystem to be sufficiently useful for XRP to be relevant to it.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Exchanges Still Matter for XRP Access</h2>But even with greater institutional confidence in Europe, exchanges will be relevant to Ripple's success. Liquid venues are essential for retail and pro users to facilitate their purchase, sale and movement of XRP. Binance has always had a significant impact on the global liquidity of the crypto sector, including XRP trades, and with the introduction of MiCA, the importance of exchange licenses has grown more pronounced.Other exchanges that comply with the regulations may benefit if Binance is restricted in Europe. That might shift the liquidity position for European XRP. It can also spur users to move towards platforms more aligned with MiCA rules.The best-case scenario for XRP is the widespread adoption on regulated European platforms, robust liquidity, and an expanding array of use cases beyond speculation.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Could Europe Become Ripple’s Most Important Market?</h2>Europe has a good argument for itself. It provides regulatory certainty, a huge financial market, a need for cross-border payment innovation, and an environment that incentivizes businesses to act within the formal rules. That is better for Ripple than just a hype-driven market, anyway.The challenge is doing it. Still, Ripple requires adoption from banks, fintechs and payment companies and also from asset issuers. XRP also has to demonstrate its ability to operate alongside this activity and to capture value from it.However, MiCA does provide Ripple with one thing that all crypto companies are looking for: a roadmap. With Binance and other major companies being affected by the stricter regulations, Europe might actually be anything but a region where Ripple can do as it pleases. It may turn out to be the testing ground for its regulated crypto finance plan.

XRP coin illustrates Ripple’s MiCA-driven European payments and regulation strategy.

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XRP and MiCA - Could Europe Become Ripple’s Most Important Market?

Vitalik Buterin outlines Ethereum post Hegota cryptographic world computer roadmap

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Vitalik Buterin Maps Ethereum Toward a ‘Cryptographic World Computer’ After Hegota

<h2>Onchain trail ties repeated memecoin launches to shared wallets, bundled buys and recycled funds</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Onchain analyst Wazz alleged one operation extracted at least $18.43 million across 53 Robinhood Chain memecoin launches.</li><li>Independent transaction checks confirmed recurring concentrated launches and traced one funding path from DRAFT proceeds into DEED wallets.</li><li>The full $18.43 million estimate and attribution of all 53 launches to one operator were not independently replicated.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>A pseudonymous onchain analyst known as Wazz&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/WazzCrypto/status/2104194307628621976">alleged</a> that one coordinated operation extracted at least $18.43 million from 53 memecoin launches on Robinhood Chain between July 10 and Sept. 21, 2026. Transaction reviews independently confirmed several patterns identified by Wazz, including concentrated opening purchases and one funding trail linking DRAFT proceeds to DEED-related wallets, but did not independently reproduce the analyst’s full loss estimate or establish that a single operator controlled every launch.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2104194307628621976_20260929_004157_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2104194307628621976_20260929_004157_via_10015_io_1a679d6f2f.webp"></figure>Wazz said nearly every token launch was sniped for at least 70% of its supply, typically through groups of about 70 to 200 wallets. Most launches used Pons V2, a token launchpad on Robinhood Chain. Wazz said 45 launches were linked by tracing payments from one launch’s collection&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> into the funding wallet for another, while four were connected through reused&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/private-key">private keys</a> and another four through a shared collector wallet.“The proceeds of one launch pay the key that funds the next,” Wazz said.The three largest alleged extractions were CRUMBS, LEGS and PINK.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">LEGS<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">2.9 million </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Token</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Alleged extraction</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">CRUMBS</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">3.12million</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">PINK</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$1.44 million</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>CRUMBS promoted a system that would “turn eligible receipts into stock-token rewards from the companies you already shop with.” Wazz also identified at least two other serial token deployers but said they could not be connected to the same group. Most suspected proceeds remained in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a>, and Wazz calculated dollar values using ETH’s value around the time each launch or sale occurred.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Pons V2 exemptions preceded concentrated opening buys</h2>Pons V2 sells tokens through a bonding curve and applies a 99% “snipe tax” to purchases during the first seconds after launch, with that tax falling to zero after about five seconds. Creators can exempt up to 32 addresses, including for “a team bundling its opening buys across several wallets.”Wazz’s investigation included a table covering 11 launches, 10 of which used Pons V2. Transaction reviews matched all 10 of those Pons V2 launches. Across nine launches from late August onward, creators exempted about 15 to 25 wallets from the tax. One to three&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blocks">blocks</a> later, a single transaction bought tokens simultaneously for those exempt wallets.Each of those bundled opening transactions emptied the bonding curve and moved the token into a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/uniswap-uni">Uniswap</a> v4 pool. Following the buys, the creator and exempt wallets collectively controlled about 82% to 86% of supply.All nine bundled buys went through the same unverified&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contract</a>, created on Aug. 28, 2026. Wazz said the contract belonged to a commercial bundling tool used by unrelated customers, so use of that contract alone did not establish common control. Of the 53 launches on Wazz’s list, 25 used the contract. The operator of the commercial tool could not be determined.An earlier EQUITY launch on Aug. 12 showed a similar pattern before that contract existed. The creator exempted 31 wallets, and 21 bought within roughly one second using separate transactions. The creator and participating wallets then held 65.7% of supply.Wazz also identified three launches each named CRUMBS, PINK and DEED, with each same-name group appearing within roughly one day. The analyst alleged the operator used duplicate names to launch fake versions of highly anticipated tokens before later announcing what was presented as the genuine contract&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a>.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>DRAFT funds flowed into DEED-linked wallets</h2>DEED prompted Wazz’s broader investigation, and the DRAFT-to-DEED funding path was independently traced transaction by transaction.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Time</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Observed movement</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sept. 14, 9:36 a.m. ET</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">98 former DRAFT holders sent a combined 179.88 ETH to one address within three seconds.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sept. 21, 7:09 p.m. ET</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Wallet 0x9d06 sent 50 ETH to another address.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sept. 21, 7:11 p.m. ET</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">That address sent 20 ETH to wallet 0xf268.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">16 seconds later</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">0xf268 distributed 15.98 ETH to 50 addresses in one batch.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sept. 21, 7:51 p.m. ET</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">DEED launched about 40 minutes after the funding operation.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The batch recipients included DEED’s creator, the wallet that paid for its opening purchase and the other 24 wallets exempted from Pons V2’s anti-sniping tax. After the opening buy, the creator and exempt wallets controlled 86% of DEED’s supply.Wallet 0x9d06 also helped fund another DEED token that day. At 5:53 p.m. ET, it sent 18 ETH to another address, which funded the other DEED token’s opening-purchase wallet less than one minute later.Selling started almost immediately. Ninety-two wallets funded by 0xf268 received 130.75 ETH from selling DEED into its Uniswap liquidity pool, beginning one second after launch. DEED’s creator separately withdrew 69.06 ETH from Pons’ fee escrow contract.Those flows totaled about 199.8 ETH, valued at roughly $535,000 at the time. Wazz calculated DEED proceeds at 228.92 ETH using 98 wallets and 67.55 ETH of creator fees. Wazz said subtracting the initial funding reduced that figure to 212.94 ETH.Funds later moved beyond Robinhood Chain. On Sept. 24, wallet 0x9d06 deposited about 86.5 ETH into a Relay cross-chain bridge contract. Relay delivered about 86.3 ETH to an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> wallet, where it was exchanged for roughly 231,000&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dai-dai">DAI</a>. The DAI moved to a new address the next day and remained there as of Sunday, Sept. 27.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Robinhood Chain activity grew alongside memecoin launches</h2><a href="https://coin360.com/news/robinhood-chain-tokenized-stocks-crypto-expansion">Robinhood Chain publicly launched</a> on July 1, 2026, as an Ethereum&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-2">Layer 2</a> built with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/arbitrum-arb">Arbitrum</a>’s technology stack. The network was positioned around financial services and tokenized&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/rwa-crypto-assets">real-world assets</a>, while memecoins and stock-linked tokens quickly became major sources of trading activity.Pons-related activity helped push Robinhood Chain to a record $6 million in fees in a single day earlier in September.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robinhood Chain onchain analyst investigating memecoin rug pull wallet network

