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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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

The State Tax Inspectorate of Lithuania has updated the user reporting program for cryptocurrency service providers, clarifying the reporting scope and operational standards through Order VA-63, aligning national regulations with the EU DAC8 and the OECD Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). The new regulations require regulated cryptocurrency service providers and local crypto operators to enhance customer due diligence, collect user identity, transaction records, and tax residency information, and record customer identification numbers, transaction logs, and account balances. Entities that have completed registration and reporting obligations in other EU member states are exempt from re-reporting in Lithuania.The comprehensive operational reporting across the EU will commence on January 1, 2026, with data collected by the platform in 2027 to be automatically exchanged by member state tax authorities starting mid-2027. The new regulations do not change Lithuania's capital gains tax rate on virtual assets, but relevant institutions must update customer access processes and backend systems. Starting from March 2, certain transactions involving electronic money tokens (EMT) must additionally obtain payment service authorization, including transferring EMT on behalf of customers and operating custodial wallets for third-party transfers; exchanges between EMT and exchanges between EMT and fiat currency do not automatically fall under payment services.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released a proposal for a stablecoin report on October 9, which aims to add 26 new data fields to the quarterly financial report Form 5300, applicable to federally insured credit unions engaged in stablecoin activities, with a target implementation date of March 31, 2027.Among the proposed new fields, 8 relate to reserve assets held for authorized third-party issuers, 9 pertain to the custody and control of cryptographic keys, 5 involve financial exposure to issuers, and another 4 concern payment-type stablecoins held on the institution's balance sheet. This information collection is expected to cover 4,224 federally insured credit unions, with an annual reporting workload of 794,112 hours, and a complete quarterly report averaging 47 hours. The NCUA will seek public comments before December 8, and the feedback will be publicly submitted as part of the approval application.

According to a report by Reuters, reprinted by Nikkei Asia, the union representing employees at Micron Technology's Taoyuan plant in Taiwan announced on Wednesday that it has obtained authorization for a strike, with the focus of the dispute being the company's bonus plan. The union stated that 1,994 members voted in favor of the strike, accounting for 99% of the voters, while details such as the timing of the strike are still under discussion. Micron has approximately 15,000 employees in Taiwan, with independent unions in Taoyuan and Taichung, and the two unions together represent over 80% of Micron's employees in Taiwan. Micron Taiwan is the company's largest manufacturing base.Taiwan is a key production site for Micron's DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, with related chips being important components for AI servers. Mediation with the Taoyuan union did not reach an agreement in September, and the Taichung union is still in negotiations. In September, Micron announced that it would distribute bonuses for the fiscal year 2026 to over 60,000 employees worldwide, stating that the company had experienced an "extraordinary year," with Taiwanese employees receiving a cash bonus of 1 million New Taiwan Dollars, approximately 31,400 US dollars. The Taoyuan union stated that the plan did not address the request for a permanent profit-sharing mechanism and criticized Micron for announcing the bonuses without first reaching an agreement with the union during the mediation period.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the European Union discussed the proposal to release crude oil and diesel stockpiles with diplomats and analysts. The Group of Seven agreed last Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil. The wars with Iran and Ukraine have damaged refineries, driving up diesel prices and impacting inflation and the transportation industry.

According to the Financial Times, the European Union is considering implementing a universal tax measure targeting large enterprises to tax major American technology companies. This move aims to increase revenue for the EU while avoiding a strong backlash from the Trump administration.

Jed Meyer, CEO of St. Cloud Financial Credit Union in Minnesota, USA, stated that the institution has become the first credit union to incorporate Bitcoin into its core ledger. Founded by postal workers in 1930, this credit union currently holds real Bitcoin for its members, using a patent-pending hybrid custody model that allows each member to have independent ownership of Bitcoin in a multi-signature vault.According to Jed Meyer, the credit union has already held over 20 Bitcoins without any deliberate promotion. Its services support members in buying and selling Bitcoin directly, bringing ordinary users into the Bitcoin ecosystem, and plans to integrate with the Lightning Network. He also discussed stablecoins, the relationship between the US dollar and Bitcoin as a new type of currency network, and the differences between Bitcoin ETFs and credit union custody.On the regulatory front, Jed Meyer mentioned Minnesota's custody laws, the review by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the CLARITY Act. Additionally, the credit union has launched the Cloud Dollar stablecoin and adopted a cooperative ownership model. He stated that the credit union needs to master payment channels independently and continuously educate skeptics about the relevant knowledge.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU will take measures to address rising energy prices, including launching a strategic dialogue with European refineries and strengthening joint energy procurement. Since the end of February, European natural gas prices have risen by 140%, diesel prices have doubled, and spending on imported fossil fuels has increased by approximately 100 billion euros.

Circle, the issuer of USDC, submitted a proposal to the European Commission advocating for the revision of the rules regarding overseas stablecoins in the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the establishment of a recognition mechanism for overseas issuers. Circle suggested that overseas stablecoin issuers should primarily be regulated by their home jurisdiction's regulatory authorities, and after obtaining equivalence recognition from relevant parties and the European Banking Authority (EBA), local licensed entities in the EU would be responsible for distribution.This mechanism also allows euro stablecoins to circulate in overseas jurisdictions. Circle also requested the removal of the requirement for electronic money token issuers to hold 30% of reserve assets in commercial banks; the proportion for "significant" electronic money tokens is 60%. The company believes that this requirement increases exposure to credit risk and counterparty risk in the banking sector.

Market news reports that Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) cloud businesses will face stricter scrutiny from the European Union.

According to Reuters, citing informed sources, EU countries discussed the U.S. request to release diesel stocks and the issue of the U.S. threatening to impose a diesel export ban during a meeting on Friday. The U.S. has requested that major European countries release 800,000 tons of diesel within six months.

According to sources from Reuters, the United States hopes the European Union will release 120 million barrels of diesel within the next six months. The United States has informed France and Germany that emergency diesel reserves should be released, or they may face a ban on U.S. diesel exports.