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Solana's largest network upgrade since 2020, Alpenglow, officially launched on Wednesday. This upgrade moves validator voting from on-chain to off-chain, packaging votes into certificates that can lock transactions within one to two rounds, aiming to reduce the final confirmation time for transactions from about 6 seconds to approximately 150 milliseconds, speeding it up by about 40 times. If this goal is achieved on the mainnet, Solana's transaction settlement speed will be faster than the blink of an eye, bringing it closer to the trading and payment experience of centralized exchanges.Currently, a 6-second confirmation time means that prices may change before the transaction is locked, causing exchanges and payment applications to wait before considering deposits as complete. In comparison, Ethereum takes about 13 minutes to achieve full final confirmation. At the same time, validator costs are expected to decrease by about 60%: currently, validators spend about 2 SOL daily on voting fees, which doubled after Solana recently reduced block time to about 200 milliseconds; Alpenglow eliminates voting fees, replacing them with a fixed validator entry fee of 0.8 SOL per epoch (approximately 24 hours).The upgrade launch process was not smooth. The testnet has been cleared and restarted from scratch six times since its launch in early May, with one migration failing across the entire network and having to be rolled back. According to an article published by Galaxy Digital, one of about 100 validator operators on the testnet, a subsequent migration was successfully completed, clearing the way for Wednesday's launch. Since these events occurred on a network built specifically for testing, there was no risk to real funds. The upgrade was scheduled to switch at the start of epoch 1064 on Wednesday, with actual changes occurring at slot 459,653,000 after a transition of 5,000 slots.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng responded to community user Spigg regarding the suggestion to launch a BNB phone, stating that he rarely disagrees with Spigg but holds a reserved attitude towards the idea of "walking around with a cryptocurrency phone."Previously, Spigg had proposed launching a BNB phone that natively supports wallets, instant payments and transfers, and can centrally access dApps in the BNB Chain ecosystem, believing that this model would provide a different experience on the BNB Chain.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng responded on the X platform regarding the recent mass deletion of old tweets, stating that he was merely testing an AI tool to clean up past retweeted content and did not delete any original posts, so there is no need for the outside world to overinterpret.

Solana ecosystem R&D company Anza announced that the Alpenglow mainnet test version will be activated on October 21, 2026, at 14:50 (UTC). After the upgrade is completed, transaction finality is expected to shorten from approximately 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds.Alpenglow will replace the existing TowerBFT voting mechanism with Votor, allowing validators to not write every vote to the chain but instead confirm consensus through direct communication and summarizing into smaller records. The network is expected to maintain the existing system for about 18 minutes, switching to Votor after staking SOL reaches 82% of the validator set. Another component of Alpenglow, Rotor, will adjust the distribution method of new blocks among validators, but the activation date has not yet been announced. This upgrade only includes Votor, and Solana will temporarily focus on the replacement of the consensus mechanism.

According to CoinDesk, Solana plans to implement the Alpenglow upgrade on October 21. This upgrade aims to reduce the transaction finality time to about 150 milliseconds and replace the existing voting system of the network with a faster certificate-based consensus mechanism.

Binance will launch bStocks tokenized securities trading pairs: BBB/USDT, MDBB/USDT, PENGB/USDT, and UVXYB/USDT on October 14 at 20:00, and will enable spot algorithm trading bots and smart position trading bot services.Within one hour of the bStocks launch, users can exchange for BTC, USDT, or other tokens without any fees, and the zero maker fee promotion will last until November 1 at 07:59.