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Analyst Links 53 Robinhood Chain Tokens to Alleged $18.43 Million Rug Pull

<h2>New integration connects corporate bank accounts, stablecoin conversion and merchant settlement</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Citi and Coinbase expanded their partnership to connect traditional banking infrastructure with stablecoin payments for businesses.</li><li>Coinbase will use Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet and add its payment infrastructure to Spring by Citi.</li><li>Merchants can accept stablecoin payments without directly holding or managing the digital assets.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Citigroup and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> expanded their digital-asset partnership to give businesses a direct link between traditional banking systems and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> payments, with the companies extending the relationship into corporate accounts, merchant acceptance and fiat-to-stablecoin conversion. The expanded arrangement was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/citi-expands-digital-assets-footprint-with-coinbase-partnership-8e97a7b9">reported</a> on September 28, 2026, and will initially launch in the United States.Coinbase will use Citi’s Virtual Account Wallet to power Coinbase Virtual Accounts, which provide customers with bank-account-like functionality for accepting, holding and sending funds. Incoming fiat sent into those accounts will be automatically converted into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>.Citi will provide the regulated banking infrastructure behind the accounts through its Banking-as-a-Service offering. The setup is designed to let businesses handle fiat and stablecoin transactions through connected infrastructure instead of building separate banking and digital-asset systems.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Coinbase Payments Connect to Spring by Citi</h2>The partnership will also bring Coinbase’s payments infrastructure to Spring by Citi, the bank’s payment-acceptance platform. Citi institutional clients will be able to receive stablecoin payments from customers without directly holding or managing the digital assets themselves.Coinbase will handle the stablecoin portion of each transaction and automatically convert the payment into fiat currency. Citi will then settle the funds to merchants while acting as the bank of record.“Citi’s institutional clients can now accept stablecoin payments at checkout without holding or managing stablecoins directly,” the announcement said.Additional capabilities are expected in the coming months as Citi and Coinbase extend an existing digital-asset relationship that began with a broader institutional payments collaboration announced in October 2025. That earlier cooperation focused on enabling institutional users to move between traditional fiat currencies and digital assets while examining additional methods for fiat-to-stablecoin conversion.The latest expansion shifts that relationship further into business payment acceptance. Businesses using Coinbase Virtual Accounts can receive conventional money that is converted into stablecoins, while merchants using Spring by Citi can receive stablecoin payments that Coinbase converts into fiat before Citi completes settlement.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Citi Builds Out Custody and Tokenization Services</h2>Citi has organized its broader digital-asset strategy around four areas: expanding Citi Token Services, improving&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/interoperability">interoperability</a> between financial and digital-asset systems, developing crypto custody and tokenization services, and providing banking infrastructure to virtual-asset service providers.The bank has positioned that strategy around connecting fiat currencies, stablecoins and other tokenized assets through regulated banking infrastructure.Citi added another part of that effort in August 2026 when it unveiled Custody+, a custody platform intended to operate alongside its conventional custody services. Citi said it planned to support custody of native digital assets before the end of 2026, beginning with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>.The bank also entered tokenized securities in June 2026 with Digital Depositary Receipts representing shares in private companies. The instruments use regulated&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> infrastructure operated by SIX, with Citi serving as issuer and custodian.Citi has also become the first U.S. bank to process live native transactions on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, adding another blockchain-based service to its institutional infrastructure push.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Banks Broaden Stablecoin Initiatives</h2>The Citi-Coinbase expansion comes as other banking and payments initiatives extend stablecoin services across U.S. financial institutions.Earlier in September 2026, Coinbase partnered with payments provider Moov to bring stablecoin payment services to more than 1,000 U.S. community banks and credit unions.A separate consortium of<a href="https://coin360.com/news/financial-institutions-stablecoin-venture-2027">&nbsp;21 major global financial institutions</a>, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank, has announced plans to launch a dollar-denominated stablecoin venture in the first half of 2027.U.S. Bancorp has also announced plans to introduce a dollar-pegged stablecoin.Citi’s arrangement with Coinbase follows a different model. Rather than requiring merchants to manage stablecoins themselves, Coinbase handles the digital-asset processing and conversion layer while Citi provides regulated accounts, settlement and banking services.The structure also enables two-way movement between fiat and stablecoins. Fiat entering Coinbase Virtual Accounts can be converted into stablecoins, while stablecoin payments received through Spring by Citi can be converted into fiat before merchants receive settlement from Citi.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQ</h2>What does Citi provide in the partnership?Citi provides regulated banking infrastructure, account services and merchant settlement.What does Coinbase handle?Coinbase manages stablecoin processing and converts payments between fiat and stablecoins.How do Coinbase Virtual Accounts work?They let customers accept, hold and send funds while incoming fiat is converted into stablecoins.How can Citi clients accept stablecoin payments?Spring by Citi clients can receive them without directly holding or managing the stablecoins.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Citi and Coinbase partner on stablecoin business payments integration

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Citi and Coinbase Expand Stablecoin Payments Partnership for Businesses

