nio

The issue surrounding the military version of the "Starlink" satellite communication system within Ukraine has led to differing opinions from the United States, Ukraine, and SpaceX. Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian military faces speed limits when using "Starlink," while U.S. President Trump claimed he was unaware and stated that the speed limits had been lifted. SpaceX CEO Musk indicated that any restrictions are determined by the U.S. military and ultimately depend on the U.S. President.

On October 23, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology to Support the Construction of Employment-Friendly Development Models" (Guo Ban Fa [2026] No. 29). The document proposes to adapt to the development of artificial intelligence technology, enhance the positive effects of job creation, empower traditional positions, and mitigate the impact of job replacement.The opinions point out that the role of artificial intelligence should be leveraged to improve the employment environment, enhance occupational safety levels, and improve work quality and efficiency, with priority given to promoting applications in positions with labor shortages and high-risk environments; it is essential to cautiously manage the scope, intensity, and pace of artificial intelligence applications in labor-intensive industries to minimize the impact on workers. The document also encourages enterprises to explore the establishment of an unemployment buffer period system, to inform affected workers in advance during the large-scale promotion of artificial intelligence applications, and to provide support for job transition and transformation.The opinions also outline deployments in areas such as strengthening job creation effects, constructing employment-friendly upgrade paths, enhancing workers' digital literacy and employment capabilities, promoting artificial intelligence-enabled employment policy services, improving workers' rights protection and social security, and perfecting employment monitoring, early warning, and risk response mechanisms. The document is dated October 16, 2026, and is marked for public release.

According to Politico, two insiders said that the United States is once again pressuring the European Union to relax regulations on large technology companies.

The Cardano Foundation calls on the European Union not to introduce new independent regulatory rules for DeFi and staking, advocating that existing financial laws should regulate based on the function and risk of activities rather than the technology used. The foundation outlined its 19-page opinion submitted to the European Commission on September 30 in a blog post released on Wednesday, urging a distinction between direct participation in decentralized networks and financial services provided by intermediaries, especially those involving the custody or control of user assets. The foundation stated that regulation should follow the substance of the activity, the functions performed, and the risks generated, rather than the technology relied upon to conduct the activity.The foundation pointed out that Cardano users can delegate native ADA tokens to help secure the network without relinquishing custody or locking up tokens, and this form of direct participation should be treated differently from staking services operated by intermediaries. The opinion also calls for a clearer distinction between the EU MiCA regulations and existing financial laws, warning that overlapping regulatory requirements and inconsistent interpretations among member states could create uncertainty for crypto businesses.This move comes as EU regulators consider expanding oversight of crypto services. In September, the European Securities and Markets Authority suggested adding additional safeguards for staking and lending activities and establishing a new category of regulated services for companies providing access to DeFi protocols. Additionally, the Cardano Foundation, along with five other blockchain organizations, sent a joint letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 20, urging it to formally recognize digital commodities as non-securities under the proposed crypto framework.

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 several days to a few hours while significantly lowering fees. The global remittance market size 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 agent locations worldwide, while recipients will receive USDPT into their Western Union wallets and can hold this stablecoin asset indefinitely using the Stablecard, which will be launched in August 2026. Noah will provide the necessary fund management and licensing for pre-funding, exchange, 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 are increasingly seeking greater flexibility in receiving, holding, and using funds, and this new capability will seamlessly connect 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 cryptocurrency asset service provider license and payment institution license under the EU MiCA framework on October 15.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X, stating that as the Clarity Act is stalled, regulators are independently formulating rules for the digital asset market based on existing authorities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has solicited opinions on a framework for retail digital asset trading, which includes a new category of "crypto asset market" exchanges, with the comment period ending on December 14.The comment period for the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets will close on October 20. The pace at which regulators are crafting rules is faster than congressional legislation, but the relevant rules may face challenges in court or be rescinded by future commissions; a lasting regulatory framework still requires legislation.

