Cointelegraph

Prediction market operator Underdog has partnered with crypto infrastructure provider zerohash to introduce cryptocurrency and stablecoin deposits, with the new funding option expected to launch later this year.
Eligible users will be able to fund their accounts directly through the Underdog app using supported digital assets, with the service designed to enable near-instant transfers around the clock, according to a Thursday announcement.
Underdog did not specify which cryptocurrencies or stablecoins would be supported and did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for clarification before publication.
The new funding option will supplement existing methods, including debit and credit cards, Apple Pay and bank transfers. Users will not need to manage wallet addresses or select blockchain networks when making deposits.
Founded in 2020, Underdog has more than 11 million registered accounts, according to IG Group, which agreed in July to acquire the company in a deal worth up to $1.3 billion. The transaction is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.
According to DeFiRate data, the company recorded $1.4 billion in trading volume over the 30 days ending Oct. 21, a 133% increase from the previous period, though it remained well behind Kalshi’s $81.5 billion and the combined $17.2 billion recorded by Polymarket’s US and international platforms.
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Bitcoin’s network hashrate has climbed to a seven-month high despite major publicly traded miners shifting capacity toward artificial intelligence, suggesting other operators are replacing lost computing power and intensifying competition among remaining network miners.
According to BlocksBridge Consulting’s latest Miner Weekly newsletter, Bitcoin’s seven-day average hashrate has recovered above 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), equivalent to 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s), its highest level since March 3.
Hashrate measures the computing power securing the Bitcoin network. The recovery suggests that miners still operating on the network are seeing little relief from competition, despite the industry’s ongoing transition to AI workloads.
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty increased 5.92% on Oct. 16, with BlocksBridge projecting another 5.16% increase at the next adjustment. If the estimate holds, difficulty will have risen roughly 11.4% across two consecutive adjustments.
“That’s hardly the breathing room remaining miners might have expected from the AI migration,” BlocksBridge wrote, referring to the growing competition facing operators that have continued mining Bitcoin.
The shift toward AI has already taken substantial mining capacity offline. BlocksBridge previously reported a 23% decline in publicly traded miners’ realized hashrate, alongside a 52% quarterly increase in their reported AI and high-performance computing revenue. It estimated that the displaced capacity represented roughly $1.5 billion in mining hardware.
Smaller miners may be picking up the slack
Some of the lost capacity may be returning to the network through smaller and mid-sized miners buying equipment from larger operators. BlocksBridge pointed to Sazmining, which advertises secondhand Antminer S21 XP machines that buyers can deploy through hosting facilities in Paraguay and Texas.
For miners with access to cheaper electricity, buying used machines could be more economical than investing in new equipment. It also means hardware displaced by AI conversions could continue mining Bitcoin elsewhere.
However, it’s unclear how much of the equipment being sold actually comes from publicly traded miners, or how much has returned to the network.
The hashrate recovery comes as some industry observers view rising computing power as an “indirect bullish signal” for Bitcoin, reflecting continued institutional investment in publicly traded mining companies.
CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju recently made that argument on X, writing that “higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value.

The Central Bank of Ireland announced an enforcement action against Coinbase Ireland for failures to safeguard user funds and provide oversight between 2020 and 2025.
In a Thursday notice, the regulator said that the Coinbase arm had “admitted the prescribed contraventions and has agreed to the undisputed facts,” settling for $3.6 million in fines. The notice said that Coinbase Ireland had violated regulations related to oversight and safeguarding of customer funds and improperly relied on the exchange’s US company to outsource certain services.
The company’s user agreement currently states: “We use a variety of service providers (some belonging to the Coinbase Group and some not) in the context of outsourcing arrangements to help us provide the Coinbase Services in an efficient and qualitative manner.”
In Thursday’s notice, the central bank’s enforcement director, Karen O’Leary, said firms operating in Ireland “must have the appropriate culture and expertise to comply with the rules, respond to risks and to protect customer interests,” adding:
“This action against Coinbase Ireland underlines the Central Bank’s focus on ensuring that customers are at all times protected and that the integrity of the financial system is maintained.”
The sanctions against the Coinbase arm require approval from Ireland’s high court before taking effect. The crypto exchange launched its operations in Ireland in 2018, receiving an e-money license from the central bank in 2019 and securing registration as a virtual asset service provider in 2022.

Bitcoin (BTC) stayed below $82,000 around Thursday’s Wall Street open as Iran war headlines returned to pressure risk assets.
Key points:
Bitcoin preserved 3% daily losses on Thursday as US stocks fell on geopolitical tensions.
US President Donald Trump reiterated the chance of new military action against Iran, with no negotiations ongoing.
BTC price analysis saw $84,400 as a short-term ceiling ahead of the Oct. 28 Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates.
Stocks fall as Trump says US “not negotiating” with Iran
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $81,256 on Bitstamp, down 2.9% on the day.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Mixed reactions to Tesla earnings and capital expenditures combined with a risk-off mentality stoked by fresh comments from Trump that the US was “not negotiating” with the Iranian side.
“We are going to have something one way or the other that will happen fairly soon. Most people seem to think it’s after the election and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters, referring to the US midterm elections on Nov. 3.
US stocks fell at the open, with the S&P 500 Index down 1.3% at the time of writing. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was 2.3% lower.
“Tech stocks came under pressure amid renewed AI valuation fears. The rebound in energy prices contributed to the risk-off tone,” Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets, told Bloomberg. He said:
“Treasuries have emerged as a primary beneficiary as global risk sentiment has come under pressure.”
