cryptocurrency

ICBA accuses OCC of lacking regulatory safeguards in granting banking charters to cryptocurrency companies. The cryptocurrency lobbying group CCI supports OCC, stating that the lawsuit aims to stifle financial innovation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Michael S. Selig, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced on October 5 that the CFTC has officially proposed the first batch of regulatory rules for the cryptocurrency market, aimed at promoting innovation and protecting investors.Previously, due to Congress's failure to pass relevant bills clarifying the federal legal status of cryptocurrency assets, the CFTC and SEC turned to existing statutory powers to lead the formulation of market structure rules. During the previous administration, the two regulatory agencies primarily targeted cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians, and software developers through enforcement actions, resulting in a large number of cryptocurrency companies moving overseas.The introduction of the new rules marks an important shift in U.S. federal cryptocurrency regulation from "enforcement instead of legislation" to "proactive rule-making."

Chainalysis, in its "East Asia Cryptocurrency Adoption Report" released on October 5, stated that during the period from July 2025 to June 2026, overall cryptocurrency activity in East Asia has slightly contracted due to the global bear market, but significant differentiation has emerged within the region: South Korea remains the largest retail trading center, Hong Kong is becoming a hub for institutional fund settlement, Japanese users are accelerating their shift towards DEX and perpetual contracts, while the peer-to-peer use of stablecoins in mainland China continues to expand.The report estimates that South Korea's cryptocurrency economy will reach $449.1 billion during the same period, a 12.3% increase from the previous cycle, maintaining its position as the leader in East Asia; Japan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Taiwan are at $228.3 billion, $192.2 billion, $176.3 billion, and $140.4 billion, respectively. The growth in South Korea is mainly driven by increased capital flows related to trading platforms, with the report stating that the local trading platform ecosystem has added approximately $51.1 billion in new traffic.The most notable change in the South Korean market comes from AI token trading. Chainalysis noted that by June 2026, AI-related cryptocurrency assets have become the largest thematic sector in won trading, surpassing the popularity of payment tokens like XRP. The report recorded that Worldcoin (WLD) achieved a trading volume of $7.41 billion during the observation period, with SAHARA, VIRTUAL, BIO, and NEAR also becoming active varieties. AI token trading priced in won accounts for about 19.5 times that of the yen market, indicating that South Korean retail investors are extending their AI investment preferences from the domestic stock market to the cryptocurrency market.However, institutional funds in South Korea are still in the preparation stage. The report points out that local banks and brokerages have generally formed digital asset teams and are promoting stablecoin, custody, and tokenization pilots, but direct corporate participation in cryptocurrency investment has not yet reached scale. If the cryptocurrency asset income tax planned for implementation in South Korea in 2027 is realized as scheduled, and corporate trading restrictions continue to be relaxed, the retail-dominated landscape of the South Korean market may face reevaluation.

According to market news, the U.S. Treasury has withdrawn its previous proposal for cryptocurrency regulation concerning unhosted wallets and convertible virtual currency (CVC) mixing services.It is reported that the proposal aimed to expand the scope of monitoring cryptocurrency trading activities, including requiring financial institutions to collect and report relevant information involving unhosted wallets and cryptocurrency mixing services. This withdrawal means that the related monitoring rules will not be advanced for the time being.

According to PRNewswire, Tom Lee, Chairman of the Ethereum treasury company Bitmine, stated that as the cryptocurrency market enters what he believes to be a bull market cycle, the performance of Bitmine (BMNR) stock price during the bear market period from 2025 to 2026 is noteworthy compared to Ethereum (ETH).In the first nine months of 2026, the ETH price fell by 10%, while BMNR only dropped by 3%, achieving a relative outperformance of approximately 731 basis points (7.31 percentage points). The stock price performance of BMNR reflects the company's commitment to continuously optimizing shareholder returns, which includes executing the largest corporate treasury stock buyback program in the cryptocurrency industry, repurchasing 21 million shares in 2026 alone.Additionally, Tom Lee pointed out that from the third quarter of 2026 to the present, ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 index by 6832 basis points. Despite macro pressures such as a hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve, rising oil prices, increasing global bond yields, and tightening financial conditions, ETH has still demonstrated strong performance, leading other major macro assets.

