Blockaid said the sites were rigged with Step Drainer, a malware kit that tricks visitors into signing away their funds. Ten of the domains have since been suspended.

Hackers who took over a dozen DeFi websites late Friday and used them to empty visitors’ crypto wallets targeted domains registered through the same company, Name.com, according to public registry records reviewed by The Block. The Block has traced about $138,000 in stolen funds so far using onchain data.

Name.com is listed as the registrar for all 12 hijacked sites that were identified by security firm Blockaid, and 10 of them were suspended at the registrar level at 8:32 a.m. ET on Saturday.

X user bluexxix was among the first to notice the shared registrar, posting at 11:51 p.m. ET on Friday that it “seems @namedotcom is compromised” as more affected sites surfaced. Pseudonymous developer banteg reached the same conclusion on Saturday morning, and X user punkquidity later spotted that 10 of the domains had been switched off within seconds of each other.

Each of the 10 suspended domains now carries a “client hold” status, which stops a domain from resolving. They include Pickle Finance, Origami Finance, FluxBeam, Echelon, StonkFun and StakePoint. Flap’s and Kintsu’s domains were not suspended and are still operational as of publishing time.

X user liquidated0x flagged that Flap’s site had seemingly been compromised at 9:10 p.m. ET on Friday, about an hour before the token launchpad warned its users that its flap.sh frontend had been hit by “a DNS hijacking incident.” Blockaid warned about the attack on Flap and liquid staking protocol Kintsu at 10:54 p.m. ET, naming the 10 additional hijacked sites soon after.

Name.com’s only public response so far came at 12:27 a.m. ET, when it replied to liquidated0x and bluexxix on X, asking them to fill out its abuse form. Name.com’s listed press address did not accept The Block’s request for comment, and its parent company, Identity Digital, did not immediately respond.

How the drainer works

Blockaid said the hijacked sites were rigged with Step Drainer, a malware toolkit that tricks visitors into approving transfers out of their wallets once they connect them to a site. Security firm LevelBlue SpiderLabs described Step Drainer in April as a “Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS)” kit, reportedly sold for about $750 for the full source code or $150 for a version that takes a 20% cut of each theft. The firm said the kit claims support for more than 20 blockchain networks.

Onchain data reviewed by The Block shows the attackers routing proceeds to three wallets in fixed 15%, 55% and 30% cuts. On BNB Chain, a Safe wallet flagged by liquidated0x received about 3.1 BNB, worth roughly $2,200, from four wallets between 9:00 and 9:42 p.m. ET on Friday. It split the first three deposits among the three wallets, and about 2.27 BNB was still sitting in the Safe on Saturday morning.

The same three wallets received identically split payments on Ethereum, Robinhood Chain, and Monad, the network Kintsu runs on. On Monad, two of the wallets redeemed Kintsu’s staked MON token and withdrew from lending protocol Neverland before converting the proceeds into MON. On Robinhood Chain, one wallet pulled tokenized stocks including NVDA and AAPL out of Morpho and swapped them for ETH.

Together the three wallets held about $138,000 late Saturday morning, mostly MON and Robinhood Chain ETH, and almost all of it arrived after the attack started. That’s only what The Block could trace on EVM chains. Three of the hijacked sites, FluxBeam, StonkFun and StakePoint, are built on Solana, and Echelon runs on Aptos, so any losses there would sit in other wallets and aren’t counted.

Two projects blame Vercel

The hijacked sites don’t share a DNS provider, the service that tells internet browsers which server a domain points to. Some run on Cloudflare, some on Vercel and some on Name.com’s own nameservers. Punkquidity said they couldn’t yet tell “whether Name.com itself or a reseller like Vercel did it.”

Kintsu and Origami Finance have both publicly blamed cloud infrastructure firm Vercel. “It was something that happened on Vercel’s end that was out of our control,” Kintsu wrote in a reply on X, adding that Vercel had not yet responded. Origami first warned of “an active attack on Vercel-associated Nameservers,” and later said its vaults would stay paused while it waits for “root cause analysis from Vercel / name[.]com.” Flap builder Cedric said shortly after midnight that the team was reaching out to both companies.

Vercel picked Name.com as the registrar for its rebuilt domain service last year, Name.com said in a December 2025 press release. Vercel had not commented publicly as of Saturday morning, and both companies’ status pages listed all systems as operational. In April, Vercel disclosed a breach of its internal systems that it traced to a compromised third-party AI tool, The Block previously reported.

Number of victims remains unclear

No affected project has reported a victim count as of yet, though onchain data shows at least four wallets sent funds to the attackers on BNB Chain alone. FluxBeam said it had “no reports of users being affected,” and StonkFun, which moved its site to new infrastructure overnight, said it was “not aware of anyone affected.” Kintsu, Origami, FluxBeam and StonkFun all said their onchain contracts were untouched.

Crypto front-ends have been hit by DNS hijacks before. Aerodrome and Velodrome were hijacked in November 2025, and Galxe was hit in October 2023, when attackers got into the project’s account at registrar Dynadot.

Vercel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Blockaid’s PR agency said the firm was looking into The Block’s questions.

Suspensions lifted Saturday morning

The suspensions on the hijacked domains appear to have been lifted by late Saturday morning, registry records show. The domains resolve again and now carry locks that block transfers and, for most of them, other changes.

Name.com has allegedly told at least one affected project that the breach was not on its end. Cloakd, the developer behind FluxBeam, said on X that its representative at Name.com was “taking the stance that it’s not them but the 3rd party issuers.”

Updated at 2:00 p.m. ET with details from the lifted suspension and Cloakd’s post.

Update, Oct. 31, 3:37 p.m. ET: Name.com said 15 customer domains were affected, more than the 12 Blockaid identified.

“name.com identified unauthorized activity late Friday, October 30, that redirected a number of domains registered through the platform,” a Name.com spokesperson said in a statement to The Block. “name.com has restored all affected domains and is working directly with the name.com account holders. We’re continuing to investigate and have taken steps to secure the accounts involved.”

Name.com also said on X that the domains “were improperly redirected late Friday as part of a plan to access visitors’ crypto wallets,” and urged customers to check their DNS records and enable two-factor authentication. Vercel said in a security bulletin that 10 of the affected domains were associated with its platform, that Name.com has restored them and that it is assisting in the investigation.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#DeFiHack #NameDotCom #DNSHijacking #StepDrainer #CryptoHack #WalletDrainer #Blockaid #Vercel #BlockchainSecurity #CryptoNews

BNB lost 7.1%, while Binance Co-CEO Yi He pledged that the exchange will cover all user losses resulting from the hack.

Bitcoin
Bitcoin BTC-2.31%
fell below $77,000 late Thursday, alongside declines in other major cryptocurrencies, as the Binance exploit intensified a market-wide sell-off.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped 4.5% over the past 24 hours to trade at $76,664 as of 10:00 p.m. ET Thursday, according to The Block’s bitcoin price page.

BNB
BNB-5.67%
, the native cryptocurrency that powers the Binance ecosystem, lost 7.1% to change hands at $698.65. Ethereum slid 5.2% to $2,190, while XRP fell 7% to $1.21.

Crypto liquidations totaled $1.55 billion over the past 24 hours, with 246,482 traders liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. Those included $1.34 billion in long positions. The largest observed liquidation order was on Binance-BTCUSDT, valued at $11.09 million

The crypto market decline coincided with a major Thursday hack at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated that roughly $5.9 billion was stolen at the time of the theft.

“The Binance exploit has intensified market-wide selling, with BNB facing the greatest exposure. About $1.5 billion in 24-hour liquidations, predominantly long positions, has amplified pressure on BTC and ETH,” Dominick John, analyst of Zeus Research, told The Block.

“Market recovery hinges on Binance restoring confidence in exchange security and customer funds,” John added.

Analysts see ‘contained’ market fallout

However, Rick Maeda, head of Markets at Laevitas, suggested that the market reaction to the Binance hack appears to be “fairly contained” and that the BNB’s drop was “quite modest for possibly the largest exchange theft ever.”

“The exchange’s $144 billion assets under custody, the fact that they paid a $4.3 billion penalty to the U.S. government in 2024 for AML breaches with no issue, as well as the swift responses from stablecoin providers such as Tether and Circle to freeze over $2.4 billion have all contributed to the lack of panic across the industry,” said Maeda.