Nasdaq Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
As bond returns improved, the US 10-year bond yield approached 5% on the day, slipping to its lowest level since Sept. 23.
US 10-year bond yield one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Expect BTC in narrow range until Fed meeting
After reaching nearly $85,000 the day prior, BTC price action continued to circle the cost basis of the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at around $81,500.
Analysts at Bitfinex Alpha, the research arm of crypto exchange Bitfinex, on Wednesday forecast BTC/USD trading in a narrow range between $81,300 and $84,400 until the Federal Reserve rate policymakers next meeting on Oct. 28.
“Sustained ETF demand with stable leverage metrics would support a breakout above $84,400, while macro headwinds combined with a close below $81,300 would increase the risk of a move towards the 15 October low at $79,821,” the analysts wrote.
On longer time frames, traders discounted the odds of a major price recovery by mid-January 2027, with Kalshi traders trimming the chances of BTC/USD hitting new all-time highs to just 3%.
Opinion: The UK needs a workable route to regulated DeFi access

Crypto custody and infrastructure provider Fireblocks is disputing a report that payments giant Visa is in late-stage talks to acquire the company for about $2.5 billion.
“We are aware of the rumors about a possible acquisition of Fireblocks by Visa. This is news to us, and not true at present time,” a Fireblocks spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Thursday.
Axios reported Thursday, citing multiple sources, that the payment giant was in advanced discussions to acquire Fireblocks for approximately $2.5 billion.
The reported price would represent a steep discount from Fireblocks’ last publicly disclosed valuation of more than $8 billion, announced by the company following a $550 million Series E funding round in January 2022. Data provider Traxcn lists the $8 billion valuation as recently as Dec. 11, 2025.
A Visa spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company does not comment on “rumors or speculation.”
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s rising hashrate represents an “indirect bullish signal” from institutional investors that are backing several public Bitcoin miners, according to analytics platform CryptoQuant’s founder and CEO, Ki Young Ju.
“Higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value,” wrote Ju in a Thursday X post, adding that he sees this as a bullish signal since public miners are largely backed by traditional finance (TradFi) institutions.
Hashrate is a measure of the computational power of a blockchain network, indicating how many hash calculations are performed per second.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) hashrate has recovered by about 45% from the summer’s lows, from about 726 exahashes per second (EH/s) in July to roughly 1,050 EH/s on Wednesday, according to CryptoQuant data.
The recovery is seen by Ju as an institutional endorsement of Bitcoin’s security and long-term value as well as generally seen as a sign of confidence from BTC miners.
Still, global hashrate remained below its peak of 1,305 EH/s clocked in October 2025, when Bitcoin’s price was trading above $111,000. It was last trading at roughly $81,843 as Thursday’s US equities markets opened.
Bitcoin hashrate, Bitcoin’s price, five-year chart. Source: CryptoQuant.com
NIP Group expands Bitcoin mining capacity
Public Bitcoin miners, such as Nasdaq-listed NIP Group (NIPG), continue expanding their mining capacity, further adding to the increasing Bitcoin hashrate.
NIP Group revealed a third tranche on-rack asset purchase agreement to acquire about 4.47 EH/s of already-deployed Bitcoin mining hardware, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Once the deal closes, the machines are expected to immediately boost the miner’s Bitcoin production, with total hashrate across all three tranches expected to reach 13.85 EH/s
NIP Group currently ranks as the 16th-largest public Bitcoin miner, with 3.11 EH/s in operating hashrate. Bitdeer ranks first with 79.9 EH/s, according to Ziven data.
Top public Bitcoin miners by operating hashrate. Source: Ziven.io
NIP Group’s stock price fell 6.8% on Wednesday to close at $6.10, extending its 86% decline over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance.
Other large Bitcoin miners also saw their stock prices fall, as the US stock market suffered its sharpest selloff since July on Wednesday. TeraWulf, Core Scientific, Cipher Mining and IREN each lost about 12% from their share price, as higher-than-expected inflation figures pressured Bitcoin miners and AI infrastructure companies.
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

Thailand’s new spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) framework is attracting interest from asset managers, but the regulator has yet to receive its first application.
Several asset management companies have approached Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for consultations about launching crypto ETFs, the regulator told Cointelegraph in a statement Thursday.
“However, no asset management company has yet submitted an application for approval to establish a crypto ETF,” the SEC said, without identifying the companies involved.
The SEC also said it was too early to determine whether the first products would receive approval before the end of 2026, noting that the timing would depend on applicants’ readiness, regulatory reviews and investor protection requirements.
Thailand’s new crypto ETF rules took effect Friday, allowing asset managers to establish locally listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs.
Several companies are already offering Thai investors BTC exposure through funds linked to overseas ETFs. ONE Asset Management became the first Thai asset manager to receive approval for a Bitcoin ETF-linked fund in 2024, while MFC Asset Management later introduced a fund investing through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

SoFi Technologies launched SoFi Earn (SOFIE) on Thursday, offering a variable 4.4% annual percentage yield on tokenized bank deposits.
SOFIE has no minimum balance requirement, according to the company’s announcement. Each SOFIE represents $1 deposited at SoFi Bank. Customers can convert it one-for-one into SoFiUSD, the bank’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, to buy crypto in its app or send funds to supported external wallets.
SOFIE deposits qualify for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. SoFiUSD carries no FDIC insurance.
On Wednesday, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a final rule covering payment stablecoin issuance and some custody activities, with the GENIUS Act framework taking effect in mid-January.