<h2>September 28 disclosures show continued Bitcoin accumulation and Bitmine nearing its 5% Ethereum target</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Strategy bought 1,665 BTC for about $142.7 million, lifting its Bitcoin holdings to 847,666 BTC.</li><li>Strive added 1,107 BTC for $94.5 million, taking its treasury to 27,462 BTC.</li><li>Bitmine bought 17,362 ETH and raised its Ether holdings above 6 million ETH, or more than 4.9% of circulating supply.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Strategy, Strive and Bitmine disclosed new cryptocurrency purchases on September 28, 2026, extending corporate treasury&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/accumulation">accumulation</a> across&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether</a>. Strategy increased its holdings to 847,666&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>, Strive reached 27,462 BTC, and Tom Lee-chaired Bitmine crossed 6 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> as it moved closer to its stated goal of holding 5% of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>’s supply.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Strategy Adds 1,665 Bitcoin as Treasury Reaches 847,666 BTC</h2>Strategy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1050446/000119312526403417/mstr-20260914.htm">acquired</a> 1,665 BTC for approximately $142.7 million between September 21 and September 27, paying an average of $85,681 per Bitcoin. The purchase raised its total holdings to 847,666 BTC, representing more than 4% of Bitcoin’s maximum 21 million-coin supply.Michael Saylor, Strategy co-founder and executive chairman, said the company had spent approximately $64 billion, including fees and expenses, acquiring its Bitcoin position at an average price of $75,437 per BTC. At the valuation cited with the disclosure, the treasury was worth about $70.6 billion, implying roughly $6.6 billion in paper gains.Strategy funded the latest transaction with $103.5 million from sales of MSTR shares and $48.1 million from its USD Cash reserve. The company sold 1,469,165 MSTR shares during the week for approximately $246.2 million and still had about $18.84 billion available for issuance under its at-the-market program as of September 27.Strategy also repurchased 1,534,530 STRC preferred shares for approximately $151.7 million and used $22.1 million from its USD Reserve for preferred-stock dividend payments. Its USD Reserve stood at $5.02 billion, while USD Cash totaled $1 billion.Saylor had posted Strategy’s Bitcoin acquisition tracker on the preceding Sunday with the caption, “A little more orange.” Similar tracker posts have often preceded purchase announcements, although Strategy’s recent buying schedule had become less consistent.Strategy also proposed moving STRC, STRD, STRF and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/starknet-token-strk">STRK</a> to daily dividend payments, subject to shareholder approval on October 28, 2026. The change would not alter dividend rates or increase total regular dividend obligations. STRC would move first, with an initial record date of November 1 and payment the following day, while STRF, STRD and STRK would follow in January. STRC shareholders had previously approved a shift from monthly to semi-monthly dividends in June 2026.MSTR closed Friday at $158.61 after gaining 16.1% during the week. The stock was up 2.6% year to date but remained 65% lower over the previous year. Bitcoin gained 3.6% during the same week.The broader public-company Bitcoin market cited alongside the disclosure included 195 companies using some form of Bitcoin-acquisition strategy.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Company</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Bitcoin Holdings</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Twenty One</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">43,514 BTC</td></tr> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Metaplanet</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">43,000 BTC</td></tr> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">MARA</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">35,577 BTC</td></tr> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">30,021 BTC</td></tr> </tbody> </table></div><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Strive Extends Weekly Bitcoin Buying Streak</h2>Strive CEO Matt Cole said the company acquired 1,107 BTC for $94.5 million at an average cost of $85,396 per Bitcoin.“Strive acquired 1,107 $BTC for $94.5M at an average cost of $85,396 per Bitcoin, bringing total holdings to 27,462 [Bitcoin],” Cole said.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2104541893300568088_20260928_213300_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2104541893300568088_20260928_213300_via_10015_io_1e37330f0a.webp"></figure>Strive’s total position had an estimated average purchase price of approximately $80,862 per Bitcoin. With Bitcoin trading at approximately $83,300 at the time cited, the treasury was valued at roughly $2.3 billion and remained slightly above its aggregate acquisition cost.Cole also said warrant exercises generated another $12.4 million. After including those proceeds, 85% of Strive’s total capital raised had come from SATA, its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock. SATA is a publicly traded preferred-equity investment structured as a digital credit product.The purchase marked at least nine consecutive weeks of Bitcoin acquisitions for Strive. Its recent buying continued during weeks when Strategy was not purchasing Bitcoin or was selling.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bitmine Crosses 6 Million ETH and Expands Staking</h2>Bitmine&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/bitmine-immersion-technologies-bmnr-announces-eth-holdings-reach-over-6-million-tokens-with-total-crypto-cash--marketable-securities-holdings-of-17-2-billion-302891187.html">bought</a> another 17,362 ETH after its previous update on September 21, raising total Ether holdings to 6,001,302 ETH. Its ETH position was worth approximately $16.1 billion at the cited price.“Bitmine's total ETH holdings now exceed 6 million. This is a tremendous achievement, accumulating this total in under 15 months,” Tom Lee said.Bitmine’s Ether represented more than 4.9% of Ethereum’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/circulating-supply">circulating supply</a> of approximately 122.1 million ETH. The company calls its 5% treasury objective the “Alchemy of 5%” target and had reached about 98% of that goal.Lee said Bitmine was already seeing “synergies and positive network effects” from approaching the 5% threshold.The latest 17,362 ETH was worth approximately $46.7 million at the market price cited at the time, although that figure represented a current valuation rather than the disclosed purchase cost.Bitmine reported $17.2 billion in crypto holdings, cash, marketable securities and other investments. Its balance sheet also included the following positions:<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">EightcoHoldingsinvestment<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">115 million</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Cashandmarketablesecurities<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">672 million</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Asset or Investment</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Amount</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">213 BTC, valued at approximately&nbsp;17.8million</td></tr><tr></tr> <tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Beast Industries stake</td><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">180million</td></tr><tr></tr> </tbody> </table></div>Bitmine had 5,067,309 ETH staked as of September 27, valued at approximately $13.6 billion and equal to 84% of its total ETH holdings.“Bitmine has staked more ETH than other entities in the world,” Lee said.Lee said fully&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">staking</a> Bitmine’s ETH through MAVAN and its staking partners could generate $424 million in annualized staking rewards. At the existing staking level, projected annualized revenue stood at $358 million. Bitmine’s own staking operations generated a seven-day yield equivalent to 2.62% annualized.Lee also said, “Moreover, we continue to see affirming signs that a crypto&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/bull-market">bull market</a> is underway, having started in late June.”He said institutions remained underweight crypto and expected them to increase exposure during the final months of 2026. Lee also said ETH was outperforming by 6,728 basis points, or 67.28 percentage points, for the calendar quarter to date with slightly more than one week left in the third quarter.Bitmine remained the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury holder in the comparison cited. Sharplink held approximately 888,938 ETH, while The Ether Machine held approximately 496,712 ETH. Bitmine was also ranked as the second-largest public crypto treasury company overall behind Strategy.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Strategy treasury robot stacking bitcoin blocks after acquiring 1665 BTC