Jeff Ko, chief analyst of ViaBTC, shared similar views. “I don’t expect the stolen BTC to add much selling pressure,” said Ko. “The broader crypto market was already leaning bearish, which is why the sell-off spread so quickly across the board. That said, I believe Binance can absorb the loss comfortably.”

Covering user losses

Binance said on X that the currently verified frozen amount from the hack is around $3 billion. Binance Co-CEO Yi He also said that the exchange will cover all user losses resulting from the hack.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase is “doing everything we can to support in the current situation,” including blocking transfers to compromised wallets.

“Moments like this call for the industry to work together,” Armstrong added.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Bitcoin #BTC #Binance #BNB #BinanceHack #CryptoCrash #CryptoLiquidations #CryptoSecurity #Ethereum #CryptoNews

The company holds 4.95% of Ethereum’s supply, with $15 billion in combined crypto, cash, marketable securities, and other investments.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies increased its Ethereum treasury to 6,051,933 ETH after acquiring 10,452 ETH over the past week, the company said in a statement on Monday.

At $2,356 per ETH, the holdings were worth approximately $14.3 billion as of Oct. 25. Bitmine now owns 4.95% of Ethereum’s circulating supply of 122.2 million ETH, according to the statement.

Of the total, 5,227,037 ETH are staked through Bitmine’s MAVAN platform and staking partners, representing about 86% of its holdings. The company said it projects annualized staking revenue of $318 million at current levels, and up to $368 million if its ETH holdings were fully staked.

Beyond ether, Bitmine reported holding 215 BTC, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, a $76 million investment in Eightco Holdings, and $514 million in cash and marketable securities. Its combined crypto, cash, marketable securities, and other investments totaled $15 billion.

In addition to the ETH acquisition, Bitmine repurchased 2.04 million shares over the past week at an average price of $22.48. The company’s buybacks this year have reached 22.9 million shares, costing $399.6 million at an average price of $17.48, per the statement.

Chairman Tom Lee reiterated his view that the “crypto bull market is underway,” pointing to ETH’s 13% pullback from its recent peak as evidence that the market is outperforming other risk-off sectors. The U.S. semiconductor sector was down 20% over the same period, according to Lee.

According to The Block’s ETH price page, ether traded at around $2,322 on Monday, down 0.4% over 24 hours.

Bitmine shares closed Friday at $22.40, down 0.4%, according to The Block’s BMNR price page.

The Staking Race: Ethereum’s Queue, Solana’s Yield, and Where Institutional Money Is Going

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#TomLee #Bitmine #BMNR #Ethereum #ETH #EthereumTreasury #ETHStaking #CryptoBullMarket #InstitutionalCrypto #CryptoNews

Hardware wallet maker Keystone said a third party obtained customer shipping information from its Shopify-powered online store, exposing sensitive customer information including names, contact details, shipping addresses and order details, such as the items purchased and their prices.

In an X post at 1:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, Keystone said it had detected unauthorized access to its official website on Oct. 20. Three days later, “after verifying API activity with Shopify,” which powers its online store, the company confirmed that an unidentified third party had obtained sensitive customer information. “You trusted us with those details, and we’re sorry we didn’t keep them safe,” Keystone wrote.

Keystone said financial information such as the customers’ payment cards and bank details, and sensitive cryptographic information like recovery phrases, private keys and wallet passwords were not exposed in the breach.

“We’ve blocked access, fixed the vulnerability, opened an investigation, and are emailing affected customers,” the company said. Keystone did not say how many customers were affected, how the attacker got in, and whether they’ve exchanged communications with or identified the attacker. The firm has told users on X who asked about the scope of the breach that it is “still conducting a thorough investigation.” Keystone said a detailed report will follow in the coming days.

Keystone warned that scammers may pose as the company by phone, text, email or mail, offering refunds, replacement devices or “fixes” for orders and addresses. It told customers never to enter a recovery phrase into a device they did not order, and not to follow links sent in messages supposedly from Keystone.

Keystone pledged to delete information 180 days after purchase

Keystone in the past pitched its data retention policy as a selling point. On Jan. 5, the day Ledger customers were notified of a similar data leak at that wallet manufacturer’s e-commerce partner Global-e, Keystone posted on X: “180 days after your order, your shipping data is permanently deleted.” In a March post, the company wrote, “Other hardware wallets keep your data forever. We delete your shipping info in 180 days max.” Other posts in August reinforce the same message.

The company’s Privacy Promise page says that “all shipping information is automatically deleted 180 days after your order is placed.” Keystone’s privacy policy, last updated in May 2021, words the rule differently: it says Keystone erases “all order information of each customer who has not made an order within the last 180 days.” A help center article about deletion requests clarifies that “records of the customer’s city and country will not be deleted,” and that “the final deletion process is handled by Shopify.”

Customers claim data from older orders was still exposed

Several customers have said on X that their data was exposed anyway. “I bought it over two years ago. I received an email notification,” @trintaetres_33 wrote on Saturday. Another user, @BlockchainBarmy, said 214 days had passed between their last order and the breach.

@PEPE_Whale69 even raised the alarm about a possible breach before Keystone did. In a post on Friday evening, the user said a caller spoofing a Montreal police number had tried to social-engineer them, at one point asking whether Amazon, eBay or Keystone “meant anything” to them. The X user said the caller had details perfectly matching a Keystone order they placed in 2024, well before the claimed 180-day deletion period.

Keystone’s X account replied at 1:08 a.m. ET on Saturday that it had “initiated an urgent investigation into this matter.” The company says it confirmed the breach on Oct. 23.

The Block could not verify the users’ claims, and Keystone has not publicly responded to questions about whether it followed the 180-day policy. The Block has reached out to the X users with requests for more information.

A recent wave of hardware wallet breaches

Keystone is the latest hardware wallet maker to disclose a customer data leak this year. In August, Trezor said a breach at its shipping partner ShipMonk exposed personal data of nearly 14,000 customers. The company later said the breach affected about 67,000 more U.S. customers, and that ShipMonk had given written assurances the data was deleted when it had not been.

Days after Trezor’s first disclosure, SafePal said a flaw in its order-tracking system exposed personal information of nearly 40,000 customers. Earlier this month, Ledger confirmed that devices sold by reseller CryptoBilis contained hardware implants that capture recovery phrases during setup, and onchain researchers estimated losses at more than $86 million.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#KeystoneWallet #Keystone #DataBreach #CustomerDataLeak #Shopify #HardwareWallet #CryptoSecurity #DataPrivacy #PhishingScams #CryptoNews

The two companies said they will focus on expanding the utility and distribution of Korean stablecoins as South Korea develops a legal framework for the sector.

Chainlink
Chainlink LINK+0.33%
announced that it has partnered with LG CNS, the AI transformation and IT service arm of South Korean conglomerate LG Group, to advance the infrastructure supporting South Korea’s $68 billion crypto market.

With the strategic partnership, the two companies said they will focus on expanding the utility and distribution of Korean stablecoins, which is an emerging market segment with more than 11 million eligible users.

South Korea currently does not have a clear legal basis for the commercial issuance and trading of stablecoins linked to its local currency. However, its government and lawmakers are working on the Digital Asset Basic Act, which would establish rules for won stablecoins, among other standards for the digital asset space.

Outside of stablecoins, LG CNS is set to integrate Chainlink’s cross-chain, data, and orchestration infrastructure into its digital asset platform solutions for Korean institutions. The two will also combine their expertise to help advance the country’s digital asset framework, the announcement said.

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“Korea’s financial infrastructure is entering the tokenization era. LG CNS is committed to leading this transition, and together with Chainlink, we aim to accelerate the growth of Korea’s tokenized securities market by enabling secure interoperability and real-world data, while creating a foundation for global expansion,” Hongkeun Kim, executive vice president and head of digital business division at LG CNS, said in the announcement.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that connects smart contracts on blockchains with real-world data and external systems. Its core focus is providing reliable, secure data feeds, cross-chain interoperability, and orchestration tools mainly for DeFi, RWA tokenization, and institutional platforms.

LG Group is one of South Korea’s largest business groups, with around 186 trillion won ($140.5 billion) in assets across 63 affiliates, and over $100 billion in combined market capitalization across all subsidiaries. LG CNS is also the lead contractor for the Bank of Korea’s flagship digital currency initiative, Project Hangang.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Chainlink #LINK #LGCNS #LGGroup #SouthKorea #KoreanWonStablecoin #Stablecoins #RWATokenization #Blockchain #CryptoNews

K33 analysts said bitcoin trading volumes remain subdued, while its correlation with the Nasdaq has risen again after weakening in August and September.