Cointelegraph reported in May that SoFi planned to introduce interest-bearing tokenized deposits when it made SoFiUSD available through its consumer banking app. At the time, the company said the feature would follow in the coming weeks.
The bank said SOFIE is rolling out to SoFi Crypto members through November. Members access the separate SOFIE deposit account through their SoFi Crypto account.
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

Opinion by Katie Harries, head of policy, Europe, Coinbase
The United Kingdom is approaching a choice that could define its financial future: should decentralized finance (DeFi) be allowed to develop through regulated gateways or will it be constrained to a silo?
This is not just relevant to crypto enthusiasts; it goes to the future of capital markets, the competitiveness of the City and the UK’s ability to shape the next generation of financial infrastructure.
DeFi is software that lets people borrow, lend and trade directly with one another without relying on an intermediary like a bank or broker. It works less like a financial institution and more like the internet, promising cheaper, faster financial services that are accessible to everyone, anytime.
While DeFi will always be accessible through open-source or decentralized routes, regulated providers can also offer a route to DeFi, allowing customers to engage with the technology while receiving key information about the services they are accessing and the risks they should be aware of.
However, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) proposed crypto rules could make this impossible. The FCA will expect regulated platforms to ensure customer orders are only executed on an FCA-authorized venue. While this is designed to prevent overseas firms from illegally accessing the UK market, it also risks blocking off access to DeFi because the decentralized protocols and exchanges where users execute orders do not have a person behind them who could become authorized.
Overview of FCA’s cryptoassets regime policy statements. Source: FCA
No rule explicitly says that firms cannot offer DeFi integrations to their customers; however, the FCA has made clear that it is not seeking to provide rules specific to these products, opting instead to apply the same rules as to fully centralized trading. The effect could be a de facto ban.
From October 2027, regulated platforms may no longer be able to provide customers access to DeFi services unless the FCA changes its approach.
The government has pledged it wants the UK to “lead the world on digital assets.” It will struggle to realize this ambition if British firms are cut off from the decentralized infrastructure digital asset markets are built on.
DeFi is becoming part of the next financial infrastructure
Regulators in other jurisdictions recognize the opportunities and are exploring ways to enable DeFi innovation. In the European Union, the European Securities and Markets Authority has proposed allowing regulated firms to provide access to DeFi, saying it could “allow innovation in decentralized finance in a regulated and transparent environment.”
In September, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission granted an “Innovation Exemption” for the trading of tokenized stocks peer-to-peer, using automated trading systems and liquidity pools.
In short, the US and EU are exploring how traditional finance and DeFi infrastructure can work together. The UK should be exploring the same potential before it closes off this option completely.
Onchain tokenized finance cannot reach its full potential if it is confined to closed and fragmented systems that struggle to interact with the decentralized technology that underpins them.
A de facto ban may push DeFi beyond the regulator’s reach
The UK has set out its first full rulebook for crypto regulation. From Oct. 25, 2027, firms offering crypto services to UK customers will need authorization from the FCA. The FCA is now consulting on guidance on how its rules will apply to firms that provide financial services that use or interact with DeFi.
Potential concerns around DeFi integrations are threefold. First, a customer using a familiar regulated platform may not realize when they have moved into an environment where the usual protections do not apply. Second, certain firms could use DeFi integrations to avoid regulatory obligations. Third, DeFi could bring risks related to financial crime and market resilience.
The UK wants to lead the world on digital assets. Source: Gov.uk
But these risks point to the need for clear information for consumers and responsibilities for firms — not a prohibition.
A de facto ban would produce the opposite of its intended effect. It would not eliminate DeFi. Instead, it would push more activity beyond the FCA’s practical visibility and reduce regulated firms’ ability to shape how customers interact with it.
Regulated platforms can provide a useful point for supervision. They can make clear to customers when they are leaving a regulated environment and require their consent before allowing this. Regulated firms can also curate access to selected protocols, assess operational and governance risks, and report incidents and usage to regulators.
Regulate the gateway, not the technology
The UK already recognizes, in other areas of finance, that regulated institutions can provide access to products or markets that do not carry the same level of oversight.
Many retail trading platforms or so-called “super apps” now offer consumers access to a range of products, from stocks and money market funds to commodities and foreign exchange, with different regulatory protections. The FCA permits this, as long as platforms make clear to consumers which protections apply to different products and services.
This is why DeFi integrations require a better solution. The FCA should protect consumers, but it should not seek to achieve protection with total exclusion.
Responsible integration would give consumers clearer information, give supervisors greater visibility and give UK financial services the chance to compete in the next phase of financial innovation.
Consumers will use DeFi, so the question is where
DeFi protocols can already be accessed directly without the use of regulated firms. The question is whether consumers will also be able to access DeFi through a regulated gateway, with clear disclosures and guardrails.
The stakes are broader than crypto trading. DeFi underpins the greatest potential cost savings as financial services move onchain, with fewer costly intermediaries and systems that support 24/7 activity across borders. Regulation that provides a clear route to support DeFi is crucial to give firms the confidence to invest in UK innovation in the long term.
If barriers to access are imposed in the UK, tokenized capital markets and financial innovation more broadly could develop in countries that are decisive in supporting DeFi infrastructure.
The UK cannot credibly aspire to lead in digital finance while closing off the decentralized infrastructure on which the future of finance is being built.
About the author: Katie Harries is the head of policy for Europe at Coinbase. Katie leads on international policy, engaging with regulators, governments and industry stakeholders to shape a regulatory environment that fosters growth, competition and responsible oversight for digital assets in the UK and Europe. Prior to joining Coinbase, Katie was a VP at Goldman Sachs. Katie is also heavily involved in the UK Cryptoasset Business Council (UKCBC), the country’s leading crypto trade body.
