Morning Report | BlackRock and Deutsche Bank CEOs state that the fiscal deficit is more urgent than the AI bubble; the Blockchain Association of the United States: calls on the SEC to clarify the standards for token decentralization and support 24/7 trading

Compiled by: ChainCatcher

What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?

BlackRock and Deutsche Bank CEOs say fiscal deficit is more urgent than AI bubble

According to ChainCatcher, financial industry executives are divided on whether AI has become a bubble, as reported by Bloomberg. Ken Griffin previously warned that AI investors are almost certainly in a bubble and should prepare for setbacks, stating that significant economic transformations are often accompanied by bubbles. Recently, the market has been concerned that the time it takes for AI's massive upfront capital expenditures to translate into profits and productivity gains may be longer than expected.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing stated that there is no reason to worry about a sharp reversal in asset prices in the short term; individual companies may face setbacks, but he does not believe the market is in a bursting bubble. Sewing distinguished between bubbles and ongoing volatility and mentioned geopolitical tensions. He stated that if the regulatory framework is appropriate, the industrial application of AI will become a century opportunity for Germany. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink advocated for accelerating the construction of AI data centers, warning that delays could threaten economic growth and exacerbate inflation due to high computing costs.

He previously stated that AI faces supply shortages, with demand growth exceeding expectations, and indicated that the quicker more data centers are built and the more computing power is available, the faster costs can be reduced. Steve Chiavarone, Chief Investment Officer of Federated Hermes Global Equities, mentioned that investors worried about an AI bubble may be correct in their judgment, but it is several years too early; infrastructure still has several years of growth potential, after which the risk of overbuilding will become more urgent. The market is still distinguishing which companies can secure funding and at what interest rates, which is contrary to the bubble period.

Compared to the AI bubble, both Fink and Sewing view the fiscal deficit as a more pressing concern, especially as the AI industry competes with the government for investment funds. The U.S. fiscal deficit is nearing $2 trillion, and U.S. Treasury yields have risen to decades-high levels. Fink stated that the current level of capital competition is the highest he has seen in his career. Regarding the rising risk of French government bonds, Sewing stated that it cannot yet be called a debt crisis, but it serves as a warning for public finances, and budget discipline is crucial.

Anthropic CEO responds to safety concerns with a lengthy article, stating the need to stay at the forefront of technology

According to ChainCatcher, Anthropic recently submitted a draft AI safety bill to U.S. lawmakers, which has been questioned by U.S. AI safety advocates. The draft sets a high threshold for the government to urgently halt dangerous models, with risks needing to involve biological weapons, cyberattacks, or AI going out of control, potentially causing more than 50 deaths or serious injuries, or losses exceeding $1 billion; some provisions may also limit state regulatory authority.

Nathan Calvin, head of strategy at AI safety organization Encode AI, subsequently reviewed Anthropic's decisions over the past year. In February of this year, the company modified its previously strict safety policy: it had previously committed to pausing training or releases if safety measures did not keep pace with model capabilities, but the new policy no longer requires the company to independently halt R&D at higher risk stages, citing that competitors might take advantage of the opportunity.

During the same period, the company invested heavily in computing power, formed a chip team, and assigned more AI R&D tasks to Claude. On October 21, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy article on X refuting these claims. He acknowledged that the company has made some mistakes but insisted that competing for cutting-edge AI capabilities does not violate its safety mission, stating that the company adheres to an upward competition, and only by staying at the forefront of technology can it drive the industry to improve safety standards.

He listed nine safety decisions that have cost the company commercially, including limiting the open access of Mythos-level models for several months and strictly limiting biology-related requests. The safety roadmap updated by the company on October 19 states that existing policies mainly target the deployment of dangerous models, and in the future, it may be necessary to directly limit the speed of R&D, with plans to propose relevant policy proposals by January 15, 2027, or explain why no proposals were made.

Swiss FINMA approves first retail spot Bitcoin ETF

According to ChainCatcher, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has approved the country's first spot Bitcoin ETF for retail investors, allowing the fund to directly invest in Bitcoin under Swiss investment fund rules. FINMA stated on Tuesday that this ETF falls under the category of "other alternative investment funds" with specific risks under Swiss law.

FINMA noted that Bitcoin has a longer trading history and trading volume far exceeds that of most other cryptocurrencies, thus allowing for exceptions to the rules requiring fund diversification, and listed safeguards regarding custody, operational risks, and investor disclosures.

FINMA had previously approved a crypto fund for qualified investors in 2021, while existing Swiss Bitcoin ETPs are classified as debt securities and not investment funds.

Bybit plans to enter the U.S. market through brokerage partnerships, targeting Robinhood

According to ChainCatcher, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that Bybit plans to collaborate with established local companies when entering the U.S. market to challenge platforms like Robinhood. Zhou mentioned that seeking partners is standard practice for Bybit when entering new regions, and in the U.S. market, they may consider partnering with companies like Interactive Brokers (IB).

