Bitcoinworld

BitcoinWorldCRYPTO CAN STRENGTHEN THE DOLLAR
By Dave Lee, Founding Partner at Aqua Labs in Abu Dhabi
The debate around the negative consequences of digital assets for fiat currency has been around since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 and the biggest question has always been whether digital assets could challenge the dominance of the world’s most important currency.
I believe that is the wrong question to ask. As blockchain technology is here to stay, we should instead be asking how it can make the US dollar more efficient and more accessible. If that can be achieved, the dollar will become even more deeply embedded into the global financial system.
Events in the foreign exchange market over the summer provide an interesting starting point. Japan had intervened heavily to support the yen as it came under significant pressure against the dollar, with the US also participating in the market operation. Whatever one’s view of the responses, the episode reinforced a fundamental reality of the international financial system: when markets become stressed, the dollar remains the primary reference point for global capital.
At the same time, another form of dollar infrastructure is developing. Stablecoins are bringing dollar-denominated value onto blockchain networks.
This evolution of the dollar should not be viewed in isolation. Consider USD1, which is redeemable one-to-one for US dollars and backed by dollar-denominated reserve assets. Unlike dollars sitting in a traditional bank account, USD1 exists directly on the blockchain.
This distinction is important because a conventional dollar transfer relies on a network of banks, payment processors and settlement systems. Cross-border transactions can involve several layers of reconciliation, multiple intermediaries, different jurisdictions and operating hours, as well as exposure to geopolitical and other external disruptions. Even relatively minor changes in circumstances can create friction and impede the movement of money.
A USD1 transaction is far less exposed to many of these constraints. The underlying economic value remains a dollar, but what changes is the mechanism through which that value is transferred. A digital dollar can move between wallets on a blockchain at any time, without requiring the same chain of intermediaries involved in many conventional cross-border payments.
This is where I believe the long-term opportunity lies. The next phase of financial innovation will not necessarily be about inventing new forms of money, but rather rebuilding the infrastructure through which our money moves, and that is what USD1 enables.
The dollar already possesses advantages that new forms of digital money would struggle to replace: liquidity, institutional trust, deep capital markets, global acceptance and a long legacy. These things will continue to matter. The opportunity presented by stablecoins is therefore not to disregard those advantages, but to make them available through more efficient technological architecture.
A digital representation of the dollar can be integrated directly into financial software. It can be used as collateral, embedded into digital capital markets and transferred automatically when predefined conditions are met. A fundamental advantage of blockchain technology is that a distributed network can reduce the dependence on multiple intermediaries.
This is particularly important as tokenization develops. Financial assets are increasingly moving onto blockchain infrastructure, from funds and securities to commodities and other real-world assets (RWAs). It follows that the money used to transact against digital assets will increasingly need to exist digitally too.
As digital assets grow, so too will demand for digital dollars, driving greater use of blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Greater utility also encourages more institutional participation, which can, in turn, reinforce the role of the dollar within the digital economy.
The US government’s growing regulatory framework for stablecoins is therefore significant. Rather than treating stablecoins solely as a threat to the existing monetary system, policymakers are increasingly recognizing their potential to further extend dollar liquidity, while creating additional demand for US Treasury assets.
One of the most interesting developments for blockchain is that it will become an additional layer of the financial system, with the dollar sitting at its center. This is why I would expect the finance industry to move on from conversations around de-dollarization, and to start speaking about digital dollarization.
The importance of the dollar within the traditional financial system is simply not up for debate, despite some voices to the contrary, and the rise of stablecoins points towards its increased importance. If the US leads innovation in stablecoins, tokenization and blockchain-based financial markets, one of the greatest beneficiaries of crypto will most likely be its own currency.
This post CRYPTO CAN STRENGTHEN THE DOLLAR first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldHong Kong Flags Enforcement Over Unlicensed Payment Platforms
Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau has told lawmakers that regulators will take enforcement action where necessary against payment platforms operating without required licences, after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority logged 16 complaints about suspected unlicensed stored value services between January 2024 and September 2026, according to Crypto.news.
Hong Kong officials said regulators will act against payment platforms that operate without the required licences. The HKMA received 16 complaints about suspected unlicensed stored value services from January 2024 to September 2026 and substantiated one, the government said in a written reply to the Legislative Council on Oct. 7.
The reply was delivered in writing by Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan after consulting the HKMA and the Customs and Excise Department, Crypto.news reported. Hong Kong outlet PANews, citing Mobile Payment Network, carried the same message on Oct. 10, reporting that Chan said appropriate enforcement action would be taken as needed under the statutory regulatory framework to protect customers and the public.
Key facts
The HKMA received 16 complaints about suspected unlicensed stored value services between January 2024 and September 2026, and investigators substantiated one, whose complainant reported no monetary loss.
The Oct. 7 Legislative Council reply was given by Acting Secretary Joseph Chan after consulting the HKMA and the Customs and Excise Department.
Under the Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance, issuing or operating a stored value facility in Hong Kong without a licence is an offence unless a statutory exemption applies.
Currency exchange and cross-border remittance services sit under a separate Customs and Excise Department licence regime created by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance.
PANews reported that Chan described platforms registered only as fintech companies, without any financial licence, as the specific concern driving the warning.
Where the complaints came from
The government’s reply answered a question from lawmaker Chan Chun-ying about payment aggregators that attract small merchants with low fees and buy now, pay later offers. He cited reports of payment defaults and false payments that had caused merchant losses, and raised concerns about platforms registered only as financial technology companies, without financial services licences or public disclosures about their partners and operations.
On enforcement, Chan said: “In cases involving suspected unlicensed SVF operation or non-compliance with the PSSVFO, the HKMA will intervene directly.” Depending on the case, the reply said, the authority would coordinate with other regulators and refer matters to law enforcement agencies. The HKMA is following up with the company involved in the one substantiated case and will decide on further action as the case progresses.
Licensing lines drawn by activity, not by company
The government’s answer sets out where each type of service lands. Stored value facilities sit with the HKMA. The authority’s consumer guidance lists multipurpose prepaid cards and electronic wallets as examples, covering facilities that hold value for payments to the issuer and participating third parties, or for transfers between users. Single-purpose facilities used only to buy goods or services from their issuer fall outside that licensing system, as do payment methods without a stored value function, such as credit cards and Apple Pay.
Currency exchange and cross-border remittance services sit with Customs, which the government said would take enforcement action against violations of the money service operator licensing regime. It identified services ancillary to a licensed stored value operator’s business as one statutory exemption. Buy now, pay later services run by banks remain under HKMA supervision, while other providers conducting lending business must hold a money lender licence under the Money Lenders Ordinance.
Both agencies assess applicants’ competence, integrity and ability to operate fairly during licence reviews, with requirements covering customer checks, record keeping and the handling of client funds. For customers checking a provider, the HKMA’s guidance says each licensed stored value operator has a unique licence number that can be checked against its public register, and warns that users of wallets or prepaid cards operated outside the licensing system may not have their interests protected.
Why it matters
Hong Kong has spent recent years building out a licensed digital asset and payments perimeter, and the warning restates that operating inside it is a legal requirement rather than a marketing choice. Merchants and small businesses, the group Chan Chun-ying’s question focused on, are the most exposed: they can lose money to defaults or false payments on a platform that never held a licence and therefore never faced the customer-check and client-fund rules that licensed operators must meet. The same tools the government described — a public register and a licence number lookup — apply equally to wallets and prepaid cards on the digital asset side, where licensing has become the dividing line between supervised and unsupported providers.
What to watch
The next concrete step is how the HKMA concludes its follow-up with the company behind the single substantiated complaint, and whether that produces further enforcement or a referral to law enforcement agencies. Broader licensing activity in Hong Kong’s crypto services sector is also in motion, with the government having previously outlined plans for new licences across four crypto services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many complaints has the HKMA received about unlicensed stored value services?
Sixteen complaints were received between January 2024 and September 2026, according to an Oct. 7 Legislative Council reply from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau cited by Crypto.news. Investigators substantiated one case, and the complainant reported no monetary loss.
What counts as a stored value facility that needs a licence in Hong Kong?
The HKMA’s consumer guidance identifies multipurpose prepaid cards and electronic wallets as examples. The licensing system covers facilities that hold value for payments to the issuer and participating third parties, or for transfers between users. Single-purpose facilities used only to buy goods or services from their issuer fall outside the system.
Do currency exchange and remittance platforms need a different licence?
Yes, and it comes from a different regulator. The government said platforms offering currency exchange or cross-border remittances need a Customs and Excise Department licence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, unless a statutory exemption applies.
How can a customer check whether a payment provider is licensed in Hong Kong?
The HKMA’s guidance says each licensed stored value operator has a unique licence number that can be checked against its public register. The authority warns that users of wallets or prepaid cards operated outside the licensing system may not have their interests protected.
This post Hong Kong Flags Enforcement Over Unlicensed Payment Platforms first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldLedger Probes Reported $80M+ Crypto Theft Tied to Reseller
Ledger has opened an investigation into reports that customers in Southeast Asia lost crypto funds after buying its hardware wallets from CryptoBilis, an authorized reseller based in Malaysia. U.today reported that the French hardware wallet maker confirmed the probe on Friday and has asked the reseller to stop selling and shipping its devices until the review ends.
Ledger is investigating reported customer losses tied to Malaysian reseller CryptoBilis and has paused sales from the vendor. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham put the suspected theft at over $80 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron, while another investigator estimated more than $86 million — neither figure has been confirmed by Ledger.
The story escalated quickly as industry figures weighed in. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said on X that users should be careful with Ledger hardware wallets, particularly recently purchased ones, and suggested the reported thefts may result from a supply chain attack involving counterfeit or tampered devices. He added that, based on available information, the potential breach appeared to involve only one vendor and possibly a small number of customers.
Zhao also defended the manufacturer’s track record, calling Ledger one of the oldest and most secure hardware wallet makers. He said he hoped the crypto community, including the BNB ecosystem, could help track down the stolen funds and potentially recover them.
Key facts
Ledger has urged CryptoBilis to halt all sales and shipping of Ledger hardware while the investigation continues, according to U.today.
Customers who bought from the reseller in the past 90 days were warned not to initialize their wallets if they have not already done so.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham said more than $80 million was reportedly taken across the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron networks, AMBCrypto reported.
Arkham created a “ledger-drainer” label covering 152 addresses; at the time of writing those wallets held about $71.6 million, including roughly $29.4 million in Ether, $17.68 million in Bitcoin, $13.65 million in USDD and $10.85 million in USDT.
Blockchain investigator Specter estimated potential losses above $86 million, with hundreds of wallets on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron possibly affected, per U.today.
Where the reports diverge
The two accounts do not fully align on the size of the suspected theft. U.today cited Specter’s estimate of losses surpassing $86 million, while AMBCrypto cited Arkham’s figure of more than $80 million. Neither Ledger nor Arkham has confirmed how the losses occurred, and Ledger has not confirmed whether all the incidents relate to this particular reseller. Because tracked funds may already have moved out of the labelled addresses and crypto prices fluctuate, the visible balances are not the total suspected loss.
On the mechanism, both reports stop short of a conclusion. U.today said it remains unclear what caused the alleged thefts or whether any hardware was compromised. AMBCrypto said Ledger did not identify the affected device models or confirm that any Ledger product had been altered.
One thread connecting the case to past incidents involves geography. Former Mt. Gox chief executive Mark Karpelès weighed in on the situation, according to U.today, noting that CryptoBilis is based in Malaysia — the same country from which he said he allegedly received a tampered Ledger device. It is not clear whether the two episodes are linked.
Why it matters
Hardware wallets are marketed on the premise that private keys never leave the device, so any suggestion of tampered units strikes directly at the buyer’s threat model. The affected group here is narrow — people who purchased through a single authorized reseller in Southeast Asia — but the implications extend to how third-party distribution is audited. For holders, the practical distinction is between a compromised device (a supply chain failure) and a compromised recovery phrase (an operational one), and Ledger’s guidance addresses both: don’t initialize an unopened device, or migrate to a new wallet with a fresh seed phrase.
The episode also adds pressure to a well-worn industry debate about whether users should buy hardware wallets only from manufacturers rather than resellers, where sealed packaging offers the main line of defense against tampering.
What to watch
Ledger has promised to keep the community updated and has directed affected users to its official support channels. The next developments to track are whether Ledger confirms or revises the loss figure, whether the affected device models are identified, and whether on-chain tracking produces recoveries of the funds labelled by Arkham.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if I bought a Ledger wallet from CryptoBilis in the last 90 days?
Ledger has advised customers who bought from the reseller within the past 90 days not to initialize their devices if they have not already done so. Those already using an affected wallet should consider moving their assets to a new Ledger device with a fresh recovery phrase.
Has Ledger confirmed how much crypto was stolen?
No. Ledger has not confirmed either the reported loss figure or whether all the incidents relate to this one reseller. Arkham estimated more than $80 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron, while blockchain investigator Specter put potential losses above $86 million.