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Strategy, Strive and Bitmine Expand Crypto Treasuries With Fresh BTC and ETH Purchases

<h2>Exchange resumes services in phases while stolen assets are converted through THORChain</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Bitget began restoring withdrawals after containing a breach tied to a third-party security product.</li><li>Bitcoin withdrawals returned first, with Ethereum, USDT and other services scheduled to follow.</li><li>ZachXBT said Chinese illicit actors are laundering funds from the attack for alleged DPRK-linked attackers using bridges and mixing services.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitget-token-bgb">Bitget</a> began&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/bitget/status/2104489868722327700?s=20">restoring withdrawals</a> on September 28, 2026, four days after a security breach triggered unauthorized transfers from its hot and warm wallets. The exchange said about&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/bitget-hack-387m-recovery-bounty">$388 million in assets were stolen</a> after attackers exploited a third-party security product, obtained high-level internal credentials and bypassed withdrawal risk controls without stealing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/private-key">private keys</a>.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2104489868722327700_6a27f7f5e5.png" alt="tweet-2104489868722327700.png"></figure>Unauthorized activity began at about 6:31 p.m. UTC on September 24. Bitget said the attacker used compromised credentials to send fraudulent withdrawal instructions across multiple networks. “The attacker then used these credentials to send fraudulent withdrawal commands to the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> system, causing it to execute abnormal transfers that bypassed risk controls,” Bitget said.Assets affected included&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">USDT</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/binance-coin-bnb">BNB</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/avalanche-avax">AVAX</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tron-trx">Tron</a>-based tokens. About $185 million was moved within a single minute. Bitget said user balances, cold wallets and its separate self-custodial wallet service were not affected.Loss estimates increased as tracing continued. The initial estimate was $351.6 million before later tracing raised the confirmed total to about $387.5 million. Bitget subsequently confirmed the roughly $388 million figure. The theft was identified as the largest reported crypto theft of 2026 to that point, surpassing incidents involving KelpDAO and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/drift-drift">Drift</a> Protocol.Bitget said it patched the vulnerability, contained the incident and detected no further unauthorized transfers. Losses would be covered by the Bitget User Protection Fund, which held 5,500&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Withdrawals Return Chain by Chain</h2>Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said during a September 28 livestream that the incident affected withdrawal infrastructure across multiple chains and assets, requiring separate security checks before each withdrawal route could reopen. Chen said the suspension was a security measure rather than a result of insufficient user assets.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Bitget CEO: Why Withdrawals Were Paused and Restored in Phases Bitget CEO Gracy Chen <a href="https://x.com/GracyBitget?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GracyBitget</a> said during a September 28 livestream that the security incident affected the exchange’s withdrawal infrastructure across multiple chains and assets. As a result, each chain had to… <a href="https://t.co/Oj89sqhGQD">pic.twitter.com/Oj89sqhGQD</a>— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) <a href="https://x.com/WuBlockchain/status/2104521928526758181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> withdrawals resumed first because the BTC withdrawal pipeline had not been affected by the attack and was the first to complete preparations. Bitget said 4,098 BTC withdrawal transactions had been processed after service resumed.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Service</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Scheduled restoration</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Networks</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BTC withdrawals</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">September 28, 8 a.m. UTC</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin, BSC</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">ETH withdrawals</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">September 29, 8 a.m. UTC</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ethereum, BSC,&nbsp;Arbitrum, Base,&nbsp;Optimism</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">USDT withdrawals</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">September 30, 8 a.m. UTC</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ethereum, BSC,&nbsp;Solana, Tron</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Remaining crypto, fiat and P2P</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">October 2</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Remaining services</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Chen said ETH and USDT restoration depended on security-check progress and user demand. She also said the Protection Fund would be restored above $300 million within one week.Mandiant and SlowMist were assisting Bitget with the investigation. Bitget said it expected an official security report during the week of September 28 and planned a full technical postmortem after the investigation concludes. The exchange also said it would change how it assesses and deploys third-party security products.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Attacker Begins Converting Stolen Assets</h2>Attacker-linked wallets&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/2104473020693979406">began</a> their first major post-exploit fund movements on September 28.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a> data showed ETH moving into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/thorchain-rune">THORChain</a> vaults, often in batches of 100 ETH, before being converted into BTC.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2104473020693979406_20260928_184626_via_10015_io_91ddc16039.webp" alt="tweet_2104473020693979406_20260928_184626_via_10015_io.webp"></figure>Earlier movements involving XRP, BNB and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tron-trx">TRX</a> also passed through THORChain and similar bridging services before conversion into Bitcoin, contributing to a temporary increase in THORChain trading volume and network fees. A substantial portion of the stolen assets had already been converted into bitcoin, while remaining ETH continued moving through the same route.Some Bitcoin was processed using transaction-obfuscation techniques. Bitget published attacker-linked addresses and asked industry participants to freeze and recover stolen assets. THORChain said its permissionless network cannot selectively block individual addresses.Bitget offered a recovery bounty equal to 5% of any attacker funds successfully frozen through a participant’s actions and said some assets had already been frozen through industry coordination.Bitget said it would not identify the attackers before reaching a firm conclusion, while calling them “sophisticated” and “state-backed.” The exchange had previously said it suspected North Korea was behind the attack.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>ZachXBT Tracks Laundering Network Behind Stolen Funds</h2>Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said Chinese illicit actors are laundering funds from the Bitget exploit on behalf of the alleged DPRK attackers, with participants openly seeking help processing orders through public Discord servers and Telegram channels used by the services involved.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING: Chinese illicit actors laundering funds from the $387M Bitget exploit on behalf of the alleged DPRK attackers are openly asking for support with orders in public Discord servers and Telegram channels of services they use. Notably, Alias 4 (below) was also seen… <a href="https://t.co/KfdTo51M2o">pic.twitter.com/KfdTo51M2o</a>— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) <a href="https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2104528688469647700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>ZachXBT said the funds are being chain-hopped through bridges before being deposited into mixing services including Wasabi. He identified five aliases tied to the activity: Cc, jack, Melon, lolo/Marin and HELP ME, along with associated Discord or Telegram accounts and transaction hashes.One of the identified actors, Alias 4, was also observed laundering funds from the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit earlier this year, according to ZachXBT. He said he had seen the same pattern following multiple TraderTraitor-attributed exploits and had closely tracked the groups, adding that he plans to publish more of his data in the coming weeks.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Bitget exchange robot restoring bitcoin withdrawals after $388M exploit