He stated, "At this stage, it is best to partner with those who wish to enter the crypto space and already have a customer base in the U.S., such as IB or similar companies that have not yet ventured into crypto but have a quality customer base in the U.S." Bybit is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, with over 80 million registered users across more than 180 countries and regions. The exchange is continuously obtaining licenses globally to offer a range of new regulated products.

In Europe, Bybit plans to launch a "super app" covering derivatives and tokenized stocks as early as the first quarter of next year. Through partnerships, Bybit can avoid the cumbersome process of applying for money transfer licenses state by state, a process that can take two to three years. Zhou suggested waiting for the Clarity Act to pass or for a clearer understanding of new laws, at which point the SEC may provide unified regulation, and a single license could cover federal levels.

He also pointed out that the U.S. market is highly competitive and becoming saturated, with Coinbase's position solidifying and Robinhood's importance rising. In contrast, the UK remains a less concentrated and underdeveloped market, but the entry costs are high, comparable to the EU's MiCA license. Zhou revealed that earlier this year, he was invited to meet with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and relevant institutions in the House of Lords, and Bybit is looking for office locations in London, but no specific location has been determined yet.

Vault12: U.S. SEC's token safe harbor proposal lacks regulatory certainty

According to ChainCatcher, crypto wallet backup company Vault12 submitted a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pointing out that the SEC's proposed token safe harbor framework fails to adequately eliminate concerns about token listings on centralized exchanges, as trading platforms remain worried about potential future challenges to the legal status of tokens by the SEC.

Vault12 raised $17.45 million from 38 investors through its future token protocol in 2018, and its issued Vault Guardian Token (VGT) has yet to be listed on any centralized exchange. The project has fulfilled or formally abandoned all commitments in its white paper, but previously contacted exchanges still require confirmation that the SEC will not determine in the future that VGT continues to be bound by the original investment contract.

The SEC's proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets" plan, introduced in August this year, aims to provide exemptions for token financing and allows eligible projects to terminate the association between tokens and original investment contracts through a safe harbor mechanism. Vault12 suggested adding a 60-day objection period, stating that if the SEC does not raise objections within that period, eligible filings should have final effect on the agency, except in cases of fraud or significant misrepresentation.

GENIUS Act expected to take effect on January 18, 2027, stablecoin companies need to assess compliance pathways

According to ChainCatcher, the GENIUS Act will take effect on July 18, 2025, with a general applicability date of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after the primary federal regulatory agency for payment-type stablecoins issues final implementation rules, whichever comes first. The U.S. Treasury expects the general effective date to be January 18, 2027, with some issuance and sales restrictions taking effect on July 18, 2028.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has already published major implementation proposals in February 2026, and the Federal Reserve proposed rules involving regulated issuers, reserves, capital, risk management, custody, and application procedures on September 24, 2026. The interim final rules effective September 30, 2026, have established forms and procedures for state regulatory certification.

Stablecoin issuers need to assess approval, prudential regulation, reserve, and redemption requirements; distributors and intermediaries need to analyze obligations related to exchange, transfer, custody, and related financial services. Businesses holding stablecoins must also review redemption channels, reserve arrangements, custody, freezing, and counterparty risks, and those accepting stablecoin payments must distinguish between receiving payments for their own goods or services and transferring funds on behalf of others.

Proposed issuers may choose paths involving approved subsidiaries of depository institutions, federally qualified issuers, or state-qualified issuers; state-qualified issuers with eligible and outstanding issuance not exceeding $10 billion may opt for state regulation. Payment-type stablecoin reserves must be at least one-to-one backed by outstanding tokens, and businesses must outline cash flows, customer rights, compliance responsibilities, and product yield arrangements; relevant issuers cannot earn interest or yield solely for holding, using, or retaining payment-type stablecoins.

Altimeter founder pushes to expand Trump account eligibility to under 40

According to ChainCatcher, Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of investment firm Altimeter Capital and promoter of the Trump account initiative, stated that he is pushing to expand the program's eligibility from under 18 to under 40.

Related legislation may advance in the coming months, seeking to make the funding support mechanism permanent. Gerstner expects that by the end of 2027, the private donations received by the program could accumulate to $100 billion, and Elon Musk's commitment to donate SpaceX stock to American children is just "the tip of the iceberg."

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas estimated, while relaying the report, that the expansion could potentially cover an additional 100 million people. The expansion remains a legislative proposal in progress and is not yet an enacted policy.

U.S. Blockchain Association: Calls on SEC to clarify token decentralization standards, supports 24/7 trading

ChainCatcher News, the Blockchain Association submitted a letter to the SEC regarding the "Regulation of Crypto Assets" proposal, suggesting raising the startup exemption limit to $10 million and the fundraising exemption to $150 million (supporting on-chain transparency as an alternative to audits and excluding airdrops), and establishing a third-party registration safe harbor for existing tokens.