Was Ledger’s own systems hacked?
There has been no confirmation of a company-wide Ledger exploit. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao suggested the reported thefts may stem from a supply chain attack involving counterfeit or tampered hardware wallets, possibly tied to a single vendor.
How many wallets are linked to the reported losses?
Arkham created a “ledger-drainer” label covering 152 addresses and said the labelled wallets held about $71.6 million at the time of writing. Specter said hundreds of crypto wallets on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron may have been affected.
This post Ledger Probes Reported $80M+ Crypto Theft Tied to Reseller first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldSolana activates 200ms slots, doubling block output ahead of Alpenglow
Solana activated 200-millisecond slots on mainnet on Oct. 9, cutting its target slot time in half from the original 400-millisecond configuration and completing the SIMD-0525 upgrade that developer Anza confirmed hours after activation, according to CryptoSlate.
Solana’s Oct. 9 activation of 200ms slots doubled the network’s block-production frequency to five blocks per second and shortened epochs to about 24 hours. Per-slot compute limits were reduced in tandem, so overall execution capacity per second is roughly unchanged. Alpenglow, which targets around 150ms finality, has not been scheduled for mainnet.
Anza, the developer behind Solana’s Agave validator client, stated that “blocks land twice as often as they did at genesis” and that an epoch now takes roughly a day instead of two. Solana Foundation vice president of technology Jacob Creech called the release another improvement in a string of software updates, pointing to Alpenglow as the network’s next major upgrade.
Key facts
Solana reduced its target slot time from 400 milliseconds to 200 milliseconds on Oct. 9, allowing five block-production opportunities per second instead of 2.5.
The activation shortened epoch length to approximately 24 hours from 48 hours.
Anza confirmed that SIMD-0525 was completed; Jacob Creech of the Solana Foundation highlighted the release.
Sampling by CryptoSlate’s public mainnet RPC over 1,413 slots showed an average of about 222 milliseconds, versus roughly 268 milliseconds under the prior 250ms target.
PANews, citing CoinDesk, reported that the change took effect on Friday at epoch 1053, capping a multi-step reduction that began in August.
A rollout four steps in the making
The final reduction completed a staged plan that began in August, when Solana first lowered its slot target to 350 milliseconds. Reductions to 300ms and 250ms followed, preparing validators for Friday’s adjustment, per CryptoSlate. PANews, citing CoinDesk, tied the activation specifically to epoch 1053.
Both accounts agree on the core numbers, but they frame the release differently: CryptoSlate leads with the doubling of block-production frequency, while PANews frames it as the closing step of a roadmap that will speed up transaction updates. Validators’ nominal four-slot block-production window fell to 800 milliseconds from the original 1.6 seconds, per CryptoSlate, reducing how long any one validator controls transaction inclusion.
What actually changes — and what doesn’t
Solana’s per-second transaction ceiling did not double. Developers proportionally reduced the computational budget inside each slot, keeping approximate execution capacity per second unchanged, a point both outlets make. What changes is cadence: decentralized trading venues and market makers gain more frequent opportunities to refresh orders and prices.
Operational trade-offs accompany the faster pace. Transaction blockhashes now expire after roughly 30 seconds instead of 60, giving offline-signing and delayed-submission apps a narrower window. Validators face tighter production and propagation deadlines, and PANews notes that shorter block times may reduce arbitrage attacks that exploit timing differences while increasing voting demands and connectivity pressure.
Why it matters
For Solana’s users, the change is more about responsiveness than raw throughput. Applications sensitive to latency — order books, market makers, settlement flows — benefit from faster state updates, but the network’s total compute budget per second is not larger than before. That distinction matters to anyone assuming 200ms slots translate directly into cheaper or more abundant block space.
The shift also adds operational overhead. Validators and infrastructure providers must handle more frequent blocks under tighter deadlines, and the shortened blockhash expiry window requires applications to refresh signed transactions sooner. Sustained performance and skipped-slot rates will therefore be the natural yardsticks for whether the upgrade delivered.
What to watch
Attention now turns to Alpenglow, the consensus overhaul targeting approximately 150 milliseconds of finality versus roughly 12.8 seconds under the current TowerBFT system, per CryptoSlate. It has passed through testnet and devnet, but no mainnet activation date has been disclosed — keeping the timing of Solana’s next speed milestone genuinely unresolved.
The market reaction has stayed muted so far. Solana was quoted near $109.17 with a 24-hour change of about up 0.06% at the time of CryptoSlate’s report, while the token’s seven-day performance showed a decline of 8.39% and a 30-day gain of 7.78%, underscoring how little the slot upgrade moved spot pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly changed on Solana mainnet on October 9, 2026?
Solana activated SIMD-0525, halving the target slot time from 400ms to 200ms and shortening epochs to about 24 hours from 48.
Does the faster slot time double Solana’s transaction capacity?
No. Per-slot compute budgets were reduced proportionally, so approximate execution capacity per second is unchanged even though block-production opportunities doubled.
What is Alpenglow and when will it launch on mainnet?
Alpenglow is Solana’s planned consensus overhaul targeting roughly 150ms finality. It has been on testnet and devnet, but CryptoSlate reported no mainnet activation date has been announced.
How did Solana reach the 200ms target?
Through a four-stage rollout starting in August at 350ms, then 300ms and 250ms, finishing at 200ms during epoch 1053.
This post Solana activates 200ms slots, doubling block output ahead of Alpenglow first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldBitcoin Amsterdam 2026 to Convene Institutions, Regulators, and the Global Bitcoin Community at Europe’s Premier Bitcoin Conference
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, October 8, 2026 — Bitcoin Amsterdam, Europe’s most influential annual Bitcoin conference, returns to the Sugar Factory on November 5 and 6, 2026, bringing together the banks and funds moving bitcoin onto their balance sheets, the policymakers shaping the rules around it, and the builders and community voices driving its global adoption. Now in its fifth year, the conference has become the meeting point where Bitcoin’s institutional, regulatory, and grassroots worlds converge on the same stage.
The 2026 edition opens with the BFC Symposium on November 4, a closed-door Institutional Track for the people allocating capital and building corporate Bitcoin treasuries, ahead of two days of public programming.
Confirmed speakers Bitcoin Amsterdam 2026 include:
Bitcoin community and builders
Sjors Provoost, Developer, Bitcoin Core
René Pickhardt, Lightning Network Open Source Researcher
Bert de Groot, Owner, Bitcoin Brabant B.V
Institutions and finance
Jack Mallers, Founder and CEO, Strike
David Bailey, CEO and Chairman, Nakamoto Inc.
Khing Oei, Founder and CEO, Treasury
Maarten van der Noordaa, Transition Manager, Digital Assets, Rabobank
Milko Hensel, Team Head, Tech Banking, Maerki Baumann
Denis van Beetz, Director, Private Banking, Van Lanschot Kempen
Keith Grose, UK CEO and Regional Managing Director, EU and UK, Coinbase
Willem Middelkoop, CEO and Founder, Commodity Discovery Fund
“Bitcoin doesn’t get adopted in a vacuum. It takes the institutions willing to hold it, the regulators willing to understand it, and the community that’s been building it for over a decade. Amsterdam is where all three sit down together,” said Brandon Green, CEO, BTC Inc.
For tickets, media accreditation, and the latest program updates, visit bitcoin.amsterdam.

About BTC Inc.
BTC Inc. is the world’s leading Bitcoin media enterprise, operating Bitcoin Magazine, theBitcoin Conference, and Bitcoin for Corporations. Through its media, events, and educational platforms, BTC Inc. delivers trusted news, research, and experiences that advance Bitcoin adoption among individuals, institutions, and enterprises worldwide.BTC Inc. is a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA), a publicly held Bitcoin company that owns and operates a global portfolio of Bitcoin-native enterprises.

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements, as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “potential,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “plan,” “will,” “seek,” “target,” or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding BTC Inc.’s business plans and strategies, including plans for future events, expected attendance and programming, and the anticipated growth of the Bitcoin community in Europe.
These forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve numerous assumptions and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to: (i) the volatility of Bitcoin prices and its effect on attendee, sponsor, and advertiser demand; (ii) the risk that future events may not occur as planned or may not achieve projected attendance or revenue; (iii) changes in the regulatory environment in the Netherlands, the European Union, or other jurisdictions that could affect the Company’s ability to hold or promote its events; (iv) dependence on venue availability and third-party vendors; (v) competition from other Bitcoin and digital asset conferences; (vi) risks associated with the integration of BTC Inc. into Nakamoto Inc.’s operations following the February 2026 acquisition; (vii) general economic conditions and their impact on events revenue; and (viii) other important factors detailed in Nakamoto Inc.’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other documents that are filed, or will be filed, with the SEC and that are or will be available on Nakamoto’s website at www.nakamoto.com and on the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov.
Because Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA) is the parent company of BTC Inc., investors in Nakamoto Inc. common stock should be aware that the performance and risks of BTC Inc.’s media, events, and educational operations may affect the consolidated financial results.
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BitcoinWorldGreece Proposes 10% Crypto Tax With €500 Exemption
Greece has published draft legislation proposing a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, with annual gains of up to €500 exempt from the levy, according to Crypto.news. The draft bill was released for public consultation and is expected to reach the Greek parliament in November.
Greece’s draft bill would impose a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, exempting the first €500 in annual gains. The text is open for public consultation and is expected in parliament in November 2026. It lowers the rate from an earlier 15% proposal.
The proposal represents the first dedicated framework for taxing digital asset gains in a country that has operated without comprehensive crypto tax rules. It arrives in the same year the European Union’s crypto reporting regime, DAC8, entered its first reporting cycle.
Key facts
The draft sets a 10% capital gains tax on crypto profits, with the first €500 in annual gains exempt.
An earlier Finance Ministry plan, reported by Crypto.news in June 2026, would have applied a 15% rate while keeping the same €500 exemption.
The draft was published for public consultation and is scheduled for submission to the Greek parliament in November.
DAC8, the EU directive governing crypto tax reporting, took effect on January 1, 2026, with the first reporting period covering 2026 transactions and information exchanged between authorities in 2027.
Greek officials have not published a revenue estimate, partly because many domestic investors use platforms based outside the country.
What the draft does and does not settle
The bill would establish a stated rate and an annual exemption where none previously existed in Greek law. It does not resolve several practical questions. The available summary does not explain how losses would be deducted, whether transfers between wallets would count as taxable events, or how crypto transactions would be valued for tax purposes.
The reasons behind the shift from 15% to 10% are not stated in the draft materials, nor is it clear whether other provisions from the earlier plan were revised.
Cointelegraph reported that the draft bill was published on Wednesday, proposing the 10% rate with an exemption for annual gains up to 500 euros. Crypto.news reported that the draft was released for public consultation late Thursday. The two outlets also describe the timeline slightly differently: Crypto.news frames November as the planned submission date to parliament, while Cointelegraph characterizes the measure as moving Greece toward its first digital asset taxation framework. Both describe the text as a draft that has not become law.
EU member states retain authority over which crypto transactions are taxable and at what rate, even though DAC8 standardizes reporting. Rates cited in the Greek proposal range from 8% to 30% across European countries, generally applied to capital gains.
Why it matters
Greece has until now left crypto gains in a regulatory gap, meaning investors had no specific rule to comply with and no clear basis for declaring profits. A codified rate, even one still in draft, gives residents and exchanges something concrete to plan around.
The timing is not incidental. DAC8 pushes crypto service providers to collect customer identities, tax identification numbers and details of certain transfers involving external wallets. Reporting requirements extend to transactions handled through platforms operating across borders, which speaks directly to Greece’s stated difficulty in measuring domestic activity. Under the earlier regime, the same activity was largely invisible to authorities; now the data begins to flow regardless of where the platform sits.
Elsewhere in Europe, the reporting rules have drawn legal resistance. In September, France’s Council of State rejected an emergency request from Bull Bitcoin and Paymium to suspend the country’s DAC8 implementing decree, citing insufficient urgency, while a separate challenge seeking to annul the decree remained pending. France’s reporting obligations continued regardless.
Countries are diverging on how much of that reported data translates into tax. Spain’s tax authorities clarified in September that self-custodied crypto does not fall under Form 721 when investors retain control of their private keys, though assets held through foreign custodians can still qualify. The United Kingdom has published its own baseline: according to HM Revenue and Customs figures, 17,600 taxpayers reported £1.38 billion in taxable crypto gains in the 2024–2025 tax year, with 240 investors each declaring gains above £1 million, together accounting for £717 million. British authorities expect to start receiving crypto customer information under international reporting rules in 2027.
No comparable figures exist for Greece, which complicates any assessment of what the proposed tax would actually collect.
What to watch
The public consultation will determine whether the draft text changes before it reaches parliament in November. Two details are worth tracking: whether the bill specifies loss treatment and wallet-to-wallet transfers, and whether an application date is set. Separately, the first DAC8 data exchange among tax authorities is scheduled for 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
What rate would Greece apply to crypto gains?