Bitcoin’s 28-day realized volatility is approaching its lowest level of the year, with traders showing little appetite for taking on additional risk ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision and the U.S. midterm elections, according to research and brokerage firm K33.

In its latest market report, K33 said bitcoin’s 28-day volatility had fallen to 1.2%, with the cryptocurrency spending the past week between $80,000 and $84,000. Average daily spot trading volume was $2.5 billion, down 1% from the previous week. Bitcoin has been trading in a narrow range since Sept. 21, with K33 comparing the lack of participation to the market’s recovery in 2023. “Expansions typically follow such compressions, and we expect BTC volatility to pick up shortly,” K33 Head of Research Vetle Lunde said.

Despite the lower price volatility, BlackRock’s IBIT fund recorded inflows equivalent to 8,128 BTC on Oct. 19, its largest daily inflow in bitcoin terms since April 2025. Across all U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, net inflows amounted to 6,436 BTC that day, per K33’s data, with the other funds recording a combined net outflow of 1,692 BTC.

Bitcoin and Nasdaq correlation picks up

Meanwhile, bitcoin
Bitcoin BTC+0.14%
has become highly correlated with the Nasdaq again after the relationship weakened through August and September, with returns for the two almost identical over the past fortnight, K33 found. Bitcoin held up relatively well during last week’s equity sell-off, falling around 2% even as the Nasdaq recorded its worst week since early April 2025.

The stock market decline followed a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report in September, alongside a semiconductor sell-off prompted by reports of a Chinese memory chip breakthrough. However, K33 cautioned that bitcoin’s relative resilience over the week did not amount to a fresh decoupling from equities.

“Digital assets remain in a consolidation phase, with bitcoin and ether searching for direction after the strong recovery through August and September,” Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, told The Block. Kruger said the recent rebound in Treasury yields and the dollar showed that the adjustment in financial markets remained uneven. “We continue to view the recent setbacks as a breather within that recovery, with dips likely to attract support ahead of a potential resumption of gains into year-end,” he said.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $83,350 on Wednesday, according to The Block’s prices page. K33 said markets are pricing an 80% chance of no rate change at the Fed’s upcoming Oct. 28 meeting. The U.S. midterm elections take place on Nov. 3.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Bitcoin #BTC #BitcoinVolatility #FederalReserve #InterestRates #USMidterms #BitcoinETF #BlackRock #CryptoMarket #CryptoNews

BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, has filed for another bitcoin fund, this time one that would give investors both downside protection and upside exposure to its flagship bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

On Monday, the firm filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF. That fund will follow BlackRock’s multi-billion-dollar iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, the firm said.

“The Fund seeks to provide upside exposure to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and/or similar bitcoin exposure up to an approximate limit, while seeking to provide a level of downside protection,” BlackRock said in the filing.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust holds more than $65 billion in assets under management, making it the largest of its kind, according to The Block’s bitcoin ETF tracker. BlackRock launched IBIT in January 2024. In June, the firm launched its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which is designed to provide investors with exposure to bitcoin while generating monthly option premium income.

In a post on X, Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart noted that BlackRock still just has bitcoin and Ethereum products. Over the past couple of years, other companies have launched ETFs tracking assets from XRP to SOL to DOGE.

“Notably, this is the third Bitcoin ETF filing from them,” Seyffart said on Monday. “Still only have Bitcoin and Ethereum products — no other cryptos.”

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#BlackRock #Bitcoin #BTC #BitcoinETF #IBIT #iShares #CryptoETF #InvestorProtection #InstitutionalCrypto #CryptoNews

The identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman named Bain Capital and VanEck Funds among its design partners but did not name a bank that has started using the product.

World
Worldcoin WLD+0.61%
, the identity project co-founded by Sam Altman, launched a version of its World ID verification product for banks and financial firms on Sunday, its first offering aimed at a specific industry.

World co-founder Alex Blania unveiled the product at the Money20/20 conference. The suite combines three existing products, which World said can help institutions guard against deepfake fraud and AI-driven impersonation across customer accounts, employee workflows and AI agents, per a press release.

The World ID app is an identity wallet that stores and presents what World calls “Proofs” about a user. World ID for Zoom lets people on a call confirm that the person they are speaking with is human and not a deepfake. World ID for Agents, which the release also refers to as AgentKit, lets a person delegate those Proofs to an AI agent that can then present them to a third-party platform.

World also said World ID for Zoom is now generally available and that Tools for Humanity, the main developer behind World, has joined Zoom’s independent software vendor exchange program. Zoom began offering the feature in a limited beta in April as part of a broader World ID upgrade that also included a Tinder integration. World said it will also present the technology at Zoom’s Zoomtopia conference and at Cloudflare Connect.

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“As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in all aspects of our lives, enterprises are requesting individuals provide ‘Proofs’ about themselves to help mitigate fraud and increase trust,” Tools for Humanity President Sandro Herbig said in the release. “World ID for banking and finance offers a suite of tools to add an AI-safe trust layer across their internal and external systems.”

Design partners

World said it is working with OpenExchange, Bain Capital, VanEck Funds and Outtake as design partners to “explore” how its technology can support banking and financial services. The release did not name a bank using the product or disclose pricing. VanEck was the only finance firm World named among testers of the Zoom beta in April, according to a World blog post.

The release cited a Deloitte forecast that AI-enabled fraud losses in the U.S. could reach $40 billion by 2027, up from an estimated $12.3 billion in 2023. World said more than 18 million people now hold a Proof of Human. In March, World said it had verified nearly 18 million people across more than 160 countries when it released AgentKit in beta using Coinbase’s x402 protocol.

The launch follows World’s release last month of World Money, a self-custody app with stablecoin payments available in more than 150 countries. In July, the World Foundation raised $52.5 million through a WLD token sale with a one-year lockup.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Worldcoin #WLD #WorldID #SamAltman #DigitalIdentity #DeepfakeDetection #ArtificialIntelligence #AIAgents #BankingSecurity #CryptoNews

Applied Optoelectronics cited uncertainty over price, liquidity and volatility, while Nasdaq said it would opt out of having its own shares tokenized under the SEC’s new framework.

Nine U.S.-listed companies have objected to tokenized versions of their stock trading on OKXICE, the joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange, according to a public notice from the venue.

The notice, dated Thursday, lists objections from Cerebras Systems (CBRS), AppLovin (APP), Applied Digital (APLD), Rocket Lab (RKLB), CoreWeave (CRWV), Verizon (VZ), Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), Broadcom (AVGO) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH). It does not give reasons for any of the objections.

A spokeswoman for Applied Optoelectronics told the Wall Street Journal the fiber-optic maker objected because it was unsure how tokenization would affect its stock price, liquidity and volatility. She also cited the risk of investors being confused about the company’s involvement in an offering it did not sponsor or endorse, and said the company saw no clear benefit “to AOI or our shareholders” that justified the uncertainty.

Eight of the nine objectors were among the 63 tickers OKXICE named on Oct. 4 as stocks it intended to offer. Cerebras was not on that list. OKXICE told the Journal it still plans to launch trading for dozens of U.S.-listed companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase and Walmart.

OKXICE co-chair Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York who took the role when the venture formed in June, said in a recent interview with the Journal that he expects companies to be skeptical of tokenizing their stock. He described the venue as a first step toward tokenizing securities.

Nasdaq plans to opt out

Nasdaq said it would opt out of having its own shares tokenized under the SEC’s framework, according to an FAQ on its website. A Nasdaq spokesperson told the Journal the company does not want its shares trading on a venue that does not display best prices in real time or report to the consolidated tape, and said the exchange remains committed to tokenization.

The SEC approved a Nasdaq pilot to trade tokenized equities, The Block reported earlier this year. Nasdaq has argued that tokenized trading outside the national market system could drift away from the broader market on price and transparency, according to the Journal. Citadel Securities raised similar concerns about a “shadow” U.S. equity market in a letter to the SEC last year.

How objections work

OKXICE plans to operate under the SEC’s innovation exemption, a five-year order issued Sept. 17 that lets tokenized securities venues trade tokenized versions of U.S.-listed stocks without registering as exchanges. When a third party rather than the company itself tokenizes a stock, the venue must notify the company at least 30 calendar days before trading begins, according to summaries of the order by law firms Sullivan & Cromwell and O’Melveny & Myers.