The Blockchain Association calls for clear objective decentralization standards for tokens to escape the "investment contract" attribute (such as open-source, no unilateral review rights), while strengthening federal regulations' priority jurisdiction over state legislation, supporting 24/7 trading on exchanges and self-custody.

France Proposes to Hold Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms Responsible for Certain DeFi Events

ChainCatcher News, the French Ministry of Finance, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the Bank of France, and the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) jointly proposed to amend the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), requiring cryptocurrency platforms to be responsible for partial customer losses when actively providing access to DeFi protocols without reviewing the protocols or ignoring known security risks.

The French side proposed that platforms review relevant protocols before providing DeFi access and continuously monitor vulnerabilities and suspicious activities, while supporting certification of protocols and smart contracts. These requirements will apply comprehensively to significant Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), with smaller platforms subject to proportionally adjusted obligations.

France also proposed transferring regulatory authority over significant CASPs from national regulators to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and lowering the current EU threshold for daily active users from 15 million. Additionally, France suggested re-evaluating the Asset-Referenced Token (ART) category and adjusting the Electronic Money Token (EMT) framework to cover multi-currency stablecoins.

Reuters Survey: 100 Economists All Expect the Federal Reserve to Raise Rates Again in December

ChainCatcher News, the latest Reuters survey shows that market expectations regarding the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook are changing. Expectations for a rate hike in October have cooled, but the surveyed economists collectively expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates again in December.

In a survey conducted from October 16 to 20, 94 economists expect the Federal Reserve to maintain the federal funds rate in the range of 3.75% to 4.00% at the meeting on October 27-28.

This assessment aligns with market pricing expectations, as this meeting is just days before the U.S. midterm elections in November. The rate expectations for December have shifted. In last month's survey, less than half of the economists expected the Federal Reserve to raise rates in December; this time, all 100 respondents expect a rate hike.

Crypto Research Firm Delphi Digital: Speculation is the Theme of This Decade, Hold Clearing Places

ChainCatcher News, crypto research firm Delphi Digital's macro and market author Jason Pagoulatos released a report titled "The House Always Wins: Why Speculation is the Theme of This Decade" on October 20, 2026. Pagoulatos stated: speculation has two engines, constructive and lottery-like; technological changes open the former, while fiscal and political pressures open the latter; historically, famous bubbles have often been driven by one of these, and today both are operating at high speed, with the same batch of technologies feeding both.

He thus treats speculation itself as an investable theme, advocating for holding clearing bets rather than the bets themselves. The report cites data including a projected federal deficit of $1.8 trillion for the U.S. fiscal year 2025, approximately 5.8% of GDP, with net interest around $1 trillion per year, exceeding defense spending. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies states that the national median price for single-family homes in 2024 is 5.0 times the median household income; the National Association of Realtors states that first-time homebuyers account for 21% of transactions, with a median age of 40.

Data from the American Gaming Association shows that legal sports betting amounts have risen from $6.6 billion in 2018 to $166.9 billion in 2025. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta's capital expenditures for 2025 are approximately $416 billion, with guidance for 2026 totaling about $720 billion to $745 billion, plus Oracle. In terms of venues, Robinhood's event contract revenue for Q2 2026 is $156 million, higher than stock revenue of $129 million and crypto revenue of $100 million during the same period.

Hyperliquid's expenses for 2025 are approximately $972 million, with transactions around $3 trillion. Kalshi reportedly raised funds at a valuation of about $40 billion, and Polymarket is set to relaunch in the U.S. by the end of 2025. The author also states that the most likely mistake is to label the holder crowd's inventory as a casino. The report is for educational and informational purposes only and is not investment advice; the author may hold Bitcoin, HYPE, HOOD, and LIT, and related parties Delphi Ventures may invest in the assets or protocols discussed in the report.

DefiLlama and Trueo Launch Protocol Revenue and Vulnerability Probability Market

ChainCatcher News, on-chain data platform DefiLlama announced a partnership with prediction market platform Trueo to launch a new prediction market settled with DefiLlama data, covering protocol revenue and the probability of vulnerabilities occurring.

Revenue markets include protocol revenues from Hyperliquid, Pump, Aero, Uniswap, Collector Crypt, and Papertrade. Vulnerability markets cover the probability of DeFi hacker attacks and specific protocols being exploited, including whether Aave and Morpho will experience vulnerabilities this month, as well as weekly and monthly markets for the largest hacker event scale.

Other on-chain indicator markets include the RWA market capitalization and DEX trading volume of Robinhood Chain, as well as who has a higher TVL this weekend between Solana and Base.