The draft bill published for public consultation sets a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, down from the 15% rate floated in an earlier Finance Ministry plan. The first €500 in annual gains would be exempt.
When would the Greek crypto tax take effect?
It is not law yet. The draft must pass public consultation and is scheduled to reach the Greek parliament in November. The available details do not state an application date.
How does DAC8 affect Greek crypto investors?
DAC8, the EU’s crypto reporting directive, took effect on January 1, 2026. Service providers must collect customer identities, tax identification numbers and details of certain transfers, with information exchanged between participating tax authorities in 2027. Each member state still sets its own tax rates.
Do Greek officials know how much revenue the tax would raise?
No. Authorities have not published a revenue estimate, largely because many Greek investors trade through platforms based outside the country, which complicates measurement of domestic activity.
Are the details of how the tax would work fully settled?
No. The supplied draft summary does not specify how losses would be deducted, whether transfers between wallets would be taxable, or how transactions would be valued for tax purposes.
This post Greece Proposes 10% Crypto Tax With €500 Exemption first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldStandard Chartered Plans Crypto Custody for Institutions in Singapore
Standard Chartered announced on October 8, 2026, that it plans to launch digital asset custody services in Singapore for institutional and accredited corporate clients, according to Cointelegraph. The planned offering would cover selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, and remains subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
Standard Chartered has announced plans to provide crypto and tokenized-asset custody in Singapore for institutional and accredited corporate clients. The bank has not confirmed a launch date or said which digital assets will be supported, and the service remains subject to regulatory requirements.
Cointelegraph reported that the bank framed Singapore’s standing as a “leading financial and innovation hub” as an important element of its global strategy. Cointelegraph asked Standard Chartered which cryptocurrencies the custody service would support but did not receive an immediate response.
Separately, crypto.news reported that the proposed service would operate alongside the bank’s existing Financing & Securities Services business, allowing clients to manage traditional and tokenized assets through the same banking infrastructure.
Key facts
Standard Chartered announced plans on October 8, 2026, to offer custody for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets in Singapore to institutional and accredited corporate clients.
The service would sit alongside the bank’s Financing & Securities Services business and remains subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
Standard Chartered has not disclosed a launch date or which digital assets will be supported, according to crypto.news.
In May 2026, the bank agreed to acquire Zodia Custody’s regulated custody business after shareholders and noteholders accepted a nonbinding offer, with plans to establish Zodia Solutions under SC Ventures.
crypto.news reported that Standard Chartered already operates digital asset custody services in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong.
Two reports, one direction
Both outlets describe the same announcement, but their coverage diverges on details. Cointelegraph emphasizes the bank’s stated rationale, quoting the characterization of Singapore as a leading financial and innovation hub, and it notes that the bank did not respond immediately when asked which cryptocurrencies the service would support.
crypto.news provides the operational framing: the proposal would be anchored in the bank’s existing asset-servicing operations, with services expected to cover different stages of an asset’s lifecycle, including custody and servicing after assets have been tokenized. The report also attributes a direct quote to Patrick Lee, the bank’s chief executive for Singapore and for ASEAN & South Asia. Lee described the city-state as an important center for financial innovation with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions. He added that reliable infrastructure would be necessary to handle the movement, safekeeping and servicing of tokenized assets as institutional activity develops.
Neither report specifies a launch date, a list of supported tokens or whether the Singapore offering would include settlement and transfer functions beyond custody. That absence is itself the operative fact: what has been announced is an intention, not a live product.
The Zodia transaction behind the plan
The Singapore proposal follows Standard Chartered’s effort to bring specialist crypto custody operations inside its own banking business. In May 2026, the bank agreed to acquire Zodia Custody’s regulated custody business after the company’s shareholders and noteholders accepted a nonbinding offer. The transaction would integrate Zodia’s regulated custody activities into Standard Chartered’s Financing & Securities Services division and included plans to establish Zodia Solutions as a separate platform under SC Ventures, providing digital asset infrastructure to banks and other financial institutions. The deal remained subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions when announced.
Standard Chartered helped establish Zodia Custody in 2020 alongside Northern Trust. Other investors in the business include SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD and National Australia Bank. In June 2026, Zodia Custody secured a Luxembourg payment institution license from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, complementing its existing Markets in Crypto Assets license and allowing it to provide regulated custody and transfer services for stablecoins across the European Union. Zodia has held regulatory permissions in several markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, Australia and the UK.
The bank’s digital asset footprint in the UAE is already operational. It launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading in September 2026, and its banking agreement with CoinMENA, signed in June, supports the exchange’s fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts and virtual account-based transaction management.
Why it matters
The plan reflects how global banks are integrating custody for digital and tokenized assets into their existing securities-services divisions rather than treating crypto as a standalone business line. Singapore is a key venue for that shift: the bank already holds permissions there through Zodia, and the proposed offering follows similar services in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. Institutional and accredited corporate clients stand to gain one more regulated custodian option, while retail investors are not addressed in the announcement at all.
What to watch
The next concrete development is regulatory review of the Singapore service, along with the completion of the previously announced Zodia Custody acquisition, which also remained subject to approvals. No launch date has been disclosed, and the set of supported cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized instruments has not been announced.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Standard Chartered planning to offer in Singapore?
Standard Chartered plans to provide custody services for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets to institutional clients and corporate clients qualifying as accredited investors, subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
When will the Singapore custody service launch?
Standard Chartered has not yet announced a launch date for the Singapore service, and it remains subject to regulatory requirements.
Who can use Standard Chartered’s crypto custody service in Singapore?
The service is intended for institutional clients and corporate clients that qualify as accredited investors. No retail offering was mentioned in the announcement.
How does the Singapore plan relate to Zodia Custody?
In May 2026, Standard Chartered agreed to acquire Zodia Custody’s regulated custody business after its shareholders and noteholders accepted a nonbinding offer. The deal included plans to establish Zodia Solutions under SC Ventures, and the transaction remained subject to regulatory approvals when announced.
Where else does Standard Chartered offer digital asset custody?
According to crypto.news, Standard Chartered already operates digital asset custody services in the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
Will Standard Chartered’s Singapore service support Bitcoin and Ethereum?
The bank has not disclosed which digital assets will be supported. Cointelegraph asked which cryptocurrencies the service would support but did not receive an immediate response.
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BitcoinWorldUnchained Summit India to Convene Leaders Shaping India’s Digital Asset Future
Mumbai, India, 8 October 2026 — Unchained Summit India will bring together leaders from financial markets, digital assets, law, technology and the Web3 ecosystem on 5–6 November 2026 at Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai, with its third edition focused on the regulatory, financial and technological forces shaping India’s onchain economy.
The summit features more than 50 speakers from across the digital asset and financial ecosystem, including S B Seker, Head of APAC at Binance; Sumit Gupta, Founder of CoinDCX; Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder of CoinSwitch; Dilip Chenoy, Chairperson of Bharat Web3 Association; Kunaal Patel, Head of Institutional – Asia & MENA at Ondo Finance; Ashish Singhal, CEO of IBDIC; Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at WazirX; Praneeth Srikanti, Partner at Ethereal Ventures; and leaders from Base, Polygon Labs, NEAR and Alchemy.
Following editions in Dubai and Vietnam, the India edition will bring together founders, investors, financial market participants, wealth managers, family offices, policymakers, legal professionals, global blockchain companies, technology leaders and builders for two days of discussion and networking.
Participation from IBDIC and Finternet will bring financial infrastructure perspectives into discussions on tokenisation, banking and settlement. Together with perspectives from Ondo Finance and other digital asset companies, these discussions will examine how onchain infrastructure can integrate with the wider financial system.
The regulatory conversation will feature senior legal voices, including Rohan Bagai, Senior Partner at AZB & Partners, Anirud Sudarsan, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and Jaideep Reddy, Partner at Trilegal. Discussions will examine India’s evolving digital asset framework, the need for greater legal clarity and how policy can support innovation while addressing risks for businesses and consumers. Bagai said:
“India’s regulatory framework was built for a world of banks, remitters, and clearly defined transactions in traditional currency. It was never designed with crypto or the Web3 ecosystem in mind. Today, when someone in India buys tokens or uses stablecoins to move value across borders, they can find themselves operating in areas where the regulatory position is not yet fully defined, creating uncertainty for both businesses and customers. The key question for India is therefore no longer whether crypto should be regulated. It already is. The real question is whether India can continue regulating an asset class that its laws have never fully defined.”
From tokenisation to institutional finance
Day One will focus on India’s digital asset markets, examining the future of crypto investing and trading, the macroeconomic trends shaping capital flows and investor sentiment, and the evolving regulatory landscape. Discussions will also cover tokenisation, stablecoins, payments and settlement, alongside the compliance, custody and liquidity requirements for institutional participation.
The programme will explore how digital asset investment products are evolving, what investors expect from Web3 businesses and what is needed for tokenised securities and real-world assets to achieve wider adoption. It will also consider the practical challenges of connecting onchain infrastructure with established banking and capital market systems.
The wider lineup includes Roshan Prabhakar, Head of Product – India at Coinbase; Sanat Rao, Chief Investment Officer at Monarq Asset Management; Amit Mehra, General Partner at Borderless Capital; and Prasanth Kalangi, Founder and CEO of Zoniqx, adding perspectives across digital asset products, investment and tokenisation.
From infrastructure to the builder economy
Day Two will focus on the infrastructure and applications supporting the next phase of Web3, bringing founders, builders, investors and technology leaders together to discuss scalability, interoperability, AI, decentralised physical infrastructure and digital trust.
Prabal Banerjee, Co-Founder of Avail, will contribute perspectives on blockchain infrastructure, including how data availability and interoperability can support scalable onchain systems. Participants from SingularityNET, Startale Group and NEAR Foundation will explore the intersection of AI and Web3, including the development of open networks and applications that give users greater control over their data and digital assets.
The programme will also examine how onchain products can reach consumers beyond established crypto communities, with discussions on usability, community building and the practical value of digital ownership.
Dharamveer Singh Chauhan, Co-Founder of Zostel and Zo World and Group CEO of Zo World, said:
“The future belongs to individuals who have greater ownership over their digital identity, assets, and data. Unchained is an important platform for advancing that conversation, and I’m excited to contribute my thoughts while engaging with pioneers driving the next chapter of decentralization.”
Dharamveer Singh Chauhan and Saumya Saxena, India Lead at Base, will discuss the role of communities and consumer applications in expanding onchain adoption.
Unchained Summit India is supported by companies spanning key areas of the digital asset ecosystem. CoinSwitch joins as the Gold Sponsor, with Liquid Loans, WazirX, NEAR and Avail as Silver Sponsors. EQ joins as the Bronze Sponsor, while Securosys is participating as an Exhibitor, Trilegal as the Legal Partner and Coin Edition as the Official Media Partner.
Sharath Kumar, Founder and CEO of Aeternum, organiser of Unchained Summit, said:
“India’s digital asset market raises questions that span investing, regulation, financial infrastructure and technology. We have built Unchained Summit India to bring those perspectives into the same room, from exchanges and investors discussing the future of crypto markets to institutions exploring tokenisation and developers building onchain applications. The aim is to give participants a clearer understanding of where the opportunities lie and connect them with the people who can help turn those opportunities into practical outcomes.”
Across the two days, the programme and networking opportunities are designed to connect investors with founders, financial market participants with infrastructure providers, and Indian builders with global protocols and technology companies. The aim is to support relationships that can lead to investment, commercial partnerships and product development.
Unchained Summit India will take place on 5–6 November 2026 at Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai International Airport. More information is available on the event’s official website: (https://unchainedsummit.com/india)
About Aeternum Consulting Ltd:
Aeternum organizes business-to-business events in the emerging tech space, provides strategic consulting, and tailored services to a diverse range of clients, from corporations to governments and startups to individuals. Aeternum specializes in crafting impactful B2B platforms that foster meaningful connections, drive business growth, and facilitate knowledge sharing through conferences, exhibitions, and bespoke networking opportunities.
For more information visit: (https://aeternuminc.com)
For further details about the announcement, please contact:
Maya K Vmedia@aeternuminc.com | +91 95383 91838 Partnerships Associate, Aeternum
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BitcoinWorldFINNOVEX Middle East 2026: Dubai Banking and Fintech Summit Looks Ahead to a Connected Financial System in 2027
HSBC, RAKBANK and Commercial Bank of Dubai executives join the Chapter 39 speaker line-up, with Alfa Bank and Sardine leading the sponsor roster for 10–11 November.
Dubai, UAE — 30 September 2026: The next phase of banking transformation will depend on how well its parts work together. Digital channels, payments, data, risk and core systems all contribute to the same customer experience. For financial institutions, connecting them effectively is a question of business performance, operational resilience and growth.
That challenge provides the backdrop to FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Chapter 39, taking place in Dubai on 10–11 November 2026. Organised by Exibex under the theme “Finance in Motion,” the banking and fintech summit will bring senior financial services executives and technology businesses together to examine the decisions shaping their institutions—and the connected financial system they are preparing for in 2027.