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US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) daily flows aren’t reliable guides to BTC’s next move as investors tend to chase rallies and sell into slumps, according to DWF Labs.
In a research report published Thursday, DWF found that investors pulled money from the funds during seven of the eight times Bitcoin’s price dropped at least 15%. All nine rallies of that size drew net inflows. The analysis reviewed 694 trading days dating back to January 2024, when Bitcoin ETFs first launched in the US.
“ETF flows confirm moves; they don’t predict them,” DWF said in its report. “The evidence points mostly to investors reacting to price, not driving it.”
Investors tended to put money into Bitcoin ETFs after prices rose and pull it out after prices fell. Those flows offered almost no clue to whether Bitcoin would rise or fall over the next five days.
Each day’s ETF flows had a moderate relationship with Bitcoin’s price changes over the five trading sessions before that day, with a correlation of 0.54. On a scale where zero means no relationship, the correlation for the following five days was 0.03.
ETF outflows in seven of eight Bitcoin sell-offs. Source: DWF Labs
ETF outflows don’t show who sold
The heaviest withdrawals came during the two most recent sell-offs. Investors withdrew a net $6.9 billion between October 2025 and February 2026, followed by $8.2 billion during the May–June decline.
The figures do not show whether institutions or retail investors drove the selling. DWF did not separate the two groups in its analysis.
“We don’t have a clear split on the exact buyers/sellers of the ETFs,” a DWF Labs spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
Some ETF activity also comes from investors buying fund shares while betting against Bitcoin through CME futures to earn the price gap between the two positions. DWF estimated that roughly a fifth of flows may have been hedged this way, although its data could not confirm that the same investors held both sides of the trades.
A CoinShares analysis published in June found that professional investors reduced their Bitcoin ETF exposure by 17% in the first quarter of 2026. Hedge funds and brokerages accounted for roughly 96% of the reduction, while banks increased their holdings.
Bitcoin’s sell-offs have slowed
Bitcoin has had about three sell-offs of 15% or more a year since the ETFs launched, compared with roughly four a year in 2022–2023 and eight in 2021, the report found.
The declines have also become more gradual, but the losses are still comparable. The median sell-off wiped out 21.3%, against 19.4% in 2022–2023.
“The changes aren’t solely due to the ETF,” the spokesperson said, noting that volatility and the frequency of sell-offs were already declining before the funds launched in 2024.
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX denied a new security breach after analysts flagged suspicious transfers, but investigators questioned its claim that it stopped using the wallets after a July 2025 hack.
The flagged transactions involved old wallets created in January 2025, which were “compromised in July 2025” and have not been used by the exchange since, CoinDCX said Thursday on X.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT challenged that account, saying a CoinDCX deposit address remained in use by a liquidity provider for 10 months after the July 2025 incident. He said the address continued transferring user deposits to CoinDCX’s current public hot wallet and receiving funds to cover transaction fees.
“Yes, aware of that. We’re investigating it further, and will share an update soon,” responded Sumit Gupta, CEO of CoinDCX. “We assure that no user funds will be at loss.”
Darcy, co-founder of asset recovery platform FlashRescue, earlier on Thursday flagged about $16 million in transfers from addresses labeled as belonging to CoinDCX.
Darcy also claimed that two addresses listed in CoinDCX’s latest proof of reserves had transferred funds to the flagged Tron address.
CoinDCX was drained for $44 million in July last year. The exchange said at the time that customer wallets were separate from the affected account and that it would cover the loss from its own treasury reserves.
CoinDCX did not respond to Cointelegraph’s inquiry by publication.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell nearly 3% on Thursday after an attempt to break higher was rejected near $85,000.
Key points:
Bitcoin returned to near $81,500 after Tesla reported a lower-than-expected Q3 capital expenditure (capex) of $4.73 billion.
South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index saw fresh weakness, closing down 3.5% on Thursday.
BTC price action rejected from a resistance trend line at $84,840, preserving a pattern of lower highs.
Tesla capex underspend raises questions
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD retracing around Wednesday’s daily close, subsequently returning below $82,000. The pair gave back the entirety of the gains made on that day, when price peaked at around $84,840 on Bitstamp.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Higher-than-expected US corporate earnings had helped spark a rally in both crypto and stock markets. However, results from Tesla after the Wall Street closing bell did not provide the same promising signals as seen from SpaceX and General Motors earlier in the week.
The company reported Q3 revenue of $28.05 billion, just short of Bloomberg’s $28.13 billion estimate. However, capital expenditure came in at $4.73 billion, well below the projected $7.96 billion. The capex numbers appeared to fuel concerns over the AI sector as markets recovered from last week’s Asia tech-stock sell-off.
“Lower capex suggests less of an ‘all-in’ approach to the AI arms race than one would expect from Elon,” Ryan Lee, senior vice president of product ⁠and strategy at Direxion, told Reuters, referring to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
On the company’s earnings call, Musk said spending would rise through 2028.
“I think capex is actually ending up being a little lower than we anticipated, but we’ll start to become more meaningful next year. And then noticeable in the tens of billions in ’28,” he said, quoted by Bloomberg.
South Korea’s tech-heavy KOSPI Composite Index finished Thursday’s trading session down 3.52%, struggling to sustain a recovery after dropping to 5,460 points last week, its lowest level since late July.
KOSPI Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Bitcoin sees lower high with resistance trend line still in place
Onchain data showed a marked increase in open interest (OI) across crypto trading platforms prior to Bitcoin’s reversal.