Four Pillars Researcher: Robinhood Chain Has Not Perished

ChainCatcher News, crypto research firm Four Pillars researcher 100y published a response on October 20 to external doubts: Robinhood Chain has not perished, its ecosystem remains resilient, and it is preparing for the next round of growth. The chain launched on July 1, 2026, positioning itself as an on-chain financial network centered around tokenized stocks. The article states that Robinhood's crypto business revenue share dropped from 27.2% in Q1 2025 to 12.6% in Q1 2026.

According to The Rollup data, the chain's network fees on September 4 were approximately $8.27 million, compared to Robinhood's total crypto business revenue of about $100 million in Q2 2026. After the market weakened and meme enthusiasm cooled, fees fell over 99% from their peak, with daily fees in mid-October around $30,000 to $40,000, less than 1% of the peak.

100y attributes the fee surge to congestion in September: the chain uses the Arbitrum tech stack, and the base fee index rises when usage exceeds target processing capacity. As of the publication date, the on-chain TVL is approximately $1.1 billion. The Steakhouse Financial curation, supplying USDG to Morpho, accounts for about half of the Steakhouse USDG Vault, with a scale of approximately $540 million and still rising, with around 75,000 deposit wallets.

Stocks and ETFs account for more than half of the issued RWA tokens, with an associated outstanding value of about $150 million. The spot trading volumes on September 4 and October 7 were approximately $3.27 billion and $3.24 billion, respectively, and daily trading volumes have remained at least around $600 million to $700 million since then. Robinhood has strategically invested in perpetual platforms Lighter and Arcus. 100y states that the next round of growth depends on the scale of the treasury and stock tokens, meme trading, perpetual activities after the points period, and more builders and new on-chain financial primitives.

Grayscale Research Director: Decline in Computing Power Stocks, Demand Will Remain

ChainCatcher News, Grayscale Research Director Zach Pandl stated in "The Stack" released on October 20, 2026, that AI computing infrastructure stocks have recently declined due to investors' concerns about rising borrowing costs, while related companies have high financing needs.

The stock index, including AI cloud service providers CoreWeave and Nebius, has fallen about 27% since the end of September, according to data from Bloomberg and Grayscale Investments, based on the Indxx High-Performance Computing Index, as of October 19, 2026. Pandl stated: most of these companies are early-stage and capital-intensive, with some neocloud capital expenditures being several times current revenues.

The top five holdings of this index have a capital expenditure to sales ratio exceeding 230% over the past 12 months, with data as of October 19, 2026. He believes that while stock prices are correcting, computing power demand and prices remain stable, with computing power demand rising rather than falling. He also expects that a decline in token prices and an increase in AI agent usage will lead to higher inference demand, thereby supporting growth in computing power demand; if demand grows and computing power prices remain high, these companies may benefit.

He also mentioned a slowdown in GPU depreciation, as well as the overlap between AI computing and Bitcoin mining industries, with Bitcoin prices potentially rising. Pandl believes that higher borrowing costs have suppressed computing infrastructure stocks, but the fundamental trend of rising computing power demand still holds, and this correction should be seen as an opportunity to increase exposure to the energized compute layer.

Securitize and Anchorage Digital Bank Collaborate to Directly Mint Stablecoins

ChainCatcher News, Anchorage Digital, the first federally regulated crypto bank in the U.S., announced a partnership with tokenization platform Securitize, which will allow for the direct minting and redemption of stablecoins issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., without the need for intermediaries.

Anchorage Digital Bank is also responsible for custody and settlement, ensuring that when institutions conduct tokenized transactions on Securitize, the counterparty and custody standards on the dollar side can remain consistent with the securities side. Securitize is the world's largest tokenization platform by assets under management, providing regulated infrastructure for tokenized funds for institutions such as Apollo, BlackRock, BNY, Hamilton Lane, KKR, and VanEck, with platform assets exceeding $4 billion.

The stablecoin issuance ecosystem of Anchorage Digital Bank includes USDtb issued in collaboration with Ethena Labs, as well as USA₮ developed in partnership with Tether. According to an independently verified reserve report by Anchorage Digital Bank, as of August 31, 2026, approximately 99% of the reserves of about $530 million for USDtb are held by the Securitize tokenized BlackRock BUIDL fund.

Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, stated that Anchorage Digital Bank is designed for the large-scale issuance of stablecoins under federal regulation, and regulated issuance is key for tokenization to reach institutional scale. Carlos Domingo, Chairman and CEO of Securitize, mentioned that collaborating with Anchorage Digital Bank allows them to directly access digital dollars issued under federal regulation and custodied by the same institution.