According to The Defiant, the Solana development team Anza has scheduled the migration of Alpenglow's mainnet Beta for approximately 10:50 AM Eastern Time on October 21 (Wednesday), at which point the new consensus system will replace TowerBFT, aiming to reduce the final confirmation time for transactions to about 150 milliseconds. The Solana Foundation's upgrade guide indicates that the final confirmation time under TowerBFT is about 12.8 seconds. Final confirmation refers to the point in time when a transaction can no longer be rolled back, rather than the block interval.Alpenglow's Votor voting protocol no longer submits votes as on-chain transactions; instead, messages are sent directly between validators and aggregated into certificates, allowing blocks to be finally confirmed after one to two rounds of voting. The removal of voting transactions from blocks also frees up block space for users, while the execution and fees for user transactions remain unchanged. This upgrade had previously completed the migration of the testnet and development network in September, and the mainnet functionality switch has not yet been activated. According to Anza's activation policy, the new version of the software must be adopted by 95% of the staked amount for two epochs before it can be activated on the mainnet.The migration plan separates the activation of the functionality switch from the handover itself: the functionality switch is activated at the epoch boundary, and after 5,000 slots, blocks will pause carrying user transactions and will only contain votes. Validators will then establish the Alpenglow genesis certificate supported by 82% of the staked amount, roll back blocks containing only votes, and then restore user transactions with Votor. Anza expects the handover to take several hundred milliseconds.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng released a simplified guide for cryptocurrency asset custody, suggesting that users match security measures according to their holding scale and technical capabilities, while focusing on three major issues: preventing asset theft, avoiding accidental loss, and planning for asset inheritance in advance.Regarding self-custody, Zhao Changpeng advised users to take measures such as storing private keys on offline devices, using reliable hardware wallets, verifying transaction addresses, and setting up multiple off-site backups. He also reminded users to avoid saving keys through photos or screenshots to prevent them from syncing to the cloud and causing leaks. In terms of asset inheritance, users should develop a secure recovery plan in advance, avoiding direct sharing of keys or storing recovery information in an unencrypted form. For centralized trading platforms, Zhao Changpeng suggested that users assess the platform's reputation, security capabilities, and business model, and strengthen account protection through measures such as independent email, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, hardware security keys, and withdrawal address whitelists, while also being vigilant against phishing attacks and API credential leaks.Zhao Changpeng further suggested that users should reasonably allocate assets between centralized trading platforms and personal wallets based on their technical capabilities, security management levels, and funding needs. Self-custody means that users need to independently bear the responsibility for private key protection and asset recovery, while custody by trading platforms involves platform credit and counterparty risk. Additionally, maintaining an independent wallet helps to ensure access to assets during maintenance or service interruptions on trading platforms.

BRTFit posted on platform X, showcasing four AI-generated fitness portraits featuring Zhao Changpeng, Jeff, Sun Yuchen, and Xie Jiayin, claiming that these images are a creative tribute to the aforementioned Web3 industry figures.BRTFit stated that it is building a health competition platform that combines fitness, health, and blockchain, and hopes that the aforementioned individuals will participate in its body slimming challenge in the future.BRTFit declared that the related images are for entertainment and health lifestyle promotion only, and do not represent the involvement, endorsement, association, or collaboration of the individuals mentioned with the platform; if there are any issues regarding portrait rights, copyrights, or other legal rights, they will be removed upon notification.

Zhao Changpeng stated that users should pay attention to asset security (Stay SAFU out there) and clarified that he does not oppose hardware wallets or self-custody.Zhao Changpeng added that different wallets and products are suitable for different use cases, and their security implications and best practices vary. He also disclosed that YZi Labs has invested in hardware wallet projects such as OneKey and SafePal, as well as mobile wallet products like Trust Wallet.

Zhao Changpeng issued a reminder for Ledger hardware wallet users to remain vigilant, especially those who have purchased devices recently. According to the information currently available, this incident appears to be limited to the supply chain, involving a supplier, and a few users may have purchased counterfeit or tampered Ledger devices.Zhao Changpeng stated that Ledger is a well-established and relatively secure hardware wallet brand in the industry, but such incidents can still occur. He anticipates and calls for the BNB ecosystem and the entire cryptocurrency industry to assist in tracking the stolen funds and promoting recovery.Previously, Ledger confirmed that it is investigating an asset theft incident involving Southeast Asian users, who had purchased devices through the distributor CryptoBilis. Ledger has requested CryptoBilis to suspend sales and shipments and advised users who purchased devices through this distributor in the past 90 days not to initialize their devices; if they have already completed the setup, they should create a new Ledger signing device using a new mnemonic phrase and transfer their assets to the new wallet.On-chain investigator Specter estimates that this incident has led to the theft of hundreds of wallets on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TRON networks, with losses exceeding 86 million dollars. Security researcher tanuki42 previously estimated the losses to be over 72 million dollars and stated that the amount is still increasing. Currently, the specific cause of the incident and whether the involved devices have security vulnerabilities are still under investigation.

A community user posted that after connecting to the free Wi-Fi at Singapore Airport, a "small wallet" that had not been traded for a long time had 3.7 BNB transferred away, and reminded users not to casually connect to public Wi-Fi. The user stated that the wallet had no transaction records for the previous few months, but the assets were transferred after connecting to the airport's free network.In response, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stated, "I have always advised everyone not to connect to Wi-Fi, especially public Wi-Fi. But just connecting to Wi-Fi shouldn't lead to a wallet being stolen, was there some other operation in between?"