The company then has 30 calendar days to file a notice of issuer objection. If a company objects in time, their objection bars that venue from offering the stock token, though companies are not required to affirmatively approve listings — silence means the listing may proceed. An objection applies only to the venue that sent the notice, so each new venue starts its own 30-day clock.

Securitize President Brett Redfearn told the Journal that companies could object to one venue without rejecting tokenization altogether. Stocks tokenized by Securitize, which launched tokenized U.S. stocks on Oct. 8, are expected to trade on OKXICE, the Journal reported. Rodrigo Seira, a partner at law firm Cooley, told the Journal the SEC is using the exemption to gather information for its permanent rules.

OKXICE notified the SEC of its plans on Oct. 4, The Block previously reported. The venue will run permissioned liquidity pools on X Layer, a layer-2 network, with each stock paired against USDC, USDG or USDT. Traders must pass identity and sanctions screening and hold a non-transferable “soulbound” token to access the pools, according to the notice, which does not give a launch date.

AMC separately criticized Robinhood’s stock tokens

AMC Entertainment has separately publicly criticized Robinhood’s stock tokens, which Robinhood describes as debt securities issued by an offshore affiliate and not offered in the States. AMC CEO Adam Aron called the tokens tied to AMC “contemptible, outrageous, disgusting, detestable, inexcusable, vile” in a Sept. 3 post on X, and said AMC had no connection to them.

Robinhood SVP Johann Kerbrat called AMC’s criticism “mostly a marketing stunt” in an interview with The Block earlier this month. He said the exemption’s caps on volume and asset types would limit Robinhood’s ability to bring its stock tokens to the U.S.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#OKXICE #OKX #TokenizedStocks #StockTokenization #CoreWeave #Broadcom #Verizon #Nasdaq #SEC #CryptoNews

USDC processed more than $36 trillion in onchain transaction volume and accounted for about 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June.

Circle Internet Group (CRCL) reported approximately $1.4 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026, paying $819 million to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs while reinvesting about $473 million in infrastructure, compliance, and product development.

The company outlined those economics in a blog post Friday, pushing back against new stablecoin entrants that argue existing issuers retain too much revenue, charge too much for redemptions, and could be replaced by more efficient models.

“That reinvestment is not overhead,” wrote Circle COO Kash Razzaghi. “It is what makes USDC useful, and it reflects more than 8 years of building. A digital dollar has to work everywhere: redeemable at any hour, held by regulated institutions, and moving natively across the chains and platforms where businesses operate.”

Circle said it retained roughly 7 cents in net profit for every dollar of revenue. USDC processed more than $36 trillion in onchain transaction volume and accounted for about 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June, up from 60% a year earlier.

Stablecoin monthly transfer value has averaged nearly $10 trillion this year, according to Standard Chartered Bank, which published a report earlier this week.

In an investor note last month, William Blair analysts said Circle could benefit from a broader crypto recovery, with regulatory rulemaking, growing tokenized-asset activity and diversification supporting the stock into 2027.

Circle will report its third-quarter financial results on Nov. 4.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Circle #USDC #Stablecoins #CircleInternetGroup #StablecoinPayments #Blockchain #OnChainTransactions #DigitalDollar #CryptoFinance #CryptoNews

Decentralized social network Farcaster is changing hands for the second time this year, and its new owner is asking users to accept rules governing their posts or lose the ability to participate.

Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School acquired Farcaster from Neynar, which took over the platform from its original developer, Merkle Manufactory, in January. Financial terms have not yet been released.

Neynar co-founder Rish said Thursday that the company is transferring the “Farcaster app, protocol repositories and related products” to Network School after considering several other offers.

“Farcaster needs a different operating model for its next stage,” he wrote. Rish and fellow co-founder Manan will move on, while other Neynar employees will join Network School to continue developing Farcaster.

Neynar’s January acquisition also included token launchpad Clanker. Rish’s announcement did not mention what will happen to Clanker, but GM Farcaster hosts Adrienne and NourishProf said on a Thursday stream that Rish was considering “breaking Clanker apart and looking for a different acquirer.”

Farcaster becomes the ‘Network State Protocol’

An in-app announcement says Farcaster is becoming the “Network State Protocol,” which says it wants to “build a network of opt-in digital societies which ultimately gets printed out in the physical world.”

Users are then prompted with a choice to accept or decline a “social smart contract,” agreeing to follow the app’s new rules. Users who opt in get an access NFT confirming their choice onchain.

Bannable offenses, which it calls “digital felonies,” include hate speech, death threats, scams, repeatedly starting fights, stalking users, and passing off AI-generated content as your own, among others.

Users who wish to decline the contract will get read-only access through the main app. Their keys, funds, followers, and post history will then get moved to another client.

The new app also plans to require users to verify they are human to cut back on bot activity.

Several users on X have already reported being banned over posts they made about Elon Musk, Flock cameras, and “gay appreciation” that were at least three months old.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Farcaster #BalajiSrinivasan #NetworkSchool #NetworkState #Neynar #DecentralizedSocial #SocialFi #SmartContracts #Web3 #CryptoNews

Coinbase published technical priorities for Bitcoin’s post-quantum transition, urging early preparation for signature upgrades and fund migration that could take years.

Coinbase published a set of technical priorities for Bitcoin’s post-quantum transition, urging the community to begin preparations as it would be a complex, multi-year process.

The exchange, which holds 5% of the total bitcoin
Bitcoin BTC-0.06%
supply, said it is currently preparing its own systems for a post-quantum future. It stated that protecting the Bitcoin network from quantum threats involves more than selecting a quantum-resistant signature scheme.

An ideal approach, according to Coinbase, would protect both exposed and newly created funds, fit within Bitcoin’s limited block space, preserve independent validation by full nodes, work with institutional custody systems, support ordinary wallets, and provide a credible path for coins that cannot or will not move.

“We believe it is important to begin preparing well ahead of any CRQC (Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer) announcement,” Coinbase said. “Bitcoin consensus changes and ecosystem migrations can take years, so it is important that we begin this work now.”

High-level recommendations

The exchange listed several high-level preferences. It said post-quantum output designs should separate the “container” from the signature scheme, allowing systems to be introduced, replaced, or supplemented without a complete redesign. Coinbase pointed to P2MR (BIP-360) and P2TRv2 as constructions that appear to offer this flexibility.

Coinbase also said it favors staged protection in which active wallets could use a PQ-capable or hybrid construction before any final policy on legacy signatures is settled. One option it described was a 1-of-2 construction giving the same funds two alternative spending paths, one authorized by a classical ECDSA or Schnorr key and one by a post-quantum key.

On signature schemes, the company said it is important that any support for stateful signatures also include a stateless option, as stateful designs carry risks from state mismanagement that could lead to forgery.

Coinbase further noted that multiparty computation (MPC) friendliness is another important consideration for institutional custody and that at least one viable post-quantum option should have promising MPC compatibility.

“When implemented effectively, MPC can provide strong protection against key theft, and it is an important layer of defense for large organizations that face constant attacks on their infrastructure,” Coinbase said.

Regarding abandoned or inaccessible coins, Coinbase said these questions are difficult and deserve debate, but that the discussion can continue in parallel with technical work to add post-quantum signature support.

“Coinbase believes that Bitcoin will continue to be the most trusted cryptocurrency in a post-quantum world,” the exchange said. “We want to contribute to the community’s efforts and help create the conditions for careful, sustained progress.”

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Coinbase #Bitcoin #BTC #QuantumComputing #PostQuantumCryptography #BitcoinSecurity #BlockchainSecurity #Cryptography #CryptoWallet #CryptoNews

Blur is shutting down its frontend next month, while the marketplace stays onchain and Blend stops matching new loans on Nov. 12.

NFT marketplace Blur said Monday it will shut down its frontend next month, while its onchain marketplace protocol will remain operational. BLUR will continue to control the protocol’s fee switch.

“Blend will stop matching new loans on November 12, 2026,” Blur said in a post on X. “Borrowers have until then to repay their loans or allow them to default. After this date, we will provide a frontend tool to help users withdraw their assets from Blend.”

The announcement comes shortly after the Ethereum Layer 2 Blast said it would wind down, followed by the Pudgy Penguins-backed Ethereum L2 Abstract.

Blast was created by Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, Blur’s founder, and developed by the same core team. Roquerre outlined his ambition to build the “Binance of NFTs” in early 2023, when he doxxed himself. Blur’s low creator-royalty policy also helped intensify competition among NFT marketplaces and put pressure on creator revenues, including those of Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Blur has faced criticism for its incentive-driven approach to NFT trading, which critics say encouraged airdrop farming and suspected wash trading while putting pressure on creator royalties. Its association with Blast has also drawn scrutiny over the sustainability of growth strategies built around token incentives and liquidity rewards.