The chapter is supported by Alfa Bank as Diamond Sponsor and Sardine as Gold Sponsor, alongside Sends and BPC as Silver Sponsors, Posidex as Bronze Sponsor, and Watermelon Communications as Official PR Partner.
Its two-day format combines a conference and the FINNOVEX Awards on 10 November with executive roundtables on 11 November, giving participants space to move from the wider industry discussion into more focused exchanges.
The leadership behind banking transformation
Chapter 39’s speaker line-up brings together the executives responsible for translating strategy into the way banks operate, serve customers and generate growth.
Featured speakers include Linoy Kidd, CIO, GBM MENAT at HSBC; Yan Bechet, Chief Operating Officer at HSBC UAE; Daniele Coda, Chief Commercial Officer at RAKBANK; and Vladislavs Mironovs, Chief Digital Officer at Commercial Bank of Dubai.
They are joined by Abdulla Al Taee, Chief Operating Officer at United Arab Bank; Abdullah Al-Awadi, Chief Strategy Officer at Kuwait International Bank; and Alberto Diez, Chief Operating Officer at Emirates Development Bank.
Further additions include Khawer Khaliq, Chief Operating Officer at Vision Bank Limited; Asim Shrivastava, Chief Credit Officer at Bank of Sharjah; and Mirel Băilă, Acting Chief Operating Officer at Al Masraf.
The range of responsibilities represented is significant. A digital banking proposition needs an operating model capable of delivering it. A faster customer journey must retain effective controls. A technology investment needs a clear commercial purpose and a practical route to implementation.
Bringing these perspectives into one programme allows participants to examine transformation across the institution, including the dependencies that can determine whether an initiative succeeds.
From digital banking to a connected financial system
Looking towards 2027, the chapter’s editorial focus extends beyond individual products and platforms to the connections between them.
A payment or lending journey can involve a bank, a fintech, a payment network and several technology providers. Each contributes to the service, but the experience depends on how reliably information and responsibilities pass between them.
For banking leaders, this raises practical questions about interoperability, data quality, governance and partnership design. For technology businesses, it places greater emphasis on how a solution fits within an institution’s wider architecture and operating priorities.
Artificial intelligence in banking, digital payments, open finance and customer experience are part of this broader discussion. Their business value depends on the systems, controls and people supporting them. Chapter 39’s “Finance in Motion” theme provides a framework for considering those relationships as organisations assess their next phase of financial services innovation.
The Dubai gathering offers an opportunity to connect current implementation challenges with the priorities taking shape for 2027: where to invest, which capabilities to strengthen and which partnerships can help institutions deliver.
Two days to compare priorities and explore partnerships
The opening-day conference will bring banking and technology perspectives into the main programme, with the FINNOVEX Awards adding industry recognition to the gathering.
The second day will be dedicated to executive roundtables. These smaller discussions will provide a setting for participants to exchange experience and examine business challenges in greater depth.
For delegates, the combination offers access to a broad leadership discussion alongside more focused dialogue. For sponsors, exhibitors and technology partners, it provides an opportunity to understand the institutional context behind potential collaborations.
The participation of Alfa Bank, Sardine, Sends, BPC and Posidex brings banking and technology organisations into that exchange. Additional organisations interested in the Middle East financial services market are invited to discuss the available Chapter 39 partnership formats with Exibex.
Sponsorship, exhibition and executive roundtable participation will be agreed according to availability, programme relevance and the associated deliverables.

Register for FINNOVEX Middle East 2026
Banking executives, fintech leaders and financial technology professionals can explore the speaker line-up and register through me.finnovex.com.
For sponsorship opportunities in Dubai, exhibition enquiries or the Chapter 39 partnership prospectus, contact info@exibex.com, using the subject line “FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Partnership Enquiry.”
FINNOVEX Middle East — Chapter 39
Finance in Motion
10–11 November 2026 | Dubai, UAE

About FINNOVEX
FINNOVEX is a financial services event series organised by Exibex. Through conferences, executive discussions and industry recognition, it brings banking leaders, fintech businesses and technology specialists together to examine innovation and the decisions shaping financial services.
Media, registration and sponsorship enquiries:
info@exibex.com
https://me.finnovex.com
ENDS
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BitcoinWorldDigital Assets Summit 2026 Closes in Singapore on a Shift from Connection to Construction
Industry, policymakers and market infrastructure leaders set out what must be true for programmable finance and tokenisation to scale
SINGAPORE, 8 October 2026 — The second Digital Assets Summit (DAS2026) closed in Singapore today with a clear change in tone: the industry is no longer debating whether digital assets belong inside institutional finance, but how programmable finance should be built. Convened by the Digital Assets Association under the theme Programmable Finance, the summit brought together policymakers, exchanges, banks, custodians and law-enforcement agencies ahead of TOKEN2049 week.
Opening the summit, Danny Chong, Co-Chairman of the Digital Assets Association, said last year’s theme — Shaping the Future of Finance — had given way to a more practical task. “A year on, that connection between digital assets and traditional finance has become much more tangible. Our focus has evolved from connection to construction,” he said. “DAS isn’t about spending the day convincing each other that tokenisation is the future. But about asking what needs to be true for tokenisation to be the future.”
Trust, usefulness and the workforce
Guest of Honour Desmond Tan, Senior Minister of State and Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC, framed the build-out of the next financial system around three questions: how technology can make financial services more efficient, useful and accessible; how trust is preserved in a digital world; and how workers remain at the centre of the shift. “Programmable finance will only succeed if these three things move together. Useful innovation, trusted infrastructure and a workforce ready for change,” he said, pointing to Singapore’s tripartite model — employers, unions and government — including support through NTUC and the CDC grant.
Ivan Han, Chief Risk Officer at SGX, said digital assets have already changed how markets think about settlement, ownership, collateral mobility and access. The next phase, he argued, is using programmability to solve real problems: moving collateral more efficiently, reducing settlement friction, improving liquidity and connecting markets that remain fragmented.
Singapore’s next decade
In a fireside chat with Tan Chong Huat, Chairman of SDAX Exchange and RHTLaw Asia, Heng Swee Keat, Chairman of the National Research Foundation and former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, set out five forces shaping the next decade: deglobalisation, decarbonisation, demographics, digitalisation and distribution. On competitiveness, he returned to a governing principle associated with Lee Kuan Yew: Singapore must remain relevant and useful to the international community, adapt to regional needs, and position itself as a vital node for global Asia.
Tokenisation at scale
A panel moderated by Daniel Lee, CEO of Cactus Custody, examined tokenisation at scale with Wai Lum Kwok, Senior Executive Director of ADGM; Derek Neo, Executive Director, Head of Market Platforms and Services at SGX Group; Benjamin Versluijs, Senior Vice President of Northern Trust; and Patrick Yeo, Managing Director, Head of Digital Assets, Global Financial Markets at DBS Bank.
Yeo said tokenised money market funds are seeing increasing adoption as a liquid alternative to stablecoins, allowing digital-asset natives to deploy capital into other tokenised investments while avoiding the 1,250 per cent risk-weighting applied to certain real-world-asset exposures. He also pointed to rising stablecoin spending inside DBS, and to wallet familiarity as a bridge into broader tokenised investments. “The future of tokenisation requires us to reimagine tokenisation as the next generation of financial rules, and agentic AIs will help catalyse organisations,” he said.
Neo cautioned that interoperability is not only a technology problem. It includes operational, legal and cross-rail integration between digital and traditional systems. Because the transition will take five to 15 years rather than a single switch, solving cross-rail interoperability is essential so that no part of the market is left behind.
Regulation, security and cross-border coordination
Kenneth Farrugia, CEO of the Malta Financial Services Authority, told Money FM 89.3 anchor Lynlee Foo that innovation and regulation have to move together. He said the authority consults industry on policy guidance and shares experience between regulators and firms. His advice: compliance is costly in the short term and worth it in the long term; for regulators, collaboration and cross-border information sharing matter because licence holders operate across jurisdictions.
On institutional-grade security, Jag Foo, Chief Security and Policy Officer at SafeHeron, described five components: checks and balances that avoid a single point of failure; layered defence that raises the cost of an attack; a strong audit trail; infrastructure that meets industry standards; and cryptographic agility. DAC Gregory Kang, Deputy Commander, Cyber Command, Singapore Police Force, said investigations show that a misguided human decision is almost always involved in the lead-up to an exploit. The discussion, moderated by Tze Ching Chang, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of BPI Financial, also included June Lau of Elliptic and David Peters of Gelephu Mindfulness City.
The closing panel, moderated by Otto Jacobsson, Chapter Lead of Digital Assets Association UK and CEO of YAP Global, looked at regulation, interoperability and global coordination with Gerd Sapiano of the Malta FSA, Heather Armstrong of the FBI, Sungyong Kang of INTERPOL, and Parul Vyas of Coinbase. Speakers said public-private collaboration is changing how digital crime is approached, while deliberate friction remains necessary to protect customers. Armstrong called for more consistent reporting mechanisms across jurisdictions so investigations can move faster.
END POINT — close of the release
Closing DAS2026, Chia Hock Lai, Chairman of the Responsible Fintech Institute and Co-Chairman of the Digital Assets Association, said that twelve months ago the summit was still asking “whether”. Today, every panel was asking “how”. “Asia is now the centre of gravity for this industry. While that is something to be proud of, it carries heavy responsibility. Our regulators gave this industry rules early, and the firms in this room have to live up to it,” he said.
He set three tests for the industry if next year’s summit is to move from “how” to “what next”:
Build for the boring case. Being able to operate at 2 a.m. prepares a firm for anything.
Share the standards, not just the wins. Playbooks and incident postmortems should travel across firms.
Stay close to the regulators even when the work is moving slowly.
As digital assets move further into mainstream finance, the message from Singapore was that innovation and safeguards have to grow together. The Digital Assets Association said it looks forward to continuing the conversation in Singapore next year.

About the Digital Assets Association
The Digital Assets Association (DAA) is the organiser of the Digital Assets Summit. DAS2026, the second edition of the summit, was held in Singapore under the theme Programmable Finance, focusing on the intersection of digital assets and institutional finance, blockchain interoperability, regulatory clarity, market infrastructure and workforce readiness.
Media contact
YAP Global, on behalf of the Digital Assets Association
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BitcoinWorldProject Eleven and Quantus Plan Strongpoint Integration With Quantus Joining as a Development Partner
Quantus joins as a development partner for Strongpoint support on the Quantus Network, helping shape institutional key management, governance, and transaction workflows for the post-quantum blockchain.
NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2026 /CNW/ — Project Eleven and Quantus today announced plans to integrate the Quantus Network with Strongpoint, Project Eleven’s institutional custody platform built for the post-quantum and AI era. Quantus joins as a development partner for Strongpoint support on the Quantus Network, helping shape the integration for institutional users.
As blockchain networks begin adopting post-quantum cryptography, they are unlikely to converge on a single signature scheme, migration path, or timeline. For institutions, that creates a growing infrastructure challenge: supporting different cryptographic standards across multiple networks while maintaining consistent security, governance, and operational controls.
Strongpoint is designed to address that challenge through a crypto-agile architecture that separates institutional controls from the cryptography used by the underlying network. Authentication, policies, approvals, key management, and audit operate through a common control layer while the cryptographic algorithms and network-specific requirements beneath them can change independently.
The planned integration will extend that architecture to Quantus. Quantus provides post-quantum security at the protocol level, while Strongpoint will enable institutions to secure Quantus keys and approve transactions through institutional hardware, policies, approval processes, and audit controls.
“Quantus is taking a forward-looking approach by building post-quantum security directly into its architecture,” said Alex Pruden, Co-Founder and CEO of Project Eleven. “As more networks adopt new cryptographic standards, institutions will need infrastructure that can support those changes without forcing them to rebuild their security and operational workflows each time. Strongpoint is designed to provide that consistent layer.”
As a development partner for the integration, Quantus will work with Project Eleven to help shape Strongpoint’s support for the network and the requirements of institutions operating on it. The companies expect to collaborate on technical integration, key-management workflows, transaction support, and other infrastructure required to bring Quantus into institutional custody environments.
“Quantus was designed around the security requirements of a post-quantum world,” said Christopher Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Quantus. “For institutions, adopting new cryptography should not mean replacing the security, governance, and operational systems they already rely on. Working with Project Eleven will make it easier to support Quantus within existing key-management and transaction approval workflows, helping reduce the operational friction that can come with adopting a new cryptographic standard.”
Once support is available, institutions will be able to manage Quantus alongside other digital assets while maintaining a consistent approach to key security, transaction governance, and operational controls.
The collaboration is part of Project Eleven’s broader work with blockchain networks and institutions as it develops Strongpoint ahead of general availability.
Quantus support is targeted for Q1 2027, with final availability details to be announced ahead of launch.