OI reached $55.95 billion late Tuesday, per CoinGlass figures, after gaining 4.5% over 24 hours to reach its highest tally since Sept. 25. Such increases in OI heighten the market’s susceptibility to long or short cascades that can turn brief reversals into deeper corrections.
Bitcoin exchange OI data (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
On three-day time frames, BTC/USD saw rejection at a downward-sloping trend line, preserving a cycle of lower highs. On Tuesday, crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital argued that this trend line resistance needed to be broken as a prerequisite for sustained upside momentum.
BTC/USD 3-day chart with resistance trend line. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Previously, Cointelegraph reported on the area between $80,000 and $81,500 now forming key support, because it hosts the cost basis for the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Starknet’s community has voted to support research into becoming an independent, post-quantum layer-1 blockchain.
The network’s potential departure from Ethereum gained overwhelming support. The governance vote that ran for seven days closed on Thursday. The poll drew about 3,200 votes, with 93.52% of voting power in favor of the transition.
The non-binding poll recorded the highest participation in Starknet’s governance history, according to StarkWare, which said it abstained from voting to leave the decision to the community.
The outcome allows StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation to proceed with research into an independent L1. The actual shift itself would require a separate, binding governance vote. For now, Starknet will continue operating as an Ethereum layer-2 network.
“We’re beginning work on a whitepaper even before we start the weekend, and hope to release a draft for public scrutiny in November,” StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told Cointelegraph.
Starknet outlines next steps for post-quantum L1 research
StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation have established a working group to examine the proposed transition and develop more detailed technical proposals.
The governance proposal states that STRK will remain the network’s native token, with no new token planned, while existing bridges between Starknet and Ethereum will remain open.
StarkWare first raised the potential transition on Oct. 8, citing concerns about the network’s dependence on Ethereum for security. Although Starknet uses hash-based STARK proofs and supports programmable accounts capable of adopting post-quantum signatures, its bridge and data availability infrastructure remain dependent on Ethereum’s upgrade timeline.
In June, StarkWare unveiled a three-phase quantum-resistance roadmap covering cryptographic upgrades, smart-contract migration and Ethereum-dependent infrastructure.
StarkWare’s Quantum Hub says it has already tested technology designed to withstand future quantum attacks, successfully processing a transaction on Starknet’s live network. However, the technology remains experimental and has not yet undergone a security audit.
Ben-Sasson has set a 2027 target for making Starknet quantum-resistant, ahead of Ethereum’s projected timeline.
“Ethereum’s target of 2029 to become quantum-safe is too late, and deadlines slip,” he said.
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

Cloudflare’s CEO Matthew Prince warned that the network saw millions of exploit attempts after a critical security vulnerability was publicly revealed.
In the 10 hours before the PHP vulnerability’s disclosure, the network saw thousands of exploit attempts, which have now reached “millions,” Prince said in a Thursday X post.
Cloudflare is an internet infrastructure company that helps websites load faster and protects them from cyberattacks. About one in five websites worldwide routes traffic through its network, according to the company.
On Wednesday, the PHP Foundation acknowledged that a shortage of resources delayed a fix for a critical security flaw first identified in 2024 and released emergency patches for two critical vulnerabilities.
The vulnerability may allow attackers to spread malware or inject malicious scripts into websites around the world. PHP powers an estimated 69% of websites with a known server-side programming language, according to research service W3Techs.
The two critical vulnerabilities may “allow malicious cyber actors to remotely execute code in PHP core, potentially compromising sensitive data and networks,” warned the FBI’s Cyber Division in a Wednesday X post, urging organizations to either adopt an immediate update or take their systems offline.
Multiple organizations and government agencies took websites offline Wednesday as a precautionary measure.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $528 million in net inflows on Wednesday as Bitcoin briefly surged above $84,700 before retreating.
The funds extended their inflow streak to three sessions, adding $23 million on Tuesday and $526.6 million on Monday, according to SoSoValue data. The three sessions drew in a combined $1.08 billion.
Wednesday’s inflows brought October’s net inflows to approximately $461 million, while year-to-date net inflows reached $1.34 billion.
According to Farside Investors data, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led Wednesday’s inflows with $235 million, followed by the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) with around $213 million.
The latest inflows followed two consecutive weeks of withdrawals, with Bitcoin ETFs shedding $228 million last week and $681 million the week before.
Bitcoin’s rally on Wednesday took it to an intraday high of $84,777 before it pulled back to $82,485 at the time of publication, according to CoinGecko.
Altcoin ETFs also recorded modest inflows. Ether ETFs stopped the bleeding with $15 million in net inflows after a five-session outflow streak. Solana ETFs snapped a 13-day outflow streak with approximately $585,000 in inflows, and XRP ETFs added around $709,000.

AI could unleash a flood of short-lived crypto “meme games,” attracting the same speculative traders who helped push memecoins to record highs in late 2024, according to Illuvium co-founder Kieran Warwick.
Speculative crypto games such as Wolf Game and Fishing Frenzy, where players compete for financial rewards, once took months to develop. But Warwick says AI tools have reduced the time and cost of creating similar games to just days and around $1,000.
He predicts as many as 100,000 such games could launch within a year, with many designed to survive for only a few days — long enough for their creators to turn a profit.
“Like you have serial deployers of memes, you’ll get serial deployers of games,” Warwick told Cointelegraph.
But whether that flood would benefit crypto gaming and the broader industry is less clear. Cheaper development could make niche games viable and revive attention across the sector, but a wave of disposable crypto games could leave a lot of speculators “holding the bag.”