According to Decrypt, Greek prosecutors have accused a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme of defrauding approximately $8 million from around 10,000 investors. Nine suspects, including two Greek soldiers, were questioned by investigating judges on Monday.The police have arrested 17 people in connection with the case, stating that the organization operated as a Ponzi scheme and promoted investments in cryptocurrency through its controlled platform. The related charges have not yet been adjudicated in court, and the data comes from the police rather than the indictment documents.Reports indicate that the organization recruited participants through a local civic group. A 44-year-old man, who leads the Katerini Artificial Intelligence Enthusiasts Association, has been remanded in custody, while six others have been released under restrictions, with bail set between €15,000 and €20,000.Investors were encouraged to invest at least €800, while VIP investors were required to invest €5,000, with promises of doubling their funds. In Katerini alone, investigators estimate that the organization recruited 1,842 members, collecting approximately €2 million.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against a member of Hamas's military wing, two French nationals, and two charitable organizations, accusing them of raising over $2 million for Hamas through cryptocurrency and so-called humanitarian donations in a fundraising campaign that lasted six years.The Treasury stated that Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid raised funds in France under the guise of humanitarian efforts, subsequently transferring the money to Hamas. This network raised over $2 million between 2020 and 2026, with $1.5 million occurring after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The two also sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq in Gaza, who is the deputy battalion commander of Hamas's Kassam Brigades.The sanctions freeze the assets of the relevant entities within U.S. jurisdiction, and Americans are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions may face secondary sanctions risks, and restrictions also extend to companies in which the sanctioned parties hold more than 50% directly or indirectly. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that terrorist organizations like Hamas rely on complex financial intermediaries and fraudulent means. This move indicates U.S. concern about the role of cryptocurrency in broader fundraising networks, rather than viewing it as Hamas's primary source of funding.

Digital asset management company CoinShares stated in its latest survey that the willingness of wealthy investors to allocate to cryptocurrencies continues to expand. The survey targeted a total of 2,230 wealthy investors from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland.The survey showed that the digital asset holding rate ranges from 54% to 70%, with the holding rates in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany approaching 70%. Among respondents who already hold digital assets, there is a strong willingness to increase exposure by 2026. CoinShares noted that at least 85% of existing investors in the five markets plan to increase their positions, with the proportions reaching 91% in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and 78% and 71% in Switzerland and Sweden, respectively.

Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua published an article discussing the current state of the cryptocurrency primary market. He stated that the main reasons for the decline of the cryptocurrency primary market are: "First, the narrative has collapsed; from white papers to institutional endorsements to TVL manipulation, the basic market is no longer buying in. Second, there is a supply imbalance; now there are tens of thousands of projects, and it is extremely difficult for excellent projects to emerge. Third, the 1 plus 3 unlocking mechanism essentially targets VCs, allowing projects, market makers, and exchanges to run first. Fourth, the cost of listing coins; now primary projects require high valuations and large financing mainly because of several leading centralized exchanges going live, with an average cost needing tens of millions of dollars."Yi Lihua believes that industry leaders need to truly focus on building, such as improving the coin listing selection method on Binance. Under the current model, even if Vitalik Buterin's ETH were to come today, it would not be able to list on Binance. Additionally, the 1 plus 3 unlocking mechanism should be completely abolished; VCs bear the greatest risk and should not be burdened with the worst unlocking terms, as the success or failure of a project is fundamentally not determined by VCs.Finally, cryptocurrency projects need to return to real revenue and buybacks. The sustained prosperity of the U.S. stock market over the years is primarily due to performance growth and the encouragement of shareholder returns. This is what industry leaders should be doing, allowing secondary market investors to truly find quality projects.

According to Cointelegraph, the advocacy organization focused on Zcash, Pretty Good Policy for Zcash (PGPZ), has submitted a lobbying registration, with the registration effective date of October 1. Executive Director Divij Pandya is the sole registered lobbyist. This move indicates that this privacy-oriented cryptocurrency ecosystem is intensifying efforts to influence U.S. digital asset policy.The registration documents include the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and two digital asset tax proposals as part of its current and anticipated lobbying agenda. PGPZ was established in June of this year, evolving from the Pretty Good Policy for Crypto initiative launched by Electric Coin Co. in 2022, which held a Washington policy roundtable and organized a congressional briefing on cryptocurrency technology in 2023.PGPZ founder and ZODL Chief Policy and Regulatory Officer Paul Brigner stated that the goal is "to ensure that Zcash has serious, organized, and credible policy participation in Washington." He noted that the decisions being made by policymakers will affect whether privacy-preserving digital cash can exist, be used legally, and serve the public interest. PGPZ's responsibility is to ensure that Zcash is understood, represented, and defended in these discussions. In August of this year, Zcash Community Grants approved a $750,000 grant to fund PGPZ's work for its first year.