About Project ElevenProject Eleven builds resilient infrastructure and tooling for the post-quantum era. The company develops scalable solutions that strengthen security across a rapidly evolving quantum threat landscape. With deep expertise in cryptography, blockchain, and financial systems, Project Eleven bridges advanced post-quantum research with real-world implementations that prepare the digital asset ecosystem for the future. For more information, visit www.projecteleven.com.
About QuantusQuantus is quantum-secure encrypted money. It’s a layer 1 proof-of-work blockchain with a 21 million supply cap and post-quantum security, and it is private by default. Quantus uses ML-DSA for key generation and transaction signatures, plus zero-knowledge proofs for scaling and privacy.
Quantus also built migration.fail, a public tracker of how much of the crypto industry is still vulnerable to quantum computing.
Website | X | LinkedIn
Media ContactsAubrey Strobel / Elena Nisonoff, Halcyon Communicationsprojecteleven@halcyonpr.xyz
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SOURCE Project Eleven
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BitcoinWorldProject Eleven Launches Strongpoint for Post-Quantum Custody with Zcash Foundation as Initial Development Partner
Zcash Foundation joins Project Eleven to shape institutional custody infrastructure for the post-quantum and AI era as more than $1 trillion in digital assets remain at risk of attack by sufficiently powerful quantum computers.
NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Project Eleven, the post-quantum security company for digital assets, today introduced Strongpoint, its flagship custody platform built for navigating the transition to post-quantum cryptography. Zcash Foundation joins Project Eleven as an initial development partner, helping shape Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture.
Strongpoint is designed to give institutions a consistent control layer for securing and managing digital assets as networks change the cryptographic standards underneath them. Rather than rebuilding key-management, transaction approval, and audit infrastructure for each new signature scheme or network migration, institutions can maintain a common set of security controls while the underlying cryptography evolves.
“Institutional digital asset custody was built for a world where the cryptography underneath it rarely changed,” said Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven. “Quantum computing is upending that model. If every network adopts a different solution, institutions could be forced to rebuild their security infrastructure again and again. Strongpoint is built around crypto-agility, so the cryptography can change without the infrastructure changing with it.”
“Institutions holding shielded ZEC need custody infrastructure that respects Zcash’s privacy model today and can adapt as cryptographic standards change,” said Alex Bornstein, Executive Director of Zcash Foundation. “Project Eleven is building Strongpoint with the crypto-agility and technical foundation needed to support those requirements over time, helping strengthen custody infrastructure for the broader ecosystem.”
Zcash Foundation Joins as an Initial Development PartnerZcash Foundation joins as an initial development partner for Strongpoint, bringing its expertise in privacy-preserving cryptography and protocol engineering to Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture. Zcash’s privacy-preserving design introduces sophisticated key-management and transaction requirements, making it a valuable environment for developing custody infrastructure capable of supporting evolving cryptographic standards.
The collaboration will help inform how Strongpoint handles network-specific requirements while maintaining a consistent institutional control framework across assets and cryptographic schemes.
Post-Quantum Migrations Are Taking Different PathsThe digital asset industry’s post-quantum transition is becoming a coordination challenge. Among the networks represented by the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization, Project Eleven found that only 10 have published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography.
Those approaches span at least six proposed post-quantum signature schemes and vary significantly in how they address account migration, key rotation and legacy-asset recovery. Even where technical roadmaps exist, operational readiness remains uneven, leaving institutions to navigate different standards and requirements across networks.
For institutions operating across multiple networks, that fragmentation means accommodating different cryptographic standards and migration requirements without losing a consistent security model. Strongpoint is designed to provide that common operating layer while allowing the cryptography beneath it to change independently.
Early Access and DeploymentProject Eleven targets production deployment in Q4 2026 and is working with a limited group of development partners ahead of general availability. Additional development partners and supported networks will be announced. Institutions interested in early access can request more information at projecteleven.com/strongpoint.
Founded in 2024 by Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan, Project Eleven raised a $20 million Series A led by Castle Island Ventures in January 2026, bringing its total funding to $26 million. The company recently acquired Riva Labs, a specialized engineering firm with deep expertise in post-quantum signatures, wallet infrastructure and blockchain cryptography, expanding Project Eleven’s in-house research and protocol-engineering capabilities.
Methodology: Project Eleven reviewed the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization on September 25, 2026. A network was counted only where an official network organization, foundation, core development team or recognized protocol-improvement process had published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography. General research programs, statements of intent and post-quantum work that did not specify such a migration path were not counted. Draft technical proposals were included and do not imply network approval or adoption.
Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan are available for interview.
About Project ElevenProject Eleven builds resilient infrastructure and tooling for the post-quantum era. The company develops scalable solutions that strengthen security across a rapidly evolving quantum threat landscape. With deep expertise in cryptography, blockchain, and financial systems, Project Eleven bridges advanced post-quantum research with real-world implementations that prepare the digital asset ecosystem for the future. For more information, visit www.projecteleven.com.
About Zcash FoundationZcash Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, builds financial privacy infrastructure for the public good, primarily serving users of the Zcash protocol and blockchain. With expertise in cryptography, protocol engineering, and open-source development, Zcash Foundation works to sustain and improve open financial networks that allow anyone to protect their own privacy, on their own terms. For more information, visit zfnd.org.
Media ContactsAubrey Strobel / Elena Nisonoff, Halcyon Communicationsprojecteleven@halcyonpr.xyz
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/project-eleven-launches-strongpoint-for-post-quantum-custody-with-zcash-foundation-as-initial-development-partner-302900327.html
SOURCE Project Eleven
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BitcoinWorldTether, Kazakhstan central bank sign tenge stablecoin MoU
Tether signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Alatau City Authority on October 7, 2026, according to Cointelegraph, to study a tenge-pegged stablecoin and a framework for tokenizing real-world assets. The agreement is exploratory: no issuance date, blockchain, reserve structure, or commercial issuer has been announced for any proposed token.
Tether, Kazakhstan’s central bank, and the Alatau City Authority signed an MoU on October 7, 2026, to explore a tenge-backed stablecoin pilot and a real-world asset tokenization framework. The agreement is a study phase, not a token launch, and no stablecoin has been approved or issued.
Under the memorandum, the parties will examine stablecoin issuance models used in other markets, identify potential use cases inside Kazakhstan, and prepare a pilot proposal for a token pegged to the national currency, according to Tether. National Bank Deputy Governor Binur Zhalenov said the regulator plans to study international approaches to stablecoin issuance and tokenization while prioritizing financial stability, transaction transparency, and investor protection. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Kazakhstan was exploring tokenization and a strategic reserve framework as digital assets move toward sovereign-level financial infrastructure — a statement describing Tether’s view of the collaboration, not a confirmation that Kazakhstan has adopted a Tether-backed reserve plan.
Key facts
On October 7, 2026, Tether signed an MoU with the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Alatau City Authority to explore a tenge-backed stablecoin and real-world asset tokenization, per Cointelegraph and crypto.news.
The agreement calls for studying international stablecoin issuance models, identifying use cases, and preparing a pilot proposal, with workshops and training on reserve management, distributed ledgers, and tokenization, according to crypto.news.
Kazakhstan’s National Bank introduced comprehensive digital asset rules effective May 1, 2026, recognizing money-backed stablecoins and tokenized real assets as digital financial assets, crypto.news reported.
A tokenization pilot in Alatau could use Tether’s Hadron platform, Tether’s system for issuing and managing tokenized assets such as bonds, equities, stablecoins, funds, and commodity-backed tokens.
In September 2025, the National Bank launched its first tenge-denominated stablecoin pilot through its regulatory sandbox, issued by Intebix with Solana, Mastercard, and Eurasian Bank under the name Evo, or KZTE.
The MoU is a study, not a launch
crypto.news reported that the memorandum is explicitly exploratory: Tether and Kazakhstan have committed to studying models, preparing proposals, and running pilots, but neither party has announced final terms for a tenge-backed token. That distinction matters for readers tracking whether a new stablecoin is actually coming. The October 7 agreement does not state whether the proposed pilot would replace, expand, or operate separately from the existing Evo/KZTE project, which crypto.news flagged as an open question.
The body of work behind it is more developed than a single announcement. Kazakhstan’s National Bank said its current rules recognize stablecoins, tokenized physical assets, and traditional financial instruments issued in digital form, and its July policy outlined plans to test stablecoins in cross-border payments and money transfers while developing tokenized government bond projects. Authorities also said they would develop regulatory approaches to DeFi and give specific attention to Alatau City’s digital infrastructure, crypto.news reported.
Alatau gained a special position in Kazakhstan’s economic framework earlier this year. A government statement confirmed that constitutional changes effective July 1 created a framework for accelerated-development cities, with Alatau becoming the first area to use the model, focused on investment, technology, and new economic models. The National Bank has previously presented Alatau to international investors as a testing site for digital finance and tokenization.
Tether’s pattern with national digital-asset programs
The Hadron component connects this MoU to a wider pattern of Tether institutional work. In August, the company announced a collaboration with First Data and BKN301 focused on tokenizing institutional real estate assets in Saudi Arabia, and in July it signed a separate agreement with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to study tokenized securities and blockchain infrastructure.
Both outlets also note the meetings and training sessions that the parties will conduct, covering stablecoin markets, reserve management, distributed ledger technology, and real-world asset tokenization models — the operational layer that would precede any actual deployment.
Why it matters
Kazakhstan is in the unusual position of already having a live stablecoin pilot and a legal framework before signing a new MoU, so the Tether agreement is more about scale and institutional design than about first-mover status. If the study phase converts into a pilot in Alatau, it would test whether a large stablecoin issuer can plug into a state-led framework under a national regulator rather than alongside one. The signal for other central banks is whether a country that already ranks among the world’s top Bitcoin producers and holds crypto assets in a reserve structure chooses to formalize stablecoin issuance with an outside issuer. For readers, the agreement is a reminder that stablecoin announcements at the sovereign level often begin as memoranda — and that the terms, reserve structure, and host blockchain are where the substantive decisions are made.
What to watch
The concrete next step is the concept and pilot proposal the parties committed to prepare, along with confirmation of whether the Alatau tokenization pilot uses Hadron and which asset classes it targets. Neither outlet reported a launch date or selected blockchain, so the timing of the workshops and any draft proposal is the near-term data point that will show whether this MoU moves past the study stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Tether and Kazakhstan launch a tenge-backed stablecoin?
No. The October 7, 2026 memorandum of understanding is exploratory. The parties will study international issuance models and prepare a pilot proposal, but no token has been approved, issued, or scheduled.
What is Tether’s Hadron platform used for?
Hadron is Tether’s platform for creating and managing tokenized assets, supporting bonds, equities, stablecoins, funds, and commodity-backed tokens across their issuance lifecycle. It may be used for the proposed Alatau City tokenization pilot.
Does Kazakhstan already regulate stablecoins and tokenized assets?
Yes. The National Bank introduced comprehensive digital asset rules effective May 1, 2026, recognizing money-backed stablecoins, tokenized real assets, and digital versions of traditional financial instruments as digital financial assets.
What was Kazakhstan’s previous tenge stablecoin pilot?
In September 2025, the National Bank launched its first tenge-denominated stablecoin pilot through its regulatory sandbox, issued by Intebix with Solana, Mastercard, and Eurasian Bank, under the name Evo or KZTE.
How large are Kazakhstan’s Bitcoin holdings and crypto reserve?
According to the announcement, Kazakhstan’s National Strategic Crypto Reserve has reached $700 million. BitcoinTreasuries.net estimates the country holds about 3,544 BTC, worth roughly $294 million.
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BitcoinWorldChainIT® Brings “Your Face Is Your Password” to Web3 with Organizational MPC Wallets
Production wallets combine passwordless ChainIT ID with transaction-specific authority checks, advancing Agentic Web3 Complete Commerce during TOKEN2049 Week.
SINGAPORE, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ChainIT Inc. today announced production availability of its organizational Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallets, connecting passwordless ChainIT ID with transaction-specific authority checks before signing. This release requires a verified, authorized organizational member to approve each transaction signed through the wallet. The capability is included at no additional cost in each ChainIT organizational digital identity profile.
The announcement follows ChainIT’s October 6 presentation of its Agentic Web3 Complete Commerce architecture during TOKEN2049 Week. The wallet launch focuses on the people and organizations behind those transactions: confirming who they are, confirming they are currently authorized to act, and requiring their approval before any funds move.
“A password is not a verified identity, and logging in is not authority to move company assets,” said Jeremy Blackburn, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ChainIT. “ChainIT connects who you are, what you are authorized to do and the transaction you approve. Your face is your password. Your authority is verified before the wallet signs. That is a Web3 solution for Web3 companies.”
No memorized password. No blanket permission.
Passwords and passphrases can be copied, shared, phished or forgotten. ChainIT ID removes the need for a memorized account password or passphrase, combining biometric liveness, device verification and cryptographic proof of identity. One-time verification challenges remain part of applicable security workflows.
