Headlines
▌Crypto trading firm FalconX plans to acquire ETF manager 21Shares
According to the Wall Street Journal, crypto trading firm FalconX is planning to acquire 21Shares, a well-known crypto asset ETF manager, to expand its presence in crypto financial products and institutional investments. If the deal goes through, it would be one of the largest mergers and acquisitions in the crypto financial industry this year.
▌Coinbase Launches AI Payment Tool: Allowing AIs like Claude and Gemini to Use Crypto Wallets Directly
▌Coinbase announced the launch of a new tool called Payments MCP, which allows large language models (such as Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini) to directly access blockchain wallets and conduct crypto transactions. Launched on the Coinbase Developer Platform, the tool runs locally, is easy to use, and can be customized to meet AI needs. This initiative follows the launch of the x402 Foundation, backed by Coinbase and Cloudflare, to promote standardization of AI payments and enable a direct connection between AI and decentralized finance. The Payments MCP uses a natural language interface to enable AI to use wallets, channels, and stablecoins like humans, accelerating AI's ability to operate autonomously within the financial system.
Market
As of press time, according to Coingecko data:
BTC price is $107,831, up or down -0.7% in the past 24 hours;
ETH price is $3,806.83, up or down -1.7% in the past 24 hours;
BNB price is $1,072.06, up or down +1.7% in the past 24 hours;
-3.2%;
DOGE price is $0.1901, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -2.1%;
XRP price is $2.37, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -2.4%;
TRX price is $0.3217, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -0.2%;
The price of WLFI is $0.1226, with a 24-hour change of -2.7%; the price of HYPE is $36.55, with a 24-hour change of +3.3%. US Senate Democrats still support crypto legislation. Several crypto company executives met with Senate Democratic and Republican members on Wednesday to discuss bills promoting crypto market structure. Chainlink CEO Sergey Nazarov stated that Democrats demonstrated their continued willingness to support bipartisan legislation, and that the meeting restarted dialogue between the industry and lawmakers. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott called on Democrats to return to the negotiating table immediately for substantive discussions. Despite procedural hurdles such as committee review and House reconsideration, industry insiders believe that passing the bill will help digital assets gain recognition from the US government, and that its short-term completion does not necessarily mean failure. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chair Caroline Pham stated that the two regulatory agencies are pushing to complete cryptocurrency regulatory milestones by the end of the year. The CFTC plans to regulate "spot crypto trading and tokenized collateral" by the end of the year, while the SEC is advancing "Project Crypto," which plans to introduce innovative regulatory exemptions. However, the ongoing government shutdown has limited the efficiency of both agencies. The White House previously proposed that the SEC consider crypto safe harbors and securities issuance registration exemptions, while the CFTC has been authorized to regulate the spot market for non-securities digital assets. Congress is also pushing legislation to establish clear rules for the crypto industry, and the SEC hopes to have the relevant bill signed into law by the end of the year to clarify market boundaries and coordinate regulatory action.
▌Cryptocurrency leaders gather on Capitol Hill to discuss market structure legislation
According to Crypto In America, executives from major cryptocurrency companies and Trump's cryptocurrency "Czar" David Sacks will gather on Capitol Hill this morning to meet with Senate Republicans and Democrats who are working to advance market structure legislation. Their goal is to restart bipartisan negotiations and submit the bill to President Trump before the midterm elections become a priority. Approximately ten industry executives attended, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Kraken CEO Dave Ripley, Chainlink CEO Sergey Nazarov, and Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams, as well as Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, Jito Chief Legal Officer Rebecca Rettig, a16z Crypto General Counsel Miles Jennings, Solana Policy Institute Director Kristin Smith, and Paradigm Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Justin Slaughter. The goal of the roundtable was to repair relationships and restart dialogue among members. Two weeks ago, Democratic staffers leaked a proposal for regulating decentralized finance to their Republican counterparts, angering much of the industry. The proposal exposed significant differences between the two sides on the most thorny aspects of the already complex bill. Negotiations subsequently broke down, with Republicans refusing to continue discussions unless Democrats agreed to a deadline, while Democrats insisted they needed more time to gather input and make the bill a bipartisan outcome. Aides from both parties expressed hope that the roundtable would revive negotiations and foster a new spirit of dialogue in the DeFi space. UK Reform Party Leader Nigel Farage: Supports Cryptocurrency, but Vows to Go to Jail to Prevent UK CBDC Launch. In London, UK Reform Party leader Nigel Farage stated that he would fight to prevent the UK from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), calling it an "utter nightmare" and vowing to "go to jail rather than accept it." He pledged that if elected, he would establish a "Bitcoin Digital Reserve," lower crypto taxes, and prohibit banks from closing accounts due to crypto transactions, with the goal of making London a global crypto hub. The Central Bank of Nigeria has established a stablecoin working group, and the eNaira project faces an existential crisis. Following the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Washington, Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced that the central bank has established a dedicated working group in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and other financial regulators to assess the framework and impact of launching an official Nigerian stablecoin. According to IMF data from 2023, only 0.5% of Nigerians had adopted eNaira, a year after its launch, and 98.5% of wallets were inactive. Although the number of eNaira wallets reached 13 million by early 2024, most were unused. According to market news, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation have agreed to legalize the use of cryptocurrencies for foreign trade payments. Nasdaq's tokenized securities will initially maintain existing settlement cycles, according to Golden Finance. Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman stated that while the upcoming tokenized securities trading has the potential to accelerate settlement, it will initially adhere to traditional settlement times. Traders can choose to settle using traditional methods or through digital wallet infrastructure. Nasdaq is collaborating with DTC and plans to initially offer digital securities trading on only a few blockchains. Friedman noted that tokenization can improve collateral liquidity and reduce systemic risk by shortening settlement cycles in the long term. Google claims a major breakthrough with its quantum chip, "Willow," which could spark debate about Bitcoin security. Google announced that its Willow chip has achieved verifiable "quantum advantage," completing calculations that would take traditional supercomputers thousands of times longer. This breakthrough is likely to reignite discussion within the crypto community about the potential impact of quantum computing on Bitcoin's cryptographic security. Industry experts point out that while quantum computing could pose a threat to Bitcoin in the future, it remains a distant prospect, with modern encryption algorithms not expected to be cracked for at least a decade. Kalshi continues to see significant funding, with its valuation potentially reaching $12 billion in the near term. Kalshi, a US-regulated prediction market platform, is receiving venture capital proposals with a potential valuation of up to $12 billion. Less than two weeks ago, Kalshi closed a funding round exceeding $300 million, valuing it at $5 billion. Investors are showing strong interest in this fast-growing startup, with valuations discussed ranging from $10 billion to $12 billion or even higher. Liechtenstein Launches Sovereign Blockchain Infrastructure Liechtenstein has launched a sovereign blockchain infrastructure, called the Liechtenstein Trust Network (LTIN), to provide secure and compliant digital trust services to businesses and institutions. LTIN complies with Liechtenstein's blockchain law and the EU's MiCA cryptography regulations. Controlled by Telecom Liechtenstein, LTIN marks the extension of national telecommunications services to blockchain technology. Coinbase to Suspend Trading Due to System Upgrade on October 25th Coinbase exchange announced that it will undergo a system upgrade at approximately 10:00 PM (Beijing Time) on October 25, 2025, resulting in a temporary inaccessibility of the exchange. Cryptomus fined $126 million by Canadian regulators Cryptomus company Xeltox Enterprises Ltd. (operating under the name Cryptomus) was fined $177 million Canadian dollars (approximately $126 million US) by FINTRAC, Canada's anti-money laundering agency, for thousands of suspicious transaction reporting violations within a single month. The Vancouver-based company provides cryptocurrency trading, payment, wallet, and peer-to-peer trading services. Regulators noted that Cryptomus failed to report more than 1,000 transactions suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing in July 2024, and failed to report more than 1,500 transactions in which customers received more than $10,000 in virtual currency during the same period. 155 Crypto ETF Applications Await Approval in the US, Lead by Bitcoin and Solana According to Bloomberg, as of October 20th, the US had 155 applications for cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded products (ETPs), covering 35 digital assets. Bitcoin and Solana each received 23 applications, XRP 20, and Ethereum 16. Although the US government shutdown that began on October 1st has delayed the approval process, industry experts remain optimistic that approval is imminent. Recently, issuers have been actively submitting 2x and 3x leveraged ETFs, as well as products with staking mechanisms, reflecting the market's "all-out rush" for crypto ETFs. Analysts point out that investors prefer to diversify their investments in emerging digital assets through index-based and actively managed ETFs, rather than through single tokens. Since the launch of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in January and July 2024, BTC ETFs have managed nearly $150 billion in assets, and ETH ETFs have managed approximately $24 billion. Nearly 16,000 BTC were transferred from the stolen mining pool's Lubian wallet. According to on-chain analysis platform Onchain Lens, the Lubian wallet has again seen large transfers, transferring 15,959 BTC to four different wallets, with a total value of approximately $1.83 billion. Galaxy CEO: BTC price predicted to remain in the $120,000-$125,000 range by year-end. In an interview with "Squawk Box," Galaxy founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said Bitcoin prices could remain in the $120,000-$125,000 range by year-end. (CNBC) Tesla did not sell any Bitcoin in the third quarter of 2025. Elon Musk's Tesla disclosed that as of the third quarter of 2025, the company had not sold any of its approximately $1.3 billion in Bitcoin holdings, indicating that Tesla continues to hold Bitcoin as part of its long-term assets. The rise in Bitcoin prices in the third quarter resulted in Tesla earning approximately $80 million in profits. The world's top 100 publicly listed BTC treasuries currently hold 1.046 million BTC. According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET, as of October 22, the world's top 100 publicly listed BTC treasuries held a total of 1,045,987 BTC. Thirteen companies increased their Bitcoin holdings in the past seven days. Mercer Park and Cube reach $300 million merger agreement and plan to purchase SOL for $500 million. Mercer Park Opportunities, a Canadian-listed special purpose acquisition company, announced it has reached a $300 million business merger agreement with digital asset exchange Cube Group. Upon completion of the merger, the new company will acquire $500 million in SOL tokens in exchange for stock to establish the Solana Treasury and optimize fund management through staking income.