According to Cointelegraph, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry jointly issued a statement on Friday, officially adding the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex to the asset freeze list. This measure will severely restrict payment and capital transaction activities related to Garantex.The statement pointed out that this expansion of sanctions is due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Garantex has previously been blacklisted by multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union, for allegedly assisting Russian entities in evading financial restrictions.In addition to the cryptocurrency platform, Japan has also added 33 related organizations and 9 individuals to the sanctions list in this action, and imposed bans on repair and insurance services for 35 vessels suspected of transporting Russian crude oil as part of a "shadow fleet."

Famous trader Killa stated that he does not believe Bitcoin will hit new lows again and is currently maintaining a long position. However, after the U.S. midterm elections, the market may still experience some de-risking behavior, so it is not the right time to establish hedge short positions in advance.Historically, Bitcoin's performance has been weak after every U.S. midterm election cycle. However, if Bitcoin continues to rise before the elections, traders can wait until the midterm elections are closer to decide whether to take action based on the price trends at that time.He believes that a more reasonable strategy right now is to continue holding long positions and observe market reactions before and after the midterm elections, and then consider whether to establish hedge short positions, rather than shorting in advance solely based on historical cycles.

Michael Selig, the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, stated that various regulatory agencies already possess a significant amount of existing statutory authority. While participating in the presidential working group on digital assets, they have studied statutory authorizations and legislative-level powers, and will continue to issue regulatory rules in the cryptocurrency sector based on existing regulatory powers to prepare for the development of new financial fields.

According to a report by the Japan Economic News cited by Reference News, the Japanese government has decided to impose additional sanctions on Russia during a cabinet meeting. In principle, the Japanese government prohibits providing operational, maintenance, insurance, and financing services to 35 vessels in Russia's "shadow fleet," which secretly transports crude oil to evade Western sanctions.In addition to the sanctions against the "shadow fleet," the Japanese government has also added 33 Russian military-related groups and 9 individuals to the asset freeze list, including groups involved in using cryptocurrency to evade financial sanctions.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Brazilian presidential election will be held on October 4, and the results may influence the direction of the country's cryptocurrency policies, which have the highest global adoption rate. Current President Lula will face off against former President's son Flavio Bolsonaro.If current President Lula is re-elected, it is expected that he will strengthen regulatory and compliance requirements, as the central bank has intensified oversight of exchanges and may push for taxation on stablecoin transactions (which had been postponed due to the election). If former President's son Flavio Bolsonaro wins, his stance on cryptocurrency is unclear, with no record indicating that he has ever mentioned cryptocurrencies. However, he has previously defended individuals associated with the "Bitcoin Pharaoh" pyramid scheme.

According to Arkham monitoring, about 14 hours ago, the Trump family's cryptocurrency project World Liberty Fi marked an address that transferred 25,997,000 WLFI to the cryptocurrency exchange Gate, valued at approximately 1.41 million USD, suspected of being a sell-off.

A 60-year-old woman in Hong Kong reported that she was defrauded by a scammer who claimed to be an investment expert that she met on an online platform, and was later induced to invest in cryptocurrency on a fake website. Between April 14 and September 22, the woman transferred a total of approximately 21.5 million Hong Kong dollars to a designated investment account multiple times.The platform then required her to pay a margin to prove that the investment account was not used for money laundering. The police have initially classified the case as obtaining property by deception, and the fourth team of the criminal investigation unit of the Sau Mau Ping Police District is following up on the case, with no arrests made yet.

Zach Pandl, the Director of Research at Grayscale, stated that the AI crypto sector rose by 54% in September, significantly outperforming the overall crypto market, which increased by 24%. Despite this recent surge, the sector's market capitalization is still only about $15 billion, making it the smallest category among the six crypto sectors defined by Grayscale.Among the representative tokens in the sector, NEAR rose by 183% in September, Venice (VVV) increased by 70%, World (WLD) went up by 47%, and Bittensor (TAO) climbed by 37%. These projects involve agent commerce, privacy AI applications, human verification, and an open AI network encompassing reasoning, agents, data, and computation.Grayscale believes that public blockchains can provide an open infrastructure for agent payments, identity, privacy computing, and verifiable records, complementing the current AI development ecosystem that is concentrated among a few companies. The AI crypto sector may see one or more major winners in the next five years, and recent performance indicates that investors are beginning to price in the role of blockchain as infrastructure in the emerging agent economy.