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Bitget Restores Withdrawals After $388 Million Exploit as Hacker Moves Funds

<h2>Intelligent Portfolios package diversified strategies into transferable tokens for eligible non-U.S. investors</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Ondo Finance launched three Intelligent Portfolios built around strategies developed by BlackRock specifically for Ondo.</li><li>Each product packages a diversified allocation into one transferable token that can be held, transferred or redeemed onchain.</li><li>BlackRock provides nondiscretionary model portfolio strategies, while Ondo handles the tokenized products and their blockchain infrastructure.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ondo-ondo">Ondo</a> Finance&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ondo-launches-intelligent-portfolios-powered-by-blackrock-bringing-portfolio-strategies-onchain-302889264.html">launched</a> Ondo Intelligent Portfolios on September 24, 2026, introducing three portfolio tokens that give eligible investors outside the United States access to BlackRock-developed investment strategies through individual onchain assets. The products combine weighted baskets of tokenized assets into single tokens that can be transferred across wallets, exchanges and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> protocols.The launch includes three products designed around different portfolio objectives.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Portfolio</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Token</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Focus</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ondo High Income Powered by BlackRock</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BLKHIon</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Income</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ondo Diversified Growth Powered by BlackRock</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BLKDIGon</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Diversified growth</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ondo High Growth Powered by BlackRock</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BLKGRWon</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Higher growth</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Each portfolio token is issued by Ondo Global Markets and tokenized by Ondo Finance. Investors can&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mint">mint</a> or redeem one token instead of separately buying, weighting and maintaining every asset in the underlying basket. Ondo said portfolio holdings, weights and rebalances are visible onchain, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contracts</a> can handle portfolio adjustments without requiring investors to rebuild the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/allocation">allocation</a> themselves.Ian De Bode, Acting CEO and President, Ondo Finance, said: “Portfolios like these have never been available onchain. Now, they are made accessible onchain, transferable at any time, and usable across DeFi.” De Bode also called the launch “an important milestone in the development of onchain investment products,” linking BlackRock's portfolio-construction strategies with tokenized infrastructure for eligible investors in supported jurisdictions.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>BlackRock supplies models while Ondo operates the tokens</h2>BlackRock's role is limited to supplying nondiscretionary model portfolio strategies based on specifications provided by Ondo. BlackRock does not manage the onchain portfolios or handle their tokenization, issuance, distribution, custody or operation. Ondo and Ondo Global Markets are responsible for implementing and issuing the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> products.Lisa O'Connor, Global Head of the Model Portfolio Solutions team and the Co-CIO for Global Solutions within the Multi-Asset Strategies group at BlackRock, said: “Diversified portfolio strategies can be incorporated into tokenized investment products, enabling eligible investors to access diversified allocations through a single instrument.” O'Connor said the structure shows how established portfolio-construction approaches can be distributed through new technologies and channels.Ondo said the tokens can be transferred peer-to-peer through wallets, exchanges and DeFi protocols. The structure also allows portfolio strategies to become programmable and composable with other onchain applications while potentially combining multiple asset classes within a single token. Ondo plans to expand the Intelligent Portfolios product line with additional portfolios over time.Ondo previewed Intelligent Portfolios in August 2026, when John Hoffman, Ondo Finance's managing director and head of product portfolios, said the concept would bundle tokenized equities into one token. Hoffman said Ondo Stocks had reached $1 billion in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-tvl-defi">total value locked</a> within eight months.Ondo Global Markets serves as an issuance and redemption platform for tokenized publicly traded U.S. stocks and ETFs. Its tokens give investors outside the United States economic exposure to those securities and are fully backed by the corresponding stock or ETF together with cash in transit.BlackRock previously launched its BUIDL tokenized money market fund with Securitize in March 2024. Ondo later transferred $95 million of OUSG assets into BUIDL. BlackRock expanded its tokenization activity again in August 2026 with two tokenized money-market products aimed at&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> reserves.The product launch comes as Ondo faces a separate corporate-control dispute following the death of founder Nathan Allman in May 2026. Kathleen Allman, Nathan Allman's mother, is seeking control of the company and the removal of De Bode as chief executive, alleging that he assumed the role without board approval. De Bode has called the allegations “meritless.”This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Ondo launches BlackRock-powered Intelligent Portfolios for diversified onchain investment

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Ondo Launches BlackRock-Powered Onchain Portfolio Tokens