▌Robinhood Lists BNB
According to market news, Robinhood has listed BNB.
▌Kraken's Third-Quarter Revenue Doubled to $648 Million
According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced that its third-quarter revenue more than doubled to $648 million, a year-on-year increase of 114%. The company is preparing for a public listing in the United States next year.
▌OSPREY Files S-1 Application for Solana ETF
OSPREY Files S-1 Application for Solana ETF. Coinbase announced it will list BNB. The BNB-USD trading pair will be available in supported regions when liquidity conditions are met. Circle issued an additional 750 million USDC on the Solana network. According to OnchainLens, Circle has minted 750 million new USDC on the Solana network. Since October 11, Circle has minted a total of 2.75 billion USDC on the Solana network.
Important Economic Developments
▌The Federal Reserve will significantly relax capital requirements for large banks
Market News: The Federal Reserve has proposed a plan to significantly relax capital requirements for large banks. (Golden Ten)
▌"Federal Reserve Microphone": Fed loses access to "small non-farm" employment data
"Federal Reserve Microphone" Nick Timiraos wrote that Federal Reserve officials recently lost access to employment data provided by a third party. Since 2018, payroll processing company ADP has been providing the Federal Reserve with a dataset containing anonymized employment and income information, covering 20% of the US private sector workforce. The Fed typically receives this data with a delay of approximately one week, making it a timely and comprehensive measure of labor market conditions. According to sources familiar with the matter, ADP stopped providing the Fed with ADP employment data after a speech by Federal Reserve Governor Waller in late August drew public attention to the Fed's long-standing use of the data. The specific reasons for this change are unclear. Waller cited the ADP data in a footnote accompanying his speech, further highlighting his concerns about a slowing labor market. The footnote noted that preliminary estimates showed continued deterioration in hiring over the summer, and that the data covered a period beyond the latest government data. U.S. National Debt Surpasses $38 Trillion for the First Time The U.S. Treasury Department released data on October 22nd, local time, showing that the total U.S. federal government debt exceeded $38 trillion for the first time as of October 21st. This was just over two months after the federal government debt reached $37 trillion in mid-August. According to CME's "Fed Watch," there's a 97.3% chance the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in October, and a 2.7% chance they'll keep rates unchanged. The probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut by the Fed in December is now 95.5%, bringing the probability of a cumulative 75 basis point rate cut to 0%. What is Agent-Based AI? Agent-based AI refers to AI designed to act on its own behalf, with a degree of independence and decision-making capabilities. This type of AI doesn't simply process data or respond to commands; instead, it can set goals and make decisions to achieve them, often mimicking human behavior. This is like giving AI a sense of purpose and the ability to achieve it with minimal human intervention. This distinguishes it from traditional AI, which typically requires human input or predefined rules to function. Agent AI is self-directed, meaning it can make decisions in real time based on its environment and goals. Agent AI works by combining advanced machine learning techniques, decision-making algorithms, and a continuous feedback loop. Think of it as a robot that learns from experience and then uses this knowledge to influence its future actions. It typically works in the following manner: 1. Goal Setting: The agent AI determines a goal based on initial programming or continuous environmental input. It might be set to accomplish a specific task, such as optimizing a supply chain or increasing user engagement. 2. Decision Making: It then analyzes data and uses algorithms to determine the best course of action to achieve that goal. 3. Learning and Adaptation: Like all AI systems, agent AI learns from both successes and failures. It continuously adjusts its strategy and optimizes its decision-making process. The key here is that AI is able to set its own course of action based on real-time input, making it more autonomous than traditional AI systems.
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