In the organizational wallet flow, the member completes biometric liveness and wallet authentication, then signs an operation-specific approval using their own wallet identity. The live-person check occurs outside the signing enclaves. The Primary enclave—the isolated environment that verifies authorization before signing—then confirms that the wallet-signed approval came from a registered member of the organization and matches the requested action.
Authority before every transaction – not just at onboarding
Before any transaction is signed through the organization’s wallet, the Primary enclave runs a series of checks. It confirms that the wallet approval is valid, that the person is still an active member of the organization, and that the approval matches the exact action and transaction being requested. Each approval also expires after a short time and can be used only once. Logging in or approving one transaction does not give anyone permission to carry out a different one.
ChainIT’s organizational governance model connects officer registration, assigned roles and authority, and attested wallet policy. Invitations, member additions and member removals require their own verified authorization. The objective is to connect not only who may transact, but also who may change the permissions governing future transactions.
Distributed signing without assembling the private key
The organizational wallet uses two-party Multi-Party Computation (MPC) signing. Its signing key is represented by two separate cryptographic shares, each protected inside an isolated AWS Nitro Enclave. Both enclaves must participate to produce a standard Ethereum-compatible signature without reconstructing the complete private key. Persisted MPC key material is encrypted.
A member’s personal authorization key is separate from those organizational signing shares. The member approves the specific action; the Primary enclave verifies the authorization before initiating the joint signing process. The organizational shares remain within the enclave infrastructure, not on members’ devices. Neither MPC party can produce the organizational signature alone.
A Web3 solution for Web3 companies
ChainIT ID can be used wherever ChainIT-enabled applications support it, rather than requiring a new password for each participating service. Each integration retains its applicable verification, authorization and product requirements. ChainIT invites wallet providers, exchanges, marketplaces, payment platforms and enterprise Web3 teams to explore integrations for verified access and governed organizational transactions.
“Web3 companies need more than just another way to sign a transaction,” said Eric Tacl, PhD, Executive Vice President, Verified Payments and Commerce, at ChainIT. “They need to connect the verified person, the organization, the appropriate level of authority and the action. Passwordless access simplifies the experience. Verifying authority for each specific transaction gives businesses control over what happens next.”
The production wallet adds a human-authorized execution component to ChainIT’s broader Complete Commerce architecture, which places authority and transaction-specific compliance before execution and preserves transaction evidence. This release covers transactions approved by people. Full integration with partners’ systems and transactions carried out by AI agents within set limits are being developed and tested separately.
Availability and TOKEN2049 meetings
The organizational MPC wallet is available in production as of October 6, 2026 and is included in new ChainIT organizational digital identity profiles at no additional cost. Existing organizational wallets are being migrated from the prior model. Supported functionality and integrations vary by deployment.
Dr. Eric Tacl is representing ChainIT at TOKEN2049 in Singapore and is available for media, product and integration discussions. Meeting requests and further information are available through ChainIT’s TOKEN2049 Singapore page.
About ChainIT®
ChainIT is native Web3 infrastructure for verified identity, provable authority, compliance and Complete Commerce. Its Web3 architecture is supported by a portfolio of 15 issued patents. ChainIT connects passwordless identity, organizational governance, digital agreements, payments and verifiable transaction evidence, bringing authority and accountability to commerce involving people, organizations and AI agents.
ChainIT technology already supports treasury operations at major U.S. banks, connecting its Web3 foundation to established financial infrastructure. Through ChainIT ID, organizational MPC wallets, Pactvera and ChainIT Pay, the platform connects who is acting, what they are authorized to do and the transaction they approve across ChainIT-enabled environments.
ChainIT® — The Authority on Authority™ for Agentic Commerce.
https://chainit.com/singapore-token2049/
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SOURCE ChainIT Inc
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BitcoinWorldVerifact Markets Unveils First Trading Platform to Find Truth in Disputed Facts
Think prediction markets, but instead of asking what will happen, Verifact Markets combines evidence analysis and market structure to settle what actually happened.
CHICAGO, Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Verifact Markets launches the first trading platform built to resolve disputed facts. This is a new category of markets, focused on topics of public interest where people genuinely disagree about what is true.
“We’re living in the age of disputed facts. Making or amplifying a claim has never been easier. Resolving one has never been harder,” said Rodrigo Aquino, CEO of Verifact Markets. “Our company exists to change that.”
Verifact Markets is headquartered in Chicago and backed by Positron Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar family office with active investments at the intersection of technology and finance, including prediction markets.
How it works
Users can review arguments and trade True or False contracts. The experience is similar to prediction markets, but the resolution is based on evidence, which users may contribute to.
Verifact Markets uses a patent-pending framework to evaluate evidence at scale along with market structure to resolve markets.
Verifact analyzes data from many sources, including evidence discovered by our systems and evidence submitted by users, and assesses how strongly the overall body of information supports each side.
A market resolves only when Verifact reaches a high level of confidence.
Winning positions pay $1, losing positions pay $0. Same as prediction markets.
When markets remain inconclusive, users still receive their payout. If trading activity fades and no new evidence emerges after a period of time, Verifact may expire the market. Positions are then settled using a trusted expiration price calculated from recent qualifying trades.
Examples of Verifact Markets
Markets offer a mix of long-contested claims and current ones, spanning political, business and cultural topics.
“COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
“Meta overstated the privacy of WhatsApp in its ‘Not Even WhatsApp’ ad campaign”
“The Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes journalists due to USS Abraham Lincoln reporting.”
During its recent private beta, a market on whether the “LA Clippers used Kawhi Leonard’s endorsement deals to circumvent the NBA salary cap” resolved True.
Team
Verifact Markets is led by a team with decades of experience at the intersection of financial markets and technology, combining hands-on experience founding, operating, and investing in companies with deep expertise in building intelligence systems that process large amounts of information to separate signal from noise.
About Verifact Markets
Verifact Markets is the first trading platform built to find truth in disputed facts. Unlike prediction markets, which ask what will happen, Verifact Markets asks what actually happened. Users trade True or False contracts on contested topics of public interest. Market resolution is based on evidence, which users may contribute to.
Verifact is available to eligible users in several jurisdictions outside the United States, while pursuing the necessary regulatory pathway for a U.S. launch.
Verifact Markets – Trade on disputed facts.
See the evidence. Take a position. Join the search for truth.
For more information, visit verifact.markets or reach out to press@verifactm.com
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SOURCE Verifact Markets
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BitcoinWorldRobinhood buys $25M of Bitcoin for its own balance sheet
Robinhood has placed $25 million worth of Bitcoin onto its own books, the company’s crypto chief Johann Kerbrat said on Oct. 7, marking the first time the Nasdaq-listed brokerage has held the asset with company capital rather than on behalf of users. Kerbrat, who serves as senior vice president and general manager of crypto and international, told crypto media that the allocation is about positioning rather than size, according to Crypto.news.
Robinhood has added $25 million of Bitcoin to its corporate balance sheet, its first proprietary holding of the asset. Johann Kerbrat described the move as aligning Robinhood with the crypto community, while noting the sum is modest against the company’s roughly $100 billion market capitalization.
Speaking at the Digital Asset Summit Asia, Kerbrat said the firm cares deeply about Bitcoin and the ecosystem around it, and framed the purchase as a way to align the company and its vision with the crypto community. He also set expectations on scale, noting that Robinhood is a massive company whose market capitalization sits near $100 billion and that a $25 million Bitcoin position will not meaningfully change its trajectory.
Robinhood has not disclosed a coin count. Crypto.news reported only the dollar figure, while Bitcoin Magazine estimated the holding at roughly 294 BTC using an average price near $84,960, with other estimates based on prices around $84,000 placing it nearer 300 BTC. Bitcoin Magazine reported that the exact number is expected in the company’s next public filing. Neither outlet supplied a filing date.
Key facts
Robinhood added $25 million worth of Bitcoin to its corporate balance sheet, its first proprietary BTC holding, per Crypto.news.
Senior vice president and general manager of crypto and international Johann Kerbrat disclosed the purchase on Oct. 7, 2026, and described it as aligning the company and its vision with the crypto community.
Robinhood shares closed 1.85% lower at $112 on Tuesday, putting market capitalization close to $100 billion, according to Crypto.news.
The company reported $17.5 billion in crypto notional trading volume for August, up 61% from $10.9 billion in July, with Bitstamp handling $10.1 billion and the main app $7.4 billion.
Strategy purchased another 334 BTC for about $28.7 million between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4 at an average of $85,838.80 per coin, lifting its holdings to 848,000 BTC.
A small allocation against a large crypto business
The purchase sits awkwardly between two scales. At $25 million it is a rounding error against a balance sheet attached to a roughly $100 billion valuation—Kerbrat said as much himself. Yet the same company reported $17.5 billion in crypto notional trading volume in August alone, with funded customers at 28.6 million and total platform assets near $384 billion at the end of that month. Robinhood is not experimenting with a peripheral product line; it is putting principal behind an asset that already drives a substantial share of its trading revenue.
The distinction between custody and ownership is central here. Bitcoin Magazine reported that Robinhood already holds roughly 185,000 BTC, worth about $15.5 billion, for customers—around $25 billion across multiple chains when other assets are counted, based on on-chain analysis. Those coins belong to users. The new $25 million belongs to the company, which is why Bitcoin Magazine treated the decision itself as the story rather than the dollar amount. Kerbrat’s comments left room for either interpretation: a one-off statement of intent, or the first line of a treasury strategy. He did not say which.
Derivatives, tokenized stocks and a Layer 2
The balance sheet move lands in the middle of a broad crypto expansion. Robinhood is preparing to offer perpetual futures to eligible U.S. users, covering Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano, Chainlink and Hyperliquid. Crypto.news reported that Bitcoin and Ether contracts are expected to carry leverage up to 10x, while the other six assets would offer up to 3x. The products are expected to run through Robinhood Derivatives on Bitstamp infrastructure, with trading fees set at 0.01% through the end of 2026. CEO Vlad Tenev described the planned offering as the first true perps for U.S. customers, with no expiry and profit and loss settled every 15 minutes.
The company’s stock token business is also pressing against limits. Robinhood said its tokenized equity trading volume was already approaching caps imposed under the SEC’s five-year innovation exemption. Kerbrat said the company plans to add voting rights and in-kind redemptions to its stock tokens while working toward support for more U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds.
Underneath both sits Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 built with Arbitrum technology. The public mainnet launched on July 1 alongside tokenized stocks and decentralized perpetual futures, giving eligible users in more than 120 countries access to tokenized equities through Robinhood Wallet on supported decentralized exchanges. Crypto.news reported $570 million in first-week trading volume against $21.68 million in liquidity, much of it memecoin activity, then 7.6 million transactions in a single day on July 11—against 9.2 million on Coinbase’s Base over the same period, based on on-chain data from MSBIntel verified by Token Terminal. By late July the network had processed over $12 billion in decentralized exchange volume and more than 150 million transactions, according to Bernstein. Kerbrat said Robinhood has around 27 million funded accounts in the U.S. and another 1 million abroad, and described the chain as probably the first Layer 2 connected to distribution at that scale.
Why it matters
Corporate Bitcoin buying has become a familiar pattern, but the identity of the buyer matters as much as the size. Strategy, the largest corporate holder, added 334 BTC for about $28.7 million in early October—nearly the same dollars as Robinhood’s entire position, except Strategy’s 848,000 BTC makes the purchase an increment rather than a debut. Robinhood’s move is closer to an opening statement from a company whose core business is retail brokerage, not treasury management. If the allocation grows, it would put a second publicly traded consumer finance platform into direct Bitcoin ownership alongside its role as a custodian, a combination that changes how the company’s incentives line up with the asset its customers trade. Other public companies are also heading the opposite direction: Sequans Communications sold its remaining 314 BTC in September and ended its treasury strategy after using earlier sales to cut convertible debt.
What to watch
The coin count will be confirmed in Robinhood’s next public filing, per Bitcoin Magazine. Nearer term, the company’s perpetual futures rollout will test whether U.S. users adopt products Tenev has billed as the first true perps available domestically, with fees running at 0.01% only through the end of 2026. And the stock token business faces a defined constraint: the SEC exemption caps that volume, so any expansion into more equities depends on how that framework evolves.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much Bitcoin did Robinhood actually buy?
Robinhood has confirmed a $25 million purchase but has not disclosed an exact coin count. Bitcoin Magazine estimated the total at approximately 294 BTC using an average price near $84,960, while other estimates based on prices around $84,000 put it nearer 300 BTC. The precise figure is expected in Robinhood’s next public filing.
Is this the same Bitcoin Robinhood holds for customers?
No. Robinhood already custodies a much larger pool of customer assets—roughly 185,000 BTC, or about $15.5 billion, and around $25 billion across multiple chains according to on-chain analysis cited by Bitcoin Magazine. The new $25 million position is company-owned capital.
How does Robinhood’s purchase compare with Strategy’s Bitcoin buying?
Strategy acquired 334 BTC for roughly $28.7 million between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4 and now holds 848,000 BTC. Crypto.news framed Robinhood’s outlay as similar in dollar size, while Bitcoin Magazine noted it marks an entry point rather than an addition to an already dominant position.