According to a report by Reuters, Micron's Taoyuan union in Taiwan announced on October 20 that it plans to initiate a strike this Thursday to protest the dispute over employee bonuses and profit-sharing plans, and to support the Taichung union, which is currently in mediation negotiations with the company.Currently, the mediation between the Taoyuan union and Micron broke down in September, and the former received authorization from its members to strike in early October. The Taichung union represents Micron's largest operational department in Taiwan and is still negotiating with the company, having not yet voted on whether to strike. Micron has approximately 15,000 employees in Taiwan, primarily producing key components for AI servers, DRAM, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The Taoyuan union did not specify the duration of the strike, and Taiwan's regional leader Lai Ching-te called on both sides to negotiate sincerely last week.

According to Jinshi news, the Ministry of Commerce and 8 other departments have released opinions on accelerating the promotion of technology-driven commerce. The opinions propose to promote the iterative upgrading of commodity supply, deeply implement the "Artificial Intelligence + Manufacturing" special action, accelerate the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology with product research and development, design, manufacturing, and marketing, enrich the supply of smart products such as smartphones, computers, home appliances, wearable devices, and robots, and encourage the research and application of smart products based on secure and reliable open-source operating systems.The opinions also propose to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of historical classic industries, develop classic high-quality products, build a lineup of Chinese consumer brands, and explore consumer brands that are independently innovative and of high quality. Vigorously develop technology-driven agriculture, promote the quality and efficiency of high-quality specialty agricultural products, encourage time-honored brands to innovate while maintaining their essence, and support time-honored enterprises in using modern production technologies for product innovation.

According to Bitcoin.com News, the European Union has signed an additional protocol to the Council of Europe’s Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure, and Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (the "Warsaw Convention") with eight countries: Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, and the United Kingdom.This protocol includes virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASP) within its scope, aiming to address transnational crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing using cryptocurrency. Key measures include allowing the emergency freezing/confiscation of virtual assets without prior notice when there is a risk of transaction; expanding the powers of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) to suspend cryptocurrency transactions suspected of money laundering; requiring countries to establish dedicated asset recovery and management offices; prioritizing victims in reclaiming confiscated assets; and generally dividing recovered funds exceeding 10,000 euros among participating countries, while encouraging the use of confiscated assets for social welfare or public purposes.

According to a report by the Korean News Agency, the South Korean government will convene representatives from the five major virtual asset exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital X, and GOPAX—along with DAXA executives on October 20 to gather industry opinions regarding the virtual asset tax originally scheduled to be implemented in January 2027.The current proposal aims to impose a 22% income tax and local income tax on virtual asset transfers and lending income after deducting a basic tax exemption of 2.5 million Korean won. This tax policy has been postponed three times since it was proposed in 2020, and the government is still advancing preparations according to the original schedule. The National Tax Service of Korea is expected to release a related announcement in November.In addition, South Korea's financial regulatory authorities are accelerating the advancement of the government draft for the "Basic Law on Digital Assets," which is expected to be completed by the end of this month and initiate related consultation procedures.

According to a report by Reuters, the Russian government press office announced that Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov have joined the board of directors of the Russian payment company A7. In the context of Western sanctions affecting traditional banking channels, A7's role in maintaining trade relations between Russia and partners such as China is expanding.A7 was established in 2024 by the Russian bank PSB, which primarily serves the defense sector, to provide cross-border transaction settlement services for Russian enterprises. Due to Western sanctions, traditional banks have difficulty processing many payments related to Russia, especially trade payments with Russia's largest trading partner, China. A7 estimates that currently, up to 80% of Russia's foreign trade payments are completed through alternative channels.A7 has been subjected to multiple Western sanctions. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on it on October 1, stating that it has established a global network of affiliated companies that "disguises payments related to sanctioned industries and individuals as ordinary business activities." A7 uses the ruble stablecoin A7A5 for settlements. This token was launched in 2025 in Kyrgyzstan and is backed by ruble deposits held at PSB Bank. According to PSB's estimates, the cumulative transaction volume of A7A5 has reached approximately $14 billion.