BitGo Establishes Innovation Department BitGo Labs, Initially Focusing on AI and Crypto Integration

According to ChainCatcher, BitGo announced the establishment of a new research and innovation department, BitGo Labs, aimed at designing, launching, and validating the next breakthrough applications in the digital asset space. BitGo stated that this department focuses on use cases that can only be realized through crypto technology, such as interest rates and yields that traditional systems cannot provide, and aims to leverage AI to complete builds in months rather than years. BitGo Labs will initially focus on the intersection of AI and crypto.

BitGo pointed out that the AI economy still requires crypto financial infrastructure to handle micropayments, achieve instant settlements, and ensure asset security. At the launch of the department, several related projects were introduced, including the consumer application Gokubu, which utilizes AI-driven card optimization for user spending and is now live, allowing users to access personalized AI financial assistants to help them achieve better rewards and transaction value.

BitGo stated that in addition to the initial projects, BitGo Labs will also release research reports, protocol prototypes, and reference implementations, and collaborate with developers, scholars, and institutions in the crypto and AI communities. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe previously mentioned in an interview that AI agents are likely to use stablecoins as their native currency, and human control over AI will last longer than some predict.

This statement responds to Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, regarding the viewpoint that digital currencies like stablecoins cannot serve as the native currency for AI agents because they cannot be directly converted into computing power.

Evernorth's $132.2 Million Warrant Registration Becomes Effective, Plans to List on Nasdaq under XRPN

According to ChainCatcher, digital asset treasury company Evernorth Holdings, Inc. and SPAC company Armada Acquisition Corp. II announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared the S-4 registration statement related to their proposed business combination effective.

The registration statement covers up to 11,499,992 shares of Class A common stock that can be issued and sold upon the exercise of warrants, calculated at an exercise price of $11.5 per share, corresponding to a scale of approximately $132.2 million. According to the arrangement, Armada shareholders registered as of August 20, 2026, will hold a special meeting on September 30, 2026, to vote on the transaction.

If the transaction is approved and customary closing conditions are met, the combined company is expected to list on Nasdaq under the ticker "XRPN," with the transaction anticipated to be completed by the end of the third quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2026. Asheesh Birla, founder and CEO of Evernorth, stated that the effectiveness of the registration statement is an important milestone in completing the proposed business combination.

Evernorth is positioned as a digital asset treasury company building institutional-level XRP economic exposure, planning to deploy funds into the XRP ecosystem through strategies aimed at enhancing the per-share XRP holdings. Its investors include Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR.

Bitcoin Yield Platform HoneyB Completes $5 Million Seed Round Financing, Valued at $30 Million

According to ChainCatcher, the developer of the Bitcoin yield platform HoneyB, Nectar Group, has completed a $5 million seed round financing, led by Portal Ventures, with participation from Peer Venture Partners, Anchorage Digital Ventures, an unnamed family office, and angel investors. Co-founder and CEO Josh Gordon stated that this round of financing uses a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) plus a one-to-one token warrant structure, resulting in a post-money valuation of $30 million, with no investors gaining board seats or advisory roles.

HoneyB aims to help Bitcoin holders earn yields on their holdings. In its first strategy, users borrow stablecoins using Bitcoin as collateral and then invest them in yield strategies involving U.S. Treasury bonds, fixed income, credit, gold, volatility, and options. The Bitcoin collateral can be held through on-chain smart contracts or by a tripartite arrangement consisting of borrowers, lenders, and custodians, with Anchorage Digital and BitGo providing custody services. HoneyB has also deployed infrastructure on Ethereum, Sui, Solana, and Arch Network.

Gordon stated that the underlying investment products target an annualized return of about 10%, and HoneyB aims to provide users with an annualized return of approximately 2% to 4% on their Bitcoin holdings after deducting borrowing costs and fees. The first strategy will use a fund managed by Simplify Asset Management, which manages approximately $13.5 billion in assets, with Alphaledger responsible for managing and tokenizing the fund, and Amber Capital SPC as the issuer.

Gordon identified Bitwise, Lombard, Solv, and Sentora as competing platforms, noting that HoneyB's differentiation lies in integrating custody, lending, and investment services on the same platform, allowing institutional partners to offer their products under their own brands. HoneyB plans to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, with its first product targeting institutional investors outside the U.S., followed by plans to launch institutional products in the U.S. and retail products expected in the first quarter of 2027. Its business model involves charging platform fees on deployed funds, and this round of funding will be used for product development, custody and financing integration, legal compliance, and distribution. Nectar was established in October last year and currently has over 12 employees.

Bensent: The GENIUS Act is a Financial Watershed for the U.S., OCC Final Rule Provides a Clear Foundation for Payment Stablecoin Innovation and Competition

According to ChainCatcher, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bensent stated that the GENIUS Act is a watershed moment in the U.S. financial sector, further solidifying the U.S. position as a global crypto hub.

He noted that just as President Lincoln's National Currency Act of 1863 established a national framework for banks to issue currency, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the digital age.