Why does a $25 million purchase matter for a company Robinhood’s size?
Kerbrat told crypto media that $25 million will not alter Robinhood’s trajectory at a roughly $100 billion valuation. Bitcoin Magazine argues the significance is directional: a publicly traded fintech moving from only facilitating customer crypto trading to holding Bitcoin as corporate capital.
What is Robinhood Chain and when did it launch?
It is an Ethereum Layer 2 built with Arbitrum technology. Robinhood launched its public mainnet on July 1 alongside tokenized stocks and decentralized perpetual futures, and the network processed $570 million in first-week trading volume.
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BitcoinWorldOnly 1 Week Left: West & Francophone Africa’s Premier Gaming Summits Arrive in Dakar
The final seven-day countdown has officially begun for West Africa’s most influential gaming, fintech, and regulatory gatherings: the 11th annual Sports Betting West Africa+ (SBWA+) Summit and the co-located 2nd annual Gaming Event Francophone Africa (GEFA) 2026!
Taking place from 14 – 16 October 2026 at the King Fahd Palace Hôtelin Dakar, Senegal, this landmark three-day event will gather C-suite operators, state lottery executives, financial regulators, legal- counsel, and technology innovators from across the continent. Hosted in Senegal’s vibrant capital, the joint summit provides an active deal-closing platform designed to explore multi-jurisdictional licensing frameworks, low-bandwidth game optimisation, mobile money integration, and localised market expansion.
Three-Day Event Highlights at A Glance
Day 1| Wednesday, 14 October 2026
The summit opens with an exclusive networking reception bringing together international delegates, regulators, and industry pioneers for an evening of executive networking, refreshments, and celebration. Day 1 culminates in the official SBWA+ Eventus Awards 2026 ceremony, honouring companies and leaders driving excellence, technological innovation, and regulatory compliance across the continent.
Day 2| Thursday, 15 October 2026 | SBWA+ Stream
Taxing the Game: Balancing Government Revenue and Industry Growth
Trust by Design: Responsible Gaming and Transparent Operations
Protecting the Digital Player: Data Security and Platform Integrity
Ethical Promotion: Marketing and Affiliate Strategies in Regulated Markets
Day 2| Thursday, 15 October 2026 | GEFA Stream
Senegal: Africa’s Gaming Capital: Building a Strategic Hub for Innovation, Regulation & Investment
Francophone Frontier for Operators: Unlocking Growth in French-Speaking Africa
The Cashless Playbook: Optimising Mobile Money, Instant Payouts, and Payment Security in Francophone Africa
Unlocking Francophone Africa: Payments, Localisation and the Future of iGaming Growth
Day 3| Friday, 16 October 2026
Marketing Intelligence: How AI Is Transforming Player Engagement
The Social Bet: Harnessing Social Media for Player Growth
Affiliate Economies: Building High-Performance Partnerships
Game Changers: The Convergence of Esports, Sports Betting, and the Next Generation of Players
The Next Five Years: Strategic Outlook from Africa’s Betting Leaders
Meet the Distinguished Speaker Lineup
The 2026 edition boasts a world-class speaker faculty representing regulatory authorities, state lotteries, operator groups, and legal practices across Africa:
Adedoyin Oriadetu, Head of Tax Compliance, WYZE
Ariel AMICHIA, Head of Planning, Foresight, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Loterie Nationale de Côte d’Ivoire (LONACI)
Bonny Omara, General Secretary, Uganda Esports and Gaming Federation
Edward Oluigbo, Founder, CEO, Predict International Limited
Ekaterina Mayorova, Head of Region – Africa, QTech Games
Geoffrey Muindi, Managing Director, Gaming NewsByte & Africa Brand Ambassador, Eventus International (SBWA+ 2026 Chairperson)
Joel Anyaegbu, Sales & Account Manager West Africa, QTech Games
Kaan Bulakeri, Founder & Strategy Consultant, WekaMawe Advisory
Kelvin Wilson, Innovator, Product Engineer & Founder, Oddsense
Dr Kolade Abisoye, Founder/CEO, iGaming WriteNow
Kolade Olalekan, Country Manager, Predictpro Gaming Limited (PlayNaija)
Moustapha Camara, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Senegal National Lottery (LONASE)
Musa Mngadi, Chief Executive Officer, ALGA
Olubiyi Williams, Head of Sales & Business Development (Africa), MAMBA PLAY
Oyiza Maleek, Entertainment and Gaming Practice Lead, Matrix Solicitors
Robert Brassai, Principal Consultant, Sense4Gaming (GEFA 2026 Chairperson)
Salako Rodolphe, Community Manager, Onlyplay
Simon Pepper, Chief Product Officer, Tola
Vera Sherman, Online Manager, Premier Bet Liberia
Olaitan SAMUEL, Business Development Manager, Dalapay | iBetAfrica
Julius Fadipe, State Manager, Crystal Gaming Limited (Betano)
Afolabi Sunday, Head of Operations, Herobet
Emmanuel Kwasi Gadasu, Cybersecurity, Data Protection & IT Law Consultant, GIT Plus Limited / IIPGH (Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana)
Lombo Mphande, Director, Bet Chats
Loukakou Charly Donna, Co-founder & CCO, NIIRPAY
Nonso Ndumanya, Head of Gaming and Emerging Economy, Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) Nigeria, Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) Nigeria
Solomon Godwin, Head, Africa, Booming Games
Olajumoke Odudimu, Legal/ Company Secretary, Velex Advisory Limited
Iretiayo Bola Obasunloye, Legal and Compliance Officer, KC Gaming Networks Ltd (Bet9ja)
Rossy KAY-Manzebu, Store Manager, Premierbet Senegal
KOROBLA DOSSO, Digital and Customer Experience Manager, LONACI
Annalisa Samuels, VP Africa, CP Games
Kyarisiima Israel, Chief Executive Officer, Uganda Esports Federation
Patrick KWAKYE, Deputy Director-Investigations, Inspection, Compliance And Enforcement (IICE), Gaming Commission Of Ghana
Emily Asava, SA Gaming
Emeka Enyadike, CEO, EEXSPORT
Charles Tape, Director of Operations, Marketing, Communication, Loterie Nationale du Bénin
AND MANY MORE!

SBWA+ Eventus Awards: Official Shortlist to Be Released This Wednesday!
Following the successful close of nominations on 2 October 2026, anticipation is building across the regional gaming community.
The official SBWA+ Eventus Awards 2026 shortlist will be publicly released on Wednesday, 7 October 2026.
The official 2026 award categories feature:
SBWA+ Supplier of the Year Award 2026 pays tribute to the top B2B supplier of the year, focusing on overall commercial success, technical reliability, and innovative thinking.
SBWA+ Innovation of the Year Award 2026 acknowledges a standout concept or technological advancement that has made a measurable impact, assessed on market performance, originality, user experience, and design quality.
SBWA+ Operator of the Year Award 2026 honours the leading consumer-facing operator, evaluating commercial growth, innovative market strategy, and overall user experience quality.
SBWA+ Leader in Virtual Sports Award 2026 recognises the most innovative virtual sports gaming experience of the year, focusing on concept originality, engagement mechanics, and commercial success.
SBWA+ Leader in Online Casino Award 2026 pays tribute to the premier online casino platform for innovation, user engagement, quality lead generation, and sustained growth.
SBWA+ Leader in Responsible Gambling Award 2026 honours an organisation demonstrating exceptional commitment and execution in responsible gambling awareness, harm minimisation, and brand trust.
SBWA+ Leader in Sports Betting Award 2026 commends the primary frontrunner in sports betting technology and service delivery, focusing on originality, execution, and commercial performance.
SBWA+ Outstanding Industry Influencer Award 2026 recognises outstanding individual contributions through strategic advice, research input, industry collaborations, and sector growth.
SBWA+ Outstanding Consultant Award 2026 acknowledges exceptional achievements, market guidance, and strategic value provided by an industry consultant or advisory firm.
SBWA+ Outstanding Speaker Award 2026 recognises the top presenter at SBWA+ 2026, evaluated across the summit and announced at the conclusion of day three.
Special Spotlight Celebrating Women in Gaming Categories:
SBWA+ Innovation Queen of West Africa 2026 honours an innovative female leader transforming business practices and promoting diversity within the West African gaming sector.
SBWA+ West Africa’s Rising Star in Leadership 2026 recognises an emerging leader who has demonstrated exceptional management skills and significant operational impact.
Last Chance to Register – Secure A Pass Today
With only seven days remaining, delegate passes, VIP upgrades, and exhibition spaces are rapidly filling.
Licensed Operators and Affiliates: Qualified African operators and affiliates may apply for complimentary passes, subject to approval and availability.
Delegates and C-Level Executives: Standard and VIP delegate passes grant access to all conference streams, daily networking luncheons, refreshment breaks, and the official Welcoming Evening.
Sponsors and Exhibitors: Custom branding and exhibition packages remain available to position products and services directly before senior decision-makers and regional regulators.
For sponsorship or exhibition enquiries, contact:
Lou-Mari Burnett, Chief Operating Officer, Eventus International
loumari@eventus-international.com
+27 82 907 5850
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BitcoinWorld2 Weeks Until the Scandinavian & Nordic Gaming Show 2026: Legal Experts Address Regulatory Change
Only 2 weeks remain until the 8th annual Scandinavian & Nordic Gaming Show (SNGS) 2026, as the Nordic gaming community prepares to meet at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 22 – 23 October. This year’s edition comes at a time when regulatory frameworks and enforcement approaches are changing across the Nordic gaming market, raising a number of important questions for operators, suppliers and other businesses active in the region.
Finland is moving towards a new licensing framework, Sweden is taking a firmer approach to regulation, and Norway is stepping up enforcement. SNGS 2026 will address these developments through discussions with regulators, operators, technology providers and investors, examining how regulatory changes are affecting market access, commercial strategies and day-to-day operations.

Prominent Topics on the Agenda
Industry leaders will address some of the key regulatory and commercial developments affecting Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Day 1 | Thursday, 22 October
Gambling in Denmark from a Regulatory Perspective
Europe’s Gaming Leaders: Who Is Really on Top?
Sweden and Denmark: Two Neighbours, Two Regulatory Paths
Day 2 | Friday, 23 October
The Lottery Landscape and the Monopoly Debate
Winning Early in Finland’s New Regime
The Nordic Vision: From Channelisation Gaps to Global Leadership

The Nordic Regulatory Picture According to the Region’s Legal Experts
Ahead of SNGS 2026, prominent figures from the legal sector taking the stage in Copenhagen shared their perspectives on the region’s regulation and market developments.
Gabriel Danyeli, Lawyer, Taylor Wessing
Gabriel outlined the factors that make a European gaming market attractive to operators and how the Nordic markets compare:
“A gaming market is particularly attractive if it offers clear and proportionate licensing requirements, fair tax conditions and effective, yet not excessive, supervision. The Nordic markets are adopting different approaches: Denmark and Sweden have relatively clear licence-based regulatory frameworks. Norway and, until now, Finland have pursued more restrictive models. However, all Nordic countries are generally seen as having regulations that are widely accepted by the players – unlike, for example, in Germany.”
He then examined the reasons behind differences in player flows and channelisation across the Nordic markets:
“Differences in player flows and channelisation have several causes. Strong enforcement against unlicensed operators can increase channelisation. Particularly restrictive systems or a lack of appeal in the legal offers may push players towards the black market. It is therefore important to combine effective enforcement with a competitive regulated market.”
On the future development of Nordic regulation, Gabriel highlighted several areas where greater coordination could benefit both operators and players:
“Both Nordic and German regulation could benefit from better coordination in licensing, advertising, product regulations, and supervision. This would prevent operators from facing very different requirements in Germany and the Nordic markets. At the same time, effective protection against illegal offers must be ensured.
Player protection measures should rely more on evidence and take individual needs into account, for example through better use of behavioural data, without making the legal market unattractive through blanket bans or excessive administrative requirements – the sorts that are, for example, also frequently criticised in the German market.”
Pia Ek, Attorney at Law & Partner, Bird & Bird
Pia explained how differences in market structure have contributed to the varying player-flow and channelisation patterns across the Nordic markets:
“The divergence comes down to market architecture, not geography or culture. Sweden and Denmark opened to competitive licensing years ago, while Finland and Norway kept state monopolies. Monopoly markets are structurally more exposed when demand moves online and cross-border. Finland’s own reform documents found that the exclusive-rights system and its underlying purpose risked losing their relevance because of the sharp rise in online gambling and gambling outside the system.
The system was undermined by services moving online and by the cross-border nature of gambling and gambling services, to the point that the exclusive system’s market share in digital gambling had slipped below the 50 percent mark, with unlicensed operators outside the monopoly earning revenue without paying licence fees, taxes, or bearing responsibility for the harms their activity causes.”