“There will be ridiculous gains, and people will get absolutely f****ing rinsed,” Warwick wrote on X on Monday.
A memecoin-style boom… and bust?
In 2024, Pump.fun and similar launchpads helped fuel a surge in memecoins by making tokens easy to create. The sector’s combined market capitalization reached $150.6 billion in December 2024 before falling nearly 69% to $47.2 billion by November 2025, according to CoinGecko.
The boom divided industry figures, with supporters championing memecoins’ appeal to traders while critics argued they diverted capital from useful projects and damaged crypto’s reputation.
Warwick said he expects a similar speculative wave to touch crypto meme games.
“These degens who are gambling in crypto, they get a thousand-dollar paycheck and they put $500 in Pump.Fun. You’re giving them a new venue and a new shiny wrapper … for them to be able to go and gamble.”
Asked whether a mass of short-lived crypto games will ultimately be good for the crypto gaming ecosystem, Warwick said: “probably not.”
“Like in the long run, I don’t think so. The sustainable model that Illuvium has been building towards for years, where really good quality games with ownership underneath, that I think is still the dream of where crypto gaming should be building towards.”
Warwick said Illuvium’s flagship Overworld game has been in development for more than six years, with a revamped full release targeted for the first quarter of 2027.
Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung took a similar view.
“I think if there is a type of meme game, as Warwick is describing, that doesn’t particularly take much effort to make… I don’t think it would become a lasting category because user retention is the lifeblood of games and always has been,” he told Cointelegraph.
More games, but where are the players?
Meanwhile, Mirai Labs co-founder and CEO Corey Wilton questioned whether an AI-driven surge in supply can overcome weak demand for crypto games.
“We shipped quite a few games, six or seven games, into the market,” Wilton said. “Ultimately, it came to the conclusion that the demand for or within the Web3 space simply isn’t there.”
Dappradar’s tracking of gaming decentralized apps (Dapps) shows just $232.2 million in total value locked in 2,356 apps. A basket of the top 50 gaming tokens has a combined market capitalization of $3.8 billion at the time of writing.
“I think the lack of demand and liquidity in so-called altcoins is definitely an issue, but I think, at the same time, there is also a lack of choice out there of really enjoyable, fun games that captivate people’s imaginations,” said Yung.
“The reality is the number of game titles that use crypto is very small, and so there’s not a lot of choice for consumers. That makes it difficult to actually judge whether crypto is the issue or it’s just that there aren’t enough good games.”
Recent crypto games show there is still interest in the sector despite recent pivots. The developers of Yield Fields, an upcoming web3 farming game built on the Robinhood chain, raised an estimated $8.3 million on Oct. 14 selling digital land plots as nonfungible tokens. The game is set to launch at the end of the month.
AI game development hits crypto
Meanwhile, data shows AI has already entered crypto game development.
In the Blockchain Game Alliance’s 2025 survey of 506 industry professionals, 32.8% said their company had implemented or experimented with AI for game design and content creation.
Yung compared the arrival of AI development tools to the early days of mobile gaming, when cheaper development encouraged more studios to enter the market.
“Frankly, I think that’s a great thing all around,” said Yung. “It reminds me a bit of when mobile first started to become popular around 2010. A lot of people started developing for mobile because it was much cheaper and much faster than developing for PC or console.”
“People asked the same questions about whether the market would soon become flooded with games of lower quality. I think, frankly, what happened was we just got more games of all kinds of quality, and customers had a choice of playing what they liked.
Magazine: Agents can trade 24/7 — but Yat Siu warns you could lose access at any time

The PHP Foundation has acknowledged that indecision and a shortage of resources delayed a fix for a critical security flaw first identified in 2024, calling the stalled response a “structural failure.”
Government agencies and other organizations worldwide took websites offline Wednesday as a precaution while PHP released emergency patches for two related critical vulnerabilities. The flaws could allow unauthenticated attackers to execute code on affected servers without logging in.
PHP is a programming language widely used to power websites and web applications, including content management systems.
In a blog post following the release of the patch, the foundation described how its developers first found signs of the vulnerability in 2024, but struggled to come up with a solution without disrupting the large ecosystem of software built using PHP.
“Combined with the lack of a known path to remote code execution and the small team of core developers with the necessary deep knowledge of the engine occupied with many responsibilities, this decision process caused work on a fix to stall and restart repeatedly over months,” said the foundation.
“We won’t pretend otherwise: the delay was a structural failure, caused by both the security team’s decision process and its lack of resources.”
The foundation was pointed to the vulnerability again on August 11, after security firm Calif and OpenAI independently reported the same underlying issue, with Calif demonstrating unconditional remote code execution, which made it a top security priority.
Websites go dark amid PHP security scare
The disruption stretched across the world as developers disconnected websites while preparing to install the emergency fixes.
The Netherlands shut its digital identity service, and the country’s National Cyber Security Center also took its website offline.
Finland’s state IT provider Valtori disconnected government public web services, while France’s Interior Ministry temporarily took prefecture websites offline. Germany’s federal IT provider ITZBund also disabled several websites, according to Reuters.
In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate acknowledged that its cybersecurity website, cyber.gov.au, was among government sites affected by the PHP issue.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took to X to urge website operators to prepare to apply the patch as quickly as possible. In a post, she said temporarily suspending website functions could reduce the risk if the patch couldn’t be applied immediately.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said it took some supporting services offline as a precaution, including Toolforge and Cloud VPS, which host tools and projects used by volunteer developers, leading to parts of Wikipedia going offline on Wednesday.
