Crypto

One year has passed since the massive crash in the cryptocurrency market on October 10, 2025, and liquidity in Bitcoin and Ethereum is recovering, CoinDesk reported based on its analysis of buy and sell orders on major centralized exchanges. The study found that the value of buy and sell orders near the current prices of both assets exceeded levels on the day of the crash, while order values for the other altcoins examined continued to decline and spot trading volumes also fell below levels seen at the time, showing uneven recovery across the market. The sharp sell-off on October 10, 2025 came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, with BTC falling from around $122,600 to briefly below $105,000, triggering the forced liquidation of more than $19 billion in leveraged positions in a single day. As of October 7, BTC orders within 1% above and below the current price totaled about $11.7 million, up roughly 75% from the day of the crash, while ETH also rose about 75% within the same range to reach about $5.3 million. Meanwhile, among the altcoins examined, order values within 5% above and below the price fell by about one-third from the start of 2025 to about $2 million, and orders within 1% declined by about one-sixth. Weekly spot trading volume on centralized exchanges averaged about $279 billion over the four weeks through September 27, down about two-thirds from about $801 billion in the week of the crash.

Startale Japan has begun offering digital retail bonds with a 5% annual interest rate. Interest payments and redemption will use JPYSC, a trust-type yen-denominated stablecoin. The bonds are managed on infrastructure built with Hyperledger Fabric, while JPYSC is issued on Ethereum, meaning the bonds and the funds for interest payments do not sit on the same blockchain. The company sees the connection costs of horizontal specialization as a challenge, and has set out a vertical integration strategy that provides everything from base layers such as Strium, a blockchain dedicated to on-chain finance, through to JPYSC and wallets. This initiative is positioned as the current form of efforts to promote the adoption of JPYSC.

Evernorth, the Ripple-backed company building an XRP-focused digital asset treasury, has completed its merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, according to a regulatory filing. The deal clears the way for the combined entity to list on Nasdaq. No financial terms of the merger were disclosed in the filing. The completion comes as the price of XRP remains under pressure despite the Ripple-linked treasury vehicle's progress toward a public listing.

Cardano-linked privacy network Midnight has expanded its foothold in Japan with the listing of the NIGHT token on OKCoinJapan, the Japan branch of OK Group, the global cryptocurrency exchange conglomerate that includes OKX and OKCoin. The listing gives the Midnight network's NIGHT token a trading venue on a Japanese exchange operated by OK Group. OKCoinJapan is the Japan-facing arm of OK Group, whose broader exchange business spans OKX and OKCoin. No financial terms, trading volumes, or dates were disclosed in the announcement.

Coinbase Global is relaunching Coinbase Pro with Deribit integration as part of a unified Coinbase Global Exchange. The revamped Coinbase Pro will combine U.S. and international crypto derivatives, including options and perpetual futures, under one regulated platform. Institutional clients are expected to see consolidated spot and derivatives trading with shared liquidity and centralised risk management tools. The relaunch connects one of the deepest crypto options venues into Coinbase's existing institutional stack, from Prime to the new CFTC cleared Coinbase Clearing LLC scope. The test now is how quickly Coinbase reports take-up of Deribit options and perpetuals through Coinbase Prime once the unified exchange is live, and whether derivatives share of total transaction volume is broken out and starts to carry more weight in quarterly updates over the next few earnings cycles.

Crypto asset exchange OKJ announced on October 10 that it will begin handling NIGHT from the 13th. It is the first time a crypto asset exchange operator in Japan has offered NIGHT through order book trading. Order book trading sets prices through buy and sell orders placed between users, a different mechanism from a sales office where the exchange operator acts as the counterparty to trades. NIGHT itself was first handled in Japan by Sony Group's S.BLOX, which began offering it on August 24, making OKJ the second company in the country to do so; OKJ will offer it across four services: exchange, sales office, accumulation, and deposits and withdrawals. Amid growing interest in privacy-focused tokens, the price of NIGHT has more than doubled over the past month, with CoinMarketCap data showing a gain of about 133% in the month through early October. NIGHT is the token of Midnight, a privacy-focused blockchain whose development is led by Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano.