According to on-chain information, shortly after the shutdown announcement of Abstract, a newly created address withdrew 1 million USD from Kraken and then quickly bought 25 Pudgy Penguins NFTs on the market. As of the time of writing, the wallet still holds ETH worth 766,000 USD.As of the time of writing, the floor price for Pudgy Penguins NFTs is reported at 3.3 ETH, with a 24-hour increase of 6.8%.Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz stated that Abstract is gradually shutting down, and its parent company Igloo Inc. will now focus all its efforts on the development of Pudgy Penguins, Pudgy NFTs, and PENGU.

NFT and IP company Igloo, Inc. announced the shutdown of its consumer-grade blockchain Abstract, reallocating personnel and resources to Pudgy Penguins, Pudgy NFT, and the token PENGU.Igloo stated that the goal of Abstract was to create a public chain for consumer scenarios, and the company invested engineering and ecological talent and infrastructure for this purpose. Its growth was constrained by the high operational costs of independent blockchain, limited liquidity, a weak DeFi ecosystem, and declining market interest. Over the past two years, Igloo has lost tens of millions of dollars to maintain Abstract's operations, expand, and seek product-market fit and profitability.The company stated that after even well-funded enterprises struggled to find product-market fit for their own blockchain, shutting down Abstract became the right decision. Moving forward, they will refine the brand path from products and content to PENGU, and then to Pudgy Penguins NFT, refocusing on this role as an IP.

The consumer-grade Ethereum Layer 2 network Abstract, supported by Pudgy Penguins' parent company Igloo Inc., announced that it will gradually cease operations and officially shut down its mainnet on December 15, 2026. The official reasons given are stagnation in growth, thin liquidity, limitations in the DeFi ecosystem, and insufficient institutional adoption. Abstract warns users that they must transfer their assets across chains before the shutdown date, or they may lose access to their funds.Abstract stated that the network has deployed over 144 applications and has attracted more than 400,000 users through consumer-grade collaborations with brands such as Red Bull Racing and Disney. However, significant changes have occurred in the industry since the project's conception, and the independent chain model focused on consumer-grade crypto has ultimately proven difficult to sustain. Igloo has continuously funded Abstract for the past 18 months, with CEO Luca Netz revealing that cumulative losses have reached tens of millions of dollars. Igloo is now redirecting resources towards Pudgy Penguins and PENGU.In July 2024, Igloo completed a financing round of over $11 million led by Founders Fund, aimed at developing Abstract and leveraging Pudgy Penguins' distribution capabilities to bring consumers on-chain. The network launched its mainnet in January 2025. Netz stated that Igloo ultimately decided not to issue Abstract tokens and would not continue funding the network at the expense of Pudgy Penguins' business.

A community user posted that Zhao Changpeng released the daily message "Every dip is an opportunity" on September 16, 2026, when the price of Bitcoin was approximately $75,800, and linked it to the recent BTC trend.In response, Zhao Changpeng stated that this is just "pure coincidence" and said, "I am right only slightly over 50% of the time because I have always been bullish."

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng responded on social media to "The Binance SAFU fund purchased 1 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin at an average price of 66666.66 dollars, currently with an unrealized profit of 270 million dollars," stating that it might purely be luck.

According to The New York Times, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao recalled that one day earlier this year, he was lying in bed handling work—after struggling with chronic pain for a long time, he often worked while lying down—when suddenly the window began to shake. He got up and walked to the balcony, where he saw a trail of smoke left in the sky.Changpeng Zhao lives on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, an area that faces Iran across the Persian Gulf, and not long ago, Iran had launched a missile towards the UAE.This attack marked the beginning of a geopolitical crisis that plunged the entire region into turmoil, but Changpeng Zhao was not overly worried. He returned to bed to continue working. "More people die in traffic accidents than from missiles," he later stated, "the security here is very good."

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao clearly stated in an interview with The New York Times that his lifestyle is not like that of an ordinary billionaire. Forbes estimates his net worth to be over $100 billion, but Changpeng Zhao insists that the actual figure is much lower, around $10 billion to $30 billion.He said that even with just a small portion of that, he could live very comfortably—only needing $10 million.