Intersect, a membership organization supporting the Cardano blockchain’s development and governance, said it had temporarily taken its Members Area offline while it assessed potential exposure. The page is still offline at the time of writing.
Coinbase chief security officer Jeff Lunglhofer said the company found no evidence of any exposed PHP instances.
“Whenever we hear about vulnerabilities like this, we automatically conduct a full sweep to make sure everything is as safe as we can make it. We’re also working with our third party suppliers for extra assurance.”
Digital asset infrastructure company BitGo also said its platform was unaffected by the PHP vulnerability.
Meanwhile, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao warned internet users on Wednesday to be “extra careful” visiting any website in the next few days, as some web administrators may not be up-to-date with security patches.
OpenAI has released a Codex skill to help website operators check for potentially vulnerable PHP versions and identify applicable updates, which can be accessed via GitHub.
The PHP security team said it has not identified any functional exploits at the time of its public disclosure.
Magazine: 5 alternatives to Ledger to store your Bitcoin

A lobbying group for US banks has weighed in on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) recently finalized rules on payment stablecoin issuance and custody, arguing that the regulator’s interpretation went against Congress’ intent.
In a Wednesday notice, the American Bankers Association (ABA) said that while the OCC’s final rules implementing the GENIUS Act included “several positive steps,” the banking group remained critical of provisions related to stablecoin yield. The regulator dropped a provision that would have established a presumption that certain third-party arrangements violated the law’s ban on yield payments.
“The final rule removes the OCC’s originally proposed safeguards that would have addressed indirect arrangements involving affiliates, exchanges and other distribution partners,” said ABA. “As a result, payment stablecoin issuers can provide economically equivalent yield while technically avoiding the statutory prohibition. The OCC also declined to adopt a broader presumption against arrangements designed to circumvent the ban.”
The group added:
“Those gaps risk undermining the distinction Congress drew between payment stablecoins and traditional bank deposits, threatening the funds banks use to make the loans that drive the US economy.”
Stablecoin rewards were one of the key issues lawmakers and interest groups debated before and after GENIUS passed Congress in July 2025, and they continue to face scrutiny amid discussions of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill currently in limbo after a failed procedure vote in the Senate last month.
Notably, the Blockchain Association approved of the change to yield prohibition, arguing that the OCC “[brought] the final rule more closely in line with the statutory text.” The Bank Policy Institute, another banking industry advocacy group, largely sided with ABA, saying that “the decision to omit the yield presumption replaces clarity with ambiguity and puts the banking system and its customers at risk of deposit flight.”
The OCC finalized its rules ahead of the GENIUS Act’s implementation in January 2027. Other government departments are expected to release rules on GENIUS related to their agencies’ purview over stablecoins, including the Federal Reserve and Treasury.

After more than $200 million dollars worth of crypto was stolen in recent months from tampered Ledgers, and Coldcards where the seed generated wasn’t truly random, faith in hardware wallets has been shaken to the core.
These Bitcoin and crypto holders did everything right. They bought the products from official sources, correctly stored their seed phrases and they trusted in the phrase “not your keys, not your coins”, but they lost out any way. The thefts suggest that even the most diligent crypto holder using a hardware wallet faces risks beyond their control.
With the number of physical attacks on crypto holders rising — there’s been a $5 wrench attack in France every 2.5 days this year — the drawbacks of storing crypto on a hardware wallet are becoming clearer. And that’s even before you consider how many crypto owners have lost wallets and seed phrases over the years — “boating accidents” for tax purposes excluded.
There are plenty of drawbacks with all of the alternative methods of holding crypto however, so spreading your stack across different addresses and via different methods will at least minimize the damage if any one method is compromised.
Here are five alternatives for storing your crypto.
1. Crypto ETFs: Trusting BlackRock may now be an option
The first and most important caveat to this hardware wallet alternative is that it isn’t technically a way to store crypto at all. Even if you deposit Bitcoin directly, it is exchanged for shares in a financial product that holds crypto assets through a custodian. You end up with a claim on the ETF’s net asset value in dollars, not in Bitcoin. So there are trade offs.
On the one hand, using crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) removes many of the headaches associated with direct ownership, like protecting your seed phrase, backing up your wallet or worrying about every knock at the door.
On the other hand, crypto ETFs present their own risks, like trusting a centralized provider, third-party custody arrangements, fees and potential deviations between the share price and the digital asset’s market price.
Crypto ETFs have their own risks. Source: SEC
Ophelia Snyder, co-founder of asset manager 21Shares, tells Magazine that exchange-traded products make more sense “for most people most of the time” due to “tax, estate planning and security reasons.”
However, the “ability to use crypto onchain” and “some risk exposure to the issuer” are among the main trade-offs. She also says that security depends on the provider, and the controls around its wallet infrastructure should be a “major factor” when choosing a product.
Pseudonymous Bitcoin stock-to-flow (S2F) model creator PlanB moved his BTC to ETFs in 2025 and said he was widely criticized for that decision. After the Ledger and Coldcard incidents, however, he said, “Zero regrets of my ETF decision. Peace of mind.”
2. Passkey-based wallets: Move away from seed phrase management
Passkeys let users access accounts with a cryptographic credential stored on a device (typically a phone via Apple or Google passkeys), often protected by a fingerprint, face scan or PIN. Unlike hardware wallets, they don’t require a dedicated device to keep crypto keys offline. Passkeys are more common for chains that have smart contracts.
Some passkey-based options include Coinbase Wallet’s Smart Wallet, Clave and Infinex, with differing designs and recovery options.