Morgan Stanley has been named a lead underwriter for Solidigm's planned US initial public offering, which could raise about US$10.00 billion, and is also participating in merger interest discussions around UBS AG. The bank is preparing to report earnings on 14 October 2026, with consensus pointing to a 7.7% year over year revenue increase to US$19.63 billion and modest EPS growth. Morgan Stanley's own narrative projects $89.6 billion in revenue and $20.2 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 4.8% yearly revenue growth and about a $0.7 billion earnings increase from $19.5 billion today, while some of the lowest estimate analysts see revenue growth closer to 3.9% annually and earnings dipping toward about US$17.4 billion. The developments come alongside a planned Dallas expansion and upcoming presentations on digital assets and tokenization, as fee compression from passive products and evolving regulation remain key risks.

Gulf Development Public Company Limited, or GULF, has announced the final coupon rates for six tranches of bonds and digital bonds with maturities of 3 to 10 years, at 1.83% to 3.00% per year, with a total face value of not more than 20 billion baht. Subscription will open from 19 to 21 October 2026 through eight leading financial institutions and the Paotang application. All six tranches received a credit rating of AA- with a Stable outlook from TRIS Rating on 24 August 2026. As for the coupon rate of each tranche: tranche 1, a 3-year bond, is a zero coupon bond with a discount rate of 1.83% per year; tranche 2, a 4-year bond, carries a fixed coupon of 2.10% per year; tranche 3, a 5-year bond, carries a fixed coupon of 2.33% per year; tranche 4, a 7-year digital bond, carries a fixed coupon of 2.80% per year; tranche 5, a 7-year bond, carries a fixed coupon of 2.80% per year; and tranche 6, a 10-year bond, carries a fixed coupon of 3.00% per year. Interest is paid every six months throughout the life of the bonds, except for the 3-year bond. Miss Yupapin Wangwiwat, Chief Financial Officer of GULF, said the company had once again succeeded in bookbuilding, with demand reaching as high as 3.3 times the value of the bonds allocated to institutional investors and/or high-net-worth investors, and that the proceeds from this fundraising will be used to repay bonds due for redemption as well as to support expansion of investment in renewable energy and digital infrastructure businesses such as data centers, cloud and AI. In the second quarter of 2026, GULF posted a record core profit of 12.332 billion baht, up 74% from the same period a year earlier, with total revenue of 50.294 billion baht, up 24% from the same period a year earlier.

KDX ST Partners announced survey results on real estate digital securities, known as real estate ST, in a press release on the 9th. The survey covered 7,002 individual full members of the KDX ST app, compiling data as of Securities Investment Day on October 4, of whom 2,391 held real estate ST. Among holders, experience with physical stocks was heavily weighted toward long-term investors, with 573 having 10 to 20 years of experience, 511 having 20 to 30 years, and 649 having more than 30 years, while investment experience with real estate ST was most commonly less than one year, at 919 people, suggesting that those with long-term investment experience have recently begun adding it as one of their diversification targets. By income source, real estate ST holders stood at 19.7 percent for pension income, far above the 8.8 percent for full members overall, while interest and dividend income was 10.3 percent versus 5.5 percent and real estate income was 9.0 percent versus 4.0 percent, each roughly double the overall ratio. The most common investment objective was a focus on yield and capital gains, at 57.3 percent, and President Akihiro Nakao said real estate ST is beginning to be accepted as a new option for asset diversification.