Bensent stated that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) final rule advances the implementation of this landmark legislation, providing a clear and pragmatic foundation for private sector innovation, competition, and U.S. leadership in the digital asset space.

Western Union Partners with Noah to Launch USDPT Stablecoin Remittance Service

According to ChainCatcher, global remittance giant Western Union (NYSE: WU) has chosen stablecoin payment infrastructure provider Noah to provide the underlying on-chain banking network for its Receiver Redirect service. This service allows recipients of Western Union transfers to receive funds in the form of USDPT stablecoin, covering over 60 currencies and more than 200 countries and regions, aiming to reduce cross-border transfer times from days to hours and significantly lower fees.

The global remittance market is approximately $905 billion annually. Receiver Redirect is based on the USDPT stablecoin issued by Western Union, which is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank on the Solana blockchain.

Remitters can initiate transfers through Western Union's network of over 500,000 agents worldwide, while recipients will receive USDPT in their Western Union wallets and can hold the stablecoin indefinitely using the Stablecard, which will be launched in August 2026. Noah will provide the necessary fund management and licensing for pre-financing, conversion, and distribution of USDPT to recipients while ensuring compliance with local regulatory requirements.

Malcolm Clarke, Global Head of Digital Assets at Western Union, stated that customers increasingly desire greater flexibility in receiving, holding, and using funds, and this new capability seamlessly connects Western Union's global money transfer network with the digital asset ecosystem. Noah completed a $38 million seed round financing on October 7, 2026, and obtained a crypto asset service provider license and payment institution license under the EU MiCA framework on October 15.

OpenStocks Launches on BNB Chain, Tokens Provide Price Exposure Only, Not Equity

According to ChainCatcher, the tokenized Pre-IPO platform OpenStocks has launched on the BNB Chain, introducing tokenized economic exposure products for four private companies, including Anthropic (oANTHROPIC), Figure AI (oFIGUREAI), Neuralink (oNEURALINK), and Anduril (oANDURIL).

These products are all BEP-20 tokens on the BNB Chain mainnet, supporting 24/7 trading with no minimum amount restrictions, and transactions settle on-chain within seconds, using a self-custody model where users trade by connecting their own BNB Chain wallets, with OpenStocks not acting as a custodian.

The platform clearly states that these tokens only provide economic exposure to the private stock price of the company and do not represent equity, granting holders no ownership, voting rights, dividend rights, or information rights, and that OpenStocks is not affiliated with the aforementioned companies. The token price is set by the on-chain DEX liquidity pool, with PancakeSwap Infinity being the main trading venue, and tokens are traded against USDT, with the price paid by users depending on the quotes in the pool at the time of trade execution.

The trading page simultaneously displays the latest on-chain price of the tokens and the reference price of the underlying company, as well as the implied company valuation of that price. The platform is not open to individuals within the United States, U.S. citizens, and other ineligible individuals, with Singapore being a prohibited jurisdiction. OpenStocks states that it is not a broker-dealer, investment advisor, exchange, transfer agent, or custodian, does not provide investment advice, and is not affiliated with the companies involved.

Data: Ethereum Spot ETF Total Net Outflow of $26.1343 Million Yesterday, Continuing 5 Days of Net Outflow

According to ChainCatcher, based on SoSoValue data, the total net outflow of the Ethereum spot ETF was $26.1343 million. The Ethereum spot ETF with the highest single-day net inflow was Fidelity ETF FETH, with a single-day net inflow of $3.6318 million, and the historical total net inflow of FETH has reached $2.342 billion.

Following that is Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF ETH, with a single-day net inflow of $3.2522 million, and the historical total net inflow of ETH has reached $2.011 billion. The Ethereum spot ETF with the highest single-day net outflow was Blackrock ETF ETHA, with a single-day net outflow of $33.0183 million, and the historical total net inflow of ETHA has reached $12.365 billion.

As of the time of publication, the total net asset value of the Ethereum spot ETF was $14.975 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market cap compared to total Ethereum market cap) of 5.01%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $12.81 billion.

Data: Bitcoin Spot ETF Total Net Inflow of $23.1624 Million Yesterday, Blackrock's Net Inflow of $29.865 Million Tops

According to ChainCatcher, based on SoSoValue data, the total net inflow of the Bitcoin spot ETF was $23.1624 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest single-day net inflow was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of $29.865 million, and the historical total net inflow of IBIT has reached $66.263 billion.

Following that is Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a single-day net inflow of $3.5845 million, and the historical total net inflow of FBTC has reached $10.375 billion. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest single-day net outflow was Bitwise ETF BITB, with a single-day net outflow of $10.287 million, and the historical total net inflow of BITB has reached $2.037 billion.

As of the time of publication, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF was $106.284 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market cap compared to total Bitcoin market cap) of 6.38%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $57.428 billion.