<h2>White-hat operation secures thousands of exposed NFTs as holders are told to revoke legacy approvals</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>A vulnerability involving LimitBreak’s Payment Processor V2 exposed wallets that still carried old NFT approvals from Magic Eden’s discontinued EVM marketplace.</li><li>Security researcher 0xQuit moved vulnerable NFTs into protective custody as part of a white-hat operation after attacker activity was detected.</li><li>Users were told to revoke affected Ethereum and ApeChain contract approvals before rescued assets are returned.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>A vulnerability involving LimitBreak’s Payment Processor V2 exposed former&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/magic-eden-me">Magic Eden</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine">EVM</a> users to unauthorized&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/nft">NFT</a> transfers because old onchain approvals remained active after the marketplace shut down, prompting a large-scale white-hat rescue on September 25, 2026. Security researcher 0xQuit, identified as Quit, VP of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a> at Yuga Labs, ultimately moved 23,155&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/non-fungible-tokens">NFTs</a> worth an estimated $6 million into protective custody while affected users were told to revoke vulnerable contract permissions.Magic Eden had&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/q1-2026-crypto-shutdowns-market-reset">ended EVM marketplace support</a> on March 9, 2026. Its listings and offers were maintained offchain and stopped being visible or actionable after the shutdown, but approvals users had previously granted to the payment processor remained recorded onchain. Those permissions allowed the approved contract to move NFTs until&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> owners explicitly revoked them.Wallet security service Revoke.cash&nbsp;<a href="https://revoke.cash/exploits/magic-eden?chainId=1">warned</a> that the Payment Processor V2 flaw placed wallets at risk if they still authorized the contract to transfer NFTs. Canceling an old marketplace listing or disconnecting a wallet from a website did not remove those&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> approvals, making the remaining permissions the central security issue.Early activity initially appeared to show a large-scale drain. A wallet moved 3,832 NFTs from more than 100 wallets through transactions structured as zero-<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> sales. NFT&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/altcoin-trader">trader</a> Cirrus drew attention to the activity before the transfers were identified as part of a defensive operation carried out by 0xQuit.Quit later&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/0xQuit/status/2103410682368512505">confirmed</a> that the assets held in the rescue wallet were secure, writing: “Everything in 0x71cF3f5724bD2B72Ef6464992aCd26216DE7fe33 is safe.” The NFTs were expected to be returned after holders removed the approvals that had left their wallets exposed.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2103410682368512505.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2103410682368512505_be53587f64.webp"></figure><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Attacker activity triggers broader rescue</h2>Quit said an attacker had already exploited the Payment Processor V2 weakness at about 9 a.m. EST, taking NFTs from several collections before the wider rescue operation began.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Collection</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">NFTs taken</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Meebits</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">10</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Otherdeeds</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">50</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">World of Women</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">10</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Despertae Apewives</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">235</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Total across the four collections</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">305</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>After investigating that activity, Quit determined that many more NFTs remained exposed. Payment Processor V2 could not be paused, leaving defenders unable to shut down the affected contract functionality directly.Quit contacted LimitBreak, which was able to pause Payment Processor V3, though a V3 deployment on ApeChain temporarily could not be paused. With the vulnerable V2 contract still active, Quit said the available way to protect exposed assets was to move them into safe custody before a malicious actor could do so.The rescue eventually expanded far beyond the first observed transfers. The earlier batch represented only the opening stage of the operation rather than the final number of assets secured.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>WETH exploit path adds separate losses</h2>Quit also determined that the processor weakness could apparently be exploited in the reverse direction to steal 660 WETH, a separate attack path from the NFT transfers. Those funds, valued at about $1.7 million, were not recovered through the NFT rescue.The researcher said the team worked through the night attempting to contain the damage. The WETH loss remained separate from the value of the NFTs moved into white-hat custody and should not be combined with the rescued assets as though they were all stolen.Revoke.cash initially said the final number of NFTs successfully taken by malicious actors had not been determined. Later information identified the collection-specific attacker transfers and the separate unrecovered WETH exposure, but no single finalized loss total covering the entire incident was established.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Users told to revoke legacy approvals</h2>Revoke.cash advised&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> users who had authorized Payment Processor V2 to revoke that permission. ApeChain users who had approved Payment Processor V3 were separately told to revoke that authorization.An NFT operator approval gives another contract permission to move NFTs on behalf of a wallet. Because the approval remains onchain until changed or revoked, ending a marketplace listing does not automatically remove the underlying contract permission.That distinction meant former Magic Eden users could remain exposed even after they had stopped using the EVM marketplace. Disconnecting a wallet from the site also did not cancel permissions already recorded onchain.Revoke.cash provided an exploit checker to help users determine whether their wallet had been affected and whether the relevant processor approval remained active. Revocation could prevent additional transfers but could not reverse assets that had already moved.Holders whose NFTs were placed into white-hat custody were expected to remove the vulnerable approval before receiving their assets back, avoiding a return to the same exposed wallet state.Revoke.cash had not published technical details explaining the exact underlying Payment Processor V2 flaw at the time of its warning. The established effect was that the vulnerable processor could be used to move NFTs from wallets that had previously granted it permission.The incident did not establish malicious losses on both supported chains. The ApeChain notice concerned exposure through the V3 approval and the need for preventive revocation, while the Ethereum warning concerned the V2 contract.The mass NFT movement also was not itself evidence that all rescued assets had been stolen. The bulk of those transfers were part of the white-hat containment effort after attacker activity showed that legacy approvals could be abused.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

White-hat operation secures vulnerable NFTs linked to Magic Eden approvals

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Magic Eden Users Face NFT Risk After Payment Processor Exploit

Bitget monitors asset outflows following a major multi-chain attack

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Bitget Raises Security Breach Estimate to $387.5M After Multi-Chain Attack

<h2>Evercrest alleges LayerZero endorsed the bridge configuration later blamed for the attack</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Evercrest Technologies, the company behind KelpDAO, sued LayerZero entities and co-founder Bryan Pellegrino over the rsETH exploit.</li><li>The claim alleges negligent misrepresentation, negligence and defamation tied to LayerZero’s security infrastructure and bridge guidance.</li><li>LayerZero disputes KelpDAO’s account, while Pellegrino said the lawsuit “continues to be meritless.”</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Evercrest Technologies, the company behind KelpDAO, has&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fVSd7z0fF48bOiRB3EpmmVYi4omNY3iI/view">filed</a> a civil claim in British Columbia against&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/layerzero-zro">LayerZero</a> Labs Ltd., LayerZero Labs Canada Inc. and LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino over the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/kelpdao-layerzero-exploit-chainlink-ccip">April 18, 2026 exploit</a> that involved 116,500 rsETH worth about $292 million at the time. Evercrest alleges the attack resulted from LayerZero’s security infrastructure and says LayerZero had reviewed and endorsed the bridge configuration used before the exploit. Pellegrino disputes the allegations.The lawsuit, filed in the Vancouver registry before British Columbia’s top trial court, alleges negligent misrepresentation, negligence and defamation. Evercrest is seeking ordinary damages as well as aggravated and punitive damages.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Evercrest Says LayerZero Approved 1-of-1 DVN Setup</h2>KelpDAO’s bridge used a 1-of-1 decentralized verifier network, or DVN, configuration. Under that structure, LayerZero’s verifier was the only verifier required to approve a cross-chain message before rsETH locked on one chain could be minted on another.Evercrest alleges LayerZero did more than supply the underlying infrastructure. The company says LayerZero reviewed and endorsed the configuration later used by KelpDAO’s Unichain bridge and failed to warn KelpDAO that relying on LayerZero’s verifier alone created a security risk.The filing says LayerZero told Evercrest on February 2, 2024, that there was “no problem” with using the default DVN configuration. Evercrest further alleges that LayerZero instructed it on March 21, 2024, to use the same 1-of-1 configuration as another bridge.Evercrest also cites security representations LayerZero made about its verifier infrastructure. A January 2025 security pitch described the system as redundant, monitored and distributed across multiple locations, with monitoring and alerting designed to detect problems. LayerZero also allegedly represented that even if a verifier were compromised, the most it could do was “fail to verify a message correctly.”The lawsuit contrasts KelpDAO’s treatment with guidance allegedly given to the USDT0 developer in late 2024 or early 2025. Evercrest says LayerZero warned that developer about risks associated with default verifier configurations. The developer subsequently operated its own verifier, according to the claim.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Event</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Detail</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Exploit transaction</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Sent at approximately 17:35 UTC, according to Evercrest’s filing</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Post-exploit withdrawals</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">More than $650 million withdrawn from KelpDAO, according to Evercrest</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">LayerZero applications using the setup</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">47% of active application contracts reportedly used 1-of-1 configurations at the time</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Evercrest alleges the attacker first compromised a single LayerZero developer’s computer after using social engineering to install malware. The company’s filing states: “The exploit was not a failure of KelpDAO’s systems. It was a failure of LayerZero’s own security infrastructure.”The attack also affected KelpDAO’s product plans. The protocol’s planned sbUSD&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> was shut down or sunset following the incident. KelpDAO also began&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/kelpdao-layerzero-exploit-chainlink-ccip">moving rsETH</a> to another cross-chain standard and selected&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> CCIP in May 2026 for that migration.Despite the news, LayerZero’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/layerzero-zro">ZRO</a> token was up more than 6% intraday.<figure class="image"><img alt="chart.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/chart_b2ebe5b817.webp"></figure><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>LayerZero Disputes Responsibility for the Configuration</h2>The dispute extends to who was responsible for choosing the bridge’s security model. LayerZero’s post-mortem said KelpDAO’s setup “directly contradicts” the multi-DVN model LayerZero advocates, while Evercrest says LayerZero had previously reviewed and recommended the disputed configuration.Pellegrino challenged KelpDAO’s version of events in May 2026, calling it “completely untrue.” He said KelpDAO had originally launched using LayerZero’s multi-DVN default and later changed the configuration itself to 1-of-1.Following the filing of the lawsuit, Pellegrino again rejected Evercrest’s claims on X, saying: “The claim continues to be meritless,” and indicating that he would defend himself.LayerZero has since banned the 1-of-1 configuration. The parties’ competing accounts now center on whether KelpDAO independently weakened its bridge security, as Pellegrino argues, or relied on a setup that LayerZero itself reviewed, recommended and represented as safe, as Evercrest alleges. No court finding on negligence, defamation or responsibility for the exploit is established by the filing itself.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