Market news reports that the European Union is preparing to accelerate the advancement of satellite projects to compete with SpaceX.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched a public consultation on proposed capital, custody, and trading requirements for cryptocurrency platforms. The related rules aim to align with the digital asset legislation passed in April and expand regulation of the industry. The proposals include three capital models, restrictions on platforms conducting proprietary trading, and quarterly reporting of wallets holding customer assets.ASIC also intends to allow offshore custody and is seeking opinions on safeguards in the event of the failure of overseas parent companies or affiliates. One of the models requires platforms that do not adopt qualified third-party custody arrangements to hold at least AUD 14 million (approximately USD 9.7 million) in net tangible assets or 10% of average revenue, whichever is higher. Feedback is due by November 27, and ASIC plans to release final standards and guidelines in March 2027. The related laws will take effect on April 8, 2027, and operators must apply for licenses by October 7 of the same year, with the ability to continue operations during the ASIC review period.

On October 14, the OpenAI Economic Research Team released a report stating that EU companies are expanding the use of AI with agent tools, no longer just asking questions to AI, but using agents to complete tasks from planning to execution. The report examines the growth of agent usage among large and small enterprises, differences in usage intensity, and the types of work people are accomplishing with ChatGPT.In a sample of EU clients using ChatGPT Enterprise, Codex and ChatGPT work currently contribute over half of the output tokens. Since May 2026, the number of weekly active users of Codex and ChatGPT work among EU small and medium-sized enterprises has increased to more than 8.1 times the original, with growth in all member states. The article defines small and medium-sized enterprises as those with no more than 200 associated users.The proportion of relevant output tokens in the sample is lowest in Slovenia at 22% and highest in Lithuania at 85%. Leading enterprises are defined as those ranking in the top 10% for output tokens per active user, with the sample including only ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Business accounts. In September, this metric for leading enterprises in the EU exceeded that of general EU enterprises by four times, while leading enterprises outside the EU still surpassed leading enterprises in the EU by more than twice, with companies headquartered in the EU accounting for only 10% of the world's leading enterprises.

According to The Defiant, the European Banking Authority has recognized the US dollar stablecoin USDC as the EU's first "significant" electronic money token. Under the arrangement, the financial regulatory responsibilities for USDC will be transferred to the European Banking Authority on November 12.Meanwhile, the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority will continue to be responsible for the governance and other corporate affairs of USDC.

The Trump administration plans to transfer three senior officials from the U.S. artificial intelligence model testing agency CAISSI to the White House, reporting directly to White House technology policy director Michael Kratsios and national cyber director Sean Cairncross. The government had previously considered moving the entire agency to the White House but ultimately only adjusted part of the senior leadership; the related transfers have not yet been completed, and the identities of the three officials have not been disclosed. Since its establishment by the Biden administration, the agency has used three different names in less than two years, and Chris Fall, the head, resigned just three months after taking office in July of this year, with a successor yet to be determined.CAISSI is affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce, has about 40 employees, and an annual budget of approximately $15 million, responsible for model safety assessments. According to informed sources, the agency is collaborating with the National Security Agency to test OpenAI's Astra and Anthropic's Mythos before public release; it has previously assessed DeepSeek V4 Pro and Zhiyuan GLM-5.3. Google confirmed that Gemini 4 Argon has participated in the voluntary testing process before the U.S. government release. The White House hopes that this adjustment will allow model testing experts to be more directly involved in policy decision-making.

The European Union is reviewing MiCA, with related consultations involving the requirement for developers of non-custodial Bitcoin wallets to obtain certification before providing software to the public. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) stated that open-source development, self-custody, automated smart contracts, and permissionless infrastructure should not automatically be considered regulated intermediaries.At the same time, ESMA proposed establishing new regulated services for crypto asset service providers that offer customers access to decentralized protocol services. This review has not changed the current rules, and the European Commission will assess the relevant opinions and submit a review report by June 30, 2027, in accordance with Article 140 of MiCA.