She also considered what the Nordic markets could do to improve channelisation while maintaining strong player protection:
“The Finnish reform’s own framing is the clearest short answer: raising channelisation and protecting players are not inherently in tension, but getting both at once requires deliberate calibration. Some flexibility on both sides needs to be accepted. Rules aimed solely at harm reduction would be maximally strict on supply and marketing, while rules aimed solely at maximising channelisation would be maximally permissive for operators.
Licence terms, tax rates and the gaming authorities’ supervision should be designed to make the regulated market commercially competitive with the unregulated market, while backing licensing with real enforcement teeth.”
Regarding greater regulatory alignment across the Nordic markets, Pia discussed where closer cooperation could have the most immediate impact:
“The Nordic countries already treat each other as the natural reference group for legislative purposes. That shared legal baseline, plus the fact that harmful supply and advertising increasingly cross borders regardless of each country’s own licensing choice, in my mind points to where alignment would have the most immediate payoff, and that is coordinated action against unlicensed, cross-border operators and their marketing. This is an area where no single Nordic country’s model can fully protect its own channelisation rates.”

Morten Ronde, Managing Partner, Nordic Legal
On the topic of player protection, Morten pointed to the responsible gaming innovations that matter most today:
“We are seeing a shift from reactive to proactive responsible gaming, and that is where the real opportunity lies. Key priorities include better use of behavioural data to identify risk earlier, more personalised interventions, and clearer, more effective communication with players. There is also a growing need for cross-operator collaboration and data sharing, within appropriate legal frameworks, to improve outcomes at a systemic level.
Importantly, responsible gaming should not just be about minimising harm, but about creating a safer and more sustainable player experience overall.”
With stricter enforcement across parts of the Nordics, he outlined how regulators can curb the black market without pushing players toward it:
“The most effective way to combat the black market is to ensure that the regulated market remains attractive to players. Enforcement is important, but it cannot stand alone. Regulation needs to strike a careful balance, protecting consumers without making the licensed offering so restrictive that players seek alternatives. This includes competitive product offerings, reasonable limits, and clear, consistent rules.
Ultimately, channelisation should be the guiding principle. If players choose the regulated market because it offers both safety and quality, the black market becomes far less relevant.”
Finally, having been involved in SNGS for a number of years, Morten spoke about why platforms like this are so important for the industry:
“Platforms like SNGS are absolutely essential. The regulatory and commercial challenges we face today are too complex to be addressed in isolation. What makes the event particularly valuable is its ability to bring together regulators, operators, advisors, and other stakeholders in a setting that encourages open and constructive dialogue.
These conversations often lead to better understanding and, in some cases, better policy. In a region as interconnected as the Nordics, that kind of dialogue is not just beneficial, it is necessary.”

SNGS Eventus Awards 2026: Final Week for Nominations
The SNGS Eventus Awards 2026 will be held on the evening of 22 October 2026, recognising individuals and organisations for their contributions to the Nordic gaming industry.
Entries can be submitted until this Friday, 9 October 2026, with the shortlisted nominees announced on 14 October 2026.
Nominate here: https://www.eventus-international.com/sngs-award-nominations

Attend, Sponsor or Exhibit
SNGS 2026 still has delegate, sponsorship and exhibition opportunities available for organisations looking to showcase their brand, engage with industry stakeholders and connect with businesses across the Scandinavian and Nordic gaming markets.
To secure a place, register here: https://www.eventus-international.com/sngs

For sponsorship or exhibition enquiries, contact:
Lou-Mari Burnett, Chief Operating Officer, Eventus International
loumari@eventus-international.com
+27 82 907 5850
This post 2 Weeks Until the Scandinavian & Nordic Gaming Show 2026: Legal Experts Address Regulatory Change first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldPolymarket rolls out Protocol V2 smart contract overhaul
Polymarket began rolling out its Protocol V2 smart contract system on Monday, October 5, 2026, according to Cointelegraph. The prediction market platform is testing the new infrastructure on a limited number of live markets through October 30, with a tentative target of November 2 for switching new markets over to V2. Rajath Alex, Polymarket’s head of protocol, announced the rollout in an X post.
Polymarket has launched Protocol V2, a rebuilt prediction market smart contract system that uses pUSD as its sole collateral token. Testing runs on a limited number of live markets through October 30, with a tentative November 2 target for new markets to move to V2. Existing positions remain on the current system and will not be converted. Key facts
Polymarket began Protocol V2 testing on Monday, October 5, 2026, with live-market trials running through October 30 and a tentative November 2 target for new markets to switch to V2, per Cointelegraph.
The overhaul replaces infrastructure based on code developed in 2019 that required additional contracts and adapters to support new market types.
Protocol V2 uses Polymarket USD (pUSD) as its sole collateral token, alongside a single contract for position tokens and one exchange supporting different market types.
Audits were conducted by blockchain security firms including Cantina, Quantstamp, Zellic, SigmaPrime, Pashov and Certora, with formal verification by Certora, according to PANews; Cointelegraph names Cantina, Quantstamp and Zellic plus Certora’s formal verification.
Polymarket is offering bug bounty rewards of up to $5 million for critical vulnerabilities, Cointelegraph reported.
A modular rebuild of the 2019 stack
Polymarket’s existing system was built on Gnosis’s Conditional Tokens Framework from 2019, according to PANews. As market types and features multiplied, adapters and additional contracts had to be layered on top, driving up system complexity. Protocol V2 addresses that by adopting a modular architecture with a uniform set of components: ERC-1155 position tokens, pUSD collateral, and exchanges and routers matched to each market type.
The architecture supports Binary, Atomic Neg-risk, Incremental Neg-risk, and Combinatorial market types. Polymarket USD was introduced as part of an exchange upgrade in April 2026 and is backed 1:1 by Circle’s dollar-pegged USDC, which is issued on Polygon. Polymarket currently operates its prediction markets on Polygon, an Ethereum scaling network, and pUSD is issued there as well.
Protocol V2 also introduces upgradeable smart contracts, allowing Polymarket to modify contracts through what the company describes as a secure governance process, reducing the need to deploy extra contracts for new features. The OracleAggregator connects to different oracles, including UMA and Chainlink, to determine market outcomes.
Cross-chain support is part of the design: the new protocol is intended to transfer positions, collateral and market outcome data between blockchains. Polymarket has not announced when cross-chain functionality will launch or which networks it will support. Bitcoin World contacted Polymarket for details on the planned blockchains and timing, while PANews framed the cross-chain element as support for future multi-chain expansion.
What happens to existing positions
According to the Protocol V2 migration guide, existing positions will not be converted to V2. Users on the app and website will not need to take technical steps to migrate, though they may be asked to approve new contracts when trading. Polymarket also launched a Data API V2 to support the new protocol and on-chain data indexing, PANews reported.
On the security side, Cointelegraph and PANews list overlapping but not identical audit rosters. Cointelegraph names Cantina, Quantstamp and Zellic. PANews lists Cantina, Certora, Quantstamp, SigmaPrime, Zellic and Pashov, and separately states the code passed formal verification by Certora, which Cointelegraph also cites.
Why it matters
The change affects every trader and developer on Polymarket, though not immediately for anyone holding open positions. Because V2 relies on a single exchange supporting multiple market types, adding new markets no longer requires the layered adapter contracts that made the 2019-era system increasingly complicated. For users, the practical friction is limited to approving new contracts when trading, while builders gain a standardised base (ERC-1155 position tokens, pUSD collateral, oracle aggregation) to design against. The cross-chain design also sets up expansion beyond Polygon, the network Polymarket has relied on, though no timeline has been given.
What to watch
The near-term milestone is the end of the testing window on October 30 and whether Polymarket hits its tentative November 2 target for moving new markets to V2. Users should also watch for any announcements on cross-chain support and the specific networks Polymarket plans to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Polymarket Protocol V2?
Protocol V2 is Polymarket’s rebuilt prediction market smart contract infrastructure, replacing code based on 2019 technology. It uses pUSD as its sole collateral token, ERC-1155 position tokens, and an OracleAggregator that can connect to settlement sources such as UMA and Chainlink.
Will existing Polymarket positions be migrated?
No. According to the Protocol V2 migration guide, existing positions will not be converted to V2, and app and website users will not need to take technical steps to migrate, though they may be asked to approve new contracts when trading.
When will new markets switch to Protocol V2?
Polymarket is testing the system on a limited number of live markets through October 30, 2026, with a tentative November 2 target for switching new markets to V2.
What is pUSD?
Polymarket USD (pUSD) is a collateral token introduced as part of an exchange upgrade in April 2026. It is backed 1:1 by Circle’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDC, and is issued on Polygon.
What is the OracleAggregator?
OracleAggregator is a new system in Protocol V2 designed to connect to different oracles, including UMA and Chainlink, to determine market outcomes.
This post Polymarket rolls out Protocol V2 smart contract overhaul first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

BitcoinWorldOKX Raises New Capital at $25B as Four Partners Buy In
OKX said Tuesday it closed a strategic investment from Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, according to Cryptopotato. The exchange declined to disclose how much any of the four firms put in or what stakes they took.
OKX raised fresh capital from Circle, Ripple, QRT and SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, extending the round NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange led in March. None of the four investors is new to the business — each already supplies OKX with stablecoins, liquidity, collateral or custody infrastructure. Key facts
OKX announced the round on Tuesday at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, the same mark as its March round led by ICE.
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin went live on more than 280 OKX trading pairs in April, including pairs against XRP.
Standard Chartered holds BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury shares in custody while OKX clients post them as margin, under an April 28 framework with OKX and BlackRock.
OKXICE, the joint venture between OKX and ICE, filed with the SEC on October 4 to offer 63 tokenized NYSE stocks to U.S. users, with listed companies given 30 days to opt out.
OKX also launched OKX Money on Tuesday, a standalone app for saving, sending and spending dollar stablecoins, with qualifying customers able to earn up to 10% a year on eligible USDG balances.
Four partners who already touch the plumbing
None of the four investors arrived cold. Circle issues USDC, which sits across OKX’s trading products; in September the two companies expanded USDC trading across spot, margin and futures, with OKX introducing a USDC Margin Growth Program funded by Circle, crypto.news reported. A month earlier, Circle deployed native USDC on X Layer, OKX’s Ethereum-compatible layer 2, alongside its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol.
Ripple’s tie runs through RLUSD, which trades on OKX’s unified order book. Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, said the investment “reflects our conviction in what they’re building and opens the door to deepen our work together across stablecoins, payments and institutional markets.”
QRT, a multi-strategy investment manager, is an institutional counterparty that supplies the exchange with liquidity and risk capacity. Thomas Eaton, a quantitative trading director at the firm, tied the decision to confidence in the long-term growth of digital assets and round-the-clock markets. Decrypt noted QRT is a Credit Suisse spinout that already runs a crypto fund holding about $1 billion.
Standard Chartered’s involvement runs through BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund. Under the April 28 framework, VIP and institutional clients can post BUIDL as trading collateral while the bank keeps the fund shares in custody off the exchange and trades run on OKX Middle East. OKX handles margining and liquidation; clients retain ownership of the BUIDL and its yield. Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, said institutional participation in digital assets requires infrastructure that includes institutional-grade custody.
Why it matters
The round keeps OKX’s paper valuation flat seven months after ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, bought in at the same $25 billion figure with board representation. Holders of that earlier stake see no markup, and the new money comes from counterparties whose commercial relationships with OKX predate the equity. That structure ties the exchange more tightly to the banks, stablecoin issuers and trading firms it already depends on — a pattern that matters to any institution weighing whether to route collateral, settlement or liquidity through OKX.
What to watch
The OKXICE filing with the SEC is the nearest concrete test: the 63 tokenized NYSE stocks face issuer opt-outs over a 30-day window, and trading cannot start before that closes. U.S. regulators’ treatment of the innovation-exemption route — introduced in September days after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate, per Decrypt — will shape whether the model extends beyond equities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Circle, Ripple, QRT and SC Ventures invest in OKX?
OKX did not disclose the amount invested by any of the four firms or their individual stakes. The company only confirmed the round was done at a $25 billion pre-money valuation.
Why did OKX’s valuation stay at $25 billion?
The new investment extends the round ICE led in March at the same $25 billion mark, so the price did not move even though new capital came in seven months later.
What does Standard Chartered get out of the OKX relationship?
Standard Chartered already acts as custodian for BlackRock’s BUIDL fund used as OKX trading collateral, holding the shares off-exchange while institutional clients trade on OKX Middle East.
What is OKX doing with the new capital?
CEO Star Xu said the money supports the exchange’s continued growth and its plans to tokenize real-world assets as it builds beyond its core exchange business.
When did RLUSD go live on OKX?
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin went live on more than 280 OKX trading pairs in April, including pairs against XRP.
Did the four investors have prior ties to OKX?
Yes. Each already supported a layer of the business, from Circle’s USDC integration to Ripple’s RLUSD order book, QRT’s institutional liquidity and Standard Chartered’s custody role.
This post OKX Raises New Capital at $25B as Four Partners Buy In first appeared on BitcoinWorld.