Blur’s monthly trading volume peaked at around $1.43 billion in March 2023; exactly three years later, monthly volume had plummeted to under $7 million, according to Crypto Whale Data

The BLUR token fell more than 20% following the announcement to around $0.015, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $44 million. The token traded above $5 in early 2023.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Blur #BLUR #NFT #NFTMarketplace #BlendProtocol #Ethereum #BlastLayer2 #NFTTrading #CryptoMarket #CryptoNews

StoneX raised its price target for Securitize to $18 from $12 on Monday, on the basis that the company’s new tokenized stock trading platform will unlock a major new revenue stream.

Analyst Mark Palmer kept his Buy rating on SECZ following last Thursday’s launch of Securitize Stocks. Shares plunged 10% on Monday morning, putting the new target roughly 45% above current prices.

“While SECZ shares rallied last week following the announcement of the launch of Securitize Stocks, we believe the stock is still being valued as a tokenization vendor even after it has evolved into a market operator,” Palmer wrote.

During Securitize’s second-quarter earnings call in August, management said most of its tokenization revenue came from integration fees, meaning little of its $5.3 billion in transaction volumes in the quarter was being monetized, according to StoneX.

But the launch of Securitize Stocks could change that, with the company now being able to earn fees from transactions and servicing, including potential revenue from collateral later down the line.

Last week’s launch brought stocks including Apple, Nvidia and Tesla onto Solana, with transactions settling in USDC. The stocks are backed one-for-one by underlying shares and give holders dividend and shareholder rights.

StoneX is projecting revenue of nearly $120 million in 2027, growing to almost $200 million in 2028, estimating roughly 65% annual growth. Palmer’s $18 target implies a 14.5-times enterprise-value-to-revenue multiple to get to the 2028 forecast.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Securitize #SECZ #StoneX #TokenizedStocks #Tokenization #RWA #Solana #USDC #DigitalAssets #CryptoNews

XRP Ledger developers said Friday that a bug in the network’s payment engine could have let an attacker create XRP out of nothing. The critical-severity flaw had been in the code since 2015, according to a disclosure report, which said there was “no evidence that this issue was exploited on any public network.”

The bug affected how the engine totals a payment that fills many order book offers at once. Those sums had no overflow check, so a large enough total wrapped around to a small number.

An attacker could have set up a few hundred accounts, have each of them list a tiny fraction of a token for sale in exchange for an enormous amount of XRP, then close all of the sales with one payment, per the report. Each seller wallet would have gotten paid in full, while the buyer wallet would’ve been charged “only a few hundred drops plus the fee.” The network’s check against newly created XRP had a similar issue adding the balances, and thus would fail to prevent the minting.

“The attack could not be triggered by accident,” the report states. “It required hundreds of offers priced in a way no real trader would use, followed by a payment built specifically to consume them all at once.”

One transaction, 18 trillion XRP

Cayden Liao, security co-founder at Veria Labs, wrote on X Saturday that the firm’s AI agent found the bug and built a working exploit. By his count, just one exploit transaction on the XRP Ledger could have created about 18 trillion XRP, 184 times the token’s total supply, which was capped at 100 billion XRP at launch and shrinks slightly as transaction fees are burned.

“We suspect one reason nobody caught this vulnerability is that it chains together two bugs that would be low severity on their own,” Liao wrote.

Liao said Ripple paid Veria the program’s top $250,000 bounty. “To our knowledge, that’s the largest ever paid out for a vulnerability discovered entirely by an AI agent,” Liao added.

Skipping the amendment vote

Veria reported the bug on Sept. 22, and RippleX shipped a fix in xrpld version 3.4.1 three days later. More than 80% of validators on the default Unique Node List were running it that day, the report said.

Rule changes on the XRP Ledger normally go through an amendment process, with each proposed change requiring support from more than 80% of the network’s trusted validators over a period of two weeks. However, this bug fix took effect as each server upgraded, which the report said was a first in more than 10 years of amendments. Because xrpld is open source, a normal release would have shown attackers where the bug was for weeks before the fix switched on, the report said.

The release also patched a separate bug in Batch, a feature that had not gone live when the flaw was found, which the report said could have stalled the network. Batch and its fix both activated Friday, and servers on older versions can no longer stay in sync.

For the Batch bug, a potential attacker “does not gain anything on-chain,” the report said. “The payoff is a permanently malformed record and the chance to break off-chain indexers, explorers, and SDKs.”

Closed-source criticism

The source code for xrpld’s 3.4.1 update was published about two weeks after the binaries. Cyber Capital founder Justin Bons wrote on X Thursday that “XRP has been running closed-source code for the last two weeks.”

“AI has changed things,” RippleX engineer Mayukha Vadari replied on Saturday. “You can’t sneak a critical bug patch into a routine public release process, it’ll get spotted and reverse-engineered immediately.”

RippleX Head of Engineering J. Ayo Akinyele said in a separate X post on Saturday that the team would expand AI-assisted bug hunting and formal verification. “AI is fundamentally changing how quickly vulnerabilities can be discovered,” he wrote.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#XRP #XRPL #Ripple #XRPledger #BlockchainSecurity #CryptoVulnerability #SecurityPatch #AIAgents #BugBounty #CryptoNews

Spot ether ETFs shed $542.1 million last week, their worst week since January, while Solana funds posted the largest weekly outflow since they launched. Bitcoin funds also snapped a 3-week inflow run.

ETFs ended a record 14-week inflow streak, according to The Block’s analysis of SoSoValue data.
The ether funds have now posted outflows for nine consecutive trading days, a run worth $697.2 million that began on Sept. 29.

Spot Solana ETFs lost $24.8 million over the week, the largest weekly outflow since the products launched in late October 2025.

Combined with bitcoin ETF redemptions, the three categories lost about $1.25 billion last week.

Ether funds post second straight losing week

BlackRock’s ETHA, the largest ether fund by assets under management, lost $477.0 million over the week, about 88% of the category’s total, per SoSoValue data. It was the fund’s largest weekly outflow since mid-December 2025 and its third-largest since launching in July 2024. Grayscale’s ETHE had the second-largest weekly outflow among ether funds, at $31.9 million.

Tuesday was the heaviest single trading day for the ether products, with $201.9 million in redemptions, all from ETHA. That was the fund’s largest single-day outflow since Jan. 21 of this year. Tuesday’s outflow came on the day ETHA’s 1-for-3 reverse share split took effect.

ETHA posted outflows in all five sessions. The fund holds $8.64 billion in net assets, about $4.15 billion less than its $12.79 billion in cumulative net inflows.

The category’s weekly total outflows were the largest since the week ending Jan. 23, when the funds lost $611.2 million. It was also the second straight negative week for ether ETFs, after $138.0 million left the funds the week before. Fidelity’s FETH accounted for $74.1 million of that prior-week total, per the data.

Daily ether ETF flows have been negative in every session since Sept. 28, when the funds took in $17.1 million. The ether outflows began on Sept. 29, one day before bitcoin ETFs ended a nine-day, $3.1 billion inflow streak. ETHA accounted for $506.1 million of the nine-day streak’s outflows.

The run ties a June 17-30 streak as the third-longest in the funds’ history. The record is a 17-day stretch from May 11 to June 3 of this year, which pulled about $900.1 million from the products.

Spot Ethereum ETF Total Net Flows, via The Block’s data
Spot ether ETF net assets fell 10% over the week to $15.71 billion. Cumulative net inflows since launch stand at $13.26 billion. The funds are still positive for 2026, with $931.8 million in net inflows year to date, down from $1.47 billion a week earlier.

Trading volume rose to $5.18 billion from $3.57 billion the previous week.

Solana funds end record inflow run

The Solana products recorded outflows in all five sessions last week, their longest daily outflow streak on record, per SoSoValue’s data. Their previous longest outflow streak was three days.

Bitwise’s BSOL, the largest Solana fund with $1.20 billion in net assets, lost $20.9 million over the week, about 84% of the category’s outflows, per the data. It was BSOL’s largest weekly outflow on record, topping a $17.0 million outflow in the week ending July 31.

Monday’s $9.2 million outflow was the largest of the week. Morgan Stanley’s MSOL and Invesco’s QSOL were the only Solana funds to post weekly inflows, taking in a combined $2.0 million.