While passkeys may provide a smoother user experience, they aren’t a panacea; losing a device or passkey can still create problems, so users should check how backups work and whether recovering access requires trusting a third party.
In June 2024, Adam Back, chief executive of Bitcoin infrastructure provider Blockstream, questioned Coinbase’s Smart Wallet, asking what would happen if a passkey were hacked; “sounds like basically a hosted wallet with a better sales pitch,” he said.
3. Multisig wallets: Split control across multiple keys
As the name implies, a multisignature wallet requires multiple keys to authorize a transaction. In common 2-of-3 setups, three separate signers hold keys, and any two must approve a transaction before funds can move.
Multisig can reduce reliance on a single key or device, but it doesn’t always eliminate the need for a hardware wallet. Casa, for example, offers multisignature custody for individuals and families, with a setup combining a hardware wallet, a mobile phone and a key held by Casa.
PlanB says no regrets moving BTC to an ETF. Source: PlanB
Many of the largest Ethereum ecosystem projects manage their treasuries via Safe wallet (formerly Gnosis Safe) — an on chain smart account multisig with a web based interface.
While that setup can reduce the risk of a single compromised or lost key, multisig arrangements have disadvantages too.
Multiple-person setups, for example, need the signers to remain available, while smart contract wallets can introduce vulnerabilities in their code or configuration, and an attacker who compromises enough signers can still authorize a transaction.
Coordinating approvals can also slow down transfers, which can be unhelpful when time is of the essence, particularly when signers are in different locations and time zones.
Casa chief executive Nick Neuman told Cointelegraph earlier this month that, even with a multisig setup, users should still spread their risk across multiple providers rather than rely on just one.
4. Centralized exchanges: Let someone else handle custody
Keeping crypto on a centralized exchange transfers the responsibility for private key management to a company and removes most of the burden of being responsible for your own security. It’s certainly more convenient for active traders or holders who don’t want to manage backups and recovery phrases.
But the old refrain “not your keys, not your coins” is particularly pertinent here. Crypto’s short history is littered with incidents of exchange hacks and exploits, from owners taking access to user assets with them to their graves to one of the largest BTC hacks in history, with investors still waiting to recover their coins 13 years later.
Of course, centralized exchange operational security has come a long way, and many now publish proof-of-reserves reports or have emergency funds to help cover losses.
Many centralized exchanges publish proof-of-reserves reports. Source: Binance
That said, proof of reserves doesn’t actually establish a company’s full financial health or ability to meet every obligation.
And with the rise in crypto reporting requirements, including through the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, exchanges require customers to provide identity, residency or tax information, and failure to comply can lead to account restrictions or suspended withdrawals.
5. Paper wallets: Offline but not necessarily safer
A paper wallet traditionally consists of a cryptocurrency address and its corresponding private key printed on paper.
While paper wallets keep key material offline without requiring a dedicated hardware device, generating one safely can be difficult, as a compromised computer, malicious generator or poor source of randomness can expose the key before it is printed.
And of course, paper can also be easily lost or damaged; you definitely don’t want to smoke a celebratory cigar next to this form of crypto storage (stamping the seed onto metal is a good alternative however). Spending funds can also compromise security if the private key is imported into an internet-connected wallet.
So while paper wallets are an alternative to hardware wallets, for most users, they simply aren’t a better one, and are a poor fit compared with more manageable offline-storage options.
At the end of the day, there is no one ideal way to store your crypto, and for every holder, it will come down to their personal circumstances and needs. As Snyder says:
“Self-custody users have a tendency to be in two camps: either long-term crypto natives who have a strong view on their personal security practices and everyone else.”
If you aren’t in the first group, she says, self-custody may generally not be the best fit for you, and having some crypto on a centralized exchange and an ETF can be “a really useful tool as part of a portfolio approach to holding crypto.”
Magazine: ‘Bunker mode’ won’t protect your crypto, critics say

Tether has led a pre-seed funding round in Bolivian fintech Peso, which offers USDT payments through food delivery apps and local banking networks, to support the company’s expansion across Latin America.
In a Wednesday announcement, Tether said the investment will help Peso expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, including services that connect USDT with local currencies through banking and merchant payment systems.
Peso has integrated USDT payments into Yango’s food delivery service in Bolivia, allowing customers to pay for orders using the stablecoin. The fintech offers QR payments, point-of-sale services for merchants and virtual accounts linked to Bolivia’s banking system through ACH transfers. Tether did not disclose the size of its investment.
Source: Tether
The investment comes as other fintech companies expand USDT-based financial services in Bolivia. On Tuesday, lending platform Tala announced a partnership with El Dorado to offer credit directly through the digital wallet, allowing eligible customers to receive and repay loans in USDT on the Tempo blockchain.
Bolivia turns to stablecoins amid US dollar shortage
Bolivia has increasingly turned to stablecoins since 2025 amid a prolonged US dollar shortage and high inflation, with businesses beginning to accept USDT for purchases as access to foreign currency became more difficult.
In November 2025, the government announced plans to integrate cryptocurrencies and stablecoins into the financial system, including allowing banks to offer digital asset custody and crypto-linked financial products.
The government subsequently began considering a regulatory framework in July 2026 that would recognize USDT for payments, savings and trade alongside the boliviano and US dollar.
The proposal came as Bolivia struggled with a prolonged dollar shortage after abandoning its longstanding currency peg in June, fueling demand for dollar-denominated alternatives such as USDT, as Cointelegraph reported in July.
Magazine: Agents can trade 24/7 — but Yat Siu warns you could lose access at any time