KelpDAO files a legal lawsuit against LayerZero over security

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KelpDAO Sues LayerZero Over $292 Million rsETH Exploit

<h2>Sistema de Conhecimento Zero permite pagar por acesso a APIs sem revelar a identidade</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>A Ethereum Foundation e o Open Anonymity Project lançaram o zkAPI, um sistema de pagamento privado agora no ar na mainnet do Ethereum.</li><li>Usuários depositam tokens em um cofre, comprovam um saldo com fundos via criptografia de conhecimento zero e recebem uma chave de API temporária com limite de gasto.</li><li>Chat e agentes de IA são os primeiros casos de uso; também estão listados consultas a blockchain, geração de imagens e vídeos, banda de VPN e pagamentos entre agentes de IA.</li></ul><hr>Negocie de forma mais inteligente na Jupiter, a principal DEX da Solana, criada para execução rápida e liquidez profunda.&nbsp;Faça swap de tokens com taxas competitivas, roteie automaticamente por várias fontes de liquidez e acesse perpetuals, DCA e ferramentas avançadas de trading — tudo em um só lugar!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Negocie na Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>A&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Foundation e o Open Anonymity Project lançaram o zkAPI em 2 de outubro de 2026, levando um sistema de pagamento focado em privacidade para a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">mainnet</a> do Ethereum que permite aos usuários pagar por acesso a modelos de inteligência artificial sem revelar sua identidade. O sistema usa&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof">provas de conhecimento zero</a> para mostrar que uma solicitação de API é respaldada por tokens com fundos, mantendo o saldo privado subjacente oculto.O zkAPI faz parte do Open Anonymity Project, uma iniciativa open-source de privacidade em IA. O Open Anonymity Project disse que seu objetivo é desenvolver uma infraestrutura em que privacidade e soberania sejam fundamentais e as pessoas permaneçam no controle.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Como o zkAPI lida com pagamentos privados de API</h2>Os usuários começam depositando tokens como Ethereum em um contrato de cofre na rede Ethereum. O contrato registra o saldo depositado como uma nota privada. Quando um usuário quer gastar esses fundos, um software no dispositivo do usuário gera uma prova de conhecimento zero mostrando que a solicitação é respaldada por uma nota com fundos sem revelar qual nota ou quais fundos estão sendo usados.Um servidor do zkAPI verifica a prova e emite uma chave de API temporária com limite de gasto. O usuário então envia prompts diretamente ao provedor do modelo de IA junto com essa chave. Depois que a chave expira, o servidor deduz o valor usado do saldo privado do usuário.Cada pagamento também publica um número de série chamado “nullifier”. A arquitetura de pagamento foi projetada para permitir que um serviço verifique que o acesso foi financiado sem exigir que os detalhes subjacentes do pagamento sejam expostos publicamente.O sistema pode suportar estruturas de API paga como acesso pay-per-call, serviços em camadas e solicitações automatizadas. Seu design de conhecimento zero separa a prova de pagamento do saldo privado que financiou a solicitação.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Chat e agentes de IA são os primeiros casos de uso</h2>A Ethereum Foundation identificou chat e agentes de IA como os primeiros casos de uso do zkAPI. O sistema permite que usuários paguem pelo acesso a modelos de IA por meio do processo de chave de API temporária, mantendo privada a nota financiada por trás de cada solicitação.Outras aplicações listadas incluem&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> queries, geração de imagens e vídeos, banda de VPN e pagamentos máquina a máquina entre agentes de IA. Esses casos de uso estendem o mesmo mecanismo de pagamento privado além do chat direto com IA para outros serviços que cobram por acesso a APIs ou por uso automatizado.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Preço do Ethereum</a> foi listado em $2,765.00 em 2 de outubro.Este artigo foi refinado e aprimorado pelo ChatGPT.