The $24.8 million weekly outflow is roughly three times the previous record of $8.9 million, set in the week ending Feb. 6. The funds had not posted a negative week since the week ending June 26, when they lost $1.8 million. The 14-week inflow streak topped a 13-week run that started at launch and ended in late January.

The reversal comes two weeks after the Solana funds drew a record $188.2 million in weekly inflows.

Spot Solana ETF net assets fell to $1.73 billion from $1.90 billion a week earlier. The funds held a record $1.96 billion on Sept. 25. Cumulative net inflows stand at $1.58 billion, including $816.8 million so far in 2026.

Bitcoin funds snap three-week inflow streak

ETFs lost $681.1 million last week, ending three straight weeks of inflows, per SoSoValue data. It was their worst week since the week ending June 26, when they shed $1.79 billion.
Wednesday accounted for most of the outflows, with $487.1 million leaving the funds. The products returned to inflows on Friday with $21.1 million.

The bitcoin funds’ 2026 net inflows fell to $494.1 million from $1.18 billion a week earlier. The category turned positive for the year in late September.

Bitcoin ETFs hold $105.84 billion in net assets and have drawn $57.11 billion in cumulative net inflows since launch.

Ether traded near $2,506 on Saturday morning, while SOL changed hands around $110.50 and bitcoin sat near $82,900.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Ethereum #ETH #Solana #SOL #Bitcoin #BTC #CryptoETF #ETFOutflows #InstitutionalInvestors #CryptoNews

Former FTX COO Constance Wang criticized Netflix’s upcoming FTX series “The Altruists,” saying its portrayal of Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison and the exchange’s collapse is inaccurate.

The full-length trailer for Netflix’s FTX-inspired series “The Altruists” dropped this week, drawing criticism over its portrayal of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. But former FTX executive Constance Wang said the trailer’s depiction of the company’s collapse hit much closer to home.

“So many people have DM’d me about this trailer and I’ll be honest, watching it made me physically throw up,” Waing said Friday in a post on X.

Wang served as FTX’s COO beginning in early 2019 before becoming co-CEO in its final months, until the exchange collapsed in November 2022. She said the trailer’s depiction of the company bore little resemblance to her experience working there.

“I was the last one out of the Bahamas after Sam got extradited,” Wang said. “I lost everything I had on it and it took me a long time to get over, so I have zero interest in defending the people who caused this. The media loves the story that FTX blew up because we were all partying in the Bahamas, but the place I worked looked nothing like that.”

Wang said FTX had fewer than 200 employees, many of whom worked 16- to 18-hour days with “barely” any time to sleep.

The exchange’s collapse followed a liquidity crisis that exposed its close financial ties to Alameda and the misuse of customer funds. Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven fraud and conspiracy counts in November 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ellison pleaded guilty, cooperated with prosecutors, and testified against him before receiving a two-year prison sentence in September 2024.

Wang also took issue with the trailer’s portrayal of Ellison and Bankman-Fried’s relationship. Much of the trailer focuses on their romance alongside the familiar rise-and-fall narrative, with Anthony Boyle portraying SBF and Emmy-winning actor Julia Garner portraying Ellison.

“I worked with Caroline and never once saw her get aggressive like she does in this trailer,” Wang said. “She’s quiet and mild, and often lost in her own thoughts. Most of us didn’t even know she and Sam were dating until we read about it after the bankruptcy, and I never saw him so much as put an arm around anyone.”

The eight-episode limited series premieres on Netflix on Nov. 19.

“FTX’s collapse ruined so many people’s lives, including ours, and Netflix decided to make it a love story,” Wang concluded. “Shame on you.”

Wang co-founded trading platform Pacifica in early 2025, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#FTX #SamBankmanFried #CarolineEllison #ConstanceWang #Netflix #TheAltruists #AlamedaResearch #CryptoScandal #CryptoFraud #CryptoNews

Crypto ETF flows and futures positions rose in Q3, pointing to more retail and institutional participation after corporate treasuries and VC funding led the first half, JPMorgan analysts said.

Around $50 billion has flowed into digital assets so far this year, with stronger ETF flows and futures positions creating positive momentum heading into the fourth quarter, according to JPMorgan analysts.

The current inflows equal an annualized pace of about $66 billion, the JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in a Wednesday report, noting that that’s higher than the $52 billion annualized pace recorded in May, but still around half of last year’s pace.

The analysts usually estimate flows by aggregating crypto fund flows, the flow impulse implied by CME futures, crypto VC fundraising, and publicly listed miners and corporate treasury purchases of digital assets. Now the analysts said they have expanded the estimate to include purchases by private corporate treasuries, private miners and government-related entities.

ETF and futures flows improve

During the first half of the year, digital asset inflows came mainly from Strategy’s bitcoin purchases and crypto venture funding, the analysts noted.

Crypto ETF flows were a headwind during that period, with heavy outflows in May and June. ETF flows have improved since August and are now positive for the year.

However, cumulative ETF flows remain negative when measured from the crypto market downturn that started on Oct. 10, 2025, the analysts said.

Institutional positions in bitcoin and ether futures on CME have also increased over the past two months after a slow start to the year. Bitcoin positioning moved above its previous peak, while ether positioning came close to its October 2025 high.

The analysts also looked at perpetual futures on offshore exchanges by comparing their open interest with the market value of bitcoin and ether. Those measures of leverage have fallen from their peaks since the Oct. 10 correction, but remain above their historical averages, the analysts said.

The analysts’ momentum signals also show that trend-following traders, including commodity trading advisors, have started rebuilding long positions in bitcoin and ether.

As for crypto venture funding, it has been improving since 2024, but more of the capital is going into fewer and larger rounds led by established companies, the analysts noted.

The analysts also noted a shift from equity funding toward debt financing for infrastructure businesses with clearer cash flows. Tokenization is also gaining more attention in venture funding, mainly for business-to-business uses, they said.

Miners remain net sellers

Bitcoin miners have been net sellers this year, but total net selling remains modest at around $1.8 billion, according to the analysts. Most of that shift has come from publicly listed miners. They have moved from accumulating bitcoin toward selling newly mined coins and, in some cases, reducing their existing holdings to fund spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Corporate treasury purchases have mainly come from publicly listed companies. Strategy bought bitcoin at a fast pace early in the year and accounted for a large share of total digital asset inflows, the analysts noted.

Private corporate treasuries bought smaller amounts, likely because they have less flexible funding options and a lower tolerance for bitcoin’s price swings.

Public treasury companies have funded their purchases through common share sales, debt and preferred shares. The analysts said the mix has gradually shifted from debt toward preferred shares, increasing the need for interest and dividend payments.

“In all, while during the first half of the year the capital flow picture was dominated by corporate treasury buying and venture capital funding, in Q3 both ETF flows and futures positioning have increased pointing to greater participation by both retail and institutional investors, thus creating a positive flow momentum into Q4,” the analysts concluded.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#JPMorgan #CryptoInflows #Bitcoin #Ethereum #CryptoETF #InstitutionalInvestors #DigitalAssets #CryptoMarket #BitcoinETF #CryptoNews

The tokens are backed 1:1 by real shares with dividends and shareholder rights, settle in USDC, and will expand from extended U.S. hours toward 24/7 trading.

Securitize (SECZ) has launched tokenized U.S. stocks on its platform, initially offering tokens tied to companies including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Tesla, Meta, and Amazon. The launch is also expected to include SpaceX and Palantir, along with crypto bellwethers Circle and Strategy.

The launch comes as tokenized stocks surpassed $3 billion in onchain value, with Securitize accounting for much of the recent capital growth.

The tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying shares held through Securitize Markets’ regulated brokerage infrastructure called Convertible Entitlement Token, or CET, with holders receiving applicable shareholder rights, dividends, and corporate-action entitlements.

“CETs are also designed to provide a bridge between today’s securities markets and Securitize’s long-term vision for issuer-sponsored tokenization: if an issuer subsequently adopts an issuer-sponsored tokenized share structure with Securitize, CET positions can transition into that model,” the firm said.

The offering will launch on Solana with settlement in USDC and initially support extended U.S. market hours, with Securitize planning to expand toward 24/7 trading.

“Tokenized stocks should give investors more than a price that happens to track a stock,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said in a statement. “Our goal is to bring the actual ownership experience onchain — with the underlying shares, shareholder rights, regulated market infrastructure and the ability to move toward an issuer-sponsored model as companies embrace tokenization themselves.”