Binance Adds 5 bStocks Tokenized Securities as Collateral Assets

According to ChainCatcher, Binance will add 5 bStocks tokens—RoboStrategy Inc (BOTB), Berkshire Hathaway (BRKBB), KraneShares STAR Market 50 ETF (KSTRB), Direxion Daily 20 Year Treasury Bull 3X ETF (TMFB), and Vistra Corp (VSTB)—as qualified collateral assets on October 21, 2026, at 20:00, under its full warehouse leverage, unified account model, and unified account professional version.

Eligible users can use these bStocks tokens as margin collateral.

Binance Launches Multiple bStocks Trading Pairs

According to ChainCatcher, Binance will launch bStocks tokenized securities trading pairs, including RoboStrategy Inc (BOTB), Berkshire Hathaway (BRKBB), KraneShares STAR Market 50 ETF (KSTRB), Direxion Daily 20 Year Treasury Bull 3X ETF (TMFB), and Vistra Corp (VSTB) at 20:00 on October 21.

Users can enjoy fee-free exchanges to BTC, USDT, or other tokens within one hour of the launch, with zero maker fees during the event until November 1 at 07:59.

AI Infrastructure Company Elice Hits Limit Up on Second Day of Listing, Still Below Issue Price

According to ChainCatcher, as reported by the Korea Economic Daily on October 21, AI infrastructure company Elice Group, which provides AI cloud and educational and office software, rebounded significantly on the second day of its listing on KOSDAQ. As of 9:15 AM that morning, Elice was priced at 79,900 KRW, up 18,400 KRW from the previous trading day, a rise of 29.92%.

The previous trading day's closing price was 61,600 KRW, down 28,900 KRW from the issue price of 90,500 KRW, a drop of 31.93%. Reports indicate that even if the price hits the limit up for the day, it is still below the issue price. Bloomberg reported on October 20 that Elice's stock fell about 32% on its first day of trading, becoming a case of weakened confidence in so-called new cloud companies, and was placed at the center of the debate over AI company valuations and whether they can deliver on those valuations.

Reuters stated that the sharp drop has reignited market concerns about the sustainability of large investments in AI infrastructure and the investment recovery cycle. CNBC reported that the impact of the listing performance has spread to U.S. data center-related stocks. The scale of this public offering was $150 million, and the company plans to use the listing funds for modular data centers and related infrastructure construction.

Leverage Yield Protocol Hylo Completes $1 Million Strategic Financing, Led by Solana Ventures

According to ChainCatcher, Solana ecosystem leverage and yield infrastructure protocol Hylo announced the completion of $1 million in strategic financing, led by Solana Ventures, with Colosseum participating. Hylo stated that this is Solana Ventures' second investment in Hylo and Colosseum's third investment. Hylo noted that this round of financing reflects the ongoing support of both institutions for its vision of expanding leverage and yield infrastructure on Solana.

NGRAVE Suffers Phishing Attack: Approximately 70 Wallets Stolen $2.56 Million

According to ChainCatcher, digital hardware wallet manufacturer NGRAVE disclosed that attackers hijacked the third-party notification service used by its LIQUID companion app and sent false security alerts to users, resulting in approximately 70 wallet addresses being stolen across 4 blockchains for about $2.56 million. Among them, Bitcoin losses were approximately $1.77 million, XRP about $454,000, Ethereum assets about $316,000, and Stellar about $18,000.

The attackers induced users to click on a counterfeit website and enter their 24-word recovery phrase or Perfect Key, subsequently transferring assets within minutes using automated scripts. NGRAVE stated that the ZERO hardware wallet and private keys were not directly compromised, and the victims voluntarily provided recovery credentials during the phishing process.

Unauthorized access may have begun on October 11. After obtaining one access key, the attackers gained access to a broader key and sent false notifications on October 17; NGRAVE detected the anomaly about one minute after the notifications appeared, but the first wallet had already been emptied six minutes later, and the notification system was shut down that evening.

NGRAVE's CEO stated that the company failed to fulfill the most basic security responsibilities of a cryptocurrency security firm and mentioned that affected keys have been replaced, with new dual approval, domain restrictions, and emergency shutdown mechanisms added. The company also reminded affected users to create new wallets and contact the support team, as some device information, wallet activity, IP addresses, and approximate locations may have been exposed.

OpenAI Acquires Orchestra Bio, AI Agents Take Over Drug Development

According to ChainCatcher, OpenAI announced the acquisition of San Francisco startup Orchestra Bio, which has developed AI agents to help pharmaceutical companies track the progress of drug development projects. The Orchestra team and platform will be integrated into OpenAI's life sciences product line Rosalind, aimed at biologists and chemists, with the transaction amount undisclosed.