Ethereum Foundation lança zkAPI para pagamentos privados de IA

<h2>Sistem Zero-Knowledge Memungkinkan Pengguna Membayar Akses API Tanpa Mengungkap Identitas</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Ethereum Foundation dan Open Anonymity Project meluncurkan zkAPI, sistem pembayaran privat yang kini live di Ethereum mainnet.</li><li>Pengguna menyetor token ke vault, membuktikan saldo yang didanai dengan kriptografi zero-knowledge, lalu menerima API key sementara dengan batas pengeluaran.</li><li>AI chat dan agent menjadi use case pertama, dengan kueri blockchain, pembuatan gambar dan video, bandwidth VPN, serta pembayaran AI-agent juga tercantum.</li></ul><hr>Trading lebih cerdas di Jupiter, DEX terdepan di Solana yang dibuat untuk eksekusi cepat dan likuiditas dalam.&nbsp;Swap token dengan rate kompetitif, routing otomatis lintas beberapa sumber likuiditas, dan akses perpetuals, DCA, serta tool trading lanjutan — semuanya di satu tempat!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade di Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Foundation dan Open Anonymity Project meluncurkan zkAPI pada 2 Oktober 2026, menghadirkan sistem pembayaran berfokus privasi ke Ethereum&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">mainnet</a> yang memungkinkan pengguna membayar akses model kecerdasan buatan tanpa mengungkap identitas mereka. Sistem ini menggunakan&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof">zero-knowledge proofs</a> untuk menunjukkan bahwa sebuah permintaan API didukung oleh token yang didanai, sambil menjaga saldo privat yang mendasarinya tetap tersembunyi.zkAPI adalah bagian dari Open Anonymity Project, inisiatif privasi AI open-source. Open Anonymity Project mengatakan tujuannya adalah mengembangkan infrastruktur di mana privasi dan kedaulatan menjadi fondasi, dan orang-orang tetap memegang kendali.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bagaimana zkAPI Menangani Pembayaran API Secara Privat</h2>Pengguna memulai dengan menyetor token seperti Ethereum ke kontrak vault di jaringan Ethereum. Kontrak tersebut mencatat saldo yang disetor sebagai catatan privat. Saat pengguna ingin membelanjakan dana itu, software di perangkat pengguna menghasilkan zero-knowledge proof yang menunjukkan bahwa permintaan tersebut didukung oleh catatan yang didanai tanpa mengungkap catatan mana atau dana mana yang digunakan.Server zkAPI memeriksa proof dan menerbitkan API key sementara dengan batas pengeluaran. Pengguna kemudian mengirim prompt langsung ke penyedia model AI bersama key tersebut. Setelah key kedaluwarsa, server mengurangi jumlah yang digunakan dari saldo privat pengguna.Setiap pembayaran juga menerbitkan nomor seri yang disebut “nullifier.” Arsitektur pembayaran ini dirancang agar layanan dapat memverifikasi bahwa akses sudah didanai tanpa mengharuskan detail pembayaran yang mendasarinya terekspos secara publik.Sistem ini dapat mendukung struktur API berbayar seperti akses pay-per-call, layanan bertingkat, dan permintaan otomatis. Desain zero-knowledge-nya memisahkan bukti pembayaran dari saldo privat yang mendanai permintaan.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>AI Chat dan Agent Menjadi Use Case Pertama</h2>Ethereum Foundation mengidentifikasi AI chat dan agent sebagai use case pertama untuk zkAPI. Sistem ini memungkinkan pengguna membayar akses ke model AI melalui proses API-key sementara sambil menjaga catatan yang didanai di balik setiap permintaan tetap privat.Aplikasi lain yang tercantum mencakup&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> queries, pembuatan gambar dan video, bandwidth VPN, serta pembayaran machine-to-machine antar AI agent. Use case tersebut memperluas mekanisme pembayaran privat yang sama melampaui AI chat langsung menuju layanan lain yang mengenakan biaya untuk akses API atau penggunaan otomatis.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Harga Ethereum</a> tercatat di $2,765.00 pada 2 Oktober.Artikel ini telah disempurnakan dan ditingkatkan oleh ChatGPT.

Ethereum Foundation Luncurkan zkAPI untuk Pembayaran AI Privat

<h2>El sistema de conocimiento cero permite pagar el acceso a API sin revelar la identidad</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>La Ethereum Foundation y Open Anonymity Project lanzaron zkAPI, un sistema de pagos privado ya activo en la mainnet de Ethereum.</li><li>Los usuarios depositan tokens en una bóveda, prueban un saldo financiado con criptografía de conocimiento cero y reciben una clave API temporal con un límite de gasto.</li><li>El chat y los agentes de IA son los primeros casos de uso; también se mencionan consultas blockchain, generación de imágenes y video, ancho de banda de VPN y pagos entre agentes de IA.</li></ul><hr>Opera de forma más inteligente en Jupiter, el DEX líder de Solana, creado para una ejecución rápida y gran liquidez.&nbsp;Intercambia tokens a tasas competitivas, enruta automáticamente entre múltiples fuentes de liquidez y accede a perpetuos, DCA y herramientas avanzadas de trading, ¡todo en un solo lugar!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">¡Opera en Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>La&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Foundation y Open Anonymity Project lanzaron zkAPI el 2 de octubre de 2026, incorporando un sistema de pagos centrado en la privacidad a la&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">mainnet</a> de Ethereum que permite a los usuarios pagar el acceso a modelos de inteligencia artificial sin revelar su identidad. El sistema utiliza&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof">pruebas de conocimiento cero</a> para demostrar que una solicitud de API está respaldada por tokens financiados, manteniendo oculto el saldo privado subyacente.zkAPI forma parte de Open Anonymity Project, una iniciativa de privacidad de IA de código abierto. Open Anonymity Project dijo que su objetivo es desarrollar infraestructura donde la privacidad y la soberanía sean fundamentales y las personas mantengan el control.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Cómo zkAPI gestiona pagos privados de API</h2>Los usuarios comienzan depositando tokens como Ethereum en un contrato de bóveda en la red de Ethereum. El contrato registra el saldo depositado como una nota privada. Cuando un usuario quiere gastar esos fondos, un software en el dispositivo del usuario genera una prueba de conocimiento cero que muestra que la solicitud está respaldada por una nota financiada sin revelar qué nota o qué fondos se están utilizando.Un servidor de zkAPI verifica la prueba y emite una clave API temporal con un límite de gasto. Luego, el usuario envía prompts directamente al proveedor del modelo de IA junto con esa clave. Después de que la clave expira, el servidor deduce el importe utilizado del saldo privado del usuario.Cada pago también publica un número de serie llamado “nullifier”. La arquitectura de pagos está diseñada para permitir que un servicio verifique que el acceso ha sido financiado sin requerir que los detalles del pago subyacente se expongan públicamente.El sistema puede admitir estructuras de API de pago, como acceso de pago por llamada, servicios por niveles y solicitudes automatizadas. Su diseño de conocimiento cero separa la prueba de pago del saldo privado que financió la solicitud.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>El chat y los agentes de IA son los primeros casos de uso</h2>La Ethereum Foundation identificó el chat y los agentes de IA como los primeros casos de uso de zkAPI. El sistema permite a los usuarios pagar el acceso a modelos de IA mediante el proceso de clave API temporal, manteniendo privada la nota financiada detrás de cada solicitud.Otras aplicaciones enumeradas incluyen&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> consultas, generación de imágenes y video, ancho de banda de VPN y pagos de máquina a máquina entre agentes de IA. Esos casos de uso amplían el mismo mecanismo de pago privado más allá del chat de IA directo hacia otros servicios que cobran por el acceso a API o por el uso automatizado.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Precio de Ethereum</a> se situó en $2,765.00 el 2 de octubre.Este artículo ha sido refinado y mejorado por ChatGPT.