Earlier this year, Securitize tapped Jump and Jupiter to provide liquidity and access for this stock tokenization effort.

For its part, Securitize became the first company to debut shares both onchain and on the NYSE, when it launched its own SECZ shares on Solana and Avalanche. Securitize President Brett Redfearn told The Block at the time that Securitize was talking with major investment banks about bringing other IPOs onchain.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Securitize #TokenizedStocks #Tokenization #RWA #Solana #USDC #Apple #Nvidia #OnChainFinance #CryptoNews

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the crypto industry should take risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the crypto industry should take risks to cryptography from AI-accelerated math seriously, but cautioned against rushing to move funds to new wallets.

In a Wednesday post on X, Buterin said he does not recommend scrambling to move funds to new wallets. While keeping assets in addresses that have never signed a transaction is a good precaution if the move is easy, he noted that botched migrations have cost him more than hacks.

Buterin’s comments came in response to an earlier post from Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, who called on the industry to start planning for what he described as “bunker mode.”

Drake said that the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) could potentially be broken before “q-day,” when quantum computers become powerful enough to break widely used public-key cryptography. In a worst-case scenario, he said, such a breakthrough could occur within months rather than years.

Drake recommended moving funds in a controlled way to fresh addresses that keep their public keys hidden, while warning holders not to panic or rush.

Rising threat

Buterin noted that AI-accelerated math is a key reason ECDSA could fall faster than expected. Most planning, he said, has assumed “elliptic curves broken, hashes safe, lattices safe.”

The Ethereum founder said there is a good chance the concrete security of lattices “will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math.” He named ML-DSA, fully homomorphic encryption, and lattice schemes as the core area of risk.

The warnings come amid rapid advances in AI-generated mathematics. On Tuesday, OpenAI published hundreds of mathematical manuscripts produced by an internal model — a development Drake described as evidence that “mathematical superintelligence is upon us.”

Buterin said that the industry should be more conservative on lattice parameters and prefer hash-based constructions where they are possible.

“For privacy protocols, strongly favor not putting encrypted notes onchain. Instead, send them offchain through some third-party mechanism,” Buterin said.

Despite the potential risks, Buterin reiterated that holders should avoid making hasty moves.

“[It’s] very easy to lose funds from a misconfigured rushed upgrade, so … don’t rush anything,” he added.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#VitalikButerin #Ethereum #ETH #ArtificialIntelligence #CryptoSecurity #QuantumComputing #Cryptography #CryptoWallet #BlockchainSecurity #CryptoNews

Users must bridge assets off Abstract before the Dec. 15 shutdown. CEO Luca Netz said Igloo decided against launching a token to keep the network alive.

Abstract, a consumer-focused Ethereum Layer 2 network, said it will wind down operations and shut down the chain on Dec. 15, 2026, citing stagnant growth, thin liquidity, a restricted DeFi ecosystem and limited institutional adoption.

Abstract said more than 144 apps were deployed on the chain and more than 400,000 users were onboarded through consumer-focused partnerships with brands including Red Bull Racing and Disney.

“But the industry has evolved considerably since Abstract was first conceived, and operating a chain focused exclusively on consumer crypto has ultimately proven to be unsustainable as a standalone model,” Abstract said Tuesday in a post on X.

The project said users must bridge their assets off Abstract before the shutdown date or risk losing access to their funds.

Igloo Inc., the parent company behind Pudgy Penguins, had been funding Abstract for the past 18 months and lost “tens of millions of dollars,” according to CEO Luca Netz. Igloo will now redirect its resources toward Pudgy Penguins and PENGU

In July 2024, Igloo raised more than $11 million, led by Founders Fund, to develop Abstract as a consumer-focused L2 and leverage Pudgy Penguins’ distribution to bring consumers onchain. Abstract launched its mainnet in January 2025.

Netz said Igloo ultimately decided against launching an Abstract token or continuing to fund the network at the expense of the Pudgy Penguins business.

“Even after losing 8 figures, we could have launched a token or pursued an ICO. Ultimately we decided against this,” Netz said Tuesday in a post on X. “A token only works if there is something driving demand to it, and launching a token that we don’t have conviction in would have been a disservice to our community.”

Over the past few weeks, speculation was circulating that Abstract was winding down, fueled by reduced activity on its official account, the reported departures of two senior team members in August, and scrutiny of developer wallet activity.

“There will be many that will find satisfaction in seeing this shut down, and that is fine,” Netz continued. “I take a great amount of pride in having the ambition to venture into the chain business, notoriously one of the most difficult to make work, and the only regret I have is not being able to celebrate a win alongside the Abstract community.”

The shutdown comes less than a week after Paradigm-backed Layer 2 Blast said it will wind down as costs exceed revenue.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#AbstractChain #Abstract #PudgyPenguins #Ethereum #Layer2 #LucaNetz #PENGU #CryptoNews #Blockchain #CryptoMarket

Posing as a client, the onchain sleuth said he gathered intelligence that helped action freezes tied to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack and attribute illicit activity onchain.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said he infiltrated a Chinese organized crime network and gathered intelligence that helped action freezes tied to the 2025 Bybit hack.

In a detailed thread on X, ZachXBT alleged that the Chinese crime syndicate laundered over $1 billion across multiple exploits for North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The onchain sleuth said he began investigating after he noticed a pattern involving more than 15 accounts in Telegram and Discord groups seeking help with orders tied to stolen funds following the Bybit exploit in February 2025.

Posing as a client, ZachXBT funded a new address with 349,700 USDC on Ethereum to conduct multiple transactions with a vendor who went by the pseudonym “Jimmy Green.”

In March 2025, Jimmy provided ZachXBT with the receiving address “0xbaa5” to exchange USDC for USDT on Tron. The sleuth said that Jimmy’s receiving address was gas-funded by a wallet that was “directly traceable to Bybit exploit funds” and appeared on Bybit’s public exploit blacklist.

ZachXBT also said that Jimmy discussed plans to move Bybit funds for North Korea before the transactions occurred and shared details about the group’s operation in Hong Kong and mainland China.

“One day prior, he stated funds would be moved to Solana and the next day they were,” ZachXBT said. “He stated his team laundered most of the $1.5 billion from Bybit, which was consistent with the laundering patterns I observed.”

Repeated pattern

ZachXBT said other claims made by Jimmy showed similar ties to illicit funds.

Among those operations, a March 12 bridge screenshot shared by Jimmy matched a THORChain order created within minutes, according to ZachXBT. Three Solana addresses Jimmy shared also helped identify a cluster of over $12 million in Bybit exploit funds that had been swapped across BTC, ETH, SOL, and Tron, he said. Tether later froze 442,000 USDT linked to the cluster.

Two other claims in their conversations were also checkable, he said. Jimmy’s mention of roughly $300,000 frozen in 2024 matched 332,000 USDC from the Poloniex exploit.

Jimmy also claimed to have laundered $3 million in fraud proceeds for another client. ZachXBT said he traced those funds to a hot wallet of Huione Guarantee, which has been sanctioned.

“Throughout our conversations, Jimmy and I had a lot of small talk in between discussing laundering for DPRK,” said ZachXBT. “He talked about playing mahjong, hunting wild rabbits, food, his fat-reducing meal, family life, and vacations at Disney.”

ZachXBT noted that he ultimately fronted $349,700 and lost about 5% per order, “with no guarantee Jimmy wouldn’t disappear with the funds.” He said he continued trading with the group in an effort to “gamble on capturing as much actionable intel as quickly as possible.”

The investigator said he immediately shared his findings with law enforcement but was unable to disclose details sooner due to sensitivity around the investigation. He added that he has helped facilitate the freezing of $75 million in funds related to North Korean incidents since 2022.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#ZachXBT #Bybit #LazarusGroup #CryptoHack #CryptoCrime #NorthKorea #BlockchainSecurity #OnChain #CryptoNews #CyberSecurity

Galaxy Ventures, DCG and other investors joined the UMIA token auction, which sold 34.6% of its supply at an $18 million FDV.

Umia, a platform that helps crypto projects launch and govern tokens, has raised $6.11 million through the sale of its own UMIA token.

The seven-day auction valued Umia at a fully diluted valuation of $18 million and sold 17.3 million tokens, or 34.6% of the total supply, Umia co-founder and CEO Francesco Mosterts told The Block. All tokens sold in the auction were liquid at launch, with no lockup.

UMIA is currently trading at around $0.68, giving the token a fully diluted valuation of about $34 million, according to CoinGecko.