Blockchain.com, a crypto asset services company, told CNBC on the 9th that it has applied to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for two licenses to offer prediction market event contracts and crypto derivatives to U.S. retail and institutional investors. In a statement, co-founder and CEO Peter Smith said users should be able to easily manage digital assets, trade derivatives, and take positions on real-world events without switching between multiple apps, and explained that the application aims to achieve this in the United States through an appropriate regulatory framework. Specifically, the company asked the CFTC to obtain a Designated Contract Market license to be designated as a futures exchange and to register as a Futures Commission Merchant. This year, the company began offering prediction markets through a partnership with Polymarket and perpetual futures based on Hyperliquid to some overseas customers. Regarding Designated Contract Market licenses, 11 other companies have applied for approval this year alone in addition to Blockchain.com, and the CFTC has approved six new Designated Contract Markets. The company also confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in May, and Bloomberg reported last month that it is targeting a listing this year with a valuation of 4 billion to 6 billion dollars. Prior to this application, on September 23, Blockchain.com signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York Stock Exchange outlining a plan to eventually allow users to access tokenized U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds through the NYSE platform, with the launch of the service awaiting regulatory approval.

Thailand's SEC announced 11 notifications on the 8th permitting the domestic establishment of cryptocurrency spot ETFs. In the initial phase, the only eligible cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the rules take effect on the 16th. The move comes against the backdrop of mutual funds and private funds having been able to invest only in overseas cryptocurrency spot ETFs, and the SEC explained that it aims to expand investor opportunities and strengthen operators' capabilities by adding domestic cryptocurrency spot ETFs as permissible investment targets within existing investment limits. The notifications require funds to pursue passive management aimed at tracking the price of the target cryptocurrency, and mandate that the average net exposure to a single cryptocurrency over the fiscal year be at least 80 percent of total net assets. Asset custody is limited to digital asset custodians regulated by the SEC, listing and trading are restricted to the Stock Exchange of Thailand only, and securities companies are not permitted to lend funds for the purchase of spot ETFs. In the initial phase, the SEC did not permit the issuance or sale of alternative products such as depositary receipts referencing overseas cryptocurrency ETFs, and also prohibited securities companies from brokering investments in overseas cryptocurrency ETFs for customers other than institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Robinhood Chain, the layer-2 network operated by Robinhood, is considering a mechanism that would let users pay fees to prioritize specific transactions, CoinDesk reported on the 9th, citing people familiar with the matter. The mechanism under consideration is the Priority Gas Auction, or PGA, a new system developed by Arbitrum, which provides the chain's infrastructure. Robinhood Chain is an Ethereum-compatible layer-2 that Robinhood launched on July 1, built on Arbitrum technology and designed for tokenized real-world financial assets; according to DefiLlama, its total value locked stood at about 1 billion dollars as of the 10th, ranking ninth among blockchains. The chain currently processes on-chain transactions in order of arrival, and paying a priority fee does not change the ordering, but PGA splits a 250-millisecond block into two 125-millisecond rounds and orders transactions by priority determined by priority fees; Arbitrum introduced it on Arbitrum One on September 24, replacing Timeboost. According to Arbitrum, PGA priority fees are designed to flow into the Arbitrum DAO treasury, and in the first week after launch they contributed more than 120,000 dollars to Arbitrum's revenue, while Offchain Labs co-founder Steven Goldfeder explained that Robinhood keeps about 90 percent of sequencer revenue, with the remaining roughly 10 percent flowing to the Arbitrum ecosystem.

In a report dated the 8th, CoinShares said that for Bitcoin's rise to continue, it needs inflows driven by fiscal concerns rather than interest rate expectations. Inflows into crypto funds have lost momentum this week after reaching a cumulative 11.1 billion dollars since mid-July. Behind this is the fact that the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has topped 5.3% and the 30-year yield has reached 5.7%, both the highest levels in more than 20 years. In August, the U.S. Treasury doubled the cap on long-bond buybacks to more than 4 billion dollars per operation from 2 billion dollars, covering September 9 to November 4, but September was the worst month for U.S. Treasuries in four years, with the 10-year yield rising by more than 0.5 percentage points. CoinShares analyzed that if the rise in yields reflects concerns about fiscal sustainability, Bitcoin will begin to look less like a conventional risk asset and more like an alternative to government-issued money, and said the inflows from hedging against fiscal concerns are what will turn Bitcoin's grind higher into a sustained rally, a figure to watch in the coming weeks.

