Crypto Treasury Firms Go on $8B Buying Spree in Historic Week

Marti, a Turkish ride-hailing company, has put 20% of its cash into Bitcoin and plans to increase that to 50%. The move is part of a long-term plan to use crypto as a store of value while keeping its main business growing.
eToro has started offering tokenised US stocks on Ethereum and is planning to build its own blockchain. This would let users trade shares like crypto and use them in decentralised finance.
The US SEC has approved in-kind trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, letting firms trade crypto directly instead of using cash. This change is expected to cut costs, improve trading, and make it easier for big investors to enter the crypto market.
Ozzy Osbourne’s NFT collection CryptoBatz saw a big jump in sales and price after news of his death. Trading volumes surged over 100,000% in one day, briefly raising the floor price to around $295.
JPMorgan is planning to let clients borrow money using crypto like bitcoin and ether as collateral. This comes as rules around digital assets in the US become clearer and demand from wealthy clients grows.
The SEC Chairman said Ethereum is not considered a security, which has encouraged companies to increase their Ethereum holdings. This clear regulatory view has helped boost Ethereum’s price and sparked more interest from investors and firms.
ChatGPT said: Shinhan Bank has added cryptocurrency tracking and educational tools to its SOL app, becoming the first South Korean bank to offer such services. The move signals growing acceptance of crypto in traditional banking, with plans to expand into crypto purchases and wallet management soon.
Vitalik Buterin urged developers to simplify Ethereum Layer 2 networks by using Ethereum’s base layer for security and consensus. He said projects should stop rebuilding features Ethereum already provides and focus only on processing and verifying transactions.
Standard Chartered has started offering bitcoin and ether spot trading directly to institutional clients through its UK branch. This makes it the first major global bank to provide regulated crypto trading using existing foreign exchange systems.
Pope Francis addressed Singapore’s leaders, urging the nation to use its global position for peace and unity. He emphasized that while technological advancements like AI should promote human connection, they should not lead to isolation or diminish genuine relationships.
People familiar with the matter revealed that Hong Kong is studying whether to allow the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Customs to jointly participate in the supervision of over-the-counter virtual asset trading services.
Residents near Granbury, Texas, are protesting Constellation Energy's plan to build a new power plant due to ongoing noise pollution and health issues from Marathon Digital’s nearby Bitcoin mine. The proposed power plant expansion would significantly increase air pollution, exacerbating local concerns about environmental and health impacts.
Meta is changing how it labels AI-edited content by moving the "AI info" label to a less visible spot, raising concerns that it may confuse users as AI tools become more advanced. Despite this, Meta will still prominently display labels for fully AI-generated content to ensure transparency.
eToro will stop trading most cryptocurrencies for U.S. users as part of a $1.5 million settlement with the SEC. The platform will only offer Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum in the U.S., while its global operations remain largely unaffected.
OpenAI has launched the o1 model, designed to improve reasoning and problem-solving in areas like math and coding. While more accurate than previous models, it comes at a higher cost and still lacks certain functionalities like web browsing and image processing.
Taobao's English version has skyrocketed to the top of Singapore's App Store due to its advanced AI translation, improving accessibility for non-Chinese speakers. The app's new features include SGD price conversion and promotional offers, leading to a surge in user engagement and positive feedback.
Trump announced the launch of his family's new financial project, World Liberty Financial, on September 18, emphasizing that he would leave the slow and outdated big banks behind.
Taiwan's use of AI for tracking tropical storm Bebinca is proving highly effective, surpassing traditional methods in accuracy. The AI models, which also excelled with Typhoon Gaemi earlier this year, are revolutionizing typhoon prediction and response.
Trump's personal net worth has shrunk to less than $4.7 billion, falling out of the top 500 richest people in the world. After his chances of winning the US election were surpassed by Harris and he lost in the debate, the MAGA meme coin plummeted by more than 20% in a single week.