Mosterts said Umia intentionally sold a large share of the supply to give early backers a meaningful stake and avoid a small circulating supply followed by large future unlocks.

Around 45% of the money came from institutional investors, Mosterts said. Ten funds participated, including Galaxy Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Draper Associates, RenGen, Alpha EV, Maven 11 and Eon Capital. Nearly 700 individual bidders also took part.

The funds participated on the same terms as other bidders and received no discounts, Umia said. None of the investors received a board seat, observer role or advisory position, Mosterts noted.

The raise comes during a difficult period for new token projects. Investors have shown a preference for equity deals and tokens linked to revenue, as The Block has previously reported.

Last month, GSR, Ink Foundation and several legal and audit firms also launched Charter Foundation to help reduce token launch costs.

Asked how Umia differs, Mosterts pointed to its combination of a legal wrapper, decision markets, onchain auctions and a supported onboarding process. He said its auction also uses eligibility checks and technical measures intended to reduce activity from bots and traders trying to exploit transaction ordering.

Umia said it structures each project so its intellectual property, operating team and treasury sit under one legal wrapper linked to the token, rather than being divided among a company, foundation and decentralized autonomous organization.

This structure is meant to ensure value generated by a project goes to the token rather than remaining with founders, equity holders or a separate foundation, Mosterts said.

Umia earns a 0.5% fee on spot trades across the decentralized exchange pools it manages and a 1% fee on decision-market trades.

For the UMIA token sale, 20% of the proceeds were used to create a protocol-owned UMIA-USDC liquidity pool on Uniswap v4 at the auction’s closing price. The rest went into the treasury.

Smart contracts release $120,000 each month for development costs. Spending above that amount, or any change to the monthly allowance, must pass through a UMIA decision market.

Decision markets replace a standard token vote. Traders take positions based on how they expect the token price to perform under different proposals. The option with the highest time-weighted average price can then execute onchain.

Mosterts acknowledged that giving token holders control over board-level decisions could leave founders with less control. He also said a liquid token can push teams toward short-term decisions aimed at increasing its price.

However, he said these risks are preferable to standard token voting, which he believes does not work, or equity financing that gives board seats to venture firms with their own conflicts.

The UMIA sale ran on Base from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2 using Umia’s version of Uniswap’s Continuous Clearing Auction. It had a minimum target of $2 million and a maximum token price of $0.36, equal to an $18 million FDV.

First external launches

Umia’s curation committee has selected three external projects to launch through the platform. The first is Slop.cash, a project from Shaw, who started ai16z, now known as ElizaOS. It is expected to launch later in the fourth quarter, Mosterts said. The other two projects are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Umia has received more than 200 applications across AI infrastructure, AI apps, decentralized finance, tokenized funds, real-world assets and fintech, Mosterts said. Projects can build on any Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible blockchain.

Applicants first go through internal due diligence before presenting to a curation committee that includes investors from Maven 11 and RenGen and representatives from analytics platform 01resolved.

Selected projects receive help with technology, finance, design, tax, legal work, and public relations, according to Mosterts.

Umia was incubated by Ethereum research and development firm Chainbound, which has worked with Flashbots and Ethereum Foundation. Mosterts previously worked at Point72, while co-founder and CTO Nicolas Racchi previously developed DeFi protocols and Ethereum infrastructure.

Umia currently has seven employees and is hiring business development staff to support the due diligence process, though Mosterts did not specify how many people it plans to add.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Umia #UMIA #TokenLaunch #Crypto #CryptoNews #GalaxyVentures #DCG #DeFi #Uniswap #Base

Do Kwon & The Korean Comeback Cycle is the first feature documentary from The Block’s new travel and business series, Around the Block.
South Korea sits at number five on Chainalysis’ 2026 global adoption index — second for onchain balances, behind only the United States.
Through on-the-ground research and interviews, The Block’s Kelvin Sparks tracks the story of the country’s blockchain revolution through the lens of its unique culture and history.
Since crypto’s inception, South Korea has been one of the powerhouses of global adoption. Last month, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis placed the country fifth on its latest worldwide adoption rankings and second for total onchain balances.
Some 16.3 million of the country’s people, or around 30% of the population, hold accounts with its five largest crypto exchanges. Meanwhile, its financial services firms are pushing to integrate stablecoins into existing financial systems.
South Korea has also seen some of the worst that crypto has to offer: the 2022 collapse of Terra (LUNA), founded by Korean national Do Kwon, threw the entire industry into a crisis. But economic catastrophe is nothing new to a country whose modern history has been defined by repeated cycles of destruction and reconstruction.
The Block’s new feature documentary, Do Kwon & The Korean Comeback Cycle, asks what these cycles tell us about Korea’s people, as well as the future of its ongoing blockchain revolution.
“Korea continually crafts its future using remnants from its past.”
Produced in partnership with BNB Chain, the film traces Korea’s history through successive periods of crisis, from the Japanese occupation and Korean War to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when the won lost over 50% of its value against the dollar in less than three months.
The Block’s Kelvin Sparks spoke to Koreans who lived through that crisis and witnessed its economic devastation firsthand, as well as the younger generations still living with its aftermath. For some, crypto speculation has emerged as an avenue for social mobility in a country increasingly stratified by socioeconomic status.
“Korean people are strong in a crisis — that DNA has been flowing continually until now, forming Korea’s identity.” — Youngtae Choi
The journey took the team to the DMZ, where Wildcat Labs founder Laurence Day unpacked the hacking methods used by North Korea’s Lazarus Group; to the headquarters of MapleStory Universe developer Nexpace, where COO Jeongheon “Keith” Kim discussed Korea’s pioneering culture of digital ownership; and into conversations with Hashed and Wintermute on the economic forces behind Korean crypto culture.
Each gives a unique perspective on Korea’s transformation from one of the world’s poorest countries to an economic and cultural powerhouse, and on how its domestic blockchain industry has evolved beyond the speculative free-for-all of the Terra era.
From crypto speculation to national strategy
That latest comeback has been defined by an institutional push to integrate blockchain with Korea’s existing financial infrastructure. The film features an interview with one of the leading figures shaping this movement, Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byeoung-Duk, a major advocate for won-denominated stablecoins.
He described the country’s blockchain revolution as a matter of securing economic sovereignty and expanding its global influence.
“Korea’s physical territory is small. Korea’s digital territory will become much larger.” — Min Byeoung-Duk
Far from a speculative tool for young traders, blockchain is emerging as a potential pillar of South Korea’s broader financial strategy.
This is apparent now more than ever. Last month, the country’s Financial Services Commission revealed a roadmap outlining plans to bring “all types” of securities onchain, beginning in February 2027. Meanwhile, major Korean financial services firms, including Shinhan Financial Group, are exploring payments and remittances on stablecoin rails.
For anyone tracking the trajectory of this digital transformation, the film offers a unique window into the forces that brought South Korea to the forefront of global blockchain adoption — and those shaping where it goes next

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#DoKwon #SouthKorea #Crypto #Blockchain #CryptoAdoption #TerraLuna #Stablecoins #DigitalAssets #CryptoNews #Web3

Ethereum Layer 2 Blast said it will wind down its network because operating costs exceed revenue and it sees no credible path to economic sustainability.

The project now has a little over $32 million in total value locked, according to DeFiLlama, down sharply from more than $2 billion in TVL ahead of its February 2024 mainnet launch.

“We launched Blast with the goal of building a self-sustaining chain for users and developers. Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense,” the project wrote Friday in a post on X. “The ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable.”

Blast aimed to provide native yield for ETH and stablecoins, with returns generated through ETH staking and real-world asset protocols and automatically distributed to users.

The project is asking users to withdraw their assets to Ethereum mainnet. Blast said it will first begin withdrawing its Lido assets, a process expected to take about a week, during which withdrawals will be temporarily unavailable. Once that process is complete, withdrawals will resume with a 24-hour delay, and users will be able to withdraw through Blast’s normal interface until Oct. 26. After that date, users will need to interact directly with Blast’s bridge contracts on Ethereum.

Blast went live in November 2023 following a $20 million funding round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto. The project exceeded $2 billion in TVL from nearly 200,000 early-access users ahead of its mainnet launch.

The BLAST token fell 17% on Friday, reducing its market capitalization to around $23 million.

Ref: https://paykalken.com

#Blast #BLAST #Ethereum #Layer2 #Crypto #CryptoNews #DeFi #Paradigm #Blockchain #CryptoMarket