On-chain trading volume for tokenized stocks rose 16.4% month-on-month in September to 15.6 billion dollars, a record high. CoinDesk reported the figure in a report published on October 6, noting it surpassed the previous peak of 15.4 billion dollars set in July. US brokerage app Robinhood took the top spot by trading volume, with its volume jumping 407% month-on-month to 6.57 billion dollars, lifting its market share from 9.7% in August to 42.0%. bStocks, which had led the previous month, saw its September volume fall 45.5% month-on-month to 5.42 billion dollars, giving it a 34.7% share and dropping it to second place behind Robinhood. Beyond trading, the market itself expanded, with the total market capitalization of tokenized stocks rising 13.7% month-on-month to a record 4.87 billion dollars.

Metaplanet announced on October 5 that it acquired a net 1,000 BTC between July and September, the third quarter of its fiscal year ending December 2026, bringing its holdings to 44,000 BTC. According to BitcoinTreasuries, which tracks corporate Bitcoin holdings, the company is now the world's second-largest listed corporate holder after US-based Strategy. Strategy resumed its weekly purchases, adding 334 BTC worth about 24 million dollars, and Bitcoin rebounded to 86,970 dollars on Monday. Metaplanet sees popularizing Bitcoin among gamers as a new business opportunity through its US Bitcoin operations, according to a letter to shareholders dated October 6 from Matthew Edelman, CEO of the US gaming and advertising company Super League Enterprise, which Metaplanet plans to acquire. Meanwhile, Bitmine said it will stop adding to its Ethereum holdings once they reach 5% of total supply, and Ethereum fell 5% on Wednesday to 2,553 dollars. The company holds about 6.02 million ETH, worth roughly 15.46 billion dollars, equivalent to 4.927% of Ethereum's supply. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said on October 5 that Japan's crypto asset economy was worth 228.3 billion dollars, or about 36.5 trillion yen, from July 2025 to June 2026, ranking second in East Asia after South Korea's 449.1 billion dollars, or about 71.9 trillion yen.

SoFi Technologies is working with Orbi and Mastercard on new crypto-linked payment cards in Mexico, with the Orbi program using SoFi Tech Solutions infrastructure to support crypto-to-fiat card spending for Mexican consumers. The partnership plugs SoFi Tech Solutions into issuing, authorization, processing and compliance for the cards, with SoFi providing Mastercard BIN sponsorship and connectivity to the Mexico Domestic Switch. Orbi customers can spend from either fiat or crypto balances, with SoFi's stack handling point-of-sale conversion so merchants are always paid in local currency. The launch creates a potential path for stablecoin-powered remittance products built on SoFi's technology in Latin America, and the company said the Orbi and Mastercard program in Mexico only captures part of what SoFi is building out. A key factor to watch will be whether SoFi Tech Solutions secures additional Latin American card programs or remittance products that also adopt SoFiUSD, especially through Mastercard's network, with multiple issuers going live over the next 12 to 24 months indicating that Orbi is a template rather than a one-off experiment.

As Bitcoin's price recovers, miners' revenue and profitability have improved, and selling pressure is easing. According to a weekly report from CryptoQuant, Bitcoin rose about 45% from its July low of 58,000 dollars, surpassing 83,000 dollars at the time of the report, while miners' total daily revenue increased from about 27 million dollars to as much as 48 million dollars. The network-wide hash rate recovered from 899 EH/s on July 31 to 962 EH/s, and its decline from the all-time high narrowed from 18% on July 28 to 13%. The miner profit-and-loss sustainability indicator has largely shifted into a fair-reward zone since August 21, when BTC reached 76,000 dollars, weakening the need to sell held BTC for cash flow. The most recent extreme outflow was about 29,000 BTC on August 21, after which it returned to a normal range, and the combined balance of miner addresses holding 100 to 1,000 BTC has also stabilized at about 51,000 BTC since early September.