Orchestra was founded in the fall of 2022, with seed round financing from Andreessen Horowitz, Definition Capital, Insight Partners, and 8VC, raising approximately $20 million in total. According to OpenAI, it can take up to 15 years for a new drug to go from initial conception to U.S. approval, and the cost of bringing a single approved drug to market can exceed $2.6 billion, with less than 10% of candidate drugs entering human trials ultimately reaching the market.

Orchestra's AI agents can automatically monitor tasks and flag issues, analyze how setbacks like production batch failures affect the overall development project, compile relevant information, and compare response strategies, ultimately leading to decisions made by scientists and project leaders. This acquisition follows competitor Anthropic's acquisition of Coefficient Bio for about $400 million in April, reflecting the competition among AI labs for new drug development workflows.

In April, OpenAI launched a model specifically designed for biology and drug discovery, GPT-Rosalind, which is only available to vetted U.S. corporate clients such as Amgen and Moderna, with the accompanying product Rosalind Workbench connecting the model to research tools and data.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN market data, as of October 22, 08:00,

The top five popular tokens in ETH over the past 24 hours are: ZC, DACITY, CTM, cirBTC, CLAUS

The top five popular tokens in Solana over the past 24 hours are: Kimchi, CYBER, Pokémon, PHP, Dacity

In the past 24 hours, the top five popular tokens on Base are: XDP, AXIS, CTR, ELSA, AIPOP

In the past 24 hours, the top five popular tokens on BSC are: BNCB, pPOLY, .ai, .ai, AID

What are the exciting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?

Private Jets and Investor Pressure: Polymarket CEO Forced to Mature

Coplan is actively building connections on Wall Street and has invited Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to visit the Polymarket office. Subsequently, Solomon recommended Lisa Mantil to join as the head of institutional business; she has 27 years of experience at Goldman Sachs. Recently, Mantil has been negotiating cooperation with the established Wall Street brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, planning to open Polymarket contracts to institutional clients on Wall Street. Two months ago, Kalshi had already reached a similar cooperation with Cantor. Both Goldman Sachs and Cantor Fitzgerald declined to comment.

This month at a crypto conference, Coplan admitted that he is still learning how to operate a mature business. "Clearly, I am still learning, and the road ahead is long…"

Interview with Robinhood Senior Vice President Johann: No Competition in Public Chains, From DeFi to AI Agent Layout for Next-Gen Finance

We are building more tools and have been communicating with customers to understand which features are working well, where there are still shortcomings, and what users want to see on this chain.

So, please actively provide us with feedback, clearly tell us what is currently lacking, what else is worth developing, and which directions we should focus on next. We hope this chain can become easier to use and better serve different communities.

PANews: There are still many developers in China. I'm not sure if you have already connected with the developer community in China? Johann Kerbrat: Definitely, some developers have participated, although I haven't specifically confirmed the details. But we do hope this chain can be open to all developers and communities, allowing anyone to build applications on it.

CICC: Can AI High Prosperity Withstand Supply Tests?

CICC does not make any express or implied guarantees regarding the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, and completeness of the information contained in this public account. CICC and/or its affiliates do not assume any form of liability for any consequences arising from reliance on or use of the information contained in this public account.

This public account is only for CICC's clients in mainland China. Any subscribers who do not meet the above conditions are advised to assess the appropriateness of receiving subscription content before subscribing. Subscribing to this public account does not constitute a basis for any contract or commitment, and CICC does not consider subscribers to be clients of CICC solely based on the act of subscribing to this public account.

DeepSeek Open Source Inference Framework: Social Media Estimates Inference Gross Margin May Exceed 95%

DeepSeek's open-source underlying inference stack DeepInfer reports that revenue per GPU hour reaches $38, with overseas social media estimating its single-card hardware gross margin as high as 84% to 96%.

This estimation further triggered industry resonance, with analysts projecting that the API gross margin of mainstream models from OpenAI and Anthropic may also reach 95%.

Jensen Huang: Future Telecom Base Stations Expected to Develop into Distributed AI Networks, All Telecom Operators Will Provide AI Computing Power

At the GTC Berlin conference on October 21, Jensen Huang stated that all telecom operators will provide AI computing power, and telecom base stations are expected to develop into distributed AI networks; NVIDIA simultaneously launched the DSX Pod AI factory (deployment in as fast as 14 days) and the OpenShell reference architecture.

SpaceX Conference Call: Musk Says Next Year ARR Could Reach $1 Trillion, Committee Established to Explore Merger with Tesla

Musk stated that SpaceX is expected to reach an ARR of $500 billion to $1 trillion by the end of 2027; for the remainder of this year, they will invest 200,000 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs each month, aiming to achieve 13GW of AI computing power by 2027, including a single training cluster composed of 440,000 NVIDIA Rubin GPUs; due to conflicts of interest, he avoided discussions about the merger between SpaceX and Tesla, stating that the merger is not a done deal and requires support from half of